06 September,2019 09:40 PM IST | | mid-day online correspondent
The Chandranaar Temple held special prayers to seek blessings for the successful landing of India's moon lander Vikram. Pic/Twitter IANS
On Friday, special prayers were held at the Chandranaar Temple in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur district seeking the Moon God Chandran's blessings for the successful landing of India's moon lander Vikram. V. Kannan, Manager of Sri Kailasanathan Temple or the Chandranaar Temple in Tamil Nadu said, "We had a special 'abhishekam' and 'archana' today (Friday) evening, seeking the divine blessings of Chandran."
In the past, the Chandranaar temple had also organised a special pooja for the success of Chandrayaan-1 before the rocket lifted off in 2008. "We didn't offer any special prayers before July 15 when Chandrayaan-2 was first planned to be launched. Owing to some technical problem, the launch was postponed." the temple manager said.
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Kannan further said, "We thought the technical snag may be due to the non-offering of prayers to the Moon God. Hence, prior to the Chandrayaan-2 launch on July 22, special prayers, 'abhishekam' and 'annadhanama' were conducted."
The temple manager also said that the special prayers were their contribution for India going forward in its scientific program. While the presiding deity at the temple is Soma (Moon), the main deity at the Chandranaar Temple is Lord Shiva, reports news agency IANS.
Also Read: Narendra Modi to watch Chandrayaan-2 final descent with students at ISRO
The Tamil Nadu based Chandranaar Temple is one of the Navagraha temples. All the Navagraha temples are located near Kumbakonam. According to sources, devotees pray at these nine temples to get rid of negative planetary influence on them. The temple manager also revealed that around 500 devotees visit the Chandranaar Temple on a daily basis but the number goes up to 5,000 on Mondays.
The nine Navagraha temples which are located in Kumbakonam are Suryanaar (Sun), Chandranaar (Moon), Angaragan (Mars), Budhan (Mercury), Guru (Jupiter), Sukran (Venus), Shani (Saturn), Rahu and Ketu.
Also Read: Chandrayaan 2: When and where to watch soft launch landing live updates
With inputs from IANS
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