Devipattinam, a fishing village near Ramanathapuram, wore a festive look in view of the silver jubilee of the Vaikasi Utsav of Dharmamuneeswarar Temple, coinciding with the famous sailing competition.
Despite police restrictions on taking out procession through the Chinna Pallivassal and Periya Pallivassal (mosques) in view of last year’s police firing, residents of Devipattinam and nearby areas assembled in large numbers to celebrate the annual temple festival and witness the competition.
Thirty-six local fishermen took part in the sailing competition in nine sailing boats. They sailed for about four nautical miles into the sea and returned. The competition began after a cracker burst amid loud cheers of the villagers, K. Deva, festival organiser, said.
The team led by Syed Ahmed won the first prize by returning in one hour and 15 minutes in the tight competition. Kanagu Padayachi team won the second prize, Sampath Padayachi team, the third prize and Rasu team, the fourth prize. The winning teams were given cash prizes and village head Muneeswaran distributed the prizes.
Led by Muthuramalingam, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Rameswaram), police made elaborate security arrangements as trouble broke out last year when the temple authorities took out a procession through streets where the mosques are located. The police had opened fire to quell two fighting groups.
Unwilling to take any risk, a Marine Police team led by Inspector of Police P.S. Ramesh Kumar subjected all the participants of the sailing competition to medical test before allowing them to take part.
