CHENNAI: Four devotees, including three women, were injured after a portion of an old lime-plastered mandapam and a sculpture collapsed on devotees waiting in a queue at the Tiruttani Subramania Swamy Temple on Sunday morning. The injured were rescued by fellow devotees and taken to the Tiruttani Government District Headquarters Hospital, where they are undergoing treatment.
The incident occurred near the Vasantha Mandapam when a portion of the old structure, including sculptures of the temple’s parivara deities, suddenly collapsed onto devotees in the general darshan queue.
The injured have been identified as Lakshmi (60) and Jaya (65), both from Dharmapuri district, and Saritha (40) and her son Manikandan (23), from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. Two others suffered minor injuries. “All those injured are stable, one person had received seven stitches for his injuries. None of the injuries are life threatening,” a senior police officer said.
The temple witnessed a heavy rush on Sunday as devotees from various parts of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana had gathered for darshan.
“Inquiries revealed that the sculptures were weakened by monkeys in the last few months. We suspect this could have led to the collapse. An investigation is under way,” the officer said.