Hundreds of pilgrims from Tamil Nadu and Kerala thronged the Mangaladevi temple on the border with Tamil Nadu inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) in connection with the Chitrapournami festival on Saturday.
The temple is opened only once a year and the district administration of Theni in Tamil Nadu and Idukki in Kerala jointly make arrangements for the festival. Pilgrims have to travel 14 km from Kumily through the forest to reach the temple and taxis conducted to-and-fro services. The pilgrims reached the temple at 5 a.m. when it was opened for pujas.
In Tamil, Malayalam
Two priests conducted pujas both in Tamil and Malayalam and by 2 p.m. the pilgrims entry from the taxi stand near the Kumily bus stand was barred.
The Forest department had issued strict guidelines for those entering the temple. It had banned loudspeaker announcements, plastic and other items harmful to wild animals. Both the district administrations had made elaborate preparations as the festival was not conducted in the past two years due to COVID-19 situation. Those reaching the temple were provided with food, water, and toilet facilities.
Idukki Collector Sheeba George; Vazhoor Soman, MLA; Additional District Magistrate Shiju P. Jacob; and Travancore Devaswom Board president K. Anandagopan also reached the Mangaladevi temple.
A large number of police personnel from Tamil Nadu and Kerala in addition to officials of Health, Forest, and Revenue departments, and the Fire and Rescue Services oversaw the arrangements. As many as 200 forest staff under PTR deputy director A.P. Sunil Babu were also deputed on duty.
The temple, constructed for Kannaki, is believed to be thousands of years old.
