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Celestial wedding at Meenakshi temple
Madurai: More than 60,000 devotees
congregated at the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai on Tuesday to participate
in a unique celestial wedding. A sea of devotees witnessed the wedding
of Goddess Meenakshi, the presiding deity of the famous temple, with Shiv,
the Hindu god of destruction. Preparations for the ceremony, in which
no devotee goes back without eating the lavish temple feast, is done weeks
in advance. Temple authorities say the surge of devout for this year's
ceremony surpassed past records. O Palamudircholai, one of the organizers
of the event said more than 150 people have been engaged to prepare the
purely vegetarian feast for the devotees for the last three days. "We
are just actors in the entire functions. It is actually the Goddess Meenakshi
who is organizing all this. This is a celestial wedding of the goddess
in which she takes care of everything. We are proud to be a part of this,"
he said, adding that nearly 500 volunteers were assisting them. The ensuing
feast, devotees agreed, was fit for a king. Young and old alike relished
the sumptuous fare lined up for the devout. "The food is very tasty food
because it is a "prasadam" of Goddess Meenakshi. It is she who looks after
us every time," said S Kannamal, a devotee. The wedding is part of the
elaborate ten-day long Chitirai Peruviruzha festival, which began on the
30th of last month. The event is seen as a fertility ritual when life
gets renewed every year.
-May 9, 2006
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