RAMANATHAPURAM
Tens of thousands of people from various parts of the country thronged Agni Theertham, Sethukarai and Devipattinam seashores in the district and paid obeisance to their ancestors on the occasion of Mahalaya Amavasai on Tuesday.
As the day in the Tamil month Purattasi is considered auspicious for performing rituals to ancestors, a large number of men, women and children visited these places and presented oblations after taking a holy dip in the sea for the souls of their ancestors to rest in peace.
While a large number of people took a holy dip in Agrni Theertham sea in front of the eastern entrance of Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram, several others bathed in Sethukarai sea in Tirupullani and offered worship at Adi Jagannatha Perumal Temple.
A good number of people performed the rituals on Devipattinam seashore near Navapashanam sea temple dedicated to Navagrahas, the nine planetary deities.
The Rameswaram temple authorities had erected barricades to regulate the crowd at Agni Theertham sea and provided basic facilities such as drinking water and sanitation in coordination with the municipality.
The temple was opened as usual at 4 a.m. and closed at 1 p.m. It was reopened at 3 p.m., the authorities said. After taking a holy dip in the sea, people bathed in 22 ‘theerthams’ inside the temple and offered worship, they said.
The district police had made elaborate security arrangements by deploying two Additional Superintendents of Police and four Deputy Superintendents of Police.