MADURAI: The much-awaited Maha Kumbabishekam of the historic Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai was held on Thursday morning, September 17, after a gap of 17 years, with thousands of devotees gathering to witness the elaborate consecration rituals.
The main consecration rituals were conducted between 7:33 am and 7:50 am, amid the chanting of Vedic hymns and the resonating beats of traditional percussion instruments. The sacred ceremony was performed for the temple’s golden vimanams and Raja Gopurams.
The rituals began in the early hours of Thursday with the completion of the 12th phase of the yaga puja. The sacred vessels, or kadams, containing consecrated water were subsequently taken out in a ceremonial procession from the yagasala at around 5:45 am.
Following the completion of the rituals at the designated time, the Maha Kumbabishekam marked the culmination of the elaborate consecration ceremonies conducted at the ancient temple.
Lakhs of devotees gather for historic ceremony
Large numbers of devotees who had secured colour-coded passes were accommodated on top of various temple mandapams to get a view of the sacred rituals.
At the same time, devotees without passes began gathering on the streets and roads leading to the temple from Wednesday night, hoping to have darshan following the completion of the consecration.
General darshan was scheduled to commence at 10 am on Thursday. As part of the crowd-management arrangements, devotees would enter the temple through the West and South Gopurams, while the West Gopuram would also serve as the exit route.
Rs 32.29 crore spent on renovation
The consecration was preceded by extensive renovation and restoration work across the temple complex.
A total of 186 renovation works were undertaken at a combined cost of Rs 32.29 crore.
Of these, 86 works were funded through temple funds at a cost of Rs 15.40 crore, while another 100 works were undertaken with donor contributions amounting to Rs 16.89 crore.
The renovation works included the restoration of gopurams, painting of mandapams and electrical works, among other improvements.
Why the consecration was delayed
The previous Maha Kumbabishekam of the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple was conducted on April 8, 2009.
Although temple consecrations are traditionally conducted once every 12 years, the next ceremony was delayed following a major fire at the historic Veera Vasantharayar Mandapam on February 2, 2018.
The temple administration decided to conduct the Kumbabishekam only after completing the restoration of the damaged mandapam and ensuring that its heritage character was preserved.
The subsequent restoration and renovation works eventually paved the way for the consecration held on Thursday.
Several ministers, leaders and senior officials, including CTR Nirmal Kumar, S Ramesh and Viswanathan, were present during the festival.
