Today the monks worshiped Siva Nataraja during the ardra nakshatra period of the day. An elaborate abhishekam was performed with milk, honey, herbs, rose water, chandanam, yogurt and coconuts.
Sunder thy desires. Sunder thy desires.
Sunder thy desires even unto the Lord.
The more the desires, the more the sorrows.
The more thou givest up,
The more thine bliss shall be.
A million times they are born and die;
In a million follies they forget this.
In the darkness of mala they are enveloped,
When, at last, the hidden grace of Siva
Bursts forth and chases away the night.
Then comes the moment for the soul to renounce,
And it then becomes a radiant Light.
Tirumantiram

At the end of the previous phase, the monks celebrated Sivalaya Deepam. In the evening, several monks decorated our temples with hundreds of small lamps, placed throughout the temple interiors and around Kadavul's Nandi mandapam. Then a short arati was conducted in each sanctum, all concluding with a final lighting of a large pot of camphor before the dhwajasthamba, celebrating Siva as an infinite pillar of light.

"The Pure Flame is He, the immortal Lord is He,
The Radiant Flame who in my heart's core resides;
The Lord whose eyes are the Three Fires,
Who the Seven Worlds transcends,
The Lord of Homa's Cool Flame, and my heart's King besides."
Tirumantiram 221

Aum Namah Sivaya.