Floating Festival

Floating Festival is the important festival celebrated with great zeal and enthusiasm in Madurai city of Tamil Nadu state, India. The festival is celebrated in the months between mid January and mid February. This festival was originated in 17^th century and was first celebrated by the king Thirumalai Nayak. He constructed an artificial tank and built a temple of Lord Vigneswara on the island in the middle. The custom of taking the idols for the boat ride in the tank on his birthday also came into existence which was then celebrated as the floating festival.

At dawn, the idols of Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareshwarar are taken out from the main temple for celebration. The deities are taken for rounds, placed on the float with the help of ropes. The decorated float is then taken back to the central island and is kept there till the evening. Large number of devotees visits the island through boats. In the evening, the island temple gets lit up with the colorful lights that look very pleasing. Many oil lamps are also lighted near the lake. The reflection of these lights and lamps looks extremely very beautiful in water. The celebration is then followed by the display of fireworks on the Lake shore. Finally, the idols are placed on a beautifully decorated golden horse and are returned back to the main temple with great joy and cheer. This unique festival attracts large number of pilgrims from all over the country.