THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A major fire broke out at the Mandaikadu Bhagavathy temple, a famous pilgrim centre frequented by devotees from Kerala, near Colachel in Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, triggering panic among residents here on Wednesday morning. No injury or death have been reported.
The fire is suspected to have started from a lamp lit inside the sanctum sanctorum after the deeparadhana ritual in the morning. It is also speculated that short circuit might have been the reason. A disaster was averted as there were no devotees inside the temple or on the premises due to Covid-induced lockdown restrictions.
The fire was first noticed by the temple priest around 7am. There was extensive damage to the tune of lakhs of rupees as per the initial estimate. However, there was no damage to the idol.