Varalakshmi Vritham and Aavani Avittam Celebrated at Sri Meenakshi Temple

Puja for Sri Lakshmi during Varalakshmi Vritham at the Meenakshi temple with Priests Sri Sridharan Raghavan and Sri Pawan Kumar.

Puja for Sri Lakshmi during Varalakshmi Vritham at the Meenakshi temple with Priests Sri Sridharan Raghavan and Sri Pawan Kumar.

PEARLAND: Varalakshmi Vritham is an important pooja performed by many women in the states of Andhra and Tamilnadu. At Sri Meenakshi Temple, Varalakshmi Pooja was celebrated on the Friday, August 8, before the full moon day, in the month of Sravana (July-August). Varalakshmi is yet another form of Lord Vishnu’s consort, Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Varalakshmi is believed to be the one who grants boons (Varam). The legend of Varalakshmi Vratham is that Goddess Varalakshmi appeared in a woman devotee named Charumathi’s dream and expressed her satisfaction in the woman’s devotion towards the Goddess. Priests Sridhar Raghavan and Pavan Kumar led the Puja witnessed by a hundred devotees on a pleasant Friday evening.  The atmosphere was serene inside the main temple with the slokas and puja mantras providing the perfect ambience.   The devotees that participated felt a complete sense of peace and happiness in the knowledge that they had received the divine mother’s blessing.

Aavani Avittam at Sri MTS with many youngsters doing Upakarma.Photos : S. Narayanan and M.K. Sriram

Aavani Avittam at Sri MTS with many youngsters doing Upakarma. Photos : S. Narayanan and M.K. Sriram

On a beautiful Sunday morning (August 10) devotees had started arriving early at 6:30 am onwards for an important occasion on the Hindu calendar – the Upakarma (the sacred thread changing) ceremony.

More than 200 people including 20 or more young first timers did upakarmam. Batches of devotees participated in the ceremony, and the finale was the “Thalai Avani Avittam” (first one after Upanayanam) for the young brahmacharis.  It was indeed such a remarkable sight to see 20 or so of these eager young children sitting alongside their father performing the upakarma with utmost devotion under the direction of Sri Manicka Bhattar.

Thanks to the RAC team led by Narayanan, Sriram and Sasi for organizing these events so well and to our priests who did a remarkable job. Special thanks to Sheila and Sriram who arrived very early on the morning on Sunday to help ensure the Aavni Avittam went smooth.  Thanks to Jeyam Thyagarajan (food committee lead) and to the Temple Staff for their hard work.