When we were led in, we were asked to line up behind the elevated railing to witness the first ritual, the worship of the cow and elephant. The goddess, in her decorations left behind overnight, received a beautiful and healthy cow and her calf, tied to the railing in front of the sanctum sanctorum. The chief priest came out and applied kumkum and other sacred unguents to the animals, to the playing of the hand bell and mantras. He did it with devotion, not mechanically. At the end he brought rice and bananas on a plate and offered it to the cow and calf. A bit nonchalant till then, the cow and calf applied themselves vigorously to polishing it off within a minute. Then they were untied and led away.
Meanwhile, a large adult female elephant with great vibhuti markings and an extremely healthy look, was brought in, in a stately gait, with the collar bell ringing. The mahout steered Jayanthi (16 years) to face the deity. She pretty much filled the doorway and faced the Goddess. She actually prayed.The mahout was able to make her move in sub-inches. She knelt. She hooted once like a loud shankha. She raised her trunk in prayer, she drank tirtha out of a small chambu with her trunk in droplets! She also received puja and Prasad.
Then we were called into the sanctum, did sankalpa over a fire as witness, and were seated less than 15 feet from the deity. We witnessed the most amazing abhishekam which lasted 90 minutes or so. Every anointing, decorating, pouring of water, milk, curd etc. was done with exquisite grace and method. The goddess was wearing (in someone's words) a bathing suit and sat through everything with a wonderful smile. When the priest poured milk, he was able to pour it to bathe an exact left half or right half with the sharp and beautiful nose, lips and forehead covered exactly on one side of the middle, making it a remarkably beautiful sight. All the while, the assistants were supplying the materials with great efficiency. Chants, arati, bells were all creating a wonderful atmosphere. Finally, after naivedyam etc. when the Goddess was fully decorated and unveiled, she sat in siddhasana, dressed exquisitely with silks, jewels and flowers, holding a silver veena, with her eyes in a yogic trance. I cannot describe the sight.
The abhishekam was done for the srichakra called Kamakoti Peetha in front of the deity with the same application as the main image. To say that there was a spiritual atmosphere throughout is a trite statement.
Let me come to the music. Behind us, in the main hall, there was a nagaswaram ensemble. The music they produced was ethereal. It was perfect music fit for the gods. The nagaswaram player was an expert and played with great feeling, creativity and expression. He played Pranamamyaham (Gowla-Vasudevacharya) to propitiate Ganesha. Then he played Ranjani alapana and GNB's Ranjani Niranjani, a song in praise of Kamakshi. This is a masterly composition and GNB dresses up the raga despite its limitations in such splendour that it is like a great director extracting an Oscar-winning performance from a lesser artiste. And the nagaswaram player was fully alive to the possibilities instilled by the incomparable GNB. Then came a bravura Keeravani alapana, followed by "dEvi neeye Thunai"(Papanasam Sivan). What a song! What a composer. After a short break for nagaswaram when the deity was curtained off for the decoration, he resumed playing during the final arati and Kumkuma archana etc., and presented a fine Chakravaka and a Thiruppugazh song.
After we received the prasadam and blessings, we reluctantly walked out. I asked to meet and thank the nagaswaram vidwan. He approached with extreme modesty. I told him his music had been life-changing.
His name is Vid. Selvarathnam ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u70U5xkDMpQ ).
I was later told that Harimau has written glowingly about him.
Can I ever thank our ancestors, our society, our priests, our artistes, enough for giving us such meaning in our life?
