The 438th annual festival of the famous Our Lady of Snows Shrine Basilica here commenced with special prayers and hoisting of the holy flag on Sunday.
The 11-day long festival, which draws lakhs of devotees from far and near, saw very few people witnessing the rituals amid heightened deployment of security around the shrine due to COVID-19 pandemic and the Sunday curfew.
Thoothukudi Bishop Fr. Stephen Antony Pillai and Fr. Kumar Raja among others participated in the ceremony.
The organisers said that all rituals would be performed as usual without the presence of the devotees. The COVID-19 had come as a disappointment, as the flag hoisting ceremony would be witnessed by at least five lakh people from different walks of life and various communities. The shrine is so popular that even people from Sri Lanka and Singapore visited during the annual festival, the organisers noted.
The shrine is more a symbol of unity as people, including Hindus, would converge on all days and offer prayers, the organisers said.
Posse of police
Elaborate arrangements have been made to view the festival through youtube on all the days till August 5. To ensure that people did not venture out of their homes as curfew was in vogue, a large posse of police personnel consisting about 700 personnel led by Superintendent of Police Jayakumar were present on the occasion.
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