Among the tales about the Cooum is one that says flowers for the Sri Komaleeswarar temple in Pudupet used to be ferried on a coracle on the river. “The temple is situated on the bank of the river and it seems flowers used to be brought for a parisal utsavam that used to be held there. That tradition is now lost and the priests have no idea about it. Justice W.S. Krishnaswamy Naidu, a judge of the Madras High Court, has recorded about this festival in his memoir. Five generations of his family lived in Komaleeswaranpettai where the temple is located,” historian V. Sriram says.