Poochorithal festival and Chithirai temple car festival cancelled
TIRUCHY: Due to the coronavirus scare and lockdown, the Poochorithal festival and Chithirai temple car festival have been cancelled by the Samayapuram temple authorities. Devotees have been requested to conclude their one-month fast at home. Hundreds of flower farmers and street vendors from Samayapuram are now ruing the cancellations.
The festivals are among the biggest celebrated in the Arulmigu Mariamman temple in Samayapuram. Usually, the festival would be celebrated during the Tamil month of Maasi to Chithirai (March to April) for four weeks. On the last week of the Poochorithal festival, the flag-hoisting for the Chithirai car festival would be done and the temple car festival would commence in the following days.
Following the lockdown, the Poochortithal festival was suspended for one week and later cancelled altogether by the temple authority under the Tamil Nadu government order to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Accordingly, on Tuesday, the temple authorities announced that considering the prevailing situation, the Chithirai temple car festival was also cancelled. The temple management asked devotees to complete their fast at home before the portrait of Samayapuram Mariamman and also to perform abhishekam to it.
As a major ritual of the Poochorithal festival involves the offering of flowers, on Sunday every week, two to four tonnes of flowers would be brought in by devotees. But as the Poochorithal festival has been cancelled, there has been a major dip in flower sales in the district. V Sekar, a flower farmer from Lalgudi, said, "The harvest season temple festivals and marriages see major flower orders and purchases. Following the nationwide lockdown, all events have been cancelled across the State and no one wants to buy flowers. We have been forced to leave them in the fields to wither." He added flower farmers here face massive losses due to the lockdown.
A street vendor from Samayapuram said, "There are nearly 100 street vendors who set up shops on the roads leading to the temple during festivals. The Poochorithal festival and Chithirai car festival take place over almost 45 days. many of us took loans to set up shops this season, but following the lockdown and both festivals being cancelled, we have been left in despair and debt."