The experience of the Chitra festival Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India

1. The experience of the Chitra festivalMadurai, Tamil Nadu, India

2. The holy marriage Once a year, Madurai celebrates Goddess Meenakshi’s sacred marriage, as Chitra Festival with huge 12 day festival. On the 10th day of the Festival, the Celestial wedding of Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswarar is performed. Though the wedding ceremony proposed to take place between 8.17am – 8.41am, people will started to make beeline for the Chitra Streets from around 4.30 am. The crowd would be so huge that entry had to be barred hours before the event resulting in even those with valid passes may not able to enter the temple.

3. The holy marriage At 6:30 am tourists from different countries all over the world ensemble at the tourist office of Madurai to participate the holy marriage in the Sri Meenakshi temple. The group contained around 20 tourists from several countries like France, Belgium, the United States, the Netherlands and Indonesia. The vehicle ride to the temple was very crowded and we left our shoes in the car. The location in the temple where the ceremony was held was very crowded with thousands of Indian people. There was a special location for the tourists, some people said that is was a pity that we could not sit together with the Indian people, but they also understood because it is a festival for the Indians, not for tourists. Very pleasant was that all the people received water at the entrance of the temple and for the foreign tourists they arranged some cookies. The place was very warm and chaotic but is was very nice to see how the traditions were done and how the Indian people were behaving. The ceremony itself was very hard and difficult to observe because it was far away and a lot of objects were standing between our location and the stage. For the tourists it was very difficult to understand the ceremony, for the Indian people this ceremony has a great meaning but the tourists do not understand the language and the rituals which makes it difficult to understand.

4. Evening street festival The evenings during the Chitra festival in Madurai are an excellent experience to observe. Hundreds of colorful children are dancing in the streets of Madurai while several statues are being showed in a big carnival in the streets. The bulls, camels and the elephant are walking in front of the carnival.

5. Car festival On the 11th day of the Festival the Car festival will take place in the midst of thousands of people. The temple car with Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswarar will go around the Masi street of Madurai. This gigantic car is driven manually by thick ropes by thousands of people and is more than 350 years old. The pulling of temple car promotes harmony among the people and demonstrates the power of collaboration and team work to undertake huge tasks.

6. Car festival The car festival was a great experience for the international tourists who came from countries all over the world. I asked one of the tourists to describe the tour in one word only and the only thing she said was: “Woaw..”. Together with the tourist department of Madurai, there was a special vehicle and a stage arranged especially for the foreign tourists. This stage in the junction of West Masi Street and North Masi street provided the foreign tourists a terrific view on the festival. In addition it was a safe place to observe the procession, the streets were filled with people. During the procession the tourist department took care of water and some snacks. Moreover, all the foreign tourists were welcomed warmly by the mayor of Madurai.

7. Azhagar entering the Vaigai river While there is flowing water through the rivers of Madurai, big crowds of people are gathering in the river on the 12th day of the Festival. Azhagar will bless devotees on a Golden Horse Vahanam (ThangaGuthirai), with special Maalai (Garland) sent by Srivilliputhur Sri AandalNachiyar. It is an age old belief that the attire of the Lord on this Golden Horse Vahanam gives the villagers residing around Madurai an indication of the prospects for the next harvest season. One of the traditions of the entire procession was the non-stop sprinkling of water on the Lord - said to be a happy gesture to thank the Lord for fulfilling their prayers and for giving them a good harvest as well as an effort to keep him cool in the hot summer month of Chitra. This tradition is still conducted in the streets of Madurai during the festival.

8. Azhagar entering the Vaigai river From the Albert Victor bridge in Madurai, the foreign tourists from the United States, France and the Netherlands had a great view on the procession in the river of Madurai. Big crowds of people were gathering in the river to see the Golden horse.

9. Ritual of water sprinkling After the procession in the river, we continued to the city where a lot of celebrations were being hold among the local population. The people were sprinkling water on each other to keep each other cool in the hot summer season of April.

10. No one goes hungry during Chitra festival Volunteers ensure that no one goes hungry during the Chitra festival by cooking a sumptuous meal for 50.000 people after the celestial wedding. The celestial wedding is a festival celebrated in all the households in Madurai, that is why almost 1000 volunteers come together and volunteer their services as they would in their homes.

11. The experience of Chitra Festival As a foreigner, I absolutely enjoyed the Chitra Festival in Madurai. In my opinion the Car festival was the most impressive day of the festival. Thousands of people were gathering in the streets and everybody enjoyed it. In addition to the big festival days, like the holy marriage and the festival in the Vagai River, I also enjoyed the carnivals during the evenings with hundreds of dancing children and the animals walking in the streets. All the people are very nice and welcoming. I think the Chitra festival is a must see when traveling in April in South India. The Netherlands