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Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Story of Kavadi

Shiva once gave a discourse on Yoga. Every creature in the cosmos—Devas, sages, sorcerers, kings, merchants, priests, laborers—rushed to Kailasa to hear him.

As a result of this mass exodus, the world started to tilt to one side. Wisdom, knowledge, civilization, skill, all these had come to the North; there was nothing left in the South.

Brahma exclaimed that balance of the cosmos was totally lost. Siva sent sage Agastya, his wisest disciple to South with all the knowledge he had taught him—science, medicine, philosophy, art, music, agriculture, science of warfare, sacred lore, the essentials of sacrifice etc.

Agastya wished to carry with him two great hills from Kailasa as remembrance.

The demon Etumba offered to carry them in a ―Kaavadi‖, so popular with Murugan worshippers. At Palani, in Tamil Nadu, Etumba placed the hills on the ground and went to a river nearby to refresh himself. When he returned he could not pick them again. There appeared a boy on the scene who was holding on to these mountains.

A fight ensued and in the meantime Agastya appeared on the scene. Introducing
himself as the son of Siva, the young boy wanted to stay on the top of the hills permanently, as it reminded him of Kailasa Mountains where he once lived. Agastya agreed to move to the plains, while Kumaran settled on the top the hills. Each year Siva and Parvati visit their son at his abode in the South, having reconciled their differences.

Shapes and Sizes

The Kavadi has various shapes and sizes,

  1. from the simple shape of a wooden stick with two baskets at each end, slung across the shoulder, 
  2. to the costly arched structure decorated with flowers, peacock feathers, clothes of various colors. 
The two baskets hanging at each end of the Kavadi contain any combination of following
  1. milk(Palkavadi), 
  2. rice (Annakavadi) ,
  3. Flowers (pookavadi)
  4. jaggery, 
  5. rose water and tender coconut water (tirthakavadi)
  6. chandanam(Sandal), 
  7. Pictures (chirta kavadi)
  8. bhasmam, 
  9. Sesame oil (Enna)etc. 
These materials used for filling the two kumbas at each end of the kavadi, normally comes as an offering to lord Muruga as a part of their vow.

https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=600&q=kavadi 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kavadi 

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