I am writing to you about my home town and some fascinating details about it.
My grand dad was the village head man ( isum maniam) of the village called kolathur ( near tirukovilur). There is a small stone temple built there by my great grand dad still standing.
the unique aspects of this village - is their festival for the perumal kovil. Its called 'panda servai' - usually done on sat night. the whole village assembles in this temple ( very small but built of granite - kar kovil) - a samiyadi ( a local farm hand - unmarried youngster but chosen to be the samiyadi - will write about his selection in a seperate mail) - takes bath in the nearby temple tank at about 8pm and comes and stand inside the temple wet ( in his loin cloth and just a tulasi malai) - the govinda chant starts and slowly the tempo builds up - with the tarai and tappatai beats - the guy goes into a trance - he recites a song which was at that time very hard to understand - which goes like ezhu malai eri vanthenda......
i have personally witnessed this and he actually spun like a top inside the temple. he then proceeds to put on the wooden slippers with nails and dances spectacularly... then proceeds to go out of the temple holding the pandam ( the pandam is prepared by winding a new dhoti around the panda kai and allowed to soak into oil for a day - really hot) - he does ne round of the temple so fast that he is almost like a streak of lightining.. he then proceeds to dance in front of the temple - sometimes even bitting into the buring pandam to free his hands for the dance. he then goes around the village stopping at all important places ( including the first stop in front of my now non existent grand fathers home - we moved out in early 1950's) ( sometimes people who are supposed to be touched by bad spirts are brought in front of him - after taking bath in wet clothes) - and he strikes them once on the head with the burning pandam - you can literally see the smoke coming of their heads after this -he does this till about 3 am the next day and finally comes back to the temple, despite all the heat of the pandam - the tulasi was just as fresh - as he crosses the door step - he faints and lands inside in a thud....
the first time i witnessed this - i made it a point to trace the guy the next day to see for burn marks - amazingly there was not a trace of burn - one subsequent occassions - the pandam accidently brushed against a by stander and scalded ( took the entire skin off) - the size of a tennis ball.
thats as much for the festival. about 10 years ago - when the temple tank was being deepened - they found a huge siva lingam and a kala bairavar silai - the lingam was aptly named thadga purisvarar and installed in the village temple and the bairavar is kept outside the temple.
I remember my grandfather telling me that kanchi periya periyava once visited our village ( stayed in our house) and did pooja for a week.
There are many temples in this village - a pillayar temple at the entry point - where you are asked to makes a circle with your foot ( dont remember the aithegam behind this), an ayyanar temple etc etc. overall a very interesting place.
unfortunately i dont have snaps of any of this - but hoping to go down there next week and will try and post some pictures.