Tirupparankundram near here wore a festive look on Sunday for the car festival of Subramaniaswamy Temple.
Thousands of people from villages arrived a day before and spent the night at the temple so that they could draw the car early in the morning. The festival, which is conducted on the 14th day of the 15-day Brahmotsavam festival, saw enthusiastic young men pulling the car of Lord Murugan and chanting the name of the deity.
Tirupparankundram is one of the six abodes of Lord Murugan. “People arriving a day before and staying at the temple is a practice followed for so many years,” said S. Karthik, a temple official.
A priest said the car left the temple around 6.15 a.m. and made its way around the ‘girivalam.’ Crowds walked alongside the huge temple car despite a scorching sun. A fire tender and two medical teams followed the temple as a precautionary measure. The car procession came to a halt at 11.10 a.m. after which special pujas were performed.
Several types of ‘prasadam,’ food packets, water and buttermilk were distributed from a line of ‘pandals’ near the temple to passers-by. Police teams from nearby districts were deployed, said an official of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department (HR and CE). Though he said that special care was taken by the administration to prevent indiscriminate throwing of garbage, packets of food could be seen strewn around.
But the food was distributed on palm leaves following the plastic ban.