It had rained, fairly well, and stopped; one could watch the dull, sliver of the moon in the November7 skies above Sri Kapali Temple.
It was the day of Soorasamharam of the annual Skanda Sashti fest here; North Mada Street was barricaded for the drama that was to unfold.
By 7 p.m., there were some 5000 people lined on either side of this busy road; many bored ones dipping into their phones and randomly staring at images and memes.
Then, the distant the roll of drums and the burst of crackers sounded the moving procession of lord Muruga, on R K Mutt Road. The mobile commentators, temple staff, worked up the crowd and gave out orders and advice.
At around 7.30, the lord, seated in a grand ther of flowers and alankaram, arrived and relaxed at spot off the temple’s tank side. Hundreds of phones popped up, people prayed deeply and then began the drama.
Karpagam Lakshmi Suresh took charge as official commentator and was in fine flow though her lines were not often alined with the action.
The drama of the many demons challenging the lord was the spectacle of the evening.
Volunteers changed the masks of a single image, half seated like placed on a palaquin, and walked up to the lord, a man on the palaquin wiggling the head of the mask; the group approached the ther, went around it and got back to a point near Ambika Appalam store; a symbolic act of each demon started and ended here.
Children hugging their grandpa or daddy, threw paper balls and some shot paper missiles into the demons and some got it right, to the delight of people around.
The air was still and stuffy and people sweated but remained patient and finally, when the images of the peacock and fowl winded up the procession, their little dance on the street to music, evoking delight to those who were keen to enjoy the spectacle, the crowd melted slowly.
The mallipoo hawkers off the road were back in business and the Mada Street shop salesmen heaved a sigh of relief, happy the entry to their stores were now free.
It had been an engaging, well managed event on North Mada Street.
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