The ‘Kandhar Sashti’ festival just got over in Tamil Nadu last week. If you are in Tamil Nadu, you know, it is a big festival and it is dedicated to Tamizh Kadavul, “Lord Murugan” or “Lord Karthikeyan”. It is extremely popular in all Murugan temples in Tamil Nadu specially in Lord Muruga’s six abodes. Lord Muruga is highly revered in Tamil Nadu. In every Tamil Hindu family, there will be one or more members bearing the Tamil Kadavul’s name.
If you are in Tiruchendur, the ‘Kandhar Sashti’ festival is even more significant. As an introduction, Tiruchendur is located in southern Tamil Nadu in Tuticorin district. Lord Murugan is known as ‘Arulmigu Subramania Swamy‘ here. Tiruchendur is located by the sea and is one of the six abodes of Lord Murugan. ‘Kandhar sashti’ festival is celebrated with religious fervour and enthusiasm for six days here. Devotees undergo fast for six days and break their fast after ‘Soorasamharam’ . Devotees choose the type of fast they want to keep depending on their age and physical fitness. ‘Soorasamharam’ is when Lord Murugan vanquishes the mighty demon ‘Surapadman’ on the sixth day. It symbolizes the victory of good over evil.
The killing of the demon is enacted in all Murugan temples and in Tiruchendur. Huge crowds throng the Tiruchendur temple during and after Kandar Sashti. The day after the Kandhar Sashti festival is the divine wedding of Lord Murugan with Deivanai(one of the consorts of Lord Murugan)
Lord Murugan is known by many names such as Kandhan, Gugan, Subramaniyar, Skandan, Vetrivel, Kandaswamy and many other names. My father’s name was also a Murugan name, ‘N. Kandaswamy’! 🙂
In Tiruchendur – Lord Murugan is also known as ‘Jayanthi nathar’ 🙂 (‘Jayanthi’ means ‘Victory’ symbolizing Lord Muruga’s victory over Surapadman) The city of ‘Tiruchendur’ is also known as ‘Jayanthipuram’ 🙂
Tiruchendur Murugan is said to be a very powerful God that even when the 2004 tsunami struck, it did not touch the temple at all and kept the premises intact. It is also said that when Dutch invaders tried to steal the idol by sea in the 17th century, they could not do it as they were caught in a fierce storm. They had to then throw it into the sea since they thought the idol caused the storm. It was eventually found by devotees and restored to the temple where it rightfully belonged.
Why is Tiruchendur special for us?
My father was in the banking profession and bank employees got transferred every few years. When I was very young, my father got posted to Tiruchendur and he was the branch manager at the State Bank of India there. He enjoyed special privileges as BM and I am sure we enjoyed them too!
My mother was a very religious person and she prayed fervently to Lord Muruga. She was happy to be in Tiruchendur then. She did regularly keep the ‘Kandhar Sashti’ fast for a long time. Even as she stopped keeping the fast as she grew older, she would always follow the dates of the festival. The big Kandhar Sashti festival(there is also a monthly ‘sashti’) always followed Diwali. My mother had told us fond stories about people sincerely fasting for the festival, the enactment of the ‘Soorasamharam’, people breaking the fast, our trips to the temple, even the Dutch throwing the idol away story, my father enjoying special privileges and we as a whole having a good time there.
Though, I haven’t been to Tiruchendur in recent years, it will always give me a good memory of me and my parents having a good experience there!
This post is the next post for the BlogchatterHalfMarathon challenge!