The Chithirai Festival at Madurai combines two separate events with a common legend. The first is the celestial wedding of Meenakshi-Sundareswara and the other is that of Azhagar from Tirumalirumsolai/Azhagarkoil coming down to the Vaigai river. It is believed that Tirumalai Nayak brought the two together in the 17th century. Of the two, while the divine wedding and the festivities leading up to it are well known, the only aspect of Azhagar’s procession that gets noticed is the fifth day’s proceedings when the Lord enters the Vaigai river.
Azhagar’s Procession
In reality, Azhagar’s outing is a mega event by itself, celebrated in every hamlet en route. The procession has a fixed itinerary and lasts nine days, four on the way to Madurai, a day by the Vaigai and four in return. There are numerous ‘Thirukann’s or pavilions by the wayside, three hundred and more as per one estimate, in each of which Azhagar halts both to and from Madurai. He is accompanied by a huge entourage, which includes folk dancers, shamans, people dressed up as guardian deities, itinerant vendors, and temple officials who not only have to escort the processional icon but also carry all His changes of costume and mounts. Azhagar changes alankarams all along the way, each transformation dictated by a watertight schedule.
Sengamalavalli’s paeans of Azhagar’s Procession
The Music Academy library has a book titled Tirumalirumsolaimalai Azhagar Kirtanaigal published in 1932. The composer is a Sengamalavalli, the wife of AK Srinivasa Aiyyangar, Tamil lecturer at the Findlay College (now High School, Mannargudi). In the preface to the work, the lady, of whom nothing further is known, states that having had the opportunity to witness the entire Azhagar festival a few years earlier, she was inspired to compose songs on what she saw.
What follows is a remarkable corpus of 54 songs that describe the procession stage by stage. The language is colloquial and there is basic adherence to rules of prosody, alliteration, and metre. Though the raga and tala are indicated for each composition, Sengamalavalli provides no notation. For most of the songs she gives some very well-known Carnatic compositions as reference to follow for the tune. For the remaining, a basic swara pattern for the Pallavi alone is given.
Azhagar in a floral palanquin
The first nine pieces are in praise of Hayagriva, the kshetra of Azhagarkoil and the presiding deities. The procession proper begins with the 10th song when Azhagar, by midnight of the third day of the festival, departs His hill fortress for Madurai. The piece is structured as a set of kannis and describes the Lord giving the keys to the guardian deity Karuppusami represented by 18 steps. Surrounded by Kallars and Maravars, Azhagar departs in a floral palanquin, Himself donning the garb of a Kallar. Song 11 describes Azhagar halting at the various Thirukanns, some made of stone, others mere thatch. He accepts homage at places such as Kallandhiri and Appan Tirupati.
Ethir Sevai welcoming Azhagar
Song 12 describes His going on a hunt near Narasingampatti, with His hair tied in a knot, His hands wielding a spear and staff. At the outskirts of Madurai, Azhagar is received by the town people, in a ceremony known as Ethir Sevai. The song makes note of the fireworks let off when He arrives. Azhagar reaches the Ambalakara Mandapam where He discards the Kallar costume and displays His golden form. A garland worn by Andal at Srivilliputhur awaits Him here. At Thallakulam, Azhagar spends the fourth night. All of this brings us to the end of song 13.
The many pit-stops for Azhagar’s Procession
The fifth day is a busy one for Azhagar. Song 14 describes His mounting the horse and being taken in a chariot made of fragrant vetti ver via Mysore Mandapam to Karuppan Koil where He is transferred with horse to the mount known as Ayiram Ponn Chapparam. Song 15 has Azhagar being sprayed with water from the nozzles of thousands of carriers bearing leather waterskins. Azhagar enters Vaigai thereafter, ‘holding tightly the reins of His horse,’ as per song 16. He goes to a hall of mirrors and this sevai is described in song 17. From here, the Lord proceeds to the Vandiyur Veeraraghavaswami temple, where He spends the night.
A Night with Tulukka Nachiyar
For some reason, this has traditionally been described as the Lord spending a night with His Muslim consort Tulukka Nachiyar. While she has a sanctum to herself in Srirangam, there is no equivalent in Madurai and yet the legend persists. Perhaps it was a way of integrating the Muslim community with the festival. Songs 18 to 26 have Tulukka Nachiyar welcoming and offering various services to the Lord. Most interestingly, songs 27 to 35 have Azhagar reciprocating with the same services to Tulukka Nachiyar! In song 36, He plays a game involving a floral ball with her and departs. Songs 37 to 41 are benedictions, lullabies and swing songs for the couple.
Ten Incarnations during Azhagar’s Procession
With song 42, the Lord is at the Ramaraya Mandapam where in one night, at the request of rishi Sutapas whom He redeems enroute from the curse of being a frog, He displays ten avatarams. This is one of the most spectacular aspects of the procession. Azhagar transforms Himself from Matsya to Kurma and so on until He becomes Krishna. Owing to paucity of time some are omitted, and the composer too does not have songs for Varaha and Narasimha. The 10th avatara here is that of Mohini and songs 49 and 50 describe this.
The Return of Azhagar’s Procession
On the seventh day, the Lord mounts the Anandaraya palanquin and wends His way back. At the Mysore Mandapam He is transferred to a floral palanquin and enters Azhagarkoil on the ninth day, with all the offerings given to Him. Songs 51 to 53 sing of this journey and the book concludes with a Mangalam.
Sengamalavalli may claim to have no qualifications to compose but her songs bring to life an energy-filled festival replete with all local colour.
This Article appeared in The Hindu on April 26th
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Very interesting and excellent post. Great Sriram.