Thousands of devotees witnessed the ‘chitra pournami’ festival celebrated at the ancient Mangaladevi Kannagi Temple here on Friday.
Situated at a height of 4,830 feet on the southern side of Gudalur, bordering Kerala’s Vannaathiparai, the 2000-year old shrine drew huge crowd since 5 a.m. The Mangaladevi temple trust had planned to celebrate it as “Mupperum Vizha” - Full Moon, Mangala Devi Kannagi Vizha and Poomari Vizha on the occasion.
Theni district administration and their counterparts in Idukki had made elaborate arrangements by involving officers from the Forests, PWD, police, Tourism, Health and revenue departments.
For the facility of devotees trekking to the hill temple, special arrangements were made. Certain restrictions were also imposed to ensure that there was no threat to the environment as the temple could be reached only after passing through a forest cover. Hence, carrying plastic containers, beedis, cigarettes and among others were not permitted. Only after thorough frisking, the devotees were allowed. Similarly, jeeps were also made available at Kumuli for devotees willing to travel by this mode of transport. Special buses were operated from Cumbum to Paliankudi for the devotees aspiring to trek.
The TNSTC had operated special buses from Chennai, Puducherry and Tiruchi to the temple. As a mark of celebrations, the Department of Tourism had arranged cultural events disseminating the Tamil culture and the significance of the temple’s history. For the devotees, a booklet on Kannagi temple’s history and protected water was given free of cost.
At the temple, pujas were performed with flowers, milk and honey. Yaha puja and milk pot processions were conducted. Prasadams were distributed to the devotees. The Department of Siddha led by Dr. Sirajudeen offered neelavembu to the devotees as a precaution.
The district administration and the police had made arrangements and security cover for the devotees visiting from various parts of Tamil Nadu.
