Chennai: Visiting a temple during auspicious days amid teeming crowds pushing and jostling and volunteers shooing devotees away from vantage points for a glimpse of the presiding deity may be a difficult proposition, but the spiritual richness behind this exercise continues to beckon devotees.
Imagine what happens when three important festivals — Aadi Amavasai, Aadi Perukku and Guru Peyarchi — fall on the same day? The result was a flood of devotees in several temples on Tuesday.
“Over 25,000 people must have visited Tiruvallur Veeraraghava Perumal temple on Tuesday. Every Amavasai (new moon day) we get close to 20,000 devotees seeking the blessings of the Lord,” says a temple official.
The temple, known for having one of the biggest tanks in South India, sprawling over 7.35 acres, is believed to be several thousand years old and was patronised and developed by the Pallavas, Pandavas, Cholas and Vijayanagara kings. On Tuesday, many could not even move towards the ancient tank as hundreds of people were involved in performing rituals.
With a continuous flow of devotees, the temple became heavily crowded and as time’s winged chariot hurried on, those standing in queues became progressively more impatient. Argument followed argument while a few tried to broker peace only to be silenced by the fear of adding to the tension.
As the serpentine queue inched forward, there was a sigh of relief from the motley crowd of devotees. As devotees finally reached the sanctum sanctorum and tried to grab a few seconds of prayers before the Lord, volunteers began shooing them out. A temple visit of this kind lasting a a few hours may have exhausted many, but the sense of exhilaration remained matchless.
