Chanting Vedic hymns, a large number of devotees from far and near pulled the car marking the Adi Pooram festival here at the famous Nachiar (Andal) Temple on Friday.
Ninth day celebrations
The ninth day celebrations began with “ekantha thirumanchanam” at the temple at 2 a.m., when priests performed special pujas and aradhanas.
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After the rituals at around 4 a.m., the urchavars of the presiding deity Andal and Rengamannar were taken on the specially decked-up car amidst slokas and chanting of “Govinda…Gopala…” by the devotees.
At 8.05 a.m., the car was pulled along the four ratha veethis of the temple.
Dignitaries from various walks of life and officials led by Virudhunagar Collector Sivagnanam, Inspector General of Police (South zone) Murugan, Temple Board of Trustees chairman Ravichandran, District Revenue Officer C. Muthukumaran among others participated in the car festival.
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After the car returned, there was a serpentine queue of devotees to have a darshan of the deities.
The temple administration made elaborate arrangements in coordination with various other government departments.
For the benefit of the devotees, special buses were arranged by the TNSTC.
Local holiday
The district administration declared a local holiday. A total of 500 policemen and officers were deployed on bandobust duty. Special surveillance cameras and plainclothes men were posted and BDDS teams were in alert mode as a precautionary measure.
The holy flag was hoisted on July 28 and the Adi Pooram festival would go on till Monday. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s friend Sasikala visited the temple on Thursday evening, a temple official also said.
The holy flag was hoisted on July 28 and the Adi Pooram festival would go on till Monday