TIRUCHY: Once in a year, on the Chithira Pournami, the godman M D Dhanapal, gives Pidikasu to his devotees. He starts giving Pidikasu (fistful of coins) to the devotees by 7 am and continues to give till 8 pm without taking break.
To give Pidikasu to thousands of devotees, the godman needs to have large amount of coins. From where he gets that? He collects them from the devotees only. There is a ‘magic’ wall at the rear side of the Karuppasamy temple where devotees stick the coins.
Rani, a devotee, said “If we press a coin on that wall, it gets stuck on it. If it falls down, it means that we do not have the blessing of the god Karuppasamy for the thing we wish.” Coins stuck on the wall are collected through a ‘Hundi’. The villagers said the godman distributes the coins as Pidikasu.
The devotees strongly believes that if they invest these coins in business, they will turn successful which explains the clamour for the coins.
A section of devotees accused police of failing to provide adequate arrangements. The coin distribution was to take place on Friday. Because, police were away on poll duty, it was scheduled on Sunday.
Contrary to the charges, some said fire tender and ambulance were on standby at the venue which helped rush the victims to hospital. Despite the arrangements, seven lives were lost .
The deceased were identified as – A Shanthi(50) of Senthamangalam, V Poongavanam(50) of Vinayagananthal near Veppur, R Valli(35) of Vadaponparappi near Kallakurichi, S Gandhayee(38) of Thirumanur in Salem, K Rajavel(55) of Murugankudi, Ramar(50) of Pillankulam in Perambalur, C Laskhmi Gandhan(55) of Nanniyur Puthur in Karur.
Among the three who suffered serious injury was Periyasamy who fractured his hand and lost his elder sister Poongavanam in the stampede.
Periyasamy said “This is the first time I have come to Karuppasamy temple near Thuraiyur. My sister had come here every year. She asked me to accompany me this year. So I have come. We all caught up in the stampede. She died. I could not even attend my sister’s funeral.”
CM announces Rs 1 lakh solatium for families of victims
Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced a solatium of `one lakh to each of the families of seven persons who died in a stampede during Chitra Pournami festival in a private temple at Muthayampalayam village in Tiruchy district. In a statement, he expressed deep grief over the incident. He also granted `50,000 as compensation to each of the 12 persons who sustained injuries in the incident.