Sandalwood Room – Chandanapu Ara
To the north of Notla Parakamani i.e., the currency counting centre, in the north-west corner there is a room with a grilled door. This is known as ‘Chandanapu Ara’i.e., ‘sandalwood room’.
Chandana pani
Sandalwood paste that is required for the daily use of the temple is prepared in this room. Here you will see big white stones placed on a raised platform. On these white stones, sandalwood paste is prepared. The people who prepare sandalwood paste are called ‘Chandana pani’.
Sandalwood Paste
For Daily Ablutions
Along with sandalwood paste, even soft turmeric balls are prepared here in this room. The sandalwood paste and soft turmeric balls prepared here are used for Malayappa Swamy’s daily ablutions. Malayappa Swamy will be with His two Consorts Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi.
For Ekantha Seva
Apart from these daily ablutions which take place in Ranganayaka Mandapam, the sandalwood paste is used everyday night for Swamy’s Ekantha Seva. One ball of Sandalwood paste will be kept near the Lotus Feet of Lord Venkateswara’s Chief Idol.
Half a portion of another ball will be kept on the Chest portion of Bhoga Srinivasa Moorthy’s Utsava Vigraha which will be resting on a golden swing in His bedroom. ¼ of it will be placed on the Chest portion of Chief Idol where Sri Maha Lakshmi dwells.
The remaining ¼ portion of the ball will be kept in a golden vessel. It is believed that Brahma and other celestial beings will come down to earth during nighttime to offer worship. For the sake of those celestial beings, the paste is kept in a golden bowl. Along with the sandalwood paste, they also keep a golden vessel full of water.
The next day morning after Suprabhatam these two things are distributed among devotees as Theertham and Prasadam.
For Abhishekam
Every Friday the Chief Idol Abhishekam is performed in the early morning. Even then for this Abhishekam sandalwood paste is used. They add Raw camphor and saffron to this paste and prepare a scented paste. This scented paste is used for rubbing the Chief Idol from top to toe. This is known as ‘Udvarthanam’ The smearing of sandalwood scented paste is also known as “Puli Kapu”.
The sandalwood paste and soft turmeric balls prepared in this room are also used for Utsava Moorthies. This is used during a special pooja that is performed every Monday morning to Malayappa Swamy along with His two Consorts.
Pooja to Bhoga Srinivasa Moorthy
Similarly, it is used every Wednesday when they perform pooja to Bhoga Srinivasa Moorthy. It is further used when they perform Sahasra Kalasa Abhishekam to Sri Devi, Bhoo Devi sametha Malayappa Swamy, and Sri Vishwaksena.
Used during Vasantha Utsavam
Apart from the days mentioned above the paste is extensively used during Vasantha Utsavam which is arranged in the month of Chaithra Masam the first month of the Hindu calendar. The sandalwood paste and turmeric balls are used to perform poojas to Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi sametha Malayappa Swamy, Sri Seetha Rama Lakshmana Utsava Moorthies, Sri Rukmini Sri Krishna idols.
Used in Jyeshtha Abhishekam
The paste used in Jyeshtha Abhishekam is formed during Jyeshtha pournami for three days, during Sravana pournami, during and after Brahmothsavams during Lord’s Pushpa Yagam which is performed on Sravana Nakshathra day of Karthika Masam.
Koil Alwar Tirumanjanam
It is an age-old agama tradition (usually performed on Tuesday) to perform this purificatory ceremony four times a year in Tirumala shrine before annual brahmotsavams, Vaikuntha Ekadasi, Ugadi and Anivara Asthanam.
On this day, the entire premises of Tirumala, sub-shrines inside the temple, main deity, sub-deities, vessels and utensils that are used daily in puja, walls, roofs etc. of the Tirumala temple are cleansed with a special amalgamation of Sandalwood paste, turmeric, Kichiligadda(root of a tuber) etc. which is made into a thick paste and applied to them.
The temple staff will participate actively in this ceremony and perform this as a yagna with dedication and devotion. This ceremony will be from 6 am to 10 am. After this, the temple priests perform special puja to the main deity and parivara devatas.
Final Word
In a nutshell, daily the paste and balls (turmeric) are prepared throughout the year for some pooja or others either in the morning or evening.
Let us bow to this sandalwood room by remembering the holy name of Lord Venkateswara.
Chandana charchitha Govinda, Neela varna Govinda! Peetha vasana Govinda.
Govinda! Govinda!! Govinda!!!
