Mahaamaham
festival - Kumbakonam, Tamilnadu
Snippets
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There are 16 mandapams
housing Lingams on the banks of the Mahaamaham tank. These mandapams
were restored & Kumbabishekam was performed on 4, March 2004.
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The amirtham from the
kudam fell upto a distance of 5 krosams & hence the temples in the
area are known as Pancha Krosa Sthalangal.
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The darbai & the
mango leaves were the first to fall off from the kudam. The darbai
became a Lingam & the mango leaves into a Vanni tree.
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Jupiter (Guru) takes
4332 days to go round the sun. This is not exactly 12 years, but
about 11.868 years. Hence, once in a while, Mahaamaham comes a little
earlier in 11 years. This is known as Ilaya (young or early) Mahaamaham.
Ilaya Mahaamahams have been observed
in 1529, 1600, 1683, 1778, 1862, 1956.
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King Krishna Devaraayar
took a holy dip in the theertham during Mahaamaham on 24 Feb,1518 on a
Wednesday. He gave a lot of gold & goods as charity on that day.
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King Ragunatha Nayakkar
took a holy dip during Mahaamaham on 22 Feb, 1624 on a Sunday. He
gave gold equal to his weight. The details of this dhaanam are found
in the Tulaabaara Mandpam, one of the 16 mandapams on the bank of the Mahaamaha
kulam.
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