More than 75,000 devotees partook of the wedding feast organised for the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Tirukkalyanam (celestial wedding) by the Pazhamudirsolai Tiru Murugan Bhaktha Sabha at Setupati Higher Secondary School here on Friday.
While devotees who had witnessed the event at the temple made a beeline for the venue of the feast after 9.30 a.m., people had begun to arrive at the venue from as early as 8 a.m. Many residents of the city also reached the school after watching the event at their homes on television.
“As we consider the celestial wedding to be an event of our homes, it is important that we partake of the feast, which is an important part of any wedding,” said K. Bhagya.
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More than 1,000 volunteers were delegated to manage two serving counters in shifts and keep the queue of people moving quickly. People were served sambar rice, curd rice, sweet pongal, vadai and potato curry, along with water packets.
“Despite the crowd, the feast was very well managed and we did not have to wait for a long time in the queue ,” said Uma Rani, a resident of the city.
N. Sundarraj, a devotee from Srivilliputtur,praised the preparation of the dishes served and said that it was befitting of the celestial wedding they had witnessed in the temple.
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A volunteer said that they began serving food at 8 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m. until which time people were steadily streaming into the venue.
Donation stall
For the first time, the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple authorities had set up a donation stall at the feast venue which enabled devotees who were not able to go to the temple to make donations of Rs. 50 and Rs. 100 and receive prasadam.