TIRUNELVELI
The beaches and the Tamirabharani watercourse wore a deserted look on Sunday as the police had prohibited offering prayers near the waterbodies on the occasion of Adi amavasai.
As the Hindus would gather in large number at Papanasam and along the Tamirabharani watercourse up to Punnaikayal in Thoothukudi district to offer special prayers in memory of their ancestors, the State government had banned it in the wake of the pandemic. Subsequently, police personnel were deployed in these places since Sunday morning to discourage the people from gathering near the Tamirabharani to offer prayers.
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Sorimuthu Ayyanar Temple inside Kalakkad– Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve near Papanasam dam that would attract thousands of devotees for Adi amavasai ceremonies wore a deserted look on Sunday. However, special prayers being offered in the shrine were conducted as usual.
Only a few people, who took the narrow lanes to reach the river, took bath in the Tamirabharani and offered prayers in the places where no policemen had been deployed. Most of the people offered the prayers in their houses itself.
Thoothukudi
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In Thoothukudi, police personnel had been deployed at specific points near the Tamirabharani watercourse where the people would usually gather for offering prayers and also at beaches. Police stopped the people going to the beach at Terespuram and New Harbour Beach by putting barricades across the roads leading to these places.
In Tiruchendur, police personnel were deployed on all the roads leading to the beach to stop the people, who could not offer prayers near Bhairvar Temple either due to the police presence. When Hindu Munnani State vice-president V.P. Jayakumar and a few others tried to offer prayers, they were stopped by the police. They subsequently, offered Adi amavasai prayers near a pond close to Vinayaga Temple and left the spot.
Similar situation prevailed near Chairman Arunachala Swamy Temple in Eral.
Kanniyakumari
In Kanniyakumari, the police personnel deployed near the traffic island near Bharathi Guest House, Siluvai Nagar, Leepuram Road, Thalakulam Road, Vivekanandapuram Road, Four-lane Zero Point and other points sent back the people who came to the beach for offering prayers. Policemen had been deployed near larger waterbodies also to prevent the gathering of people.