Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Vaseeswarar Temple, Tirupaasur – Religious Importance & Festivals

Vaseeswarar Temple, Tirupaasur – Religious Importance & Festivals
Thirugnana Sambandar, a 7th century Tamil Saivite poet, venerated Vaseeswarar in ten verses in Thevaram, compiled as the First Thirumurai. Appar, an 8th century Nayanmar, also venerated Idaiyatreeswarar in 10 verses in Thevaram, compiled as the Third Thirumurai. As the temple is revered in Thevaram, it is classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam, one of the 275 temples that find mention in the Saiva canon. The temple priests perform the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. The temple rituals are performed three times a day; Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 a.m. and Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m.
Each ritual comprises four steps: abishekam (sacred bath), Alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and Deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for Vaseeswarar and Than Kathali Amman. Unlike other Shiva temples, anointing with oil is not performed in the temple. There are weekly rituals like somavaram (Monday) and sukravaram (Friday), fortnightly rituals like Pradosham, and monthly festivals like Ammavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, Pournami (full moon day) and Sathurthi. 10 day Brahmotsavam during the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May - June), Margazhi Tiruvadhirai in December-January and Shivarathri in February-March are the festivals celebrated in the temple.