{"id":13573,"date":"2022-12-06T01:11:34","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T05:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=13573"},"modified":"2022-12-07T17:46:19","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T21:46:19","slug":"karthigai-vilakkeedu-devotional-lighting-of-lamps-of-purity-on-the-day-of-the-november-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=13573","title":{"rendered":"Karthigai Vilakkeedu: Devotional Lighting of Lamps of Purity on the day of the November Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

Text and pix by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Statue of Santhaana Gopaalar<\/p><\/div>\n

T<\/strong>he Tamil month of “Kaarthigai” is dedicated to devotion and purity. “Kaarthigai Deepam” or “Vilakkeedu” as it’s popularly known was recently celebrated by the Hindus, which fell on the day of the “Kaarthigai” star.<\/p>\n

\u201cKaarthigai Deepam\u201d is celebrated by lighting of ghee or coconut oil lamps and clay lamps forming direct lines, circles or specific designs at temples, houses and business premises at dusk, and with the hope of dispelling darkness. The lamps are not put out until the next days.
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\nBesides the lamp lighting ritual, \u201cSorkka Paavanai\u201d or bonfire which later devolved into \u201cSokka Paanai\u201d is also traditionally held at Hindu temples. A bunch of dried coconut leaves tied together at the entrance of the temple will be lit by officiating priest at night in celebrating \u201cKaarthigai Deepam\u201d festival, after a parading of ceremonially decorated statues of various deities within the temple compound.<\/p>\n

“There is a story linked between “Kaarthigai” and lighting lamps. Brahma- The Creator, and Vishnu- The Preserver had a dispute between them as to who was greater, and who was the supreme. The Lord Shiva wanted to teach them the truth. He appeared before them in a form of huge column of fire.<\/p>\n

Both of them referred their quarrel to Lord Shiva. He told them that he who could discover the crown of the light or its foot first might be considered as the superior. Accordingly, Brahma took the form of a swan and flew up in an attempt to find the crown of the Light, while Vishnu took the form of a boar (Varaha) and began to dig down to find the foot of the Light.<\/p>\n

Neither of them succeeded. The knowledge dawned upon them that the Light was superior to both of them” says Prambhashri Somaskanda Chandrakantha Kurukkal, Chief priest of Dehiwala Nedimala Sri Venkadeswara Maha Vishnu temple.<\/p>\n

The Chief priest further states, The “Kaarthigai Deepam” is celebrated to bring out this great truth that the supreme God is far beyond the Creator and the Preserver. Brahma and Vishnu thereupon prayed to the column of Light.<\/p>\n

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Flames reach sky level during the Bonfire<\/p>\n

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Side view of Lord Iyappan<\/p>\n

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Ghee lamps are lit for the festival<\/p>\n

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Beautiful sculptures at the temple main entrance<\/p>\n

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Clay lamps in a circle<\/p>\n

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Clay lamps in a line<\/p>\n

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Lord Vishnu with Goddesses Sridevi and Poomadevi<\/p>\n

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Decorated deities on a colourful parade at night<\/p>\n

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During religious rituals at a temple<\/p>\n

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Lord Sakkaraththaazhvaar in granite<\/p>\n

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A Hindu woman prays during pooja<\/p>\n

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Newly installed sleeping Lord Vishnu<\/p>\n

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A Hindu couple lights the clay pots<\/p>\n

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Decorated deities after the night parade<\/p>\n

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Auspicious “Kuththu Vilakku” is lit during the festival<\/p>\n

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Hindu women participate in a religious ritual<\/p>\n

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Decorated Lord Iyappan<\/p>\n

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An Iyappan devotee worships at dusk<\/p>\n

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Orange flame during festival<\/p>\n

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Scene depicting Lord Krishna riding the chariot for Prince Arjunan during “Kurushethra” war ~ Passionparade<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Text and pix by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai The Tamil month of “Kaarthigai” is dedicated to devotion and purity. “Kaarthigai Deepam” or “Vilakkeedu” as it’s popularly known was recently celebrated by the Hindus, which fell on the day of the “Kaarthigai” star. \u201cKaarthigai Deepam\u201d is celebrated by lighting of ghee or coconut oil lamps and clay lamps …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Karthigai Vilakkeedu: Devotional Lighting of Lamps of Purity on the day of the November Star’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13573"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13573"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56648,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13573\/revisions\/56648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}