What is a kumbabishekam, and why seventeen years since 2009?
What the rite means, and what kept it from happening for seventeen years after 2009.
What the rite is
Once restoration is complete, the power raised in a properly conducted yagasala fire is transferred into consecrated pots. Pouring the water from those pots over the vimanams and towers is the kumbabishekam itself, and in the Saiva Agama tradition it re-establishes the divine presence in the sacred images.
Its formal Tamil name is thirukkuda nanneerattu. This year the festival opened with the shanti homam on 8 September and closes with the maha kumbabishekam on the morning of the 17th.
The twelve kalams
Twelve ritual sessions are conducted in the yagasala, beginning with the first on the evening of 11 September and closing with the twelfth in the early hours of the 17th. The parivara deities receive their own maha kumbabishekam separately, at dawn on the 16th.
Why seventeen years
The last consecration was in April 2009. The rite usually recurs about every twelve years; what pushed this one back was the fire of February 2018.
The fire in the Veeravasantharayar Mandapam area damaged granite pillars among other fabric. Litigation over the temple's safety, encroachment and repair followed before the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, and an extensive restoration programme was carried out under the court's monitoring.
Reported figures for the total cost of the restoration and the number of works completed differ between sources. This page will be updated once confirmed figures are available.