In
our Tamil Nadu, strange festivals have been held continuously from
time to Time. Especially, festivals involving only men, festivals
involving only women, mud smearing festivals, fishing festivals are
being conducted hundreds of festivals.
A festival of breaking
idols by poisonous creatures has gone viral on the
internet.
Alankaripalayam near Sathyamangalam, Erode District, has
a 200-year-old Ayya temple. This Chithirai festival is always
celebrated with great enjoyment. During the festival on all Sundays
in the month of Chithirai, devotees break the clay idols of snakes,
scorpions, centipedes and other poisonous creatures.
In the temple
premises, clay effigies of snakes, scorpions, centipedes, lizards,
spiders and other poisonous creatures are sold.
These dolls
are placed before Ayyan, Karupparayan, Thannasiyappan, Pambatti
deities and worshipped by lighting camphor. The clay dolls are then
broken on a stone and only after that special pujas are performed to
the presiding deity Ayyan Swamy with decorations and Abishekam. A
stone is placed on the southern wall of the temple to break the clay
idols.
This
year too, thousands of devotees thronged the temple to celebrate the
festival. They broke the clay idols and offered prayers. It is
believed that by worshipping in this way, poisonous creatures will
not be seen in the house and garden and humans will not be harmed by
poisonous creatures. A large number of devotees from Coimbatore,
Tiruppur and Nilgiris districts participated in the festival. Special
buses were also operated to this temple on the festive
occasion.
SONGS IN PRAISE OF LORD AYYA
I
would praise and salute, Lord Ayya, on a daily basis, who is the
handsome
form of Lord Shiva and Vishnu,
by reciting the word Ayya, we would get abundant happiness,
and
our mind would also be in a peaceful state.
Oh our Dear precious
and glorious Lord Ayya, we offer our humble salutations to you.
Oh,
beautiful God Ayya who bravely rides on a tiger, come, come,
Come,
come, please come to protect all the living beings in the earth,
my
Dear precious and glorious Ayya, we offer our humble salutations to
you.
Oh,
the Lord of beautiful temple,
please destroy the sins committed by
us in our past and present births, and make us to permanently
surrender at your lotus feet, Oh our Dear God Ayya.
We
surrender, surrender,
and let us take shelter at your holy feet.
Oh,
Lord Ayya,
whenever we recite your marvellous names, then,
immediately all of our enemies would become our friends, Whenever, we
meditate you, even the dreaded animal tiger would become soft and
gentle. I Surrender, I surrender, Oh Ayya,
I surrender, I
surrender, I don’t know any other way, except to surrender before
you, Oh Lord of beauty.
Salutations
to the divine God of the wonderful temple, Salutations to the divine
God who would be capable of making a fierce tiger to behave like a
little cat,
Salutations to the pretty one who has great powers
enough to lift the entire world on his little finger.
I
surrender,
surrender and surrender before the great Lord Ayya.
“OM SARANAM SARANAM SRI AYYA SARANAM”
Sent By
R. HARISHANKAR
