Chennai, Jul 13 (IANS): Seeking the Moon God Chandran’s blessings for Indian space agency’s third moon mission – Chandrayaan-3, a special puja has been arranged at the Chandranaar Temple, in Thingalur near Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu.

The Chandranaar Temple is one of the Navagraha temples, all located near Kumbakonam, and devotees pray at these temples to get rid of negative planetary influence on them.

While the presiding deity at the temple is Soma (Moon), the main deity is Lord Shiva.

“On Friday morning, a yagna between 8-10 a.m and an 'Abhishekam' for the Moon God has been arranged. Following that, there will be `Annadhanam’ or free food for about 100 persons,” D. Govindharaju, Deputy General Secretary, Desia Thirukovilgal Koottamaippu (National Federation for Temples) told IANS.

An Indian rocket LVM3 will lift off at 2.35 p.m. on Friday carrying Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft.

The spacecraft in turn holds a lander and a rover. The primary purpose of this mission is to soft land the lander on the moon and the rover to do some experiments on the moon soil.

This is the third time special prayers are being arranged for the success of Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) moon mission.

A special puja was also organised for the success of Chandrayaan-1 before the rocket lifted off in 2008, V. Kannan, Retired Manager at the Sri Kailasanathar Temple or Chandranaar Temple told IANS.

Interestingly, prior to the second moon mission – Chandrayaan-2- special prayers were not arranged.

The launch originally slated for July 15, 2019 got postponed due to technical glitch.

According to Kannan, the glitch it was thought may be due to the non-offering of the prayers to the Moon God. Hence, prior to the Chandrayaan-2 launch on July 22, special prayers, ‘Abhishekam’ and ‘Annadhanam’ were conducted.

Kannan said the special prayers were their contribution for India going forward in its scientific programme. According to Kannan, around 500 devotees come to the Chandranaar Temple daily and on Mondays the number goes up to 5,000.

The nine Navagraha temples are: Suryanaar (Sun), Chandranaar (Moon), Angaragan (Mars), Budhan (Mercury), Guru (Jupiter), Sukran (Venus), Shani (Saturn), Rahu and Ketu.