Navaratri 2012

This year the theme for the Navaratri Golu was ‘Lord Shiva’.

Some of the Kailash Mansarovar trip effects, possibly.

On top, we have the Bhagiratha Prayatnam.

The story of Bhagiratha, who asked Lord Shiva for help in bringing Ganga to earth.

to blunt the force of Ganga, Shiva takes the descent of Ganga on his head and then releases it more gently on earth.

that is depicted by the patachitra

these sections depict the Ganga, as she moves along hills and valleys, through thick forests too..

to reach the plains to irrigate the land.

the great guru of all gurus, Dakshinamurthy finds a central place in the Golu this time,

just below a cave where lord Shiva is in penance  with Ardhanreesewara as well as Parvati and Shiva just outside.

the traditional Tamil grand old lady, avvaiyyar is also in attendance.

 

the temple complex    represents the association with Shiva based on Chidambaram. 

A famous legend associated with Shiva here is the ‘secret of Chidambaram’ – the ‘Chidambara Rahasyam’.

usually hidden by a screen, it is opened only on select days.

  

while many who have seen it explain it as an image of Vilva leaves, some others claim that there are secret inscriptions and there are others who say that the secret is about removing ones own veil of Maya, in order to understand oneself and the true purpose of life.

Another popular legend associated with one of the very devout bhaktas is the Nandanar story.

Nandanar, from a lower-caste, working under a Brahmin landlord, aspires to visit Chidambaram but faces many hurdles, as his master would not let him off.

the story is about how he goes about his dream.

even on his visit to the local temple in Thirupangur, he would not be allowed in, due to his caste.

to get him a good dharshan, lord Shiva asks the Nandi, who is normally  right in front, to move aside, so that Nandanar can view him from the street.

hence the Nandi and dwajasthambam are a little off.

of course the golu is not complete without a places for Ganesha, Lakshmi, Saraswati, a kalasam -  ,

the leelas of Krishna  or a little kolam or rangoli.

and to remember the kailash experience, a digital picture frame with some of the scenes, and background music of Shiva related songs complete the golu for this year.