THOOTHUKUDI: ‘Mahisha Soorasamharam’, the final event of the Dussehra festival was held at the beach adjacent to Kulasekarapattinam Mutharamman temple on Friday. Over 10 lakh devotees from across south India participated.
Sources said that as part of the 11-day festival, several hundred devotees had worn sacred threads, adorned guises of gods, animals and other forms, to seek fulfilment of their wishes. People of all ages dressed up to seek alms for Goddess Mutharamman.
Sources added that streets across Tiruchendur were occupied by ‘Dasara sets’ -- a group of artistes in the guise of Goddess Kali and other gods -- who perform religious and cultural programmes seeking alms. Many call them home to perform pooja with the belief that they bring blessings. Several professional artistes from Mumbai and Chennai were brought in for the event.
On Saturday, which marked the tenth day of the festival, after the day-long pooja, the Amman came out in a procession to the Kulasekarapattinam beach at 12 am on Friday and in the subsequent event of Soorasamharam, the asura was killed, sources said.
Sources added that the district administration had taken efforts to manage the crowd and the traffic. Over 4,000 police personnel from southern districts were deployed to ensure safety and security.