Thousands of devotees offered worship to Sri Saneeswarar on the occasion of Sani Peyarchi at Sri Dharbaranyeswarar Temple at Tirunallar near here on Tuesday.
The transit of the planet Saturn from ‘Thula rasi’ to ‘Vrichika rasi’ attracted a huge congregation of devotees from different parts of the country. The temple was renovated ahead of the festival.
‘Maha deeparadanai’ was performed at 2.43 p.m., marking the celestial transit. Shortly after that, the Nala Theertham was thrown open to people to take holy dip.
Devotees also offered worship to the processional idol of Sri Saneeswarar with golden crow (‘Thanga kagam vahanam’) kept for public ‘darshan’ at the Vasantha Mandapam.
Tight security and other arrangements were made for the regulation of queue at the temple. Vehicles were parked on the outskirts of Tirunallar. “Till evening, an estimated seven lakh devotees offered worship at the temple and a big crowd was still waiting outside,” said S.K. Pannerselvam, Executive Officer of the temple.
The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation operated special buses to Tirunallar from various places. The buses would be operated till Wednesday round the clock. Ninety-six closed circuit television cameras have been installed in and around the temple for maintaining constant vigil.
