Madurai Meenakshi Goddess Wedding celebrated in Madurai: Thirukkalyanam: Chithrai Festival

The celestial wedding of Lord Sundareswarar with Goddess Meenakshi in Madurai was celebrated in a grand manner with thousands of pilgrims offering worship to the deities on Friday.

The wedding was part of the 12 day Chithrai festival of the famous Sri Meenakshi temple in Madurai city.

Devotees donated MOII - money for the goddess wedding:)

Madurai Goddess Meenakshi Wedding - Live Webcast at maduraimeenakshi.org - Web Telecast - Chitra/Chithirai - Chithra Festival - Chithra Thiruvizha

The celestial Wedding of Goddess Meenakshi with Lord Sundareswarar at the famous Sri Meenakshi temple in Madurai will be telecast live on the internet on April 18, temple officials said.

Devotees can log on to www.maduraimeenakshi.org website to watch the event, Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Temple T.Kannan and the Executive Officer B.Raja said.

They told newsmen at Madurai that the 12-day festival would begin on April l9 and Pattabhishekam(Coronation)would be held on April 16 followed by Dhigvijayam (Deities visiting the city)on April 17. The Car festival would be held on April 19.

A temple feast would be organised when about 50,000 devotees would be provided free feast on the wedding day.

Since the four 'Chitrai' streets were in a bad shape,the Corporation authorities had been requested to repair them for the festival.

The wedding programme would be telecast live using LCD projectors in two big screens in the temple. Besides 40 TV sets would be installed at different points in the temple to enable people to see the function, they said.

sourcing from newstodaynet/thatstamil/hindu/indianexpress

Madurai Entertainment - Madurai Movies/ Madurai Cinema

Madurai Entertainment - Madurai Movies/ Madurai Cinema

There are lot of movies which has come out with stories based on Madurai lately and in very large quantity recently. All the village subjects are shot in Madurai and the story is based on places like Madurai, Theni, Kambam, Sivagangai, Periyakulam, Dindigul etc., For some reason, tamils(tamils from tamilnadu) all over the world have an idea that Madurai and its suburban people are all hard, rough, uneducated, aggressive, angry, sentimental and illiterate people.

That sounds to be interesting for audience these days. Taking advantage of the fact that people are interested to watch madurai based stories, there are more movies coming out these days.

In olden days, there was an MGR cast movie called Madurai Veeran. Good!
Now, starting with Kadal, Madurey, Madurai Veeran, Vel, Paruthi Veeran, Thimiru, Thavamai Thavamirundhu etc.,

All are huge hits, due to the audience traction to madurai, story, action etc.,
All the village folks songs based on Madurai are huge hits too.

In short, Madurai is hugely seen with its rustic outlook and not with a refined outlook. Will it look good with its refined and non-rustic face. I believe, as change happens, it will look good!!

Is building an orphange Good practice or bad?

Traditionally in India, orphans were accommodated by the extended family. But in western part of the world people built orphanages. The characteristics of orphanages for the last two hundred years have been: • insufficient numbers of staff to meet the physical and psychological needs of the children; • a failure to teach the children how to relate to adults of both sexes, and in doing so learn how to be a woman or a man; • a failure to teach them how to build relationships of their own; • lack of planning of the children’s’ work futures. In Europe, girl babies are put into orphanages, grow up without relationships with boys and men, come out at sixteen, get pregnant . . . and put their girl baby back into the orphanage.

People seem to love building orphanages. The idea makes a nice mental picture – the saintly founders, surrounded by the loving children who are only alive because of them, all in a building that is a concrete proof of their benevolence. But this picture is about the egos of the builders, not what is best for children.

Today, AIDS has brought a large number of orphans. How should they be cared for? The money that can build an orphanage can also be spent on fostering the babies with their grannies and paying an allowance. If there are no grannies, aunties or big sisters, they can be fostered with non-related families. If land tenure is closed to outsiders, then older orphans will do better in towns, where they can be found a Master or Mistress and apprenticed to a trade, and ideally fostered with the Mistress’s or Master’s family.

Madurai's Future Plans

Is Madurai a future metro?

The temple city MADURAI is going to possess the following within next 4-5 years

1. ETL convention center cum shopping mall
Rs.100 crore total investments - with multiplex, hotels & shopping arcades.

2. SIPCOT's 2500 acre SEZ @ Eliyaarpathi , Madurai.

Works had been started to acquire land & they are speaking with the local bodies of Eliyarpathi village.

3. RR Industries - 400 acre township - Rudradev IT Township
Total investment of Rs. 4500 crores .
400 acres of land bought at Sholangurini in Madurai south region.
Plan released for its first phase of work & it was approved - work to
be started soon. 18,000 residencies and apartments with 1 hospital , 2
multiplexes , 2 big shopping malls etc., The IT Park to be built is
8-storeyed building.

4. ELCOT's 2000-10000 acre industrial city in Madurai

5.KSHITJI's shopping mall - At RACE COURSE road , Madurai.
160,000 sq.ft.
Hypermarket
Departmental stores
Multiplex theatre
Retail shops
Entertainment malls
Food court
Frontage : 500 feet & No., of floors : G+3

6. Textile park at Madurai in 100 acres
Total investment of Rs.35 crores.

7. Hiranandhini constructions - Residential township in Madurai.

8. Fortune ITC Welcome group resorts near Madurai airport , Madurai.

9. CINEMAX multiplex theatre @ Madurai outskirts.

10 ADLABS multiplex theatre @ Madurai outskirts.

11. PARAMOUNT airlines PILOT training academy to come up at Madurai.

12. Pentasoft's Sport theme park complex in new Natham road , Madurai.
Maayajaal theme park with multiplex theatre - Investment : Rs.200 Cr

13.Children's science planetarium @ Madurai kamaraj university campus
Rs.25 lakhs investment & 25 exhibits .

14. Helicopter service by PAWAN HAANS copter services from Madurai :
To : RAMESWARAM, KODAIKANAL in first phase
PALANI,KANYAKUMARI, COIMBATORE in next phase

15. Kamaraj memorial medical college to come up at 150 acres of land.
- within 20 kms from the city.
- admissions will start by 2009 & works will be over within 2 years.
- 300 bedded multi-speciality hospital - Rs.150 crores investment.
- 150 M.B.B.S seats permitted
- Run by : Vadamalayan hospital trust & kamuthi nadars association.

16. Rajaji Govt., hospital extension @ Anna bus stand - plan approved.
- G+6 storey fully air-conditioned building
- Rs.35 crores allotted.

17. Vadapalanji IT SEZ approved - tender will be called soon.
- 257 acres IT Township. opp., to MKU.

18. SAHARA city homes @ Ring road near Avaniyapuram , Madurai
- 125 acres project
- 15,000 residencies and apartments with 9 storied mega buildings.

19. Arihant foundation entered Madurai.
- Bought 21 acres of land for residential township.

20. Indo-Australian project on solar energy @ MKU Varsity

- Rs.2 crore project

21. Reliance fresh-s started in MADURAI.

- AA Road, Kochadai, Anna nagar
- Bought 11 old cinema theatres of the city to establish its air-conditioned veg/non-veg market.

22. DLF IT park @ Madurai- promised.

23. IBM IT park @ Madurai- promised.

24. COGNIZANT IT PARK @ Madurai - Promised.
Above three Leading IT companies are in talk with the colleges of southern Tamil Nadu to have a tie-up.

25. 1,00,000 sq.feet land for maatuthavani IT park\

- Land identified & approved - waiting for the works to be started.

26. ARVIND Eye hospitals @ Madurai plans an Ophthalmic university.

27. CONCOR-SR @ Koodal nagar , Madurai.

28. Rajparis-padmam apartments

-on vaigai north bank road near Arappalayam bus-stand.

29 . Warehousing complex to come @ 5 acres in koodal nagar.

30 . 2 private IT parks bought land in Madurai.
1- Chennai based CEEDEEYES , a housing & financing company,
2-Dubai based ETA star property developments LLC.,

31. Passport office at Madurai from NOV.2007 near Anna bus-stand.

32. Auto ancillary & accessory industry on ring road near avaniyapuram ,



33. Old Thangam theatre - Now to turn soon into GV studio city.
GV ltd., bought the thangam theatre to establish its 2nd studio city in tamilnadu next to chennai , here in Madurai.
It will have :

• MULTIPLEX theatres

• 2 three star hotels

• Shopping arcade

• CHENNAI SILKS

• HOTEL SARAVANA BHAVAN.



34. YMCA International center @ MADURAI - Total investment - Rs.3 crores.

35. AITKER SPENCE HOTELS

- 80 Room Garden resort to come up at Madurai near Madurai airport.

36. Infosys IT park @ Madurai soon - promised.

37. 28.93 acres of land allotted for TIDEL park @ Kochadai , Madurai.

38. GLOMAC BHD

-Vietnam's township & residential apartments in ring road near chinthamani , Avaniyapuram.

39. TANKER

- Kidney dialysis hospital @ Madakulam , MADURAI soon.

40. KHIVRAJ TECH PARK in ring road , Madurai near airport.

41. Comprehensive blood & cancer center in Madurai .
- By Apollo hospitals , Madurai & BASKERSFIELD , California.

42. World class HIV/AIDS care center to come up in Madurai.

43. Indoor skating opened @ vandiyoor.

- Island lake @ park planned @ Rs.10 crore expenses.

44. METCALFE - 125 acre residential project in Madurai.

45. DAYS INN star hotel under construction in Madurai.

46. Agri-export zone for flowers in Madurai.

47. HCL Infosystems digital lifestyle store to open in Madurai.

48. Diamler chrysler pondering - authorized service station for BENZ

- a new dealership in Madurai.

49. Rs.120 crores AIIMS Hospital planned at thoppur , Madurai.

50. ZOOLOGICAL PARK planned @ Madurai by corporation ,

- Plan sent for approval, near alagar kovil.







-- Scroll down to see the infrastructure developments--







INFRASTRUCTURE DEVOLEPMENTS

Airways:
New Integrated terminal building at Madurai airport @ Rs.150 crores.
It will have :

• 17,536 sq.feet.

• 5 Escalators

• 7 Lifts

• Modern scanning facility

• CCTV's

• 2 Aero-bridges

• Glass exteriors.

Runway expansion :

1. Runway extended from 6000 ft to 7500 ft.
works are going to extend it further to 9000 sq.ft. After that , works for extending it to 12,500 sq.ft will be taken.

2. Parking bay is increased from 3 to 6. A new parking bay is under construction.

3. Another fuel filling station sanctioned @ Madurai airport by RELIANCE.
- GREEN sign & first step to make it as international airport

4. Indian , SRILANKAN airlines, Malaysian airlines keen to connect Madurai to gulf countries , south-east Asian countries , silence, European & African countries. These airlines like operation from Madurai rather than Trichy.

5. INDIAN plans a package tour of connecting historic places i.e., Madurai-Jammutawi via chennai.

6. Nearly 2 kms of ring road near chinna odaippu will be demolished for the expansion of Madurai airport. The road will be diverted from CIRAC hospital to Kusavakundu & to valayankulam.

Roadways

4 Laning of Madurai bye-pass road with 2 ROB'S

- 1 near palnganatham @ Rs.30 cr.,

- Another near thiruparankundram @ Rs.30 cr.,

- Both will be constructed in clover leaf model with 6 arms each.

- All roads branching out of Madurai except Madurai-cochin highway via., Theni are becoming 4-laned & in plan to change it into 6 lane in future.

- 3rd phase of ring road from Samayanallur to Uthangudi is under work.

- Rs.70 crores sanctioned for radial roads in Madurai.

A new approach road for airport is planned :
1- From Palanganatham - TVS Nagar - Avaniyapuram - Airport.
2- From Thiruparangundram - Nilayur - Airport
Both are 4 laned in plan , & also to be 6 laned in future.

Railways

- Northern Entrance new building @ Madurai railway junction in the place of old pit line.

- It will have centrally air-conditioned hall & shopping arcade with escalators.

- Concourse halls in eastern & western entrance @ Madurai railway junction.

- Doubling of broad gauge line from Madurai - chennai is under work.

- Madurai-chennai ELECTRIFICATION work will be over by 2009.

- Got " Rail Rathna " Award for maintenance

- KOODAL NAGAR - Another full-fledged railway station for Madurai by 2009.

- Rs.150 crore sanctioned for Madurai railway junction to change it into world class A1 status railway junction.

- A new broad gauge line to chennai from Madurai jn via., MELUR , PUDUKOTTAI etc/.,

Be Hungry for facts and information!

Be Hungry and Stay Hungry - not for Pizza, but for Facts!!!

As food is for stomach, facts and information is for our brain.
Be really hungry for the facts.

Listen to information and news audio channels or televisions or read the informative websites. Do not just waste time in only the movie related informative media.

These days, news comes in various ways. Unfortunately majority of our indian media concentrates on the movies and movie related programmes. This is terrible, in terms of culture and growth of the country.

If you are in United States, try listening to NPR news, BBC or CNN! They are awesome. The advantage with "National Public Radio" is - it comes in any city! Another thing is they don't have any commercial in between the programmes. All things are considered! They are awesome in bringing information to the consumers.

I am sure similar stuff is in india as well - like CNN IBN, NDTV etc., Do not just watch the movie based channels. Let us get out of the closet and explore the world.

Feed the mind with lot of facts, automatically there will be lot of processing inside our brains to produce very productive thoughts.

Be Hungry and Stay Hungry - not for Pizza, but for Facts!!!

Dreaming Madurai into the roads of Singapore!

Dreaming Madurai into the roads of Singapore!

Is it possible? You will see the answer, as you read on.
I remember and you all will remember one of the politicians coined the same statement and became an utter failure in his political career. Well, anything can happen. He can become a CM someday to the state, considering his education and intelligence. That apart, let us get into the topic.

Again, is it possible? Yes!! 200% it is possible! Anything is possible in this world, just be good planning, execution, team work and hard work.

Here is the japanese way of solving problems. We list out the problems, identify various solutions. Analyze on which solution is best and choose the solution. Once the solution is chosen, just execute it carefully. This is definitely not possible by just one person's thoughts and one person's action. It involves lot of people.

Everyone should come together on this. Many good leaders has to be cultivated. Many new leaders has to be born. Need to work together to execute.

Work hard towards our goals and one single main goal - of Making Madurai a New Madurai!

There has to be a gradual and sharp change in everyone of us. We have to become the
change and show the world that we have changed. Once the world understands and realizes that it is a productive community, automatically funds and investments will pour in.

Atleast, if we are not able to produce, we should provide a cozy environment or platform for production. Are we ready to do that?

Good things can be done anytime. It does not need good time to do that. Anytime we can start the transformation!

It is all like a family. Imagine Madurai as a family of four or five people of different natures. Based on all 5 of us, our team work progresses us to achievement and success. based on the goal we set, we move in the direction.

Based on the things we produce, automatically money will pour in and that once reinvested we get better. All this will lead to better life for everyone of us.

When are going to take the first steps!! Come on and join the madurai force - newmadurai.org.

We can work together to make Dream come true for Madurai into the roads of Singapore!

Youngsters - NRMs - Non-Resident Maduraiites - please look back!

Youngsters - NRMs - Non-Resident Maduraiites - please look back!

I refer to the Madurai based individuals who have gone out of Madurai for the need of work and earning money as Non-Resident Maduraiites - NRM. From here, I refer them as NRMs.

We can do a lot, if most of the folks who have gone outside Madurai for various ventures look back and serve the society. This is the real key to our growth to Madurai.

There are lot of wealth built, lot of ideas thought through, lot of energy on hold by many individuals. Manasu irukku, maargam illai. Many people think through about helping the society they have come through. But they don't have the courage and time to execute what they think.

The point I am trying put across is: There is lot of potential, in terms of what we can tap, but just that it is not being done.

Every man and woman should not just be born, just exist and die! There has to be a
meaning to everyone's life! The world we leave should be different than what we came in for the future generations. How many of us think of changing the world, before we
leave!? Atleast be a change, as Mahathma Gandhi said!!

We should look back and serve the soceity. Even 1% of your efforts is a big deal, for the soceity you were brought up in.

To join the force, please check out newmadurai.org and contact us. We can work together to make a change in Madurai.

Let us work together to make Madurai a New Madurai!!

Corrupt Madurai RTO Office: Had to Bribe in 2000

Please note that the below story is about an incident happenned in 2000. I am NOT sure about the current situation in Madurai RTO office. But please read on about the real incident in the past.

Corrupt Madurai RTO Office: Did Bribing in the year 2000
This dates back to year 2000. Right after my college and my company placement I had training in a local driving school and managed to get trained for 30 days - two and four wheeler training.

I appeared on the day of the license. I did pass in my driving tests. While standing in queue for the application, I had to pay Rs.20 for republic day stamp. I crossed 2 tables and had to pay atleast Rs.20 to Rs.30 to the officers desk.

This is somewhere in the middle of year 2000. I am not sure what is the situation now in Madurai RTO office. This happenned in Bye-Pass Road - South Madurai.

I had to pay because everyone paid. If I don't pay the bribe, I cannot get my license. In fact, I saw the officers in their khakhi pants and white shirts, we going past the queue, when the things are happenning.

I remember it clearly, but I cannot do anything. This happenned in every government office in Madurai. Why should I pay for the government services, provided by the government servants, who are getting paid as salary by the government.

This should change! I heard from someone that these days they don't ask for bribe. Good to hear that and I wish it remains the same.

As said by Tamil Film Director Shankar in his movie "Indian" - casted by actor padmashree Kamalhassan - he says Officers abroad get "lanjam"(bribe), for not doing or overriding some rules and laws, But Officers in India are getting money for doing their duty in India.

God Bless Madurai and overall India!

Madurai under the clutches of rowdies and gangsters

Madurai under the clutches of rowdies and gangsters:

The below viewpoint explains about the majority of Madurai and not all of the local politicians and not all the administrative officials are like the way it is explained below. There are definitely some honest people. Please read on ....

Today every officer and a local politician has to listen to rowdies, criminals and gangsters. Every decision is directed by these RCG (Rowdies, Criminals and Gangsters).

An administrative official is not able to do his duty, due to pressure from various entities in Madurai. Even the local politicians have to ask the RCGs, before doing anything good to people.

On one hand, the local politicians are selfish and try to accumulate their wealth. In another hand, the administrative officials need money to do their duty. On top of all these RCGs pressure these functionaries, for every execution of tasks.

In fact RCGs are one of the main cause of these corruption and costing behaviour.

Overall, who is affected?! None other than the Madurai people. Madurai's economy. Madurai's production...

We need leaders to crash all these inefficient elements. We need rules and orders to make things effective. We need punishments for everyone to abide by the rules of the government.

Strengths of Madurai - Untapped Market in Madurai

People are very Good by heart - They are innocent and want to help others. High Hospitality people

Potential for All the industries to come in - news, media, manufacturing, IT, ITeS, healthcare, pharmaceutical etc.,

Cheap Realestate, even though infrastructure has to be improved

Cheap quantitative and qualitative human resource

Untapped Youth resources and Student power in anything.

Untapped ladies at home, Housewives and old people time and effort

If we get proper funds from the central or state government, we can plan better and do something effective in Madurai

Huge consumer market for various FMCGs, Retail, IT - hardware and software

Since it has a historical significance and it dates back to Athens, we have a huge potential on Tourism.

We just have to regularize toursim a bit, to welcome the tourists

Like I listed above, there are many advantageous points for Madurai. All we have to do is put together and make some action...

more to come in following articles to be posted...check out the website again for more strengths of Madurai...

Problems in Madurai - Part II

Here are the problems I think Madurai has -

Attitude of the people...There is a very narrow thinking and never thinks of productivity. Trying to be lazy. Not doing the work properly. Very conservative...Priorities are trivial and not very productive....Never allow others to progress...

Illiteracy....Not much education...Less awareness among people...

Health issues...Due to lack of awareness and poverty, there are many health issues... have already discussed as a separate topic in previous articles...

Population....Too many births...Not being aware about the population control programmes...

Poverty...There is a huge percentage still under poveryt line..Not even having the basic things like - food, water and shelter!!

Government....Till now there had been never a very good government for making the city productive...

Corrupt Administration...Administration had been corrupt at most of the times and things...Never been a very clean administration. Every point and node is corrupt in the administrative system of the government...Even if the administration is clean, the politicians never leave them alone...

Rowdism, Gangism...Not much law and order is maintained...Many Robberies, rapes, Crimes. Every one tries to take weapons - Aruval(Sickle kind of knife)...Police is corrupt even...So there is not much law and order maintained....

Definitely not environmental friendly...

Brain Drain...All the best human resources move out of the city...to madras/chennai, bangalore, hyderabad, mumbai, America/abroad....

Very few people follow rules...Even take for example traffic rules...very less people follow it...

Amidst all these, many are lazy and not being productive...just laze around and being a load to the earth's gravity...

I am sometimes very angry about the above facts...Sometimes I become very pity to the people...sometimes feeling like doing something for these people, which I will eventually do...
Sometimes I become emotional and even shed tears thinking about the situation...
Anyway, whatever it is - we should do some action to get rid of these problems...We should knock these problems out and become a strong city and stand as an example to the state, country...and in fact to the world...

If this continues in every city, we will never become a developed nation, and always remain a third world country...

in fact, most of these issues are discussed in newmadurai.org and aimed to be solved in a long-term. Check out http://www.newmadurai.org

I will be talking about the potential advantages in Madurai, in my next article...

Problems in Madurai - Part I

Here is a text from wikipedia.org, which states about the present problems in Madurai -

Unlike many other historical cities that have been reduced to small towns, hamlets and ruins in the modern age, Madurai still remains a "city" and a major regional hub of commerce. However, it is a concerning fact that it has failed to achieve the progress it should have and its city ranking has sunk in the past few decades. Not only has it failed to attract new domestic and foreign investments, but it has also failed to capitalize on its inherent strengths.
Though there is no dearth of talent in Madurai, thanks to the Engineering and Science colleges in the city, it has not been able to retain the pool of qualified professionals. During the years following the Information Technology boom that swept across the country, the city saw an exodus of professionals to other urban centers, such as Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai, which offered them better opportunities.

Many blame the state government for limiting industrial development to northern Tamil Nadu, Chennai and its adjacent districts in particular, and cite this as the reason southern Tamil Nadu is industrially underdeveloped. While this claim may not be totally invalid, the main reason Madurai is industrially underdeveloped lies in the fact that there is a definite lack of initiative and poor self-esteem amongst the local populace. The elite and professionals who ought to guide their fellow citizens into the new economy shrug away from their responsibilities, and worse, move to other cities looking for greener pastures and settle down there.

I shall talk about the problems and strengths I think Madurai has....

Madurai filled with Superstitions

Things should change. While there are many things to be changed or transformed in Madurai, here is one thing I would like to mention here in this article. Superstitious believes has to be changed and more rational thoughts has to be in people's heads.

Some of the instances are here -
1. If someone sits on a pillow, they say we will get into debts.
2. If we shake the lock of the door, father and mother would fight or argue on some point it seems.
3. If the baby bites her leg toes, then it is not good for the mother's brother.

these are just samples...Even very educated people are listening to vaasthu - changing their kitchen into reading room and reading room is becoming kitchen...I am not sure why do even educated persons change, due to the society. People are not rational in their thinking. This is probably due to societal pressure.

Still people are checking out ashtami, dasami, navami and checking calendars for doing things. If there is something good to be done, why do you check for good times. All times are good times.

These are some of the things, which block the productivity of the people, the state and the country!

These are definitely some of the reasons, we will remain as a third world country and never become a developed nation!!:-????

Madurai Chitra Festival

Madurai is all set for the Goddess Meenakshi and Sundareswarar Temple's Chithra(Chitra/ Chithirai thiruvizha) festival to be held starting from April 20th.

Some of the history details about Madurai Festival is here -

Several festivals are held throughout the year in Madurai. These festivals attract crowds from far and wide and by far represent some of the grandest celebrations of the Indian subcontinent.

The annual Bhramhotsavam celebrated in the month of Chittirai (Aries) is the most important one and it ties in the legends related to the Madurai temple such as the coronation of Meenakshi, the Divine marriage etc. The Chittirai festival also coincides with the annual festival at Tirumaaliruncholai. The Divine marriage involves a procession of deities from Tirupparamkunram as well, and hence during this time the entire area in and around Madurai is transformed into one of a great celebratory space.

The Chittirai festival begins on the 5th day of the bright half of the month of Chittirai. The key events fall on the 8th, 9th and the 10th days of the festival. The eighth day of the Chittirai festival witnesses the coronation of Meenakshi and procession on silver thrones, while the 9th day is the digvijaya festival. The 10th day (Chitra Purnima) marks the wedding of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar.

Legend has it that Vishnu gave his sister away in marriage to Shiva. In commemoration of this legend, an image of Vishnu is brought in procession from Tirupparamkunram to Madurai. Since Subramanya is the presiding deity of the Tirupparamkunram temple, an image of Subramanya leads the procession. Following the wedding, images of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar are taken out in a grand procession on a palanquin and a silver elephant respectively. (It is to be noted that the Tirukkalyaanam festival is celebrated on Chitra Pournami in all Shiva temples celebrating the annual Bhramhotsavam in the month of Chittirai).

During this time, Kallazhagar from Azhagar Koyil (Tirumaaliruncholai) makes a visit to Vandiyur, near the Vaigai river, on the eastern outskirts of Madurai. It is believed that Kallazhagar realizes that he is too late for his sisters wedding, so refuses to cross the river and returns disappointed to Azhagar koyil.

Historically, the chittirai festival used to be celebrated in Maasi, hence the festival processions use the Maasi streets. The festival apparently was moved to the month of Chittirai in the period of the Naik kings so that the timing would synchronize with that of Azhagar Koyil.

Chithra Festival Live from Madurai

This is a very famous festival in Madurai - Could be called Chithirai, Chithra, Chitra festival - which includes marriage of gods - in other words Madurai Meenakshi Thirukkalyanam.

Now it comes live and it is sponsored by Winways Systems Private Limited.,



The celestial wedding of the Goddess and the Lord which will be solemnized between the auspicious hours of 8.26 am and 8.50 am on Tuesday at the special wedding hall of the temple, which had been colourfully decorated with a variety of blossoms.

This is a unique ritual which is attended by thousands of devotees from all over the State of Tamil Nadu. The temple authorities have made special arrangements to enable the devotees of the deities the world over, to watch the proceedings alive through internet. The facility is being sponsored by Winways Systems Private Ltd., Madurai. Devotees world over, could watch this colourful climax of the festival by logging on to www.maduraimeenakshi.org from 7.30am IST.

Read More in Madurai Meenakshi dot ORG

Updated ----08th April 2008
Check out for latest news on Chitra Festival