Float on the water

The steps leading down to the temple tank of the Kapaleeshwarar temple were packed all around with devotees who had come to see the final day of the three-day Theppam festival at the temple. The Theppam is the float, of course, especially made for the festival and large enough to carry a sanctum, and a large number of devotees on it, around the edges of the tank.. 

The float moves through the water thanks to the efforts of a group of devotees who walk along the edge of the tank. It all looks very easy, but it surely must be quite an effort to pull it around nine times - and that was just on the final day, yesterday. On the first day, the theppam went around five times and then seven times the next day. 

It is not just the float that has been decorated and lit up; the temple gopuram was also all bright and colourful, as well as the mandapam in the middle of the tank. All together it made for a grand spectacle, especially when the moon rose and held its own for a while against these artificial lights!