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Milpitas, CA – At the end of the Tamil month of Margahzi on Jan. 13, the Sri Satyanarayana Swamy Devasthanam celebrated the Tamil poet-saint Andal by performing a kalyanam or wedding ceremony, by marrying her to the god Ranganathan.

Here is a look at the celebration at the temple that evening.

Married women gather to receive manjal and kumkum on their feet. Photo: Sree Sripathy for India Currents/CatchLight Local.
Remains of manjal and kumkum sit on a white table. Photo: Sree Sripathy for India Currents/CatchLight Local.
A married woman receives manjal and kumkum on her feet. Photo: Sree Sripathy for India Currents/CatchLight Local.
Devotees watch the Andal Kalayanam. Photo: Sree Sripathy for India Currents/CatchLight Local.
Papers with passages to be chanted lie on the floor. Photo: Sree Sripathy for India Currents/CatchLight Local.
Women gather around one of the temple shrines. Photo: Sree Sripathy for India Currents/CatchLight Local.
Women carrying small deepams walk towards the ceremony dais. Photo: Sree Sripathy for India Currents/CatchLight Local.
A priest waits to catch a rolled up garland ball of jasmine flowers. Photo: Sree Sripathy for India Currents/CatchLight Local.
Raman Rangarajan and Sriram Madabooshi dance with garlands. Photo: Sree Sripathy for India Currents/CatchLight Local.
Priests enjoy the garland ceremony. Photo: Sree Sripathy for India Currents/CatchLight Local.
Raman Rangarajan dances with a garland. Photo: Sree Sripathy for India Currents/CatchLight Local.

Sree Sripathy

Sree Sripathy joined India Currents as a photojournalist and CatchLight Local Fellow as part of CatchLight's California Local Visual Desk program in June 2022. Reach out with story ideas or comments at...