Madurai: A police ban on a regular ‘spiritual walk’ by devotees through the four Chitrai streets around the Meenakshi temple has caught thousands of people by surprise. The impromptu ban on a practice that stretches back several generations is being questioned by devotees.
People from all age groups, including senior citizens, have been walking through these streets since 5 am every day to gain religious fulfillment. Apart from people residing in the area near the temple, devotees from faraway place also take the invigorating walk as they believe a positive energy emanates from within the temple. The big neem trees along the compound walls of the temple in the four streets also help purify the air, allowing the morning walkers to take in deep breaths of unpolluted air in the early hours of the day when there is no traffic.
Some see the ban as another cruel onslaught on a traditional practice that is centuries old while others see it as a violation of basic human rights for access to public spaces. “How can the police deprive us of our traditional rights of getting blessings from our Goddess Meenakshi in the morning hours by taking a spiritual walk?” asks 88-year-old devotee Kuppusamy.
Kuppusamy and his friends, who have been coming regularly from Thavittu Santhai to Chitrai streets for more than 20 years, have been suffering from the mental agony of the ban for the last ten days.
“This is not like the regular morning walks that people undertake in other areas. While walking around the temple chanting the name of Meenakshi, we connect spiritually with siddhars or yogics who we believe are living in this temple. The saints give us their blessings and mental peace,” said Kannan, a businessman.
Jayaram (74), a retired TNEB employee and his wife Gayanam (68), who underwent surgery after a heart attack and for bone joint pains respectively three years ago, felt some relief from mental stress and the physical pain after they started walking around the temple.
Many elderly couples who suffer from various health aliments make it a point to walk at least thrice in a week in the streets to receive the positive energy from the temple, said a source from the temple.
