People pay obeisance to ancestors on Thai Amavasai

Thousands throng three seashores in Ramnad district

RAMANATHAPURAM

Tens of thousands of people from various parts of the country thronged Agni Theertham sea in front of Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple here on Tuesday to pay obeisance to their ancestors on the occasion of Thai Amavasai.

Right from early morning, people made a beeline for the seashore and two other sacred sites in the district – Sethukarai sea near the Adi Jagannatha Perumal Temple in Thirupullani and Navapashanam sea temple in Devipattinam – and performed the rituals.

Priests performing ancestral rituals were busy throughout the day at the three sites. After performing the rituals, people took a holy dip in the sea and offered worship in the temples.

Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple was opened for the devotees at 3.30 a.m. and after spatika linga puja , the priests performed aaru kaala puja , after which, Lord Ramanathaswamy and Goddess Parvathavardhini were taken in a procession to Agni Theertham sea at 7 a.m. for ‘theerthavari’, temple authorities said.

Later, the deities gave ‘darshan’ to the devotees from Agrni Theertham Mandapam before being brought back to the temple on

rishaba vahanam in the evening, they said.

While temple authorities had made arrangements to enable the people to offer worship without any hassles, the municipality had provided drinking water and sanitation facilities.

The district police had deployed more than 400 police personnel and home guards for security, Superintendent of Police Omprakash Meena said.