Thousands throng Thirukkudai Utsavam as 11 umbrellas leave for Tirupati

Eleven decorative umbrellas meant for the annual Brahmotsavam at Tirupati left the city on Saturday.

Eleven decorative umbrellas meant for the annual Brahmotsavam at Tirupati left the city on Saturday. The umbrellas are specially made using cloth, teakwood and bamboo and carried every year from Chennai. This year too, the Thirukkudai Utsavam event organised by the Hindu Dharmartha Samiti (HDS) began at the Sri Chenna Kesava Perumal Temple on Devaraja Mudali Street after a small puja.

Samiti’s trustee R.R. Gopalji said the Samiti has been conducting the utsavam for 17 years now. The umbrellas would be presented to temple officials and the Jeeyars at Tirupati on Thursday afternoon.

It’s managing trustee S. Vedantam, Maunathavagnani Balamurugan Adimai of Sri Balamurugan temple, Rathinagiri, and Sachidananda Swami of Kamalakanni Amman temple, Kalavail, graced the occasion.

In the evening, despite the rain, the devotees had lined up along the route of the procession. The crossing of the Yaanai Kauni (Elephant Gate) was held where the umbrellas are carried through in the rush. It is said that long ago when a toll was collected at the location, the umbrellas were carried at a run and that practice continues even till this day. “Yaanai Kauni thaandiyaacha?” (Has it crossed the Elephant Gate?) would be a question asked all across North Chennai.

On Sunday, the umbrellas would be carried through G.K.M. Colony, Perambur, Villivakkam and stop for the night at the Sri Soumya Damodara Perumal Temple. On Monday, it would pass through Padi, Ambattur and Thirumullaivoyal where it would halt at the Venkateshwara School for the night.