“Chithirai Thiruvizha” means “The festival of Tamil month “Chithirai” “… And Chithirai month roughly falls from late April to mid May. So, the myth behind this festival have come from the bards through many generations!! And it’s believed that it’s not completely a myth but that it really took place years ago, when the distance and transparency between Man and God was said to be less!! The Chithirai Thiruvizha is ONE OF THE LONGEST FESTIVALS IN THE WORLD and also one of the famous and noted festivals of India!! The festival has 2 parts !! 1 is the “The celestial wedding of Meenakshi-Sundareshwarar” and the other is the “Azhagar Festival”.
MEENAKSHI AMMAN TEMPLE
MADURAI - ATEHNS OF THE EAST
In reality, “The Meenakshi Festival” and “The Azhagar Festival” used to take place in two different months and were separate festivals. But the last King of Madurai, Thirumalai Nayakar, merged both the festivals with the intention of bringing the two predominant religious groups “Vaishnavism” and “Saivism” together. And they started to celebrate it in the same month Chithirai, hence giving the name “Chithirai Thiruvizha”. So coming straight to the story, we have heard different versions all through our life and definitely don’t know which is accepted as “THE PERFECT STORY”.. So here we are, presenting the story, as we have heard it….
THE STORY BEHIND :
The Pandya king, Malayadwaja pandian and his wife, Queen Kanchana malai who was the daughter of Chola King Susenan were the reigning couple of Madurai then. Everything was fine except for the fact that the King-Queen were childless. So, the couple decided to perform the Putrakameshti Yagna, which is a sacrificial prayer performed to obtain a Child from God. The yagna was performed and from the fire pit set for the yagna, emerged a beautiful little girl with 3 breasts in silk robes!! Though the Queen was happy, the King was not!! As he had wished for a son, an hier!!! But suddenly a thunderous voice from the sky assured Malayadwaja that the little girl is a gift for him from Lord Shiva and she should be raised like a son, for she is valiant and unmatched!! The voice also said that, when she meets the man meant for her, her third breast will automatically disappear!! And Malayadwaja finally accepted her happily!! She was named Meenakshi (Fish eyed) for she had beautiful eyes in the shape of Fish. Hence she grew up to become a successful Queen under whom her people and kingdom prospered !!
Queen Meenakshi won over all the Kings and kingdoms, that her next target was Mount Kailash where Lord Shiva himself resided!! It soo happened that as soon as she saw Lord Shiva, The Sundareshwarar, her third breast disappeared and the ever valiant Meenakshi realized that even before the war started, she had lost the war of hearts!! And hence, Lord Shiva proposed and promised her that he would come to Madurai and take her as his bride!! So.. All the preps for the Celestial wedding was done with all pomp and glory!!
Meenakshi’s brother, Kalazhagar (Lord Vishnu) of The Azhagar hills was informed of his sister’s wedding. Lord Azhagar was supposed to do the sacred ritual called “Kannikadhaanam” which in simple words mean, giving the hand of his sister to the Groom for the rest of the life. Rakhayi is Azhagar’s elder sister who resides on top of Azhagar hills. Azhagar chose to go to the wedding without the knowledge of Rakhayi, as she was not very interested to attend it!!! So, he disguised himself like a robber, handed over his keys to his guard “Karuppanasamy” and left!! But on his way, he gets mischievous and joins hands with a group of people; Gambles, gets drunk leading him to eventually get late for the marriage!!
MADURAI - ATEHNS OF THE EAST
In reality, “The Meenakshi Festival” and “The Azhagar Festival” used to take place in two different months and were separate festivals. But the last King of Madurai, Thirumalai Nayakar, merged both the festivals with the intention of bringing the two predominant religious groups “Vaishnavism” and “Saivism” together. And they started to celebrate it in the same month Chithirai, hence giving the name “Chithirai Thiruvizha”. So coming straight to the story, we have heard different versions all through our life and definitely don’t know which is accepted as “THE PERFECT STORY”.. So here we are, presenting the story, as we have heard it….
THE STORY BEHIND :
The Pandya king, Malayadwaja pandian and his wife, Queen Kanchana malai who was the daughter of Chola King Susenan were the reigning couple of Madurai then. Everything was fine except for the fact that the King-Queen were childless. So, the couple decided to perform the Putrakameshti Yagna, which is a sacrificial prayer performed to obtain a Child from God. The yagna was performed and from the fire pit set for the yagna, emerged a beautiful little girl with 3 breasts in silk robes!! Though the Queen was happy, the King was not!! As he had wished for a son, an hier!!! But suddenly a thunderous voice from the sky assured Malayadwaja that the little girl is a gift for him from Lord Shiva and she should be raised like a son, for she is valiant and unmatched!! The voice also said that, when she meets the man meant for her, her third breast will automatically disappear!! And Malayadwaja finally accepted her happily!! She was named Meenakshi (Fish eyed) for she had beautiful eyes in the shape of Fish. Hence she grew up to become a successful Queen under whom her people and kingdom prospered !!
MEENAKSHI AMMAN
SUNDARESHWARAR - PIRIYAVIDAI
Meenakshi’s brother, Kalazhagar (Lord Vishnu) of The Azhagar hills was informed of his sister’s wedding. Lord Azhagar was supposed to do the sacred ritual called “Kannikadhaanam” which in simple words mean, giving the hand of his sister to the Groom for the rest of the life. Rakhayi is Azhagar’s elder sister who resides on top of Azhagar hills. Azhagar chose to go to the wedding without the knowledge of Rakhayi, as she was not very interested to attend it!!! So, he disguised himself like a robber, handed over his keys to his guard “Karuppanasamy” and left!! But on his way, he gets mischievous and joins hands with a group of people; Gambles, gets drunk leading him to eventually get late for the marriage!!
KALLAZHAGAR
Meanwhile, Lord Shiva reached Madurai!! The whole city rejoiced their Queen’s Marriage!! They came to know that Azhagar would not make it on time to the wedding, so “Veeraraghava Perumal” (another form of vishnu) had to do the duties in the place of Meenakshi’s brother. And hence the wedding took place and Lord Shiva and Queen Meenakshi were pronounced Husband and Wife!!! Unaware of this fact, Lord Azhagar reached Madurai and when he was about to cross the river Vaigai, Veeraraghava Perumal happened to see him. He conveyed Azhagar the message that Meenakshi’s wedding was over and he did the brotherly duties as Azhagar was not there. This infuriated Azhagar to no ends!! He was not able to accept the fact that his sister’s wedding was over without waiting for him!!!! Hence he chose to return back without crossing Vaigai!!!
He was soooo angry that he was feeling giddy!! When a muslim women “Thulukka Nachiar” saw him, she tried to pacify him and offered him to stay at her place to rest and leave the next day!! Azhagar obliged!! And the next day he left, but the anger was still there. on his way, he met Mandooka Rishi who was in the form of a Crane due to a curse and was waiting for Azhagar to break it, since then. Azhagar broke Mandooka Rishi’s curse and also blessed him by showing him his Dashavatars (10 avatars). He then continued his journey back to Azhagar hills and on the way looted people joining a group of robbers. Finally when they reached a place called “Kallandhiri” on the way to Azhagar hills, they shared their loot and parted ways.
On reaching Azhagar hills, Lord Azhagar came to know that Rakhayi was so angry as he had left without her knowledge and that she was also aware of the fact that he had stayed in a Muslim women’s house which he was not supposed to do!! So to punish him, she didn’t let him to enter his temple for 48 days!! And after 48 days, he was whipped to remind him of his mistakes and never to repeat it!! Finally, he was let in!!!
Meanwhile, after their wedding, Meenakshi came to know that Lord Shiva already had a wife named Piriyavidai. This infuriated her and she chose to separate from Lord Shiva!!!
There is also another myth that, Lord Sundhareshwarar-Queen Meenakshi ruled Madurai together for several years as a happy couple, crowned their Prince Karthikeya and retired to become Gods!!
Well that’s the end of the story that we have all grown up hearing from our grandmothers and other elders!! Chithirai Thiruvizha is so special for us, as more than just a mere celebration, we see that as a celebration the brings everyone of us together, no matter which religion we belong to or believe in!!! Now that Chithirai festival is round the corner, we are as usual or even more exited than the previous times!! And in the next post, we will give you a brief schedule of the events that takes place!! Till then, see ya!!
PICS COURTESY : GOOGLE
Meanwhile, Lord Shiva reached Madurai!! The whole city rejoiced their Queen’s Marriage!! They came to know that Azhagar would not make it on time to the wedding, so “Veeraraghava Perumal” (another form of vishnu) had to do the duties in the place of Meenakshi’s brother. And hence the wedding took place and Lord Shiva and Queen Meenakshi were pronounced Husband and Wife!!! Unaware of this fact, Lord Azhagar reached Madurai and when he was about to cross the river Vaigai, Veeraraghava Perumal happened to see him. He conveyed Azhagar the message that Meenakshi’s wedding was over and he did the brotherly duties as Azhagar was not there. This infuriated Azhagar to no ends!! He was not able to accept the fact that his sister’s wedding was over without waiting for him!!!! Hence he chose to return back without crossing Vaigai!!!
He was soooo angry that he was feeling giddy!! When a muslim women “Thulukka Nachiar” saw him, she tried to pacify him and offered him to stay at her place to rest and leave the next day!! Azhagar obliged!! And the next day he left, but the anger was still there. on his way, he met Mandooka Rishi who was in the form of a Crane due to a curse and was waiting for Azhagar to break it, since then. Azhagar broke Mandooka Rishi’s curse and also blessed him by showing him his Dashavatars (10 avatars). He then continued his journey back to Azhagar hills and on the way looted people joining a group of robbers. Finally when they reached a place called “Kallandhiri” on the way to Azhagar hills, they shared their loot and parted ways.
On reaching Azhagar hills, Lord Azhagar came to know that Rakhayi was so angry as he had left without her knowledge and that she was also aware of the fact that he had stayed in a Muslim women’s house which he was not supposed to do!! So to punish him, she didn’t let him to enter his temple for 48 days!! And after 48 days, he was whipped to remind him of his mistakes and never to repeat it!! Finally, he was let in!!!
Meanwhile, after their wedding, Meenakshi came to know that Lord Shiva already had a wife named Piriyavidai. This infuriated her and she chose to separate from Lord Shiva!!!
There is also another myth that, Lord Sundhareshwarar-Queen Meenakshi ruled Madurai together for several years as a happy couple, crowned their Prince Karthikeya and retired to become Gods!!
Well that’s the end of the story that we have all grown up hearing from our grandmothers and other elders!! Chithirai Thiruvizha is so special for us, as more than just a mere celebration, we see that as a celebration the brings everyone of us together, no matter which religion we belong to or believe in!!! Now that Chithirai festival is round the corner, we are as usual or even more exited than the previous times!! And in the next post, we will give you a brief schedule of the events that takes place!! Till then, see ya!!
PICS COURTESY : GOOGLE
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