PILLAYARPATTI (SIVAGANGA)
Tens of thousands of devotees thronged the Pillayarpatti Temple, an ancient rock-cut cave shrine, dedicated to Lord Vinayaga, on Monday, and witnessed the ‘kumbabhishekam’, performed after a gap of 12 years.
After the culmination of ‘yagasala puja’, which began on April 24, Pitchai Sivachariyar performed the consecration atop the Karpaga Vinayagar Temple at 9.45 a.m. as devotees, drawn from various parts of the country, offered prayers.
Soon after the consecration, the holy water was sprinkled on the devotees, using sprinklers. The sprinklers were used to avoid any scramble for receiving the holy water and it was well received by the devotees, temple authorities said.
No untoward incident was reported during the event, police said.
Soon after the consecration, ‘maha abishekam’ was performed to Lord Vinayaga, who is also called ‘Valampuri Vinayagar’, for his trunk has curved to the right.
After the abishekam, the temple was opened for the devotees to have a darshan at 3 p.m. and more than 1.5 lakh people offered worship, Rengale Valliappan, a member of ‘Kariakar’ family, said, adding the public darshan was followed by ‘abisheka aaradhanai’ in the evening.
Rituals associated with the kumbabishekam began on April 24 with ‘ettu kala puja’ in 24 yaga salas. Annadhanam was offered to the devotees, he said.
The police had deployed about 2,000 personnel and home guards. Superintendent of Police T. Jayachandran supervised the security arrangements.
