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.

65th Mayuram Radha Kalyana Mahotsavam also started with Ganapathi homam on 31st h Jan 2020, early morning at Mangala Vinayakar temple situated next to Senthangudi Japa Matam with offerings of appam, sundal, modhakam and ashtadravya (made of 8 materials, namely coconut, banana, honey, sugarcane, ghee, modhakam, jaggery, and puffed rice). It was performed by four well-versed purohits.

 

All auspicious events begin with Vigneshwar Pooja. It is a prayer seeking Lord Ganesha’s blessing for the seamless proceedings of any function.

Vigneshwar Pooja followed Ganapathi homam, performed by chanting ashtothram (108 names) of Ganesha and offering neivedhyam (prasadam or sacred food).

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

Yathra Dhanam was performed requesting Lord Pandurangan’s permission for the move the Portrait of Lord Radhakrishna to the Vallalar Koil Matndapam for the duration of the festivities from his rest of the year abode of Senthangudi Japa Matam.

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 with yellow and maroon garlands, a very pleasant vision.

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): Pongal, rava kesari, idli, sambhar, 2 types of chutneys 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).

A specialty of Mayuram Radhakalyanam is it has multiple Ashtapathi sessions for the pleasure of the Lord and his devotees. From 9 am to 12.30 pm, the first session covered Dhyana slokams, Thodaya mangalam, Guru dhyanams and beginning of Ashtapathi songs sung by the locally and statewide renowned bhagavathars and accompaniment artists including Chennai Mahadeva Bhagavathar, Briga Balu Bhagavathar, Pichumani Bhagavathar, Mayuram Gyanaguru Bhagavathar, Udaiyalur Balarama Bhagavathar, Mayuram Muthukrishna bhagavathar, Joshi bhagavathar, Mrudangam Babu Rajasekar, Sri Shankarraman on harmonium, Kallakurichi Gopala Iyer on harmonium, Sri Sivakumar on mridangam, and Sri Krishnaprasad on mridangam. 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, poosanikay kootu, pachadi, appalam, tomato rasam, arisi thengay payasam, mor and mangayinji oorukay.  

Singing of Ashtapathi songs continued along with panchapathi (songs of 5 languages) and gurukeerthanas. Sixteen Ashtapathis were sung by the end of the first day.  

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. 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.

Young students of the Sri Kanchi Sankara Sangeetha Vidyalaya stole the heart of audience with their devout namasankeerthanam performance for an hour from 6.30 to 7.30 pm.

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]).

This year Akkarai Sisters duo, S.Subbalakshmi and S.Sornalatha, graced the stage on Friday evening. They were accompanied by Sri Sankaranarayanam on mrudangam, Sri Rahul on violin and Sri Karthik on gatam. Sisters are also known for their mastery in violin. They selected popular songs that everyone could enjoy. Their top-class performance included songs like “Jagadananda karaka,” “Goverdhana giridhari”, “Radhasamedha krishna,” “Velai panivade velai” and “nambikettavar evarayya.”

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 kalkandu sadam, keerai vadai, bisibelebath-appalam, mallisadam-thayir pachadi, arisi upma-chutney & sambar, puri-kuruma, thayir sadam-oorugay.

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 11.00 to 11.30 pm 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.