Chitra Pournami (Full moon day of the Tamil month of Chithirai) was celebrated with great fervour at our temple on Friday, the 19th of April. This full moon is of special significance as it’s also the birthday of Chitragupta, considered by Hindus to be the Divine Accountant (of one’s good and bad karmas) and the assistant of Yama, the God of Death.
As usual, the highlight of the day was the Annadhaanam, made possible by the donations of devotees. Due to the summer vacations, the temple premises was packed to the hilt throughout the day and we estimate that nearly 5000 people were served food that afternoon.
This was followed by the volunteers and other devotees cleaning up the temple premises and decorating it with kolam, flowers and garlands to conduct the evening’s poojas. The first of these was the Valampuri Sangu Pooja to Annai Mahalakshmi at 5.30 p.m, followed by the Velvi to Annai Mahalakshmi at 9.30 p.m. At the end of the Velvi, the night Abhishegam was performed to Annai Aadi Parasakthi. The day’s poojas concluded at the stroke of midnight, with the Arati to the full moon (Chandra Bhagavan).
It is Annai’s Arul Vaakku that the 18 Siddhas consecrated at the temple, awaken from their yogic state on Pournami to worship Annai, Annai Mandhira Paavai and Guru Maheswarar at the temple and bestow their grace on devotees visiting the temple on that day. We encourage devotees to make it a habit to visit the temple on every Pournami day and receive the blessings of the Siddhas.