Hundreds of Tiruvannamalai Municipal Boys’ School students kept alive a 60-year-old tradition by carrying little pallakkus (palanquins) with idols of the 63 Nayanmars (Shaivite saints) on their shoulders, all the way shouting joyfully “haro hara!”, their faces beaming in verve and dignity.
They consider this as their unique honour as their school alone is allowed in this service. It is part of the ongoing 10-day Deepam festival that the holy city is known for. Anti-Hindu elements masquerading as human rights walas jumped into the arena with their cliched war cry of child harassment. They beat a hasty retreat when devotees confronted them with the fact that this is a decades old understanding between the management of the Arunachaleswara (Shiva) temple and that of the government school. Even the anti-god, anti-Hindu dispensation that rules the state had to keep a respectable distance from all this.
Praveen, a journalist working for a Tamil daily, said, in his school days, he could not bear Nayanmar pallakkus as he, though a Tiruvannamalai native, had his schooling in a private school. Of the five pancha bhuta sthalas across the state, Tiruvannamalai is the Agni Kshetram, hallowed by Tapas of realized souls (Siddhars) over centuries. Seekers from several parts of the world make a beeline to this place to imbibe its spiritual ambience.