TRICHY: As devotees visiting Cauvery banks on
Aadi Perukku continued their custom of abandoning used clothes along the streams,
rag pickers have been making the best use of the situation. On Friday, they managed to net around 1,500kg of clothes from the banks of Amma Mandapam in Srirangam.
Devotees believe that the Cauvery passing through Amma Mandapam ghats is as holy as the Viraja river believed to be flowing in Vaikuntam, the celestial abode of Lord Vishnu. During Aadi Perukku and Aadi Ammavasya (new moon day), ardent devotees follow the custom of abandoning clothes they wear during the dip signifying that they have washed away the sins of their past.
Rag pickers managed to net around 1,500kg of clothes from the banks of Amma Mandapam in Srirangam
Since the Srirangam island here is known as “Boologa Vaikuntam” (heaven on earth) due to the presence of Sri Ranganathaswamy temple, the foremost of all 108 divya desam temples as per Vaishnavite belief, abandoning cloths in the Cauvery during Aadi Perukku has been a much practised custom for decades. “We believe that leaving our cloths in Cauvery and wearing new outfit will bring us good fortune. It is like starting a new beginning,” R Jayaprakash, a devotee hailing from
Kumbakonam, said.
Trichy corporation had placed several bins exclusively for devotees to drop their clothes at Amma mandapam ghats
Trichy corporation had placed several bins exclusively for devotees to drop their clothes at Amma mandapam ghats to avoid the abandoned materials clogging the irrigation canals. However, the bins placed were barely used. Sensing an opportunity in the custom, a group of rag pickers had been annually picking the clothes abandoned by devotees as it flowed through the streams.Unlike last year, as water currents are high now, rag-pickers felt that netting the abandoned clothes was a challenging task.
“Last year we collected more than 2,500kg of clothes but this year due to good flow in Cauvery, we managed to get only 1,500kg. Even if you place bins, people find it satisfactory only if they leave clothes in the river,” A Arasan, one of the ragpickers in Amma Mandapam, told TOI. Arasan is accompanied by a team of 10 ragpickers who manned the Amma mandapam and Garuda mandapam ghats to collect the clothes abandoned.
