Mylapore
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Kapaleeshwarar temple
The Times of India, March 22, 2016
M D Muthukumaraswamy in Tracking Indian Communities
Celebrations at Kapaleeshwarar temple are reminiscent of the folk culture prevalent in the pre-colonial villages that made up Chennai Chariots, processions and pandals serving every thing from buttermilk to ice-cream -the scene around the Kapaleesh warar temple in Mylapore during the eight-day Arubathumoovar festival could well be mistaken for any other festival celebrated in the villages of Tamil Nadu.
The Arubathumoovar festival, beginning with a puja to the village goddess and hoisting of a flag, is a reminder that the city has not forgotten its roots of being a collection of villages, being part of a precolonial agrarian order, and being a society of small communities within the larger urban structure. It is an enactment of its talapuranam (site history), assertion of the temple’s relationship with the village deities, and a recognition of its social network of devotees and patrons spread across the villages surrounding Chennai. Every year, the streets of Mylapore transform to let the age-old traditions of temple festivities take over the neighbourhood. The pavements are filled with shops that sell earthenware, plastic toys, fruits, vegetables, and trinkets of all kinds. Kurava gypsy women dot the streets with their wares. Suddenly , the four streets surrounding the Mylapore tank gain prominence as a sea of humanity , about 10 lakh people, converges to celebrate the 63 nayanmar or saints, known as the foremost devo tees of Shiva.
The festivities date to the 12th century, when the Saiva Agamas celebrated Chandikeswarar, the first of the 63 nayanmars, the devotee of Shiva who finds a place of sculptural honour in the inner prakara of the Shiva temples. In fact Richard Davis’ translation of 12th century Agama text, ‘Mahotsavavidhi’, authored by Aghorasivacharya mentions only Chandikeswarar in the festivals of Shiva temples.
Therefore the inclusion of all the 63 nayanmars must have started after the compilation of the histories of nayanmars by Sundaramurthy in ‘Thiruthondathokai’, Nambiyandar Nambi’s ‘Thiruthondar Thiruvanthathi’ and Chekkilar’s ‘Periyapuranam’. The compilations of the life histories of the devotees at the height of the Bhakti movement not only started the festival but also brought in several caste groups and geographies into Saivism.
The practice continues till today and is unique as it celebrates a god who manifests in the actions of devotees.
True to traditions, on the morning of the nayanmar procession, myths are enacted, full thevarams sung and pas sages from the Periyapuranam recited.
The main myth of the festival relates to Thirugnanasampanthar giving life to Angampoompavai (who was re duced to ashes and bones after death by snake bite), it is enacted on the banks of the temple tank. In the picturesque procession, Chan dikeswarar, Appar, Sundarar, Sampanthar, and Manickavasagar are given separate palanquins. Eighteen other palanquins accommodate the other nayanmars. In the afternoon Kapaleeshwarar grants them his darshan. The evening witnesses as a conglomeration of deities from other temples just like the devotees who gather from all over the neighbouring villages. Mundagakanni Amman, Kolavizhi Amman, Vasuki with Thiruvalluvar, and Draupadi Amman join the procession in their palanquins with Lord Murugan from Chintadripet. The sight is a telling visual of the rural folk culture asserting itself over the metropolitan façade of Chennai.
