Kolanjiappar Temple, Manavalanallur – Worship
Practices & Festivals
The
temple priests perform the pooja (rituals)
during festivals and on a daily basis. The
temple rituals are performed four times a day: Kalasanthi at
8:00 a.m., Uchikala Pooja at
8:00 a.m., Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m., and Arthajama
Pooja at 8:15 p.m. Each ritual has three steps: alangaram (decoration), naivethanam (food
offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for the presiding
deities. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals performed in the
temple.
The major festivals of the
temple include the 10 days Panguni Uthiram festival celebrated
during the Tamil month
of Panguni (March - April), ten day Vasantha Utsavam
during Vaikasi (May- June) and Adi festival. During the Panguni
Uthiram, the flag hoisting is done on the first day, while the presiding
deities of the
temple are taken in a chariot round the streets of the temple. During
Vasantha Utsavam, Laksharchana is performed and Lord Muruga comes in procession
with Lord Vinayaka in car.
Krithikai day in the month of Aadi (July-August) is
grandly celebrated in the temple when large number of milk Kavadis are offered
to Lord Muruga-Kolanjiappar. Lord appears in six different Alankaras
(dressings) during the 6-day Aipasi Skanda Sashti festival with Laksharchana
(offering pujas chanting the name of Lord one lakh time). Chitra Poornima in
April-May with 1008 milk pot carried by devotees, Tamil new year, English new
year and monthly Karthika star days are the other festivals celebrated here.
Also, Maavilakku worship is followed on Fridays of Aadi
(July-August) and Fridays of Thai month (January-February). Devotees offer hen,
cattle and sheep to the
temple along with other offerings like facsimile or shapes of body
parts in small shapes made of tin. Offering money or object equals to one's
weight, tonsuring, carrying milk pots and piercing body parts with Vel are
all other common forms of worship. The temple also offers Annadhanam scheme
from 2002, where lunch is served to the devotees every day.