M Mayandi : Builds wooden frame atop the temple cars The Thermutti on East Masi Street, where the age-old temple cars belonging to the Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple are stationed, has come alive with festive colours. The protective tin cover around the cars has been removed to reveal the beautiful carvings on the wooden base and the gigantic iron wheels of the chariots. 65-year-old M Mayandi is busy directing his men working atop the Amman ther, the smaller of the two chariots. A group of lungi-clad men hang precariously from the wooden frame under construction. It's a complicated mesh of makeshift wooden pillars tied to bamboo canes of varying sizes to form a lofty structure that resembles the temple gopuram. Every year, it's the work of Mayandi to build the chariot's tower and decorate it with colourful paraphernalia. “We have been doing this work for four generations. We start assembling the structure five days before the Kodiyetram and 100 men work over the following week to ready the temple cars by the Tirukalyanam day,” says Mayandi. “The chariots' base is made of Iluppai wood, over which we build cuboidal frames called kodungai. There are five stages and at the top is the thalai angam, the tapering head resembling an umbrella. After erecting the wooden skeleton, we dress the temple car in decorative embroidered sheets called as ther seelai.” To decorate both the cars, it takes 20,000 feet of ropes, 135 wooden pillars and few hundreds of bamboo sticks. The vadam (the thick nylon rope used to pull the cars), is over 300 metres long and is changed every three years. The expenditure for readying the chariots is nearly Rs.1,00,000. V Sundaravadivel: Stitches the decorative cloth for the chariots The loud repetitive noise of sewing machines fills the 6X6 shop on South Veli Street, where four tailors are busy stitching colourful fabric patches on to images of gods and goddess drawn on a large cotton canvas. V Sundaravadivel is at the centre, tracing the image of Goddess Meenakshi on a bright red cloth. “Next, the pieces are stitched to the traced image and completed with a golden border,” says Sundaravadivel. It may sound simple but takes days as the work needs attention to detail. “I started helping my father at the age of 15. My ancestors were experts at stitching these decorative fabrics and they stayed at temples for months together undertaking the job. Those days, when sewing machines were a rarity, my grandfather used to hand-stitch the entire caparison and it would take him years. Now, we finish a full thervalai in two months.” Sundaravadivel's craftsmanship is praised so much that he also gets orders from several other famous temples across Tamil Nadu. “This year, I have designed for the Thiruvarur chariot, which is the biggest of all temples cars in the State. And right now, I am working on an order for Sankaran Koil. We are contacted by the HR&CE. Our work has gained popularity due to the finesse we deliver. To design caparison for temple festivals, you need to know drawing and aesthetics in addition to tailoring.” Temple chariots differ in size, shape and architecture. Most temple cars in Southern Tamil Nadu are called Alangai ther, as they have step-like tiers. The Chettinad region mostly has Pattai ther, where the design has an eight faceted base, apart from which thooku ther and palanquins are common designs. “In the western districts, the structure of the chariots resemble a church spire. We need to have the exact measurements to design the decorative cloth covering,” he says. “The motifs and designs also differ from temple to temple. We use trishuls for Devi temples, vel for Muruga, lingam for Shiva and namam for Vishnu temples.” The various pieces of cloths used are vasal malai, flags, asmanagiri, thombai and koondu malai. With metal rings inside, the thombai is like a hollow cloth-made pillar with applique-work designs and is hung on the sides of the chariots. For the Meenakshi Temple cars, 4,000 metres of the decorative cloth and 40 thombais are used costing Rs. 5,00,000. “It took 8,000 metres of cloth for doing the designed the Thiruvarur temple decoration,” says Sundaravadivel, who has also designed for temples abroad including the Veerakaliamman temple in Singapore and Murugan temples in Malaysia and Canada besides the temples in Thanjavur, Pillayarpatti, Suseendram, Tenkasi and the Rangji Mandir at Mathura. P Gurumoorthy : Designs colourful crowns for the Azhagar festival People wearing strikingly beautiful crowns made of shiny velvet and silk fabrics are a common sight during the Kallazhagar festival. P Gurumoorthy is one among the few small-time shopkeepers who designs these crowns every year. “The inside of the crown is actually a cane basket, over which we stitch the fabrics, stud it with shimmering chamkis, decorative pearls and peacock feathers. Last year, I made 200 pieces but this time I have only made 100 due to the closure of Pudumandapam,” says Gurumoorthy, who sells a crown for Rs.300. R Kumar: Salladam seller For the past 30 years, P Kumar has been a traditional Salladam designer. Along with 200 other tailors, he used to stitch kitschy trousers with gaudy decorations for the festival. Called the 'Salladam', it's worn as a unique tradition during Azhagar festival. “People wear the trousers made of velvet cloth and appliqué work and receive the Lord with fervour. We make it in five sizes so that it fits different people, from kids to adult men. We start stitching them four months before the festival and it takes one full day to finish a pair of trousers that may cost anywhere between Rs.450 to Rs.1000, depending on the design,” says Kumar. G Appasamy: Wick seller Wicks that are six feet long are one of the typical items carried by devotees during the Chithirai festival. Called as 'thiri', these are made of cotton threads hand-spun to form a thick bundle. “I sell nearly 200 wicks every year and the women at home help me make it. The tip of the wick is soaked in ghee for hours before it's lit in the night during the processions of the deities,” says Appasamy. “The cost depends on the size and ranges from Rs.350 to Rs.3,000.” K R Balaji: Turmeric-kumkum packet seller On the day of celestial wedding, thousands of devotees are given a sachet containing turmeric, kumkum and the sacred yellow thread. It's the efforts of KR Balaji and few other traders like him who make it possible. “It's a mass ritual for the huge number of devotees to change their 'thaali' thread that day as it's considered auspicious. We start packing the items in plastic sachets two months before and that's how we sell over 5,000 packs every year on that day. The fragrant thazhampoo kumkum is the highlight of these items and it gets parcelled to various towns like Paramakudi, Thadikombu and Manamadurai, where the Meenakshi Azhagar legend are popular,” says Balaji who sells 50 sachets for Rs.80. Wheels of fame The temple car festival in Madurai was introduced 700 years ago, during the regime of King Kulasekara Pandian, according to C Santhalingam, retired Archaeological Officer. The book ‘Tirupani Malai’, documents the existence of the Meenakshi Temple car in the 16th Century and notes that originally the festival was held during the Tamil month of ‘Masi’ instead of ‘Chithirai’ and hence the streets through which the chariots trundled were named as Masi Streets. The current cars were gifted by Vijayaranga Chokkanatha Nayak, the grandson of Rani Managammal, during his regime (1706 - 1732). Tamil Professor Ambai Manivannan, in his book ‘Potramarai’, has documented details of the temple cars, including the 40-odd sculptures depicting Thiruvilayadal Puranam and various other exquisitely carved images from the Sivapuranam. The popular adage ‘Thenpandi Cheemaiyile, Therodum veethiyile’, used in films and songs, gives an inference on how the chariot festival came to be a sort of identity for Madurai.

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