Thai Pusam was celebrated at the temple I go to yesterday. Small crowd, nice vibes (in my view the small crowd adds to that) long puja by our two dedicated priests. For this day, and only on this day, the vasantha mandapam murthy of Palaniandavar (Dandapani, Murugan as the renunciate) murthy the same form as the one at Palani hill temple, hence the name. This murthy was the first Murugan murthy for this temple, and was gifted in about 1984. In my days of pandaram priesthood, I became quite familiar with Him.
But there is another smaller Dandapani murthy most are unaware of in the temple. It is located at the gold-plated base of the kodimaram and faces the moolasthanam deity directly. There are 4 sides there and they have 2 Ganeshas, and a Mariamman on the other three.
In a break in the puja ... lots of short breaks, while Gods get dressed, etc. we were admiring this smaller one, and the priest walked by and looked at us. I asked if he (the priest) could give Him a flower on my behalf. He obliged happily.
Nice simple gesture. Made my day.
What really small bhakti gestures have made your day?
But there is another smaller Dandapani murthy most are unaware of in the temple. It is located at the gold-plated base of the kodimaram and faces the moolasthanam deity directly. There are 4 sides there and they have 2 Ganeshas, and a Mariamman on the other three.
In a break in the puja ... lots of short breaks, while Gods get dressed, etc. we were admiring this smaller one, and the priest walked by and looked at us. I asked if he (the priest) could give Him a flower on my behalf. He obliged happily.
Nice simple gesture. Made my day.
What really small bhakti gestures have made your day?
