The famous ‘Aazhi Ther’ festival of the Sri Thyagarajaswamy Temple, Tiruvarur was celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety on Thursday, March 21, 2024, with thousands of devotees pulling the huge wooden temple car along the four ‘Veedhis’ of Tiruvarur town. The 96-foot temple car, weighing around 350 tonnes, containing decorated idols of Sri Thyagaraja was pulled out of its deck on East Veedhi at around 9 a.m. by devotees, and taken through the South, West and North Veedhis before being docked at its deck again in the evening. Chants of “Aaroora, Thyagesa” by the devotees and the sound of “Siva Vadhyam” filled the air as the wheels of the gigantic wooden car rolled along. Ahead of Aazhi Ther, two other wooden temple cars carrying the idols of Lord Vinayaga and Lord Murugan were pulled out of their decks by the devotees. The cars carrying the idols of Goddesses Parvathi and Sri Chandikeswarar were also pulled along the four Veedhis as part of the festival. Velakuruchi Aadheenam, Sri La Sri Sathyagna Mahadeva Desikar, Kattalai Thambiran of Rajan Kattalai, Collector, T. Charushree and others participated in the festival. Elaborate bundobust arrangements were provided by the Tiruvarur District Police led by the Superintendent of Police, S. Jayakumar.