Most of the temple functions in rural areas coincide with the harvest season. People offer the harvest to their family deities or village deities as a thanksgiving.

This year the festivals scheduled during Tamil month of panguni could not be held due to the lockdown.

Meanwhile, the temple administrative committee at T. Meenakshipuram near Sedapatti has decided to make use of the temple funds to help the rural populace face the economic crisis during lockdown.

“We usually collect ₹250 to ₹300 per family for the panguni festival of Kaliamman, Muthalamman and Ayyanar temple in our village,” said village leader P. Muthumani. Last year, the temple committee had organised a drama too.

Stating that this year, as the lockdown was announced before the temple festival, the village committee, comprising all communities, did not collect money from the 250 families.

“Most of the villagers are daily wage earners. They are involved in farm activities and some are making a living by cutting firewood. After the curfew was ordered, every family has been badly hit,” Mr. Muthumani said.

The village committee decided to make use of the temple funds to help the local people. “In the last six to seven years, we had mobilized some funds to re-build the Ayyanar temple that has become very old,” he added.

Consequently, each of the 250 families was given ₹3,000.

“Given the gravity of the situation, even this money is not enough for the families. We gave the money some 20 days back and many families have already run out of money,” he added.