Sarangapani Temple – Worship & Rituals
The temple is open from 7.00 a.m. to 12.00 and from 5.00
p.m. to 9.00 p.m. The temple follows Pancharathra Agama and Vadakalai tradition. The temple priests perform
the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis.
Like other Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Brahmin Vaishnavite sect, which is dedicated to Vishnu. The temple
rituals are performed six times a day; Thiruvanandhal at
8:00 a.m., Kala Santhi at 9:00 a.m., Uchikalam at
12:30 p.m., Ntiyanusandhanam at 6:00 p.m., Irandamkalam at
7:30 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at 9:00 p.m.
Each ritual comprises three steps: Alangaram (decoration),
neivethanam (food offering)
and deepa
aradanai (waving of lamps)
for both Sarangapani and Thayar. The foods offering during the six times are
curd rice, Ven Pongal, spiced rice, Dosa, Ven Pongal and sugar
Pongal respectively. The worship is held amidst music with nagaswaram
(pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument), religious instructions in
the Vedas (sacred text) read by priests and prostration by
worshippers in front of the temple mast. There are weekly, fortnightly and
monthly rituals.
The twin temple chariots weigh 300 t
(660,000 lb) each and have been renovated in 2007. The chariots were not
drawn for some years during the preceding period. The chariots are next only in
size to the ones in Thyagaraja temple in Thiruvarur and Andal Temple in Srivilliputhur. The chariots are pulled by hundreds of devotees across
the streets around the temple twice a year, once during the Brahmotsavam during
April–May and other during Rathasapthami in January–February. The festival idols of
Sarangapani and Kamalavalli are brought to the thermutti (chariot
station) after elaborate religious rituals.
As per a temple legend, once a staunch Brahmin devotee of Aaravamudhan spent most of his life to
the service of the deity. At the end of his life, he felt his loneliness and
prayed for his karma to be performed. Aaravamudhan descended himself to
perform the last rites on a Deepavali day. The ritual
is performed annually by the priests and is one of its kinds where death
rituals are performed in the precincts of a Vishnu temple.