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KOODARAI UTSAVAM – THUR, JANUARY 11, 7:00 PM
KOODARAI UTSAVAM
Thur, January 11 @ 7:00 PM
Thiruppavai Chanting, Archana, Arathi
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Koodarai Utsavam is the celebration of the 27th poem in Thiruppavai.
In Her hymn, Andal hails Lord Ranganatha as,
‘One who wins over people who don’t believe in Him, and asks Him to bestow upon all, who have observed the vratam with countless blessings. She asks that they be showered with choicest blessings after they have observed the fast and gained The Lord’s darshan. The women observing the vratam had forsaken all
ornaments and decorations for 26 days, and now after surrendering to Him completely, they adorned themselves with ornaments and all other paraphernalia. She says, having seen the Lord, She and all the devotees, along with the Lord, will partake in rice cooked with milk and ghee (akkaraadisal).’ The poet describes the amount of ghee in the ksheeranam that they have prepared for the Lord by saying, when we take a handful of annam (rice), the ghee from the preparation will flow down to the elbow!
Join us in celebrating the utsavam and partake in the akkaraadisal offered to the Lord with family and friends as prasad!
Once Lord was very happy with the services of Andal and Gopikas, and requested them to ask for some boons. Then Gopikas asked four boons from Swamy
- “Always our eyes focus on You and only You”
- “Always we only get the opportunity of serving You”
- “The way You reside in our hearts all the time, we also should get a place in Your heart”
- “Always we should chant nothing but your Nama, and no name should go into our ears except Yours”
Lord was very pleased with their Bhakti, and granted all the boons, and asked them to take Prasad before they leave. Then Andal Amma demanded Swamy to eat Ksheerannam (Akkaradisal) along with them. Lord happily accepted that request also. This occasion is called Koodarai Utsavam. As a tradition, on this day, 108 vessels of Kseerannam (AkkAraadisal) are offered to the Lord in many temples.
