Rameswaram temple sees big turnout of devotees on ‘Adi Ammavasai’

RAMESWARAM

‘Thai Ammavasai’ on Saturday saw a huge turnout of Hindus from far and near to the holy town of Rameswaram.

After taking a holy dip in the sea, they performed “Tharpanam” (a ritual for their forefathers) and later visited the famous Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple.

The temple, which was opened as early as 4 a.m., witnessed long queues till noon. Many of the devotees took bath in the 22 holy wells inside the premises and offered worship at the sanctum sanctorum. The priests performed “theerthavaari” on the occasion and the ‘panchamoorthis’ were taken out on a procession.

Being a weekend, visitors from within Tamil Nadu and from other States thronged the town from early hours. There was traffic jam on the Pamban bridge and also at many locations in Rameswaram town. Lodges were house-full and restaurants served food to packed crowd through out the day.

Tourists also visited spots like Dhanuskodi, Arichalmunai and Devipattinam in the district.

Hundreds of pilgrims also visited the famous Adi Jagannatha Perumal Temple at Tiruppulani. Before visiting the shrine, they took a dip at Sethukarai and also performed special pujas at the Jayaveera Anjaneyar Temple.

Police had made elaborate bandobust arrangements at spots which attracted large crowds from the morning. The police officers said that these arrangements would continue till Sunday evening.