Villagers in Tamil Nadu Celebrate the Month of Margazhi

villagevoices.rediffiland.com

TAMIL NADU, INDIA, December 26, 2006: In Tamil Nadu during the month of Margazhi which starts on December 15th and ends on January 15th, villagers honor this sacred time of the year by singing daily bhajans. The news release explains, “In the morning women in the village sweep the street in front of their homes and sprinkle it with water. In this month, they draw Kolams in front of their homes early in the morning before sun rise. The kolam is a design drawn with white and colored powder. This is drawn on the street in front of the main door of the house. There is a kolam in front of every house in the village. At 5.30 am a group of men and boys start from the Ganesha temple in the village. They walk through the entire village singing bhajans (devotional songs). They carry small musical instruments to help them. As they pass through the village, they stop for a while at every kolam. In some houses they are welcomed with tea or coffee. They come back to the temple at around 7 a.m. The trip takes about an hour and a half. There is a special early morning puja or prayer after they come back
to the Ganesha temple. The daily morning puja is sponsored by one of the villagers. Devotees are served with payasam which is a rice based sweet and also channa.” After puja as the Ganapati temple, devotees attend a second and third puja at two different Amman temples. The daily bhajan ritual ends on the night before Pongal, the harvest festival, when the whole village participates in a chariot procession carrying Lord Ganesha. “He comes into the village on his special chariot and visits every home. An elephant leads this procession. Then come the men and boys who sing the bhajans. The lit-up chariot of Lord Ganesha again stops at every kolam. Kolams on that day are colorful and more exotic than those drawn throughout the month. Villagers receive the Lord with special prayers in front of their homes. The Chariot goes back to the temple after 4 am in the morning. At sunrise Pongal starts,” the article expounds.