Thousands of devotees from far and near witnessed ‘soorasamharam’ at Tiruchendur Sri Subramanian Swamy Temple in the district on Sunday.
As part of the six-day ‘Kanda Sashti’ festival, the celebrations commenced on October 25 with yaga sala pujas. The temple was illuminated and ‘soorasamharam’ was the highlight of the six-day festivities.
Every day, the sanctum sanctorum was opened at 3 a.m. and following ‘viswaroopa’ darshan, Udayamarthanda abishekam was performed to the presiding deities. After the ‘Uchikala’ puja, deity Jayanthinathar was taken out on a procession. Hundreds of priests joined in the special ‘yaga sala’ pujas performed here.
On Sunday, the temple was opened at 1 a.m. and after performing rituals, the deity was brought out to the ‘Sashti’ mandapam at 3.50 p.m. amidst chanting of ‘Vetrivel Muruganukku Arohara Arohara...’ The sea facing shrine was packed with devotees, who vied with one another in having a glimpse of ‘soorasamharam’.
The Tiruchendur temple, being the second of the six abodes of Lord Muruga (Aru Padai Veedu) is famous that a little over five to seven lakh devotees from various destinations witnessed ‘soorasamharam’ here.
The nearly 50-minute event (Soorar Vadham) was a reflection of slaying of the demons headed by Soorapadman, which symbolised the victory of good over evil.
After the ‘soorasamharam’, many devotees took a holy dip in the sea.
The deities - Valli Deivanai and Jayanthinathar were brought out to the ‘Santhosha’ mandapam after ‘soorasamharam’ ended.
The last day of the ‘Kanda Sashti’ - October 31 - would witness the celestial wedding to be performed at the temple.
HR&CE authorities made elaborate arrangements. Collector K. Senthil Raj, senior officers from the police, fire, municipal and transport departments oversaw the arrangements.
For the benefit of the devotees, the TNSTC arranged special buses to operate from 6 p.m. onwards. Three temporary bus stands were established for devotees to board buses, which were operated to Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar and Madurai and other districts, the officials said.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, ‘soorasamharam’ was open to devotees only this year and many visitors expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made by the HR&CE officials.
Three thousand police personnel drawn from different districts and seven Superintendents of Police and other subordinate officers were deployed on bandobust duty for ‘soorasamharam’.
DIG of Police Pravesh Kumar led the team of officers and the entire stretch leading to Tiruchendur temple was restricted for vehicles only with pass issued by the authorities.
Marine Police and Fire and Rescue Service personnel were monitoring the crowd from sea since noon. Apart from physical checks, drone cameras and watch towers were installed through which police kept surveillance with binoculars.
Seven LED screens were put up for the devotees, but a few more number of screens would have been ideal.
Over 100 officers in the rank of Joint Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner from the HR&CE department were drawn to regulate devotees at various locations in and around the shrine.
Annadhanam, butter milk and potable water for the visiting devotees were arranged at multiple locations by volunteers, NGOs and the temple administration. The Chairman of the temple trustees R. Arul Murugan, Joint Commissioner M. Anbumani and others made arrangements.
