With the ‘pagal paththu’ festival marking the first ten-day celebrations of the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival currently in progress, Srirangam has been witnessing a big turnout of devotees over the past four days.
Anticipating a huge crowd this time, government departments have joined hands to put in place necessary arrangements for the devotees to offer worship without hitch. With the festival coinciding with Christmas holidays, the average daily congregation of devotees since December 25 has been put at 70,000 this year. “The number of pilgrims has been on the rise and special arrangements have been made for ensuring hassle-free darshan for devotees,” said P. Jayaraman, Joint Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department also Executive Officer of the temple.
Two-pronged strategy has been introduced this year as part of an endeavour to provide additional comfort. “Many devotees from outstations prefer to watch the rituals being performed for Namperumal during the ‘Pagal Paththu’ in the presence of Arayars,” he said. A total of 150 temple employees in coordination with 400 police personnel and 60 volunteers have been deployed to regulate the crowd.
The absence of parking lot for vehicles of devotees visiting Srirangam is felt acutely during the festival every year. The island town still does not have a full-fledged bus stand and proper parking area.
Based on the past experience, special arrangements have been made this year for parking vehicles, particularly heavy vehicles and vans. A piece of temple land measuring five acres near the railway gate in Tiruvanaikovil has been converted into a parking now. At least 100 buses can be parked at this site, officials said. The piece of land avoids traffic snarls for the devotees. This will be an additional facility as the police had identified the usual area on Salai Road where a private land has been converted into a temporary parking area.
Shailesh Kumar Yadav, Commissioner of Police, said a survey on the number of vehicles entering Srirangam from other districts was being updated so as to draw up a plan to avoid traffic snarls.
Employees and officials from various departments have been camping at Srirangam temple making elaborate arrangements for the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival. A large number of sanitary workers keep the temple premises clean while the Highways Department personnel have been clearing the roads.
The special medial camps have also been set at four places at the temple by Health Department.