Amma Mandapam records huge drop in footfalls during festival

There has been steep fall in the number of devotees turning up on Aadi Perukku at the Amma Manadapam on the banks of Cauvery at Srirangam, and instead go to the Srirangam temple which witness considerable crowd. Even though water was released from Mettur dam ahead of Aadi Perukku, it failed to reach Trichy on Thursday.
Among the significant religious events celebrated on the Cauvery river bed, Aadi Perukku usually witnesses thousands of newly wed couples thronging to offer prayers.
While the Amma mandapam at Srirangam is usually the centre of attraction, places like Garuda mandapam, Geethapuram padithurai, Odathurai and Mukkombu too receive considerable devotees for the pujas. But even these locations were found to have received very less footfalls this year.
A rough estimate of over 2 lakh footfalls was recorded last year at the Amma Mandapam for Aadi Perukku, which has reduced to a mere 25,000 this year.


"Last year Aadi Perukku fell on a no moon day (amavasai) which is considered auspicious unlike this year. That was also a reason for the more than usual footfalls at the river banks," said M Ranjith, devotee from Srirangam.
Besides, there was copious flow in the river last year and had the fire and rescue service personnel patrolling the river on boats to rescue people in the event of drowning.
Close to 500 policemen were initially planned for deployment as part of security arrangements at Amma Mandapam from Mambalasalai, which is the approach road,. However police sources said that 400 personnel were retained and the rest were sent back in the morning in the absence of a considerable crowd.
"The state government failed to take necessary steps to ensure water flow in the Cauvery river for Aadi Perukku," said B Hemanathan, president of Arangama Nagarnala Sangam - a resident association in Srirangam. "The Karnataka government has not released the amount of water that it claims to have released. Moreover, Tamil Nadu government too failed to monitor the release as we could not ensure water flow in Cauvery even during such an auspicious occasion," he said.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/trichy/amma-mandapam-records-huge-drop-in-footfalls-during-festival/articleshow/59906582.cms