KANNIYAKUMARI: Flagging the absence of an elephant to perform the traditional ritual of fetching holy water for 'abhishekam' as part of the Navaratri festival at the Kanniyakumari Bhagavathy Amman temple, devotees and village temple committees are planning to resort to a protest on Monday, urging the temple authorities not to end the years-long practice.
The villagers have sought permission from the police to stage the protest, condemning the temple authorities for not obtaining due permission to bring an elephant for the festival. The Bhagavathy Amman temple, one of the 108 Shakthi Peethas, is dedicated to Devi Kanniyakumari and is visited by millions of devotees and tourists every year.
The 10-day Vaikasi Visakam and the 9-day Navratri are the two major festivals celebrated at the temple, and the Navaratri celebrations, which began on October 3, will conclude on October 12. Speaking to TNIE, Kanniyakumari town panchayat BJP councillor PS Subash said that devotees and temple committees are upset over the absence of the elephant in the temple for the last three days.
"Every year, on all the nine days, an elephant will be fetching holy water from the Kasivisvanathar temple in Vivekananthapuram (located 2.5km away) to perform the morning 'abishekam' to the deity, and it has been the tradition," he said. According to north Kundal temple committee president T Raja Krishnan, the elephant carrying holy water on a pot to the temple was a tradition practised for years.
The absence of the jumbo for the last three days has caused a sense of worry among the devotees, who fear that their future generations will not be able to witness the ritual, if such circumstances recur, he added. Meanwhile, the temple authorities told TNIE that a clearance was not obtained from the forest department for the elephant, which was usually brought to the temple during the festival. "We have written to the forest department to grant clearance for the jumbo. If they grant permission, the elephant can be brought for the festival," they added.