{"id":1120,"date":"2010-11-13T18:29:37","date_gmt":"2010-11-13T12:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arunachala-live.com\/wordpress\/?p=1120"},"modified":"2010-11-13T18:29:37","modified_gmt":"2010-11-13T12:59:37","slug":"skanda-sashti-and-soorasamharam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.arunachala-live.com\/wordpress\/?p=1120","title":{"rendered":"Skanda Sashti and Soora-Samharam"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As the name indicates, this is a festival celebrating the prowess of Lord Muruga, the son of Lord Shiva, who is also called Skanda. It falls on Sashti, which is the sixth day of the lunar cycle after the New Moon day of Deepavali. Whereas Deepavali is when Lord Krishna the hero-god of the North slays the demon Narakaasura, Skanda Sashti is when Lord Muruga the Hero-God of the South slays the demon Soorapadman.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Here in Tiruvannamalai, the big temple of \"\"<\/a>Arunachaleswara celebrates this festival in a very popular and dramatic manner. The Soorasamharam (destruction of Sooran) takes place at nightfall on the day of Skanda Sashti (this year it fell on Thursday 11th<\/sup> \"\"<\/a>November). This time, Lord Muruga in the form of Arumugam or Shanmukham with six heads and twelve arms goes out in procession from the big temple after having, earlier, received the weapon (a bow and arrow) from his mother, the Goddess Unnamulaiyamman. After making a tour of the four \"\"<\/a>streets around the temple, He then wields his way in the northern direction preceded by the temple elephant and accompanied by his retinue of priests, musicians and devotees.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The procession passes in front of the Durga temple and then stops in front of the Vada Subramanya temple a few metres before the bus depot. Here Lord Muruga is assailed by the demon coming from the North (like all asuras). This is enacted in the form of a \"\"<\/a>giant wooden doll placed on a cart with wheels which comes whizzing down the slope pushed by men from behind. The asura Sooran thus attacks Lord Muruga three times and the priest wields his bow and lets fly an arrow to strike him each time. After each hit, the head of the Asura changes successively. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The last head is the Maamarasura with the head of a mango tree. At the end, the Asura undergoes a change of heart, repents his misdeeds and to signify this, his head is altered into a peacock and \"\"<\/a>a rooster head, being the two mounts of Lord Muruga. The Asura Sooran then pays obeisance to the Lord and thus the festival ends after a grand display of fireworks.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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