Several thousands of devotees packed into the Sri Kapaleeswarar Temple on Friday evening for the Thiru Kalyana Utsavam that was marked by a grandly decorated mandapam. It was almost 10.30pm when Sri Kapaleeswarar carried by the ten-headed Ravana left the eastern raja gopuram for the final procession of the ten day Panguni Utsavam.
On this evening, he carried Sri Kapaleeswarar around the Mada Streets, with the mukha veena ( Ravana’s instrument) music featured in the entire procession.
28 year old K Viswanathan had been presenting the mukha veena at the procession marking the culmination of the Utsavam for the last seven years though he had not been provided the appointment at the Kapali Temple. However, just ahead of this year’s utsavam, he finally managed to get a confirmed HR & CE appointment at the temple in Thiruvalankadu about 60 kms from Chennai. Being the mukha veena expert, he was roped in for this final procession by the Kapali Temple authorities.
Contrasted with the huge crowd that thronged the Kalyana Utsavam at 6pm, this procession was a quiet one with around a hundred devotees staying back late into the night to listen to the Mukha Veena presentation.
Lord Kapaleeswarar returned to the temple around 1.30am. Soon after, the flag was brought down from the dwajastam bham, marking the end of the 2022 Panguni Utsavam.
- Report, photos: S. Prabhu
