At a time when an average of one lakh devotees attend the Athi Varadar festival every day, the Kancheepuram district administration has decided to reduce the admission timing by one hour at the Sri Devarajaswami temple.
Addressing reporters on Sunday, Collector P. Ponniah said the district and temple administration had decided to reduce the time by one hour to clean up the premises. The temple gates at the eastern gopuram would be closed by 9 p.m. from Monday (till now it was closed at 10 p.m.).
“We have to clean the temple, fill up water in the tanks and clean the rest rooms to ready the place for the next day,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department has urged the elderly, sick, differently abled, young mothers and pregnant women to avoid visits during the weekends. This is due to the sudden surge of devotees during those two days. “On July 13 alone, over 2 lakh visited. This has been true for the preceding Saturday too,” a senior HR&CE official said.
Pushpa, a volunteer with Seva Bharathi, said, “Wheelchairs are provided only after at least 800 m to 1 km at the temple entrance. They should be available at the start of the queue.”
Medical camps
The Health Department has also been conducting health camps at the festival. T. Senthilkumar, deputy director (health), Kancheepuram, said they have 10 camps outside and one inside the temple. On an average, the camps get around 1,000 persons daily with complaints of dehydration and dizziness, he said.