Thousands of devotees thronged the Chithirai Ratha Vallabha Perumal Temple located along the banks of Vaigai at Kuruvithurai near Sholavandhar here on Tuesday for the ‘Gurupeyarchi’ to offer prayers.
The planet ‘Guru’ moved from Makara Rasi to Kumbha Rasi on Tuesday night and the temple authorities saw a continuous flow of devotees for the special pujas that began on Sunday. The gurupeyarchi time was 11.59 p.m. on Tuesday night.
Parihara Mahayagam was also performed in temple. The pujas were performed for three days — Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Also, pujas in a stretch of 48 days would also be done. Sridhar bhattar, Renganatha bhattar and Sadagopa bhattar were among the priests who conducted the pujas at the temple.
K. Pasomponmaran, chairman, board of trustees, was present along with other trustees M. Thangaraj, O. Aruvugam, K. Kasirani, T. Amsalakshmi, besides the temple Executive Officer C. Saravanakumar.
As this was an exclusive temple near Sholavandan in the district for the Guru, the authorities made special arrangements to manage the huge rush and devotees took part in the ‘laksharchanai’ that took place in the temple premises. Also, the devotees visited the nearby Arulmigu Chittirai Ratha Vallabha Perumal Temple and offered prayers.
Among the devotees were a large number of women and children who waited for their turn in the winding queues to get ‘darshan.’ Special buses and private vehicles were seen plying in the route and the temple officials expect more crowds in the next few days. Police personnel were also deployed to regulate the huge flow of devotees.
