There was a steady flow of devotees at the Chithirai Ratha Vallabha Perumal Temple at Kuruvithurai near Sholavandan on Friday on the occasion of ‘Gurupeyarchi.’
This is the only temple in Madurai district dedicated to the Guru deity. Planet ‘Guru’ (Jupiter) moved from Mithuna Rasi to Kadaka Rasi and the Gurupeyarchi (transition) occurred at 6.03 p.m. Many pujas were performed on the temple premises through the last three days leading up to the ‘Gurupeyarchi.
A large number of devotees started assembling on the temple premises to witness the ‘Parihara Mahayagam,’ which was performed from 4 p.m. on Friday.
“Many took part in the three-day ‘Laksharchana’ puja from Wednesday which was performed till the ‘Gurupeyarchi’ time on Friday. Devotees who had paid a fee of Rs. 300 to participate in the puja were given a ‘prasadam’ packet and a two-gram silver coin,” said Renganatha Bhattar at the temple.
A temple official said a large ‘pandal’ was erected for the devotees.
More than 200 police personnel were deployed to manage the crowd. Watchtowers were set up at vantage points. Special bus services were operated to Kuruvithurai from various places, she said.
As ‘kumbhabishekam’ will be held soon, the temple is being renovated.
