MADURAI: Every inch of space was taken as thousands of devotees from across TN and other parts of the country thronged the Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple from 3 am on Thursday to catch a vantage spot to watch the consecration.
With vehicle movement restricted on Masi, Chithirai and Avani streets, people walked for nearly a kilometre to reach the temple. Police placed barricades at several points to divert the crowd, but elderly people and families with children found it difficult to navigate the packed streets. People who had obtained colour-coded passes were accommodated atop the mandapams.
As the crowd swelled in the morning, the narrow stretches near the North and East Chithirai streets became congested, and people started jostling for space. The chaos prompted Minister C T R Nirmal Kumar to direct officials to advance public darshan to 8.30 am instead of 10 am.
Devotees also complained about the lack of arrangements for sprinkling holy water (theertham). Minister Kumar said sprinklers were installed outside the temple, and the drones engaged were too big to be operated in the narrow streets.
No lapse in crowd management: Minister
Ministers S Ramesh and C T R Nirmal Kumar rejected claims of lapses in crowd management and distribution of holy water, among others. Addressing media persons, Kumar said devotees were allowed inside the temple in batches. Around 9,500 were accommodated inside and on the rooftops, Minister Ramesh said. Further, drones sprinkled theertham (holy water) on the devotees.