Thai poosam…. arogaraa…

[FONT=&quot]Finest Blog winner - Fourth Weekly pick of January 2011[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Bala Dhandayuthapanikku arOkara..[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Aarumuga kadavulukku arOgara..”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Hi..hello..Good morning. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Tomorrow is Thai poosam. Lord Muruga’s special festival.The day he conquered tharaksura..or the day his curse was lifted. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Whatever was the legend it is a magical day down here.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]South Tamilnadu is famous for its various festivities, Thai poosam is one among them.On this day all over the world, people throng Murugan temples with ‘kaavadi’ and paal kudam.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]My mom is one among them. Though she can afford to take a fleet of cars to palani if she pleases, she prefers to walk the whole long 350kms bare foot this time of the year. She is so pious. [/FONT]
Yeah! all that is right. So where do I come here?

[FONT=&quot]Few long years back, my grandma had made a commitment with Lord Muruga. It is like this- if he blessed my mom with a boy child, she(my grandma) would make five of us (my mom and we three sisters and my brother excluding my dad)would take ‘paalkudam’(we should carry a pot full of milk on our head and walk barefoot to the temple)from vaigai river to thiruparankundram Murugan temple on a thai poosam day[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](என்ன கொடும சரவணா?[FONT=&quot])[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Even after so much of denials and arguments my mom somehow convinced us to take the walk. So there we were.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thaipoosam in Madurai is a festival not to be missed. The whole city will be dancing alive with all its streets clogged with people from all over the district.[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]In each corner of the street there will be numerous small shacks made by the devotees. With large loud speakers blaring murugan songs all through the week, there devotees will be serving cold water, iced butter milk, sarbath and rasna round the clock on these two three weeks for the tired and thirsty yatra devotees who would have been walking from various parts of the state. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]And Oh.. not to mention the kaavadis..[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The special kaavadis still attracts people from all over the world.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The very special one being ‘parakkum kavadi’(flying kaavadi) in which the devotee will pierce hooks all over his body and hang himself from the hooks suspended above the ground by a Lorry crane. The Lorry will move slowly to the destination.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Then you have vael kaavadi, paalkavadi, pannir kaavadi, machcha kavadi, Mayil kaavadai and various others.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Some have their cheeks pierced with 10foot long vael (spear) and walk with it like a rope walker, it is hard to balance you see.And one has to be very careful not to go closer to these people.The ends are sharp.[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]Some people pierce tiny vel(spears) all over the body and some drag a little shrine on wheels by piercing the hooks in his/her back.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]There used to be number of small children with vel pierced in the cheeks and tongue.poor children, they won’t even know why and what they are doing this for.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Oh! What all people do, in the name of God. I know they are doing this out of love, but kids??[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Ok.let us come to the matter in hand.[/FONT]
One fine Thai poosam day, our family gathered near the vaigai river.

[FONT=&quot]All of us took a ceremonial dip in vaigai(where is the water?.Oh Look! that buffalo is also taking a dip. Is that coming too???) after which we did some pooja. Then everybody made kulavai sound(a shrill sound made by clicking your tongue on the walls of your mouth..quite funny actually), with kottu melam naathasvaram making deafening music beside us we placed the 3ltr milk containing ever silver pot on our heads.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Muruga..Muruga..we started walking. It was a lo..ng journey and the time was mid morning, imagine the Madurai heat![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It felt as if the total sun’s rays were projected only on me. On top of all that we had to walk bare foot on the pan parak spit alleyways, stone pricking highways and urine stinking side roads..agh..[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I was like ‘oh my god..muruga please help me.’[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]There is this interesting group of people who gather around on this very day. They travel in tricycles. They have huge horns and 'thappai'(a flat skin drum) and their sole purpose is to motivate the yatra devotes when they become weak in their journey. If they see someone staggering in their walk, they immediately go to their rescue and start shouting muruga nama in their ears.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“ae..kanthanuku..arogara..ae muruganukku aroagara..”their rhythm will make the most tired soul to stir up and dance.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]One such group was coming beside us.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I was quite fast..and furious..because of the heat and the weight on my head and the splinters that seemed to be fast developing on my feet.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The group started to notice me and came in shouting beside me.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The group[/FONT][FONT=&quot]: கந்தனுக்கு அரோகரா([/FONT][FONT=&quot]“arogara for lord kantha..)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I:[/FONT]கால் வலிக்குது அரோகரா([FONT=&quot] My feet is killing arogara )[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The group:”[/FONT]முருகனுக்கு அரோகரா[FONT=&quot] (Arogara for lord muruga )[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I: [/FONT]முட்டு வலிக்கிது அரோகரா [FONT=&quot](My knee is paining arogara )[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The group: [/FONT]வேலனுக்கு அரோகரா([FONT=&quot]arogara for lord vela)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I: [/FONT]வெயில் மண்டைய பொலக்குது அரோகரா[FONT=&quot](the heat is breaking my head arogara)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]They:[/FONT]வா முருகா வா முருகா வா முருகா[FONT=&quot] (come muruga..come muruga…come muruga)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I: [/FONT]நீ போ முருகா ஜாலியா வண்டியில போ முருகா[FONT=&quot]( you go muruga. ..in your vehicle..while we walk ..)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]We had crossed several roads in all of which people were either watching or praying at us.[/FONT]

I was staggering.

[FONT=&quot]This was new. I never ever walked a lot in my life. How the hell do they expect me to walk a seven and a half kilometer of sun stained roads and with a heavy pot on my head which I am not supposed to lower? [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The heat was scorching and my hands were paining. I felt giddy. Someone suddenly came from behind and poured a pail full of cold water all over me from head to toe. (ஐ..இது நல்லா இருக்கே)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The cold water bathed my sweat soaking body with divine chillness. It was fantastic. Like sidestepping from hell to heaven. She shouted at me..”Go muruga..Go muruga..”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I shook my head off the water and look with steady eyes . My eyes focused on a point farther..in a point that looked like heaven only to me.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I started running.. with milk spilling on my face and clouding my eye sight, I cried loudly “arogara..arogara..aroagara..”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]People around me pointed at me and started shouting..”she is possessed by lord muruga go behind her..go behind her.”[/FONT]
“அருள் வந்துருச்சு..ஓடுங்க ஓடுங்க..”

[FONT=&quot]I was shouting ‘arogara’ and a lot of tired people (including my family) followed me.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I was shouting and running bare foot in the main road not bothering about the people gawking at me. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I rested only in the next heaven. A shadow. That was what I had focused on. A shadow of the shack and a lady with a pail of water.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I glared at her..”Pour it arogara..”(ஊத்து அரோகரா..)[/FONT]
She emptied the pail on me and said..”you go arogara”(நீ போ அரோகரா..)

[FONT=&quot]Again I started to run. And the temple hill was nowhere to be seen. I kept asking someone near me like the donkey in shrek “Are we there yet?”.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Everybody said , here just a little more distance and you will be there.( அந்தா அந்தான்னு அண்டார்டிகாவுக்கே போயிருவேன் போலிருக்கு)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Nobody knew what was happening. I was running continuously like this, nonstop (ok..stopping at the shacks) till the foothills of Thiruparankundram.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It was 12.00 noon. The sun was reflecting his rays through the rocky surfaces of the hills.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The sunlight was practically blinding. The road was blocked in a momentary traffic jam created by a kaavadi.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]And I couldn’t find a heaven close by. I started dancing..(my feet was reacting on the clean hot tar road)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Muruga..Muruga..Muruga..”He was the one who got me into this trouble and he was the only one who could help me right now. I was jiggling with the pot on my head..Again everyone thought I was possessed by God.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Little did they knew that I was possessed by heat..Oh well sun is also God right?? I could see Murugan standing on the top of the hills and mocking and smiling at me.I even thought that he was dancing for a famous number (குன்றத்திலே குமரனுக்கு கொண்டாட்டம்..[/FONT]
குன்றத்திலே..ஏ..ஏ..குன்றத்திலே)
[FONT=&quot]“You naughty little thing..I am coming you see” I said to him(myself) and was dancing myself in the heat.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Traffic cleared and I shot like a bow out of arrow to the next shack. The guy with water was shocked by my speed and looked at me in bewilderment. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I gave him a stare that he would never forget in his life. I said ”mmmmm why delaying muruga? pour it muruga”(லேட்டு முருகா...ஊத்து முருகா...)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Muruga..Muruga..” with shaking hands he emptied the vessel on me. I shook again and felt pure bliss..[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Then I ran…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I was the first to reach the temple in my group. We then went inside the temple in the queue and saw the abishekam. All the hundreds and thousands of pots of milk will be poured on the lord muruga's idol and thousands would stand there and watch it in pure happiness and i even heard people chocking back sobs of emotion.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I once was skeptical bout wasting thousands of gallons of milk on an idol while the same would have helped some hungry mouths. I was given an answer by someone [/FONT]
like this
[FONT=&quot]"Though the custom is unnecessary and true that the milk is wasted but think of thousands of minds and hearts filled with happiness and contentment just in those few minutes. Considering such a change of mind state, the financial waste is not a big deal.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Right...நாலு பேருக்கு நல்லது நடந்தா எதுவுமே தப்பில்ல..[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]So when I saw lord murugan being bathed in milk and when I got to go near and look at him in close up, look at the beautiful face smiling beneath the milky curtain..I knew that the whole ordeal of walking was worth to make. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]While I stood transfixed at the beauty of the Lord I saw him wink at me and I heard him whisper in my ears. கூட்டிட்டு வந்துட்டம்ல?([FONT=&quot]look I brought you here)[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“yeah..right”I smiled naively..[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]After coming out, everybody praised me that Muruga had blessed me by possessing me on the yatra.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I merely smiled at them and then I looked up at the sky and said “Muruga if you are hearing this,..Please don’t mistake me..Ok??…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]P.S:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The highlight of the incident is, after the paalaabishekam and pooja we went straight to my granny’s house who was sick at that time and told her proudly what we had done. She blinked at our mom and said.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Really? I never prayed for all five of you. I only prayed for you(my mom)to take five paalkudam. While others stared at her I clearly heard the song played outside somewhere..[/FONT]
குன்றத்திலே குமரனுக்கு கொண்டாட்டம்.