All auspicious events begin with Vigneshwar Pooja. It is a prayer seeking Lord Ganesha’s blessing for the seamless proceedings of any function. 64^th Mayuram Radha Kalyana Mahotsavam also started with Vigneshwar Pooja on 15^th February 2019 early morning 5 am at Mangala Vinayakar temple situated next to Senthangudi Japa Matam. The Pooja was performed by chanting ashtothram (108 names) of Ganesha and offering neivedhyam (prasadam or sacred food).

The purpose of the Ganapathi Homam is the same as that of Vigneshwar Pooja. It is performed with igniting fire in a square-shaped place. Lord Ganesha is invited to be present in the fire, accept our offerings and bless us with energy. As fire is the symbol of energy, it can be said that we request for energy to perform our ventures successfully. The homam consists of chanting various Ganapathi mantras and pouring offerings like ghee into the sacred fire. Ganapathi homam followed Vigneshwara pooja with offerings of appam, sundal, modhakam and ashtadravya (made of eight ingredients, namely coconut, banana, honey, sugarcane, ghee, modhakam, jaggery, and puffed rice). It was performed by four well-versed purohits.  

This ritual is usually performed for divine blessings seeking safety before journeys are undertaken.

As Pandurangan who resides at Senthangudi Japa Matam round the year moves to the stage at Vallalar Koil Matam for the duration of MRK, Yathra Dhanam was performed requesting Lord Pandurangan’s permission for the move.

Decorating the idols or portraits of gods with garlands for the celebrations. After Lord Vittal with His consorts moved to the Stage, His portrait was decorated artfully, a visual treat for bhaktas.

According to Vedas, the one who does annadhanam to devotees attains heaven (Punyaloka) in this universe (Brahmanda) itself. In this whole universe, the creation and its progression depend on food. Thus feeding the devotees is more than attaining heaven. Keeping the above in mind, we offer annadhanam on all 3 days of the function at all 3 times, namely breakfast, lunch and dinner. As we mentioned in our Annadhanam section in this website, our annadhanam does not consist of one or two items. By Goddess Annapoorna’s blessing we are able serve the variety similar to those followed in marriages all over south India. Menu (7.30–10.30 am): Venongal, rava kesari, idli, sambhar, chutney and coffee.  

Dakshina Bharatha Sampradaya Bhajan Padhdhati has been the methodology followed for about 300 years for performing the Radha Kalyana mahotsavam. It is a set of songs sung in a preset order (click the hyperlink devoted to it in the ABOUT tab for more details). At our MRK also the padhdhati has been adhered to in its purest form. From 9 am to 12.30 pm, the Dakshina Bharatha Sampradaya Bhajan Padhdhati was performed by the team of locally and statewide renowned bhagavathars (those who sing Lord’s praise) led by E. K. Jayarama Bhagavathar and included Balarama Bhagavathar, Mayiladuthurai Krishnamoorthy Bhagavathar’s sons Gnanaguru Bhagavathar and Nagaraja Bhagavathar, Jeyatheertha Bhagavathar, Babu Rajasekaran, Briha Balu Bhagavathar, Pichumani Bhagavathar , Dholak Vagulabaranam, and Mrudangam Sivakumar. We are honoured by the presence of Sri Ganesh Sharma, who is a specialist in Abhinaya Alankaram, from Unjavruthi till the concert on Sunday. The first session covered Dhyana slokams, Thodaya mangalam, Guru dhyanams and beginning of Ashtapathi songs till 12.30 pm. The style of singing Ashtapathi is also special here. Usually the rest of the team repeats lead bhagavathar’s lines. Here all bhagavathars take turn and sing each two-line stanza of the eight-stanza song. (Ashtapathi means the song contains eight stanzas.)

The verses from Vedas “Annadanam Samam Danam Trilokeshu Na Vidhathe” (Annadanam is supreme and incomparable to any charity) are the golden standard of the MRK. Menu (12.30–3.30 pm): Pagakai kondakadalai sambhar, parupu, avarai kai curry, vendaikay curry, poosani kootu, thayir pachadi, appalam, tomato rasam, arisi thengay payasam, mor and manga-yinji oorukay. In addition to the variety mentioned above, one more specialty is, as can be seen in the accompanying images, bhagavathars, bhakthas and organizing committee members are sitting and eating together without any discrimination.

Singing of Ashtapathi songs continued along with panchapathi and gurukeerthanas. Sixteen Ashtapathis were sung by the end of the first day. A note on panchapathi: It is a medley of five compositions from Bhadrachala Ramadas’s Telugu kritis, of Sri Purandara dasar’s Kannada kritis, Sanskrit kritis of Sri Sadasiva Brahmendral, Tamil compositions of Sri Gopalakrishna Bharathi, and compositions of Sri Thyagaraja.  

From 4 pm to 5.30 pm light tiffin is served on all three days in addition to three main meals. This time the menu was Ashoka, ravabath, bonda, chutney and coffee.

Since the silver jubilee year, it has been a practice to host two Carnatic concerts, vocal or instrumental, Friday and Sunday evenings each. They replaced Mrs. Kamala Moorthy’s Harikatha pravachanam (narrating stories from the Scriptures[Purana]). At the 64th MRK, Mandolin exponent Shri U. Rajesh the first of two who graced the stage on Friday evening. His erudite rendition which was in tune with audiences’ pulse made the performance a very special one. His portfolio included famous songs like “raghuvamsa sudha”, “thaye yasodha”, “entharo mahanubhavulu” and “alaipayude kanna”.

Simultaneously when concert was going on, the dinner was started being served from 7.30 pm and went on till 10.30pm. The dinner menu included onion and mullangi sambar, vatha kuzhambu, jeera rasam, ennai kathirikai curry, beetroot curry, chow chow kootu, dangar pachadi, appalam, semia payasam, narthangay oorugay and mor.

It is a ritual involving singing of lullabies to put gods to sleep. It marks the end of the day. Though we wonder why gods need protection, it is in our culture at times to imagine gods as one among us and treat them as we treat our brethren. From 10.30 pm to midnight dolotsavam took place grandly with bhagavathars singing lullabies and appointing four among them in four directions to guard the doors of Lord Vittal’s abode. This procedure is very interesting to watch. As Lord Vittal’s portrait has to be decorated for next day’s celebrations, the ritual of waking the Lord up also followed dolotsavam.