SKANTHA SASHTI FESTIVAL – 26th OCTOBER 2022 TO 30th OCTOBER 2022 AND THIRUKKALYANAM DAY ABISHEGAM on 31ST OCTOBER 2022
Dear Devotees,
The Skantha Sashti Festival and the Thirukkalyanam Day Abishegam will take place from the 26th to 31st October 2022. This festival had been observed and conducted on a grand scale at Sri Kandaswamy Temple at Scott Road, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. The deities at the temple have been placed at the Balalayam and the ceremonies will be observed and conducted at a moderate scale.
This year devotees will be allowed to proceed straight into the temple unlike in the past two years where devotees were only allowed to go into the temple on staggered basis in accordance with the MCO regulations.
However, as the threat of Covid 19 is still present in Malaysia, the Management Committee strongly advises devotees to take health precautions like using face masks and sanitizing your hands, in line with Ministry of Health’s advice.
From this Announcement it can be noticed that the Kantha Sashti fast is observed for only five days (Wednesday 26.10.2022 – Sunday 30.10.2022) at Sri Kandaswamy Temple. Tuesday 25.10.2022 is Amaavaasai – Sri Lankan Ragunatha Iyer Panchangam indicates the 25th as the day for Amaavaasai Fast; Kannan Panchangam also has indicates the same day to be the day for Amaavaasai Tharppanam. Kantha Sashti Fast is observed from ‘Pirathamai thithi’ to ‘Sashti thithi’; therefore our Temple is starting the fast on the day of the Pirathamai thithi. ‘Thithi’ denotes the phases of the waxing or waning moon; the moon is seen to be growing or diminishing, phase by phase, for a period which is more or less equivalent to fourteen days and the fifteenth day is known as paurnami or amaavaasai, respectively. It is to be noted that ‘a day’ and ‘a thithi’ are not equivalent to each other.
The Sashti thithi is falling on Sunday 30.10.2022, according to both of the abovementioned Panchangams; therefore, even if we start our fast on 26th October, we observe the Sashti fast on Sunday 30th October; as the Sri Lankan Panchangam indicates that two ‘thithis’ are in vogue on Thursday 27.10.2022, we have two ‘ubayams’ on that day, the second ubayam is in the morning, and the third in the evening.
May Lord Shanmugar shower his blessings and grace to enable our devotees to observe the Skanda Sashti fast and offer their prayers with utmost divinity.