Tiruvannamalai Deepa Festival has a prominent place among the Karthikai Deepa Festivals of Tamil Nadu. What is the history of this Deepa festival?
One of the major festivals of Tiruvannamalai district, Karthika Deepa festival is celebrated for almost ten days.
A large number of people from northern districts go to participate in this festival.
This year’s Karthigai Deepa festival started with flag hoisting on 27th November last.
On December 6, the Parani Deepam will be lit at the Annamalaiyar shrine at four in the morning and the Maha Deepa will be lit at the 2,668 feet high mountain peak at six in the evening.
3,500 liters of ghee is poured into a cauldron measuring 5 feet tall and weighing 250 kg, and this Mahadeepam is lit by a wick made of 1,000 meters of khata cloth.
This Mahadeepam will burn continuously for eleven days.
Around 2700 special buses will be operated by government transport corporations as lakhs of people will throng to witness the Mahadeepam.
Tiruvannamalai Arunachaleswarar Temple is one of the largest temples in Tamil Nadu.
Spread over an area of about 25 acres, the temple comprises nine towers, six prakaras, 142 shrines and 306 mandapas.
Two big ponds, Sivaganga Theertha and Brahma Theertha, are located inside the temple.
This temple was built and restored by various kings from the Chola period to the Nayak period.
AD After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire in the Battle of Talikot in 1565, the Nayaks who conquered Tamil Nadu became independent kings. During that period the Tiruvannamalai Annamalaiyar Temple was greatly improved. Long walls, Rajagopuram, beautiful sculptures were created.
Background of Karthika Deepam
There is no written history of the Kartika Deepam lit at Thiruvannamalai. However, some inscriptions indicate that Karthika Thirunal was the most important day in Tiruvannamalai.
“The first 19th year inscription of Rajendra Chola (1031 AD) found in the Annamalaiyar temple tells about the Lord writing to Thiruvettai on the Kartika festival.
The inscription says, ‘If Thiruvannamalai Wodeyar got up on the day of Tirukarthikai Thiruveta, he would do pendruvavamirtameidu and offer chatchoor to the servant in gold seven kalanjil’.
An inscription of the 27th year of the same king and an inscription of the 32nd year of Rajathirajan I similarly refer to donations for expenses related to the Karthi Thirunal.
But there is nothing in the Chola era inscriptions about a lamp being lit on the hill of this town,” states L. Thiagarajan, former Principal and Professor of History, Ariyalur Government College in one of his articles.
Mysore Kopparai in Tiruvannamalai
After this, an inscription of the Hoysala king Veeravalla in 1311 mentions the Panchaparva Dipa festival. Thiagarajan says that this inscription says that this king gave a gift of 10,000 gold for this ceremony.
“ஸ்ரீவீர வல்லாள தேவராசக்ர சக வர்ஷம் ஆயிரத்திருநூற்ரு முப்பதொன்பத நளசம்வத்சரத்து மாசிமாசம் இருபத்திரண்டாந்தியதி செவ்வாய்க் கிழமையும் பெற்ற நாள் அருணகிரி அண்ணாமலை நாயனர்க்கும் உண்ணாமுலை நாச்சியார்க்கும் அமுதுபடிக்கும் சாத்துப்படிக்கும் பஞ்சபர்வ போத்சவத்துக்கும் திருநாளுக்கும் பஞ்சபர்வததுக்கும் பலபடி நிமந்தத்துக்கும் விட்ட பொன் பதினாயிரமும் இப்பொன் பதினாயிரத்துக்கு அண்ணாமலை நாயனார்க்கும் உண்ணாமுலை நாச்சியார்க்கும் அமுதுபடிக்கு நாள் க க்கு சந்தி மூன்றுக்கு ஆடி அருள அமுதுசெய்யவும் வீரவல்லாலதேவன் சந்திக்கு அமுதுபடி சாத்துப்படி To Venchanam,” says the inscription.
“But Panchaparvadeepa Utsavam means hilltop lamp-lighting ceremony,” says Thiagarajan.
The Tiruvannamalai temple has a very large cauldron called ‘Mysore Cauldron’. “The oil cauldron contains written notes dated 20th November 1746 AD.
The inscriptions on this kopparai state that the Pradhani Venkatapatiya Kopparai was presented to Arunachaleswara Swami for conducting the Krittikai Deeparathana and that it weighs 41.2 barams.
Venkatapathiyya, who served as a high minister in the Mysore state, probably gave it. “This big oil pot was probably used for Deepa festival,” says Thiagarajan.
Apart from the inscriptions, there are references to the Karthikai Deepa festival in some of the monasteries in Tiruvannamalai and in the Thiruvannamalaiyar temple, and mentions of the lighting of the lamp on the hill.
“Rudtsamadam Srirangadevamakarayar Saka Varusha 1456, AD 1534 contains the following words: “Whoever practices this Tanmat will receive the benefit of serving Thirukarthika Thiruvilakku.”
That is, it is said that those who have contributed to a particular puja will get the benefit of serving Kartika Thiruvilakku.
Similarly, in a 17th-century Cheppet belonging to a Telugu Chettiar chief of 24 Manai Periya Street, Thiruvannamalai, it is mentioned that ‘Thirukarthikai, who was shown by Abhaya Astham, who had a mind-pooruvamaka Arunasalamendum to think of him, had a visitation in Diparathini’.
That is, the glories of Thiruvannamalai are told in this septet. Among them, Arunachalam is the place of death, which means ‘Thirukkarthikai shown by Abayahastam’,” says Thiagarajan.
It is customary to light a lamp on the hills
Similarly, the Cheppet of 1788 and the Telugu Cheppet of 1816 found in Thiruvannamalai temple mention the Karthikai festival of this temple.
Tyagarajan suggests that the Kartika festival may have been celebrated since the Chola period and the practice of lighting a lamp on the hill may have originated later, citing inscriptional sources and reports from Seppet.
For Tamil Nadu, researcher Stalin Rajangam points out that there is a long tradition of lighting the lamp on the hills adjacent to Karthikai.
“In Madurai, lamps are also lit at Perumal Hill, Aritapatti, Keezakuilgudi and Tiruparangunram.
All the hills where these lamps are lit have schools or sculptures related to Jainism. But people don’t have any stories that connect this lamp with the sculptures below,” he says.
But as far as Thiruvannamalai is concerned, there is no Jain sign below the hill. The story based on Shiva Purana is told here.
Tiruvannamalai is considered as Agni Thalam among the Panchabhutas according to Saivism beliefs.
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