One evening we drove abot an hour out of Kanchipuram into the area of rice paddys to watch Shiva Abishekam at the temple where we sponsor the annual Shivaratri celbration. It is a beautiful small temple and really really in the middle of nowhere. Very peaceful.
The utsava (festival) murtis were brought out to ride on the back of Nandi, Shiva’s bull.
After the abishekam was compelted for the large temple lingam (over 4 feet tall), Shiva and Parvati were taken on 3 turns around the entire temple. Afterwards we all sat and ate the offerings of spicy tamarind rice and fresh fruit. Because most of the temples that we’ve visiting were in the city, the quiet and peacefulness of this temple were a real treat.