MAYILADUTHURAI: Thousands of devotees on Saturday night witnessed the pattina pravesam of the Dharmapuram adheenam seer held as part of the vaikasi peruvizha of Gnanapureeswarar temple. Hours before the event, close to 40 of the 100-odd political workers who opposed the custom of the seer being carried around on other people’s shoulders were detained some 10 km away from Dharmapuram.
The adheenam seer, 27th Guru Maha Sannidhanam Srila Shri Masilamani Desiga Gnanasambandha Paramachariya Swamigal, was carried through the streets around the mutt in a silver palanquin shouldered by dozens of devotees. Thousands from Mayiladuthurai and surrounding districts, including seers of other mutts and political leaders, witnessed the event.
Hours before the event, around a hundred functionaries from the CPI, CPM and the VCK protested against the custom near Kittappa Market in Mayiladuthurai. “We sought permission on Thursday for the protest but were turned down. We still expressed our opposition to the regressive custom,” Professor T Jayaraman, an activist, said.
Around 40 of them were subsequently detained in a hall at Kuthalam, some 10 km away from Dharmapuram. T Mahesh, the district secretary of Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, said, “It is indignant and against human rights that people shoulder another man on a palanquin.”
It may be noted that controversy broke out last year after Dravidian outfits opposed the adheenam custom. The Mayiladuthurai RDO had initially banned the ritual citing law and order concerns only to revoke it later following opposition from political outfits. The seer then went on a pattina pravesam amid police cover on May 22, 2022.