Chennai | Thousands of persons gathered at beaches, river banks and water bodies across Tamil Nadu on Wednesday to perform the traditional ancestral rituals "pitru tharpanam" on "Aadi Ammavasai", the new moon day, to honor their departed.
Major holy sites like Rameswaram and Kanyakumari, besides Chennai coastal areas and the Cauvery and Thamirabarani river banks saw huge crowds performing the rituals.
Astrologers clarified that a solar eclipse occurred on Wednesday at late night Indian Standard Time (IST) and was not visible in India especially in Tamil Nadu, posing no ritual restrictions for locals.
Tourism department sources said that at the "Agni Theertham" beach in Rameswaram, thousands of pilgrims from various districts and neighboring Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka arrived at dawn.
Devotees offered sesame and rice balls (pinda tharpanam) to their ancestors before taking a holy dip at "Agni Theertham" sea and bathing in the 22 sacred "Theerthams" within the Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple.
Over 500 police personnel were deployed to manage the crowds, while coastal security police conducted intensive patrols offshore to prevent accidents.
At "Triveni Sangamam" in Kanyakumari, the confluence of the three seas, devotees including those from Kerala gathered as early as 4 am. Large crowds continued to visit the beach well past mid-morning, with police making arrangements to ensure smooth movement.
In Tirunelveli district, thousands assembled along the banks of the Thamirabarani river from dawn and locations including the Kurukkuthurai Subramaniya Swamy Temple steps, Esakki Amman Temple steps, and the holy ghats in front of the Papanasanathar Temple in Papanasam in the district saw heavy footfall over the ancestral rituals.
To ensure orderly observances, police implemented one-way traffic systems and local civic bodies and volunteers were also deployed to collect plastic bags from devotees, replacing them with eco-friendly paper bags.
In Chennai, large crowds converged along the Marina Beach, as well as the Mylapore Kapaleeswarar Temple tank, starting from the early hours of the morning.
According to customs, the Ammavasai (new moon) days falling in the Tamil month Aadi, Thai, and Purattasi are considered sacred for ancestral rituals. As per the Tamil calendar, Aadi is currently on