Lord Murugan presides by the name of "Kulandai Velayuthaswamy" at the Thiru Avinanguidi temple located at the foot of the hills at Palani. Climbing a flight of steps leads to the Palani hill temple which is approximately at a height of 450 feet over the ground level. Palani Aandavar awaits majestically at the hill top temple to bless the thousands of Murugan devotees who come to worship him. Two winch rope cars operated electrically, come in as great relief to those ailing and aged, who may not be able to climb the steep steps. Some devotees also go round the Palani hill before the ascent and in the "Giri valam"- get to pray at any of the sixty eight Vinayakar temples abutting the giri valam route. The Tamil months Chitrai and Vaikasi witness the maximum number of devotes performing the Giri Valam.

One also gets to see the "Patha Vinayakar" temple and the Meenakshi Sundareshwarar temple enroute the hill top. There are two broad Praharams in the hill top temple. Idols of Vallabha Vinayakar, Subramanya Vinayakar, Nakkerar, Arunagirinathar can be seen in the second Praharam that houses the Nayakkar Mandapam. The Rajagopuram is composed of five tiers. Bypassing the Paravel Mandapam and Navaranga Mandapam, one can approach the sanctum sanctorium of Dhandayuthapani.

There is a sannidhi for Bhogar who was a saint who dedicated himself to Lord Muruga and contributed immensely. The Vimanan which roofs the Garba Graham is made of Gold and offers a stunning and spectacular sight to the devotees.

Source - http://s.gokul.tripod.com/arupadaiveedu/html/palani.html

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (January/February). It is celebrated not only in countries where the Tamil community constitutes a majority, but also in countries where Tamil communities are smaller, such as Mauritius, Singapore and Malaysia. The word Thaipusam is derived from the month name Thai and Pusam, which refers to a star that is at its highest point during the festival. The festival commemorates the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a vel "spear" so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadam. There is a misconception among people that Thaipusam marks Murugan's birthday; however, it is believed that Vaikhasi Vishakam, which falls in the Vaikhasi month (May/June), is Murugan's birthday.

Source - Wikipedia

This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at wfi @ vsnl.com and [email protected].

Tags: thaipusam thaiposam theipusam theiposam thaipusum thaipusome thaiposum theipusam thiposam theypusam thaiposame thaipusam theiposome hair tonsure tonsuring religious religion south india pilgrimage pilgrim spear self flagellation piercing pierce palani hills tirupati

License at http://www.paya.com/videos/808819