Brahmothsavam is
a grand festivity – each day it is different Vahanam, and Perumal has classy
alankarams … on Garuda vahanam day, thousands gather early in the morning to
catch glimpse of the Lord as he comes out of the gate (Gopura vasal
darsanam).
In the grand Brahmothsavam,
each Vahanam, every purappadu has its own charm, yet, if one were to
ask the most majestic and most crowd-pulling ones, it would be Thiruther
and Garuda vahanam. !! .. .. .. On Garuda Sevai day,
people from far and away come to the temple, offer vasthram (new clothes),
place before Lord coconut, fruits & other offerings and have darshan of
Lord in Garuda vahanam.
Reading the annals
of History, - year 1943 marked a decisive turning point in the Second World
War. Allied victories in North Africa, the Soviet triumph at Stalingrad, and
the invasion of mainland Italy shifted the balance of power dramatically. Italy
surrendered to the Allies, Mussolini was overthrown, and the momentum of the
war began favouring the Allied forces both in Europe and the Pacific. On the
Eastern Front, the Battle of Kursk delivered a catastrophic blow to German
hopes of regaining the initiative.
Beyond the
battlefield, 1943 was a year of intense civilian mobilisation, scientific
advancement, and cultural resilience. The Holocaust reached new depths of
horror, but was met with courageous resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto. Allied
conferences shaped the future world order, while home fronts across Britain,
the United States, and the Commonwealth continued to adapt to rationing,
bombing, and social change. In Britain, women took on a growing range of
industrial roles, while music, cinema, and broadcasting sustained public
morale.
On
April 21, 1943, the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto was actively fighting
back against Nazi troops. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which began on April 19,
marked the first major urban rebellion against Nazi Germany. On this day, the bombing of Aberdeen killed 98 civilians and
27 servicemen. The attack was the worst of 34 separate German air raids on the
Scottish city. The British submarine Splendid was shelled and damaged off
Corsica, with the loss of 18 of her 48 crew, by the German destroyer
Hermes. Captain Frederick M. Trapnell became
the first U.S. Navy aviator to fly a jet airplane, when he took up the Bell
P-59 from the Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base) in
California.
Chennapatnam,
aka namma Madras is now 387 years old … The city has
witnessed everything from invasions, bombings, food scarcity, blackouts to
evacuations but, time and again, but not much of War and World War. In 1914, there was the infamous SMS Emden
bombing and in 1943 a Japanese Bombing. Before that there were a few invasions
that took place. So, people were not really prepared for a full fledged war. When the World War II began in 1939, it didn’t affect the city until
the Japanese entered. “When the war began there was scarcity and everything was
rationed!”
In 1943 there was
a cyclone and the city was flooding. The Japanese dropped the bomb and no one
knew that the city was bombed for about a week! Newspapers couldn’t report it
because of the inflicted power cut.” Two-thirds
of the city was empty as people fled. “The real estate prices crashed and a lot
of people were making money by buying these houses.,” While humans fled, sadly animals
in the Madras zoo were shot dead, fearing bombings and what would happen with
wild animals on the run. Buildings were to be painted grey and newspapers were
pasted on glass windows. The collector
and the Thasildar moved from the beach, in the pretext of other places being
‘safe’. “Technically no place was safe.
Though
the war happened miles away, it touched several lives. “The awareness about
Madras’ participation in the war is zero. People only remember the
evacuation. Here is an interesting
clipping linking Second WW to Madras particularly Triplicane and more
specifically our Temple. This is about
Air Raid Precaution [ARP] reported in Indian Express dated 22.4.1943.
During the Second
World War (1939–1945), the British Government introduced an extensive civil
defence system throughout India, particularly in important port cities such as:
Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, Vizag, Cochin,
Kakinada and more !! Madras was
considered vulnerable because it was an important harbour, railway junction and
military supply centre. After the Japanese entered the war in December 1941 and
especially following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, fears of Japanese attacks on
India's east coast became very real. People in Madras genuinely feared that the
city would be next. Many wealthy
families temporarily left Madras for interior towns.
The government
regularly organised city-wide mock exercises – ARPs - When the siren sounded:
• everyone had to stop what they were
doing;
• lights had to be switched off;
• people took shelter;
• traffic halted;
• emergency medical teams assembled;
• fire-fighting units stood ready;
• police controlled movement.
Volunteers known
as ARP Wardens ensured everyone obeyed the regulations. They wore steel helmets
bearing the letters ARP.
This clipping says
: "...the Vigraha with its
accompanying paraphernalia made straight for 'cover' by going into the
Gangaikondan Mandapam..." On that day, the Garuda Sevai procession of Sri
Parthasarathy Perumal was moving through Tholasinga Perumal Koil Street. Exactly then, the air-raid warning siren was
sounded. The temple authorities
immediately followed the ARP instructions. The Utsava Murti was taken into the
nearby Gangaikondan Mandapam, which served as a place of safety. Only after the
"All Clear" aesal took place and Sri Parthasarathi Emperuman
completed the rest of the procession.
Those days the Air
raid warning siren would be a rising and falling wailing sound, instructing
people to take cover immediately and people took shelter. The All Clear siren would be on a continuous
steady note, meaning the danger had passed and normal activities could resume
!!
One needs to have
in mind that by that time - Japan had already captured: Singapore, Burma
and the Bay of Bengal was an active
theatre of war. Madras remained under constant preparedness although it was
never subjected to a major aerial bombardment.
This newspaper report is valuable because it
records three aspects simultaneously:
• wartime civil defence,
• the continued conduct of temple
festivals,
• cooperation between religious
institutions and the civil administration.
For those of us
connected to Thiruvallikkeni, this is evocative clipping. It shows that even during one of the most
uncertain periods of the 20th century, the Garuda Sevai and other festivities continued. The devotees paused only long
enough to obey the air-raid warning, sheltered both the deity and the assembled
devotees in Gangaikondan Mandapam, and then, after the "All Clear",
resumed the procession as though affirming that tradition would endure despite
the anxieties of war.
The
famous Gangaikondan Mandapam where Emperuman takes rest once served not only as a sacred resting
place during processions but also as an improvised wartime shelter during World
War II. Here is a recent picture of
Gangaikondan mandapam and a video of
Garuda vahana aesal this year on 3.5.2026
: https://youtu.be/POppOu_Sqio
This year Chithirai Brahmothsavam
of Sri Parthasarathi Emperuman at Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam 3.5.2026 was the third day – Garuda Vahanam for Perumal.
adiyen
Srinivasa dhasan
Mamandur
Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
6.7.2026
PS: Special thanks to my friend Mr Karthik Bhatt
for providing this clip of newspaper.
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