Kallazhagar Vaigai Entry 2025

Kallazhagar's entry into the Vaigai (Azhagar Aatril Irangum Vizha) on Chittirai Pournami is one of the largest gatherings in Tamil Nadu, and the Vaishnava half of the Madurai Chithirai Thiruvizha.

The story. Kallazhagar, Lord Sundararaja Perumal of Alagar Kovil in the hills north of Madurai, is the brother of Goddess Meenakshi. He set out to give his sister in marriage to Sundareswarar, but by the time he reached the Vaigai the wedding was over. Disappointed, he did not cross into the city: he gave his gifts, blessed the couple from the river, and returned to the hills. On the way, tradition says, he freed the sage Manduka, who had been cursed to live as a frog, from his curse.

The festival. Kallazhagar comes down from the hills dressed as a Kallar chieftain, with his curved stick and earrings, stopping at mandapams along the way. On the eve of Pournami Madurai goes out to receive him in the Ethir Sevai. At dawn on Pournami he rides the golden horse into the Vaigai, where Veera Raghava Perumal receives him, before a sea of devotees who spray water and call "Govinda". Devotees watch for the colour of the silk he wears that morning, which tradition reads as a sign for the year's harvest. The next day he shows himself in the Dasavatharam, the ten avatars, and a few days later he returns to Alagar Kovil.