In the evening at about 5.30 devotees waited infront of Tirumanjanamandapam to have darshan of Perumal with ubhaya nachimars .As soon as the air instrument made of brass called Thiruchchinnam was blown and udal(a kind of drum) was sounded,the curtain opened. Even those who have been having His darshan daily felt elated as if they were seeing Him for the first time. The drummers stationed near swami Desikan sannidhi kept the beats at regular intervals. As Perumal descended the steps and ascended steps at kili mandapam devotees ran along with Him. He crossed the yaaga shala and descended steps to stop at three places in the Alavandar prakaram- at ThiruAnanthazhwar sannidhi where He accepted upaharams, at Tirumadapalli and at Ugranam(storeroom). The Madapalli occupies an important place in our sampradhayam and is presided over by Madapalli nachiyar who makes sure that appropriate ( Swami Desikan calls our sampradhaya as mahanasa sampradhayam) , first quality prasadams are prepared for Devadhirajan and His devotees. Ugranam is where grains and grocery are stored and Perumal with ubhayanachimars check whether the granaries are full. After this They emerge out to the accompaniment of instrumental music, Vedas and Tamil Vedas on the famous sannidhi street blessing devotees. After returning the evening yaagam started to the accompaniment of Vedas and the divya kataksham of Perumal and ubhaya nachimars stationed at kili mandapam. The evening utsavam got over by 9.30 p.m.
The following are some of the photos taken during the occasion…
Writeup : Vyjayanthi Sundarajan , Photography : Elangadu Ranganathan Chakravarthy