Sources said that some of the wooden beams that held the tiled roof above the sanctum sanctorum suddenly caught fire. However, the temple did not suffer much damage.

The Colachel station fire office received a call at 7.05 am. In a swift response, a team of fire personnel with water tenders from Colachel and Thuckalay rushed to the temple and put out the blaze, said District Fire Officer Saravana Babu.

Mano Thangaraj, Information and Technology Minister, A Vijayakumar, Rajya Sabha MP, other MLAs in the district, Collector M Arvind and Deputy Inspector General of Police, Tirunelveli Range, Praveen Kumar Abinapu inspected the temple, sources said.

The Collector said that the accident could have occurred around 6.40 am, after the priests performed poojas and came out of the temple. On noticing smoke billowing out from the ceiling of the temple, a group of priests attempted to put out the fire, but in vain. So they alerted the Fire and Rescue Services personnel.

Preliminary enquiries revealed that some silk saris in front of the sanctum sanctorum caught fire and it spread to some parts of the ceiling. However, a team, comprising Padmanabhapuram Sub Collector Sivaguru Prabkaran and Colachel Assistant Superintendent of Police Vishwesh B Shastri, has been formed to conduct a detailed inquiry into the exact cause of the fire. The team would submit a report in a day or two.

Fire safety audit has also been sought. The police are reviewing footage of CCTV installed at the praharam area inside the temple to find the cause of the fire, the Collector said.

Meanwhile, social activist Radhakrishnan moved the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Wednesday urging the need for taking up suo mottu proceedings to inquire into such a fire accident in the Baghavathi temple.