Devotees draw the car of Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram on Thursday, on the occasion of ‘Aadi Thirukalyanam’ festival.
| Photo Credit: L. BALACHANDAR
The ‘Aadi Ther’ (Car) festival was celebrated at the famous Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram with grandeur on Thursday.The 17-day-long ‘Aadi’ celebrations, which commenced on August 5, would conclude on Aug 21 (Friday).The ‘Aadi Ther’ (Thirukalyana Therottam), which is the highlight of the celebrations, was conducted on the ninth day (August 13). Joint Commissioner (HR&CE) Suresh presided over the festival in the presence of Executive Officer Muthuraj Peshkar Kamalanathan and other officials.A large number of devotees had arrived in the early hours to witness the ‘spatika linga puja’ performed at 4 a.m., when the sanctum sanctorum was opened, marking the special occasion. The priests rendered vedic hymns and the ‘kala puja’ was performed followed by special ‘aarathi’.At around 9 a.m., in the ‘Kanni Lagna’, meant to be auspicious, the presiding deity - Parvatha Vardhini Ambal was mounted on the decorated Car and taken around the four ‘Radha Veedhi’ of the holy town. A large number of pilgrims went along the Car enroute and offered darshan.Police had made special arrangements, and the Car returned to the temple premises in about two hours, officials said and added that on August 14, ‘Aadi Pooram’ would be celebrated and ‘Aadi Thapasu’ would be conducted on Saturday (Aug 15) and among other festivities. Published - August 13, 2026 08:43 pm IST
