Thousands of devotees thronged Madurai on Thursday to witness the consecration ceremony of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple which was conducted in a grand manner after 17 years.
Madurai : Crowd pressure and confusion over access marked parts of the Meenakshi Amman Temple consecration on Thursday, even as the main rituals were completed as scheduled after 17 years. However, Nirmal Kumar said crowd pressure at some locations prompted officials to gradually allow devotees inside from around 8.30am. Authorities had initially announced that public darshan would begin only at 10am after the consecration rituals.
The distribution of passes also triggered complaints, with several devotees alleging preferential access for VIPs while others waited outside. Nirmal Kumar rejected allegations of political interference, saying temple officials alone handled distribution under established procedures.
Questions over pass allocation had surfaced before the ceremony after trustee board chair Rukmani Palanivelrajan raised concerns over the arrangements.
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