Ashtami Chapparam Ther Festival

Ashtami Chapparam Festival: Chariot Procession at Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple

One of the prominent festivals among the various festivals of Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple is the “Ashtami Chapparam Festival”, a chariot procession. The procession will be held on Friday, January 4th, 2024 at 5.00 AM IST. Somasundareshwara Paramashiva and Devi Piryavidai in one chariot and Devi Meenakshi Paramashivashakti in another chariot. The chariot is fully decorated with colorful clothes, various flowers, and garlands. One of the notable features of this festival is that Devi Meenakshi’s hair is fully decorated with “Thazhampoo”, a very special kind of flower. The chariot is hand-drawn by the devotees themselves. Another salient feature of the event is that the Goddess Meenakshi’s chariot is hand-drawn by women devotees alone. The chariot procession starts at 5.30 a.m. The temple priests will perform special pujas, and aaradhanas and start the procession. The procession covered all four Veli streets of Madurai.

This festival is one of the Thiruvilayadal of Lord Sundareswarar. The feature of this festival is that Lord Sundareswarar provides food to all living beings on this day.

The story behind this festival is once upon a time, Devi Meenakshi played a small game with Sri Somasundareshwara to test His power. She picked a hungry ant and closed it in a box. After which, She asked Paramashiva ” You are providing food to all living beings, is it?” Lord Shiva smiled and said Yes. Then what about this ant? This ant is so hungry. You did not provide any food to this being. Once again, Lord Shiva smiled and asked Gowri to view the ant. Maa Gowri viewed and was surprised, a small piece of rice was in the box and ant was eating it. What a great miracle is! Ashtami Chapparam attracts devotees from far and near. Thousands of devotees gathered on the four Veli streets of Madurai to view the “Ashtami Chapparam” of Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple.