Context

Tens of thousands of people thronged Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu’s Cauvery delta to witness the kumbhabishegam (consecration) ceremony at the Sri Brahadeeswarar Temple.

About

• This enormously significant event was held after 23 years.
• The judgment delivered the struggle for supremacy between the Sanskrit and Tamil traditions that lies at the heart of several cultural battles in the state — and which also played out in the kumbhabishegam ceremony.

Sri Brahadeeswarar Temple and kumbhabishegam ceremony

• The consecration ceremony that culminated with the maha poornahuthi or the main puja
• The Sri Brahadeeswarar Temple (also spelt Brihadisvara, and called Peruvudaiyar Koyil, which translates simply to ‘Big Temple’) is the most famous of the many temples in Thanjavur.
• The temple, one of the world’s largest and grandest, was built between 1003 AD and 1010 AD by the great Chola emperor Raja Raja I (c. 985-1014 AD).
• Holy water brought from the yaga salai — the site of the yajna in the temple compound — was poured on the gold-plated kalasam that tops the 216-foot vimanam over the sanctum sanctorum.
• The other idols at the temple too, were sanctified with holy water from the yaga salai.

About Kumbhabhishekam

• Kumbha-abhishekam is a purification ceremony to sanctify the temple structures and the Deities.
• Kumbha (kalasa) is a pot and the abhishekam -generally means ‘bathing’ (Sanskrit root word-Shic- to sprinkle – , abhi -all around-).
• When the two words are combined, it ‘means ceremonial pouring of sanctified materials.’
• In temple worship, sixty-four worship procedures are recommended by Agama Sastras.
• Of these sixty-four, five upacharas (paadyam, gandham, pushpam, dhoopam, deepam) are of paramount importance.
• These five are then followed by naivedyam, which is distributed to devotees as prasadam.
• Among the five upachara, paadyam, or offer of water is most important.
• This is the reason why during the Kumbha-abhishekam, water contained in pots is first sanctified with Vedic prayers (Theertha kalasa Pooja), after which it used for abhishekam for the deities and other structures.