MADURAI: The preparatory works at Madurai Meenakshi temple for the annual Chithirai festival have kicked off, with the HR&CE department floating tenders for various works.
The Chithirai festival will commence with a flag hoisting on April 23 followed by the celestial wedding of deity Meenakshi on May 2, the Chithirai temple car procession on May 3 and entry of Alagar into the river on May 5. With just a couple of weeks before the biggest festival in Madurai, the officials of the HR&CE department floated tenders for primary preparation works, including decorations, barricade placement, preparation of temple car of Meenakshi temple and other arrangements in and around the Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple.
Officials said that following the tender process the preparation works will commence soon in Madurai, and added that as the festive season has already begun, the footfall of devotees has increased despite the searing temperature. "The temple authorities have placed coir mats around the temple for barefoot devotees participating in the procession, in order to prevent sunburn. The HR&CE department has already started carrying out the maintenance of 1,000 gold coins Saparam as a part of the Kallalagar procession," the officials added.
Stating that there were crowd control issues in some areas during the festival, senior council members of the city corporation added that the city corporation and the district administration will be taking necessary steps to maintain the safety of the devotees.