KOCHI: The day of celebration of the Makaravilakku festival has turned controversial following the Yogakshema Sabha opposing the Travancore Devaswom Board’s celebration of it at the TDB temples, including the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa Temple, on January 15.Yogakshema Sabha president Akkeeraman Kalidasa Bhattathirippad said that the rites and rituals in connection with the Makara Samkramam (the moment of Sun’s transit from the Dhanu rasi to the Makaram rasi) should be performed on January 14 as the Samkramam takes place before the ‘’pakarcha’’ of the ‘’Ahas’’ on January 14/15 night.Kalidasa Bhattathirippad, who himself is the Thantri of several temples, said that the Makara Samkrama poojas related to the presiding deities of the temples should be conducted on January 14 itself according to the traditions being followed by the Thantris. However, astrologers Balakrishna Warrier, Dr S Madhavan and A N Chettiar were unanimous in the opinion that the Makaravilakku festival should be celebrated on January 15.The Travancore Devaswom Board had fixed January 15 as Makaravilakku festival day according to the astrological advice received by it. “Samkrama Dinam is being traditionally calculated and fixed on the basis of the time-span from midnight to midnight which is defined as a day for this purpose. This year the Makara Samkramam takes place at 00.59, exactly 6 hours and 42 minutes (16 nazhika and 45 vinazhika) after sunset on January 14 (Dhanu 29).The Samkramam takes place after the midnight of January 14/15 and the Samkrama pooja should be performed at 00.59. It should be followed by the special poojas and other rites and rituals connected with Makara Samkramam festival on January 15,” astrologer Balakrishna Warrier said while reacting to the controversy surrounding the Sabarimala Makaravilakku celebration.Warrier cited a 30-year-old similar instance to adumbrate his argument. “The Makara Samkramam took place at 1.58 am on January 13/14 night in 1981 (Malayalam month of 1156 Dhanu 29 night). The Samkrama pooja was performed at 1.58 am and the poojas connected with the Makara Samkramam were performed on January 14,” he said.“The most auspicious time (punyakaalam) of a Samkramam in the Utharayana period is after the Samkramam,” astrologer Dr S Madhavan said. Hence, this year the Makara Samkramam festival rituals should be conducted on January 15, he said. “In Dakshinayanam, the time prior to the Samkramam (the transit of sun from Mithunam rasi to Karkkidakom rasi) is the Punyakaalam,” Madhavan said while explaining his stance on the astrological finding of the Samkramam time and the observance of the rites and rituals connected with it.Irinjalakkuda-based astrologer A N Chettiar said that Makaravilakku should be celebrated at Sabarimala on the first day of the Malayalam month of Makaram which this year falls on January 15. “Makaravilakku cannot be celebrated at Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple on the last day of the Malayalam month of Dhanu,” he asserted.
Comments
0 comment