Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and their Cabinet colleagues will visit Pasumpon on October 30 to pay homage to freedom fighter Muthuramalinga Thevar on the occasion of the 57th ‘guru puja’ – the death anniversary of the leader.
The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister would pay their homage by placing wreaths at the memorial at 9 a.m. They would be accompanied by State Ministers Dindigul C. Sreenivasan, Sellur K. Raju, R. Kamaraj, O. S. Manian, C. Vijaya Baskar, R. B. Udhayakumar and G. Baskaran, according to the official invitation.
Members of Parliament, Legislative Assembly and leaders of various political parties would also pay homage by placing wreaths, Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao said in the invitation.
‘Thevar Jayanthi’, marking the 112th birth anniversary of the leader would be held in the evening on the same day. Mr. Sreenivasan would address the function after unveiling the portrait of Muthuramalinga Thevar. Ministers - Raju, Manian, Udhyakumar and Baskaran – would take part in the function, presided over by the Collector.
Meanwhile, guru puja and Thevar Jayanthi commenced on Monday with local people and people drawn from nearby villages offering worship and paying homage at the memorial. Ahead of the event, the bust of Muthuramalinga Thevar, installed at the memorial was adorned with golden ‘kavasam’ on October 24, amid tight security.
After Mr. Panneerselvam took possession of the 13 kg gold armour from the safe in State Bank of India (SBI), Anna Nagar branch. in Madurai. He handed it over to Mr. Udhayakumar, who brought the ‘kavasam’ with armed police escort to Pasumpon and adorned the statue with it.
Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao and Superintendent of Police Omprakash Meena were present on the occasion. Heirs of the freedom fighter offered worship and garlanded the statue after a special puja. Former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had presented the gold armour in September 2014.
The SP said that round-the-clock armed security guards have been posted at the memorial till the armour was taken back to the safe in the SBI branch after the end of Thevar Jayanthi on October 30.
