Surasamharam by Singaravelar of Mylai

"Mayilaye Kayilai: Kayilaye Mayilai" meaning Mylapore of Chennai city is Kailash, the abode of Shiva, for all his devotees.

All Shiva/Murugan temples of south India, particularly Tamilnad, celebrate Kandasashti on the sixth day following Deepavali Amavasya.

Devotees fast all the six days and throng Murugan temples on Sashti (people call it peria sashti) day. Surasamharam takes place in the evening.

The Story: On the request of Indra, the king of Devas, the young lad Kumaran (Muruga), the son of Shiva and Parvathi sets out to fight the demon king Sura and all other Asuras associated with him. Sura takes Muruga lightly being a young boy. But Muruga fights fiercely and beheads Sura. But Sura's head gets replaced by different forms, like lion. elephant, goat etc. Muruga destroys all the heads. Finally he takes the form of a Mango tree which Muruga splits into two parts. Then Sura realises the godliness in Lord Muruga and expresses his wish to be with the Lord forever. The two split parts become his vahana & flag. Thus Peacock is vahana of Muruga and Cockerel his flag. Indra, pleased by this, gives his daughter Devasena in wedlock to Muruga. Devasena's wedding is celebrated in all the temples the next day.

Now we move to Mylapore, Lord Kapaleeswara temple. This temple is supposed to be one of the oldest temples of Madras ie Chennai and has the tradition of celebrating all the festivals according to the norms specified. Kandasashti Kodiyetham took place on 28th October, but the sashti was conducted only on 4th November, while all other temples celebrated on 3rd.

The norm, says Sri.Sambamurthy Sivachariar, is that the theerthavari is done on the day when sashti thithi exists in the morning atleast for '10 nazhigai' , and only on the 4th Nov. there was sashti thithi in the morning for '11 nazhigai' . Hence the Surasamharam by Singaravelar of Sri Kapali temple took place in the evening on 4th November in the North Mada Street of Mylapore.

Though it was simple compared to other famous Murugan temples, the spirit of mylaporeans was lively, as always it used to be, and the crowd enjoyed the full episode as though they themselves are fighting with Sura. Children, youth and the elderly, alike were throwing paper arrows on the idol of Sura when he was retreating from Muruga, vanquished repeatedly. The entire 1 hour fight was really a thrill.

The finale was grand, with 'Seval & Mayil' reaching the deity dancing all through the path.

Mayilaye Kayilai: Kayilaye Mayilai.