Thiruvallikkeni Kodai Uthsvam 3 - 2023 - Summer Solstice

**தேசும் திறலும் திருவும் உருவமும், மாசில் குடிப்பிறப்பும் மற்றவையும் – பேசில்**

 

எம்பெருமானை நினைத்த மாத்திரத்திலே, அவனது - தேஜஸ்ஸும், பராக்ரமமும், செல்வங்களும்,  அழகிய ரூபமும், குற்றமற்ற நற்குலமும் மற்றுமுள்ள நன்மைகளும், நம்மை நலம்புரிந்து வந்தடையும்.  

At Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam, it is now the time for  ‘kodai Uthsavam’ ~ though associated as a festivity in summer – it actually is towards the end of summer season – in the Tamil month of Aani.  It usually rains too during this period – the summer rains !! 

It has rained heavily these 2 days.  Following a record heatwave, Chennai saw record rains on June 19, 2023; Meenambakkam received 16 cm and Nungambakkam 9 cm  Chennai has seen it all this June in terms of extreme weather events: the city was experiencing a record heatwave until two days ago, and is now back on the charts for another record, with rainfall received on Monday.  A heavy downpour across the city and its peripheral areas that began on the night of Sunday, June 18, 2023 and continued into Monday, June 19, set a new record of the highest rainfall received in June in Chennai, after nearly 27 years. In a rare event in June, a rain holiday was declared for schools in Chennai and neighbouring districts. 

Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons -  the days are longer and the nights are shorter, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice.  

திருவல்லிக்கேணியில் ஸ்ரீபார்த்தசாரதி பெருமாளுக்கு வருடம் முழுவதும் பல உத்சவங்கள் விமர்சையாக நடைபெறுகின்றன.  கோடை கால முடிவில் நடைபெறும் உத்சவம் "கோடை உத்சவம்".  சில வருடங்கள் முன்பு வரை,  நம்  ஸ்ரீபார்த்தசாரதி பெருமாள் மாலை வேளையில் வசந்த உத்சவ பங்களாவுக்கு எழுந்து அருளி இளைப்பாறி, பின்பு வெய்யில் தணிந்ததும் திரும்புகால் புறப்பாடு கண்டு அருள்வார். 

இப்போது 'வசந்த உத்சவ பங்களா' இல்லாத காரணத்தால் 'பெருமாள் வெங்கடரங்கம் பிள்ளை தெரு வழியாக புறப்பாடு கண்டு அருளி, "கேட் ஆம்"  என்று அழைக்கப்படும் வீடுகள் வழியாக குளக்கரைக்கு திரும்பி புறப்பாடு கண்டு அருள்கிறார்.  இவ்வுத்சவத்தில் 'ஸ்ரீபார்த்தசாரதி பெருமாள் தனி கேடயத்திலும், உபய நாச்சிமார் தனி கேடயத்திலும்"  எழுந்து அருள்வது விசேஷம்.  

Some reports suggest that the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer by the 2030s, even if we do a good job of reducing emissions between now and then.  Predictions of an ice-free Arctic Ocean have a long and complicated history, and the 2030s is sooner than most scientists had thought possible (though it is later than some had wrongly forecast).  The threatening aspect of  the disappearance of sea ice at the top of the world would not only be an emblematic sign of climate breakdown, but it would have global, damaging and dangerous consequences. 

The summer solstice falls on June 20 or 21 every year in the Northern Hemisphere. The date varies because the Gregorian calendar has 365 days, with an extra leap day added in February every four years. In reality, Earth's orbit around the sun takes 365.25 days, according to NASA. Due to this discrepancy, the solstice doesn't always occur on the same day. 

The summer solstice heralds the start of astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere and marks the day with the most daylight for the year. Solstices and equinoxes are markers of the seasons, which are caused by Earth's axis being tilted 23.5 degrees with respect to its orbit around the sun, according to NASA. That tilt means different parts of Earth receive sunlight for different lengths of time depending on the time of year. On the summer solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, receiving the full glare of the sun's rays — which means the longest day of the year. 

At the North Pole, the sun literally does not set on the summer solstice. The exact opposite is true in the Southern Hemisphere, which experiences its winter solstice on the same day; at the South Pole, the sun will not rise.   In 2023, the summer solstice will occur at 10:57 a.m. EDT (1457 GMT) on June 21, according to timeanddate.com.  On the summer solstice, there are more hours of sunlight the farther north you go in the Northern Hemisphere. People in this hemisphere might notice that the sun is very high in the sky at noon. 

On average, Earth is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from the sun, according to NASA. However, Earth will be farthest from the sun — a moment called aphelion — at 4:06 p.m. EDT on July 6, 2023, when it will be 94,506,364 miles (152,093,251 km) from the sun, according to Almanac.com. That's about two weeks after the June solstice. Similarly, Earth will be closest to the sun, a point called perihelion, at 7:38 p.m. EDT on Jan. 2, 2024 — two weeks after the December solstice — when it will be 91,404,095 miles (147,100,632 km) from our star. 

At Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam, it was day 3 of Kodai uthsavam – at 5 pm, Sri Parthasarathi Perumal and ubaya nachimar in separate kedayam had chinna mada veethi purappadu, kulakkarai via Venkatrangam Street, Gate aam – in the purappadu it was Moonram thiruvanthathi of Sri Peyalwar.

 
Here are some photos taken during the purappadu.
 
~ adiyen Srinivasa dhasan.
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
20.06.2023