MYLAPORE TIMES

PANGUNI
SRI KAPALEESWARAR TEMPLE

UTSAVAM
 Panguni Utsavam
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Sripathan: the key volunteers
Sripatham members play a pivotal role at
the Panguni Utsavam of Sri Kapaleeswarar –
they are the ones who carry the pancha
moorthy idols in the vahana processions
throughout the fest.
46-year-old G. Balaji says he has been
carrying Sri Kapaleeswarar during the Panguni
utsavam right from his teens. Over the last
15 years he has graduated to the post of mestri,
the leader of the Sripatham team.
For the 2023 utsavam, he assigned each of
the four corners of the palaquin (two in the
front and two in the rear ) referred to as
‘Naalu Moolai’ – to experienced hands.
All the members of his Sripatham team are
from Mylapore with most of them being his
‘sishyas’, trained into the Sripatham by him.

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At Sri Kolavizhi Amman Temple, Mylapore; seeking the grace of the
grama devathai for the festival. 

t Kodiyetram
t

This special booklet is published as a Credits -

celebration and a small documentation of the Editor: Vincent D’ Souza
2023 edition of the Panguni Utsavam of Content Contributor: S. Prabhu
Sri Kapaleeswarar Temple, Mylapore. It is a Photographer: M. Madhan Kumar
Mylapore Times publication. It is meant Designer: S. Prema
to be a collector’s copy. Marketing: R. Kathiravan
Printing: Ratna Offset
The entire Utsavam coverage - reports and
photos - are at  This booklet is for private
www.mylaporetimes.com. circulation. No part/s of it can be copied/
The entire video coverage is at  shared/reproduced.
www.youtube.com/mylaporetv
Contact:
044 24982244 / mylaporetimes@gmail.com
4 MYLAPORE TIMES

t
Punnai-maram
vahanam

Purusha-mirugam
t

vahanam

t Sooriya-vattam
vahanam

t Jadai - for the goddess

 Panguni Utsavam
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This family’s connect with Adikaara Nandi

The descendants of Thasai Kumaraswamy Bhaktha have
a special place at the utsavam - for the Adikaara Nandi vahana
procession.
Descendent P. Murali, who runs a handicrafts shop in
Mylapore, says his grandfather was a staunch devotee of Sri
Kapaleeswarar and that he sold three houses ( including  those
where  Raasi Silks and Giri Trading are located today) on Sanni-
dhi Street opposite the temple to build the silver Adikaara Nandi
vahana in 1917 at a cost  of Rs. 40,000.
Chandru Bhaktha, another descendent, said his father was
born on the day of the Adikaara Nandi procession in
Panguni of 1917.
Every year, on the eve of the procession, the family members
jointly recite Thiruvasagam inside the temple and then present
prasadam to the devotees.
Adikaara Nandi procession
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For 106 years, this family has been maintaining the Adikaara
Nandi vahana.
In recognition of their contribution, the first deeparadhanai
on the third morning of the utsavam is shown to them.
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Panguni Utsavam
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Day of the procession of the chariot ( ther)

Great nagaswaram music

People thronged in large numbers to
participate in the deeparathanai at 10 p.m. at
the eastern raja gopuram on the first evening
of the Panguni Utsavam.
The renowned Thiru Maahaalam brothers,
T. S. Pandyan and T. S. Sethuraman, who have
traditionally performed at Thiru Mahaala-
nathar Temple, praised by the Saivite saint
poets, came all the way from near Koothanur
Saraswathi Koil to present a nagaswaram
performance through the three-hour proces-
sion around the Mada Streets that night.
As the procession began, for a bit, the
sound from the periya udal (beating of the big
drums) drowned the softer nagaswaram tunes
at the start of the procession.
Co-ordination with the artistes would
have enabled the nagaswaram music to float
around rasikas who enjoy it.
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 Panguni Utsavam
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Day of the Arabathumoovar procession; 

Kolavizhi Amman, Thiruvalluvar and 

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Mundagakanni Amman, among many others join

the procession

Thiru Gnana Sambandar brings Poompavai back

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to life; enactment on steps of temple tank

10 MYLAPORE TIMES

Night of voyali
performance
It is the one day in
the Panguni Utsavam
when the action lies
centered on West Mada
Street, now
R. K. Mutt Road.
Devotees in several
hundreds packed onto
the road in the temple
tank zone just after
8 p.m.
Kapaleeswarar
in Bikshandar Thiru
Kolam made his way
through South Mada
Street seeking alms as
devotees sought his
blessings and made
offerings, and stationed
himself   on West Mada
Street.
 Past 9 p.m.,
Karpagambal present-
ed a series of voyali
performances; with
t Bikshandar enjoying
Karpagambal (left) and lord Kapali as her dance from the other end of the road. Devotees
Bikshandar (right) had a good time watching the Sripatham personnel’s
performance.
Writer-historian V. Sriram notes that ‘in the
late 19th and early 20th centuries, Doraikannu, the
devadasi of the temple would lead this procession
dressed as Bhikshatana herself and her dance would
thrill the audience.’

Grandness of Adikaara Nandi Ekantha Sevai

The procession of the lord on the Adikaara Nandi is one of Following the night-long
the biggest features of the Panguni utsavam. Rishabha vahana procession that
The clock had just ticked past 5 a.m. that Thursday morning  when lasted nine hours around the Mada
the pancha moorthy idols made their way for the procession inside Sri Streets, the othuvars at Sri Kapali
Kapali Temple from the Thiru Kalyana mandapam. Temple led by Sathgurunathan en-
By this time, people had already gathered in a few thousands, both thralled the early morning devotees
inside the temple and outside the raja gopuram. that Sunday with a one-hour-long
The devotional excitement was palpable in front of the pillayar Ekantha Sevai presentation.
sannidhi with not an inch of space left as Kapaleeswarar made his way This was held around the
to the raja gopuram for the deeparathanai at 5.45am. temple prakara: the othuvars ren-
Devotees packed into Sannidhi Street, right up to the shed of dering the sacred Thevaram verses
the ther ( chariot) and it was a sight to behold as  they chanted ‘Kapali marking the completion of the fifth
Kapali’ in chorus when the Sripatham presented the lovely voyali in day event at the Panguni utsavam.
front of the eastern raja gopuram just after 6 a.m. Sathgurunathan was joined
Even as the Lord strode out to the 16-pillar mandapam, the dev- in the brilliant presentation by
otees were already humming to the beating of the periya udal (drums) teammate Vageesan and othuvars
and the Nagaswaram tunes. from Thiruvottiyur, Vadapalani,
It was past 8 a.m. when Kapaleeswarar moved on to the South Aminjikarai, Sankaran Koil and
Mada Street but the crowd continued to swell as late comers who Vriddachalam.
missed the gopura vaasal darshan now had a close darshan of the lord. The fitting climax to the
People also presented milk to the service personnel and devotees Ekantha Sevai was the presentation
in honour of Thiru Gnana Sambandar’s Gnana Paal episode that was of  aadu mayil aadu in the
enacted inside the temple tank that day. northern prakara, with
Kapaleeswarar dancing to this lively
song and the devotees singing in
chorus along with the othuvars.
 Panguni Utsavam
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Thirukalyanam scenes; inside the temple

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12 MYLAPORE TIMES

Many faces of devotion

 Panguni Utsavam
Ravana carries the lord, music of mukha veena
After a noisy evening with a huge crowd watching the celestial wedding
of the divine couple, the Thiru Kalyanam, Sri Kapaleeswarar was carried by
the ten-headed Ravana on a three-hour procession around the Mada Streets.
Contrasted with the fast-paced, high-decibel drum beating that marked
the processions on the first nine days, the procession on the tenth evening of
the Panguni utsavam featured a sole musical instrument.
Veena was Ravana’s favourite musical instrument. Navaneetha Krishnan,
who is the asthana vidwan at Kozhi Vizhi Amman Temple, presented some
sweet music on the mukha veena on this procession.
Devotees had designed white pulli kolam all along the entire walkway
leading from the temple gate to the 16 pillar mandapam.
Kapaleeswarar was soon joined by a beautifully decorated Karpagambal
in a bright yellow saree at the 16-pillar mandapam.
It was 2 a.m. when Kapaleeswarar returned through the eastern raja
gopuram marking the completion of the 2023 Panguni utsavam.
Even as the Sripatham personnel made their way into the temple, the
priests and the Vedic pundits were ready at the dwajasthambam for the
kodi-erakkam. That took place at 3.15 a.m.
13
Drama: when the divine couple quarrel
After a two-hour procession around the Mada Streets, a
‘big fight’ erupted between Karpagambal and Kapaleeswarar
and it was left to Sundara Moorthy nayanar to mediate and
bring them together again.
The episode from Thiru Oodal Puranam was played out
late on a Friday evening, a day after the flag was brought down
at the Panguni utsavam.
It all seemed fine on Thursday evening with the grand
Thiru Kalyanam and  late night Ravana Vahana procession to
the tunes of mukha veena.
24 hours later, as it so often happens with couples, Karpag-
ambal took strong objection to Kapaleeswarar holding Ganga
secretly atop his head.
All of a sudden, Karpagambal shot past Kapaleeswarar to
the 16-pillar mandapam while he stayed back near the chariot,
shocked at this sudden and hasty retreat of his consort.
It was then that Kapaleeswarar pulled in his friend,
saint-poet Sundara Moorthy Nayanar to check the reason for
Ambal’s anger and to bring her back.
For the next half hour or so, this historical episode was
played out between the mandapam and the chariot zone, with
Sundarar going back and forth between Ambal and the Swami
playing a conciliatory role.
Sannidhi Street seemed like a live drama stage.
Othuvar Vageesan anchored the enactment. While Ambal
reasoned that the Lord having Ganga secretly on his head
was unpardonable,  Swamy said he had tanned waiting in the
hot sun. Finally Kapaleeswarar asked Sundarar to play out the
Saama Veda before Ambal to cool her reasoning out that even
Ravana did so after he was crushed under Mount Kailasa by his
big toe.
After three rounds, Ambal finally relented and made her
way to the chariot side to take her place beside Kapaleeswarar
much to the delight of the devotees who had gathered to
watch the enactment of this episode.
t Photos of the episode
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14 MYLAPORE TIMES

Dancers of guru Urmila Satyanarayanan (above) and Sikkil Gurucharan in concert ( below)
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Vidaiaatri: music and dance after the utsavam

Srikrishna Mohan and Ramkumar Mohan, popularly 2013 in front of the 16 -pillar mandapam at the Mylapore
known as Trichur Brothers, enthralled the audience with Festival, my husband and I have become their fans. We
a devotional kutcheri at the Navarathri mandapam at Sri have not missed a single kutcheri that they have presented
Kapali Temple - the event was part of the 12-day Vid- at the Kapaleeswarar Temple since then.
aiaatri music and dance fest following the 10-day Panguni “This evening, I was thrilled when they presented
utsavam. my favourite song Naan Oru Vilayaattu Bommaiya. Their
Srikrishna Mohan, the elder of the Trichur Brothers presentation of Dinamani Vamsam and Kapaleeswarar was
said that it gives him and his brother a divine feeling to be also very pleasing.’
performing at the Kapaleeswarar Temple. Towards the end of the duo’s concert, their rendition
“We have been performing here for four years and it is of Panduranga Jai Jai got the audience humming to
always a special and divine feeling. Mylapore is the centre the song.
of Carnatic music
and to have the op-
portunity to present
a kutcheri within the
Kapaleeswarar Tem-
ple is great. It is a
completely different
atmosphere inside
the temple. The en-
tire audience sitting
till the very end adds
to the devotional
element.”
72 year-old
Vathsala has been a
fan of Trichur Bros.
for the last 10 years,
by her admission.
She said, after
the concert, “Ever
since we saw them
perform in January