Amid vedic chants and Tamil hymns, the maha kumbabhishekam (consecration) ceremony of Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple was conducted on Thursday after 17 years in a grand manner, watched by thousands of devotees.
Though it was scheduled to be held once in 12 years, the fire accident at Veera Vasantharayar Mandapam inside the temple in 2018 delayed it to 2026. The mandapam was restored by spending more than Rs32 crore, and thrown open on Aug 30. Madurai district secretary of Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers (Taratdac) A Balamurugan said the district administration had planned to issue 30 passes to persons with disabilities to witness the ceremony atop the temple.
LED screens were installed at several places around the temple for the devotees to witness the ceremony. A large number of police personnel were deployed to ensure safety and regulate the crowd. Ministers C T R Nirmal Kumar, S Ramesh, P Viswanathan, K Jagadeeswari, V Sampathkumar and V K Rajeev, Madurai MP Su Venkatesan, HR and CE commissioner T G Vinay, district collector Nishanth Krishna, corporation commissioner Gaurav Kumar, deputy mayor T Nagarajan, and board of trustees chairperson Rukmini Palanivel Rajan were among those present. However, while they were permitted to witness the consecration ceremony at Palani and Chidambaram temples, he questioned the administration’s decision to cancel passes in Madurai.