Thousands of devotees pull the temple car in Srirangam

Religious fervour pervaded the temple town of Srirangam as thousands of devotees pulled the car of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at the Chithirai car festival on Tuesday.

Devotees offered worship to Sri Namperumal, who was brought from the ‘kannadi arai' around 3.45 a.m.

The deity was taken to the Chithirai ther mandapam and then to the temple car during ‘meena lagnam' between 4.30 a.m. and 5 a.m.

Around 6 a.m., devotees began pulling the temple car, which rolled through the Chithirai streets for more than three hours.

P. Jayaraman, Joint Commissioner and Executive Officer of the Ranganathaswamy temple, supervised the arrangements.

‘Alum Pallakku’

The festival, known as ‘Viruppan tirunal', started on April 17 and will conclude with ‘Alum Pallakku’ on Thursday.

The car festival marks the ninth day of the celebration.

The traditional temple honours from Sri Andal Temple in Srivilliputhur — garlands and holy ‘vastram’ — for Sri Namperumal were received by the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple on Monday.

Over 700 police personnel were deployed for security duty.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/thousands-of-devotees-pull-the-temple-car-in-srirangam/article18210672.ece