Gudiyattam Gangai Amman sirasu festival held with 10 people in attendance

VELLORE: After obtaining a special permission from the Vellore district administration, the famous Gangai Amman Sirasu festival at Gudiyattam was conducted in the early hours of Thursday.
The annual Sirasu festival at Gangai Amman temple is a 400-year-old tradition and attracts lakhs of devotees. This year, due to the Covid-19, only 10 people were allowed on the temple premises. Those who participated include temple workers and executive members of the temple.
The festival was livestreamed. The rituals began at 1am and ended in the next 90 minutes. The temple was closed after that.
More than 250 police personnel, headed by Gudiyattam DSP Saravanan, and revenue officials headed by Vellore RDO S Ganesh were deployed outside the temple to restrict devotees from entering the premises.
“The main event is taking the idol of goddess Gangai Amman out on a procession for 1.5km from Dharanampettai to Gangai Amman Temple. This was not held this year. Instead, a short procession was held on the temple premise,” said the DSP.
Temple trustee member RG Sampath said, “The Sirasu festival is usually celebrated in a grand manner for more than 400 years. In the last 10 years, lakhs of people visited the temple. Devotees from different parts of Vellore, other districts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh visit the temple for the festival.”
Earlier, the festival had been cancelled by the Vellore district administration. However, after several requests, collector A Shanmuga Sundaram granted permission on Wednesday.