Vekkali Amman Temple is a temple dedicated to the Goddess ''Vekkaali'', a form of the goddess

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tra ...

. It is located in

Woraiyur Uraiyur (also spelt Woraiyur) is a posh locality in Tiruchirapalli city in Tamil Nadu, India. Uraiyur was the ancient name of Tiruchirappalli City. Now, it became the one of the busiest area in Trichy City. It was the capital of the early Chola ...

, a neighbourhood in

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with be ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, India. The central shrine of the temple houses the image of Vekkali Amman and the major feature of the temple is the absence of roof over the sanctum. The temple is known from the period of early

Chola The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE d ...

s, but there are no historical records. The people of Woraiyur see Vekkali Amman as their guardian deity. The temple has six daily rituals in its calendar and celebrates six annual festivals. The temple chariot is made of gold and was launched during 2010. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Religious significance

The roof over the sanctum was constructed during different times, but is believed to be burnt by the power of Vekkali Amman. The position of the leg of Vekkali Amman is different from other Shakti temples without roof where the right leg is placed over demon. As per Hindu legend, the position requires lot of energy and while

Nataraja Nataraja () also known as Adalvallaan () is a depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the divine cosmic dancer. His dance is called Tandava.''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2015) The pose and artwork are described in many Hindu texts such as the ''T ...

, during his dance switched his legs, Vekkali Amman remained in the position to show her energy levels. The posture is also believed to signify kindness, love, affection and compassion to her devotees. Historically, temples facing north, are considered to provide victories on endeavours. The Cholas worshipped the deity before proceeding to military campaign. The people of Woraiyur see Vekkali Amman as the saviour deity during difficult times.

Festivals and religious practises

The temple priests perform the '' puja'' (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. The temple rituals are performed seven times a day; ''Visvarupa'' at 5:15 a.m., morning ''abhishekam'' at 5:30 a.m., ''Deepa darisanam'' at 6:15 a.m., ''Uchikalam'' at 12:00 p.m., ''Uchikaladeepa'' at 1:00 p.m, ''Maalai Tharisanam'' at 7:00 p.m. and ''Ardha Jamam'' at 9:00 p.m. Each ritual comprises three steps: ''alangaram'' (decoration), ''naivethyam'' (food offering) and ''deepa aradanai'' (waving of lamps) for Vekkali Amman. The worship is held amidst music with ''

nagaswaram The Nagaswaram (nādḥasvaram) is a double reed wind instrument from South India. It is used as a traditional classical instrument in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala. This instrument is "among the world's loudes ...

'' (pipe instrument) and ''

tavil A ''thavil'' (Tamil:தவில்) or ''tavil'' is a barrel-shaped percussion instrument from Tamil Nadu. It is also widely used in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Telangana States of South India. It is used in temple, fol ...

'' (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...

(sacred text) read by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast. There are weekly, monthly and fortnightly rituals. Chittirai festival held during April–May, Panguni Poochoridal in March–April, Mango ablution on the last Friday of

Tamil month Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

of ''Vaikasi'' (May–June),

Navarathri Navaratri is an annual Hindu festival observed in the honour of the goddess Durga. It spans over nine nights (and ten days), first in the month of Chaitra (March/April of the Gregorian calendar), and again in the month of Sharada. It is ob ...

in ''Purattasi'' (September–October), Thai Velli (Fridays of January–February) and Fridays and Aadi velli (Fridays of July–August) are the festivals celebrated in the temple. The temple implements the Annadhanam scheme as a part of the Tamil Nadu government's initiative to provide free food daily to devotees. Under the initiative, free food is provided to fifty devotees every day.

References

External links

Official temple website
{{commons category Hindu temples in Tiruchirappalli Kali temples