Azhagar visits more than 470 mandagapadis

Lord Kallazhagar's grand procession from Azhagarkoil to Madurai, attracting crowds for 'ethir sevai' at various mandagapadis.

The procession of Lord Kallazhagar mounted on a palanquin visited more than 470 mandagapadis enroute his journey from Azhagarkoil to Madurai on Monday. 

Lord Kallazhagar began the journey at 7.05 p.m. on Sunday from Azhagarkoil and reached Moondrumavadi at around 6.30 a.m. on Monday.  Crowds of people swelled from the nearby areas to welcome him at mandagapadis as part of ‘ethir sevai’ at various points, including K. Pudur, Reserve Line, Bharathi Ula Road, and Outpost, where hundreds of devotees gathered around 6 p.m. to welcome the deity. 

The significance of ‘ethir sevai’ is the tradition of offering prayers to the Lord who comes to their place, instead of the devotees visiting the temple. 

Around 8.30 p.m., Kallazhagar halted at Prasanna Venkatachalapathy Temple at Tallakulam. 

The unique part of the festival is that people of different strata of society stand before the deity as equals, performing uniform rituals.  Devotees from far and near visit the temple which is open to the public for darshan of the Lord throughout the night.