The Therottam or temple chariot procession of the Nellaiappar-Gandhimathi Amman Temple of Tirunelveli city is a grand annual festival held in the month of Aani (June - July). This year the Aani Thiruvizha / festival is scheduled for July 8, 2025 and the ensuing event will see thousands of devotees participating in one of the oldest and most vibrant chariot festivals in Tamil Nadu. The festival began on June 30 with temple flag-hoisting (Kodi yettram) and Puja in the presence of senor temple officials and officials from the district administration.
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| Nellaiappar temple Ratha, TN kamadenu.in |
The chariot run is not looked upon as just a ritual but it is a symbol of divine commitment to carry on the age old religious traditions, devotion and faith native to this part of south Tamil Nadu. The people of Tirunelveli are emotional about this temple and its centuries old tradition and customs.
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| Nellaiappar temple shutterstock.com |
The Aani festival is a 10-day event, culminating on the 9th day with a spectacular Ratha Yatra (Therottam) of the deities Nellaiappar and Kanthimathi, Subramniyar,Vinayagar and Chandigkeswarer. The huge wooden Rathas (Thers), adorned with flowers, silk canopies, and sacred symbols, are pulled forward by devotees using thick ropes, all along the mada veedhis in the midst of a sea of humanity. The procession will be accompanied by traditional music of Thavil, Nadaswaram and Vedic chanting by pundits.
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| Nellaiappar temple chariot wooden base, TN. twitter.com |
This chariot, one of the oldest in South India, has a massive wooden base believed to have been made centuries ago with iron axles fied later. Originally the chariot was very tall with many tiers. To facilitate easy movement, part of the canopy was removed to facilitate safe pulling.
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| Ratha Aani festival,Tirunelveli, maalaimalar.com |
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| Nellaiappat Chariot, TN Tirunelveli. tirunelveli.today |
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| Ther Vadam (Huge rope) to pull Chariots flickr.com |
Top image: Nellaiappar (Shiva)-Gandhimathi (Pavati) temple chariot Tirunelveli city, Tamil Nadu. Bottom image: The huge Ther vadam was used in 2014 at Nellaiappar temple. You need at least 2 to 4 ropes to pull the chariot. For more than 510 years the annual Car festival has taken place without any hitch. Unfortunately, last year during the Aani Therottam the huge coir ropes (Vadam in Tamil) on June 21,2024 got snapped consecutively 4 times one by one after the chariot had hardly started moving several meters away from the temple. The devotees were quite upset over this drag in the initial stages. Some considered it a bad Oman as such a break had not happened before. Media and the people squarely blamed the state government run agency HR &CE for their negligence and cheap quality of huge ropes in their custody. At last ropes werebrought from Thiruchendur Subramaniyar temple to keep raths rolling downthe streets. In the newspapers there is a plethora of reports on their misrule and financial mismanagement, including thefts in the past several years with no solution in sight..........
Not to earn the ire of devotees and media, this year HR & CE bought fresh rope (the Vadam with a diameter of 19 inches) for a length of 1300 feet. They bought six ropes at a cost of Rs.7 lakhs.
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| Nellaiappar temple pillars, Tirunelveli. tirunelveli.today |
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| Nellaiappar temple, TN templesproject.in |
To avoid any mishaps like stampedes, over surging of milling crowds the Tirunelveli district administration and police have made extensive security arrangements for crowd control, first-aid, and traffic management. The devotees are looking forward topartipate in the coming therottam, of course with anxiety.
https://www.navrangindia.in/2024/06/what-is-unique-about-nellaiappar-temple.html
