After a gap of 54 years, the Sri Subramanyaswamy temple in Kundrathur near here will celebrate Surasamharam on Saturday as part of its annual Kanda Sashti festival. The board of trustees of the temple, which met recently, decided to revive the event.
Sources in the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department, under whose purview the temple is, said that in 1969, there was some scuffle between two groups during the festival, and there were not enough funds to conduct the event, which is why it was stopped. “This year, devotees and local residents requested that it be revived. So, the trustees met and resolved to hold it,” the official said.
HR and CE Minister P.K. Sekarbabu said this event was part of the department’s efforts to revive forgotten temple festivals and practices. In the last two years, the Theppotsavam, float festivals of Periyamariamman temple at Namakkal, which had been stopped for 45 years, and that of the Ettukudi Subramaniaswamy temple in Nagapattinam, which had been stopped for 40 years, had been revived. He also added that Sethu Madhava Theertha tank at the Sri Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram had been opened to the public after 20 years.
“We are also encouraging temples to hold gho pujas as part of the Vishwaroopa seva (early morning puja), when cows have to be present. Some of these temples had discontinued the practice. The 127 ghoshalas also provide milk for abhishekam to temples,” he added. The Kundrathur temple is ancient, and Saint Arunagirinathar has sung three Thirupugazh songs in praise of the deity.
