NAGAPATTINAM: A Pall of gloom descended on the spiritual town after a 26-year-old devotee from Andhra Pradesh allegedly drowned in the tank of Nagore Dargah on Monday. The town is abuzz as thousands of devotees and tourists from all over the country have converged to take part in the Santhanakoodu procession, the main event of the fortnight long Kandhuri festival.
According to police, K Sheikh Munna (26) arrived here along with a group of devotees from Chirala in Ongole district of Andhra Pradesh to take part in the Santhanakoodu procession scheduled for Tuesday. As fate would have it, he slipped and fell inside the tank when he tried to take a dip, around 10 am on Monday.“Sheikh Munna arrived in Nagore on Monday with 30 others from Chirala to take part in the Santhanakkoodu procession, which is to be held on Tuesday. When he went to take a dip in the 15-feet deep Dargah tank, he slipped on the steps and drowned around 10 am.
Firefighters tried their best to rescue him, but could only retrieve his body after an one-hour search operation,” said a senior police officer. Nagore police have filed an FIR and sent the body to Government Nagapattinam Hospital for autopsy. Besides spreading gloom all around, Sheikh Munna’s death raises questions over the arrangements that are put in place at places of worship during important occasions. Activists and devotees have urged the Dargah Board and district administration to set up barricades inside the tank to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future. The 461st Kandhuri festival of the famous Sufi saint Shahul Hamid began on 13 February with the raising of sails. Flag hoisting ceremony was held on 17 February. It will conclude on March 2.
Plea for barricades
Activists and devotees have urged the Dargah Board and district administration to set up barricades inside the tank to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future