Thousands of devotees thronged streets of the city to catch a glimpse of Lord Kallazhagar for the ‘Edhir Sevai’, as the presiding deity of the Alagar Hill Temple made His way into the city as part of the Chithirai festival on Sunday.
More than 25 youth volunteers carrying Lord Kallazhagar on a palanquin, began the journey to the city from Alagarkovil at 7 p.m. on Saturday and reached Moondrumavadi at 6 a.m. on Sunday. Many devotees were waiting for a darshan and women held up pots of jaggery with camphor as a sign of auspiciousness.
The Alagarkovil temple elephant led the procession and was followed by people moving mobile ‘hundis’ on pushcarts. Devotees dressed up as Lord Karuppanasamy in colourful attire also accompanied the procession.
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A festive atmosphere prevailed in the city as the procession passed through the Mariamman temples at Pudur, Reserve Line and Outpost. A large number of devotees assembled near the Outpost at 5 p.m. for a darshan and a carnival-like atmosphere prevailed with many makeshift shops selling toys, balloons, eatables and trinkets.
The procession also visited a number of ‘Mandagapadis’ which had been set up all along the route.
For the benefit of the large number of devotees from the surrounding areas who have thronged the city to partake in the celebrations of the festival, the annual Chithirai exhibition was kept open throughout Sunday night. An official at the exhibition said that most of the floating population would visit the stalls and go directly from the Tamukkam grounds to the Vaigai riverbed early in the morning.
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Lord Kallazhagar was taken to the Prasanna Venkatachalapathy Temple at Tallakulam at 9.30 p.m. for a halt. Thousands of devotees are expected to witness the holy spectacle of the deity entering the Vaigai on 6.45 a.m. on Monday.