Annabishekam performed at Big Temple

Presiding deity at Big Temple, Thanjavur covered with rice, vegetables, fruits, sweets and flowers on the occasion of ‘Annabishekam’ on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Presiding deity at Big Temple, Thanjavur covered with rice, vegetables, fruits, sweets and flowers on the occasion of ‘Annabishekam’ on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Presiding deity at Big Temple, Thanjavur covered with rice, vegetables, fruits, sweets and flowers on the occasion of ‘Annabishekam’ on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Annabishekam — anointment of the Shivalingam with cooked rice — was performed at Shiva temples, including the Sri Brihadeeswarar temples in Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram in Ariyalur district, in the central districts on Wednesday. The abishekam is usually performed on the full moon day of Tamil month of Aippasi every year.

At the Big Temple in Thanjavur, the gigantic granite ‘lingam’, with a six-feet high base called ‘aavudaiyar’ encompassing the 13 feet high ‘baanam’, was covered with cooked rice, vegetables, fruits, sweets and flowers.

Rice and other materials for the ‘Annabishegam’ was donated by the devotees in addition to the contribution from the temple administration, sources said.

Annabishekam was also performed to the Shiva Lingam at the Sri Brihadeeswarar temple at Gangaikondacholapuram in Ariyalur district on Saturday.

The Mahadeeparadhana was held in the evening in which devotees in large numbers offered worship to the deity. Thereafter, the cooked rice used in the Annabishekam was distributed as prasadam to the devotees.

Similar events were held at various Shiva temples across the central districts.