THOOTHUKUDI: The district administration’s decision to limit devotee footfall to 8,000 a day, along with the pandemic restrictions, has affected a multitude of traders this Dussehra festival at the Kulasekarapattinam Mutharamman temple.
Every year, from across South India, thousands of devotees arrive at the temple for the 11-day festival, during which many dress up as gods and goddesses, ancient rulers, animals, police among others, to seek offerings from the public and deposit them at the temple on the final day.
However, this year, the devotees donning disguises were banned from entering the temple premises for tying “kappu” – a sacred thread – on the first day of the festival, and subsequently for untying them after the “soorasamharam” on the tenth day. The district administration had closed all the pop-up stores, outside the temple premises, selling Dussehra puja kits.
One of the priests of the temple told The New Indian Express that a minimum of 10,000 devotees used to break coconuts every day for archanai during the Dussehra festival, which has gone down to less than 1,000 now.
Lokanathan of Udangudi said that at least 100 coconut traders lost their businesses, while over 50 Kulasekarapattinam flower vendors lost a huge volume of trade this festival. However, the restrictions have wiped away the “obscene dances” performed during the festival, he said, citing the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court’s ban on the same.
Disguise kit sales decline
With the number of devotees wearing disguises having drastically declined, the sales of Dussehra disguise kits this year have gone south. Sankar, a traditional Dussehra kit manufacturer for decades, said that every year he supplies the kits to traders in Tirunelveli, Eral, Udangudi, Thisayanvilai, Nagercoil and Thoothukudi. "There were very few orders due to the lockdown restrictions for the Mutharaman temple devotees. This year marked the lowest volume of business activity,” he added.
Udangudi Block Traders’ Association President Ravi, who runs a fancy store, said that he used to sell Dussehra kits worth more than Rs 3 lakh but the sales plummeted to just Rs 15,000 this year. During the festival, over 200 traders, fancy store owners, hawkers and vendors sell Rs 2-crore-worth pooja articles and disguise kits in Udangudi, Kulasekarapattinam and adjacent villages, but sales have declined this year, he said. Had the district administration informed in advance about the restrictions on Dussehra devotees, many traders would not have invested much, he added.
Gypsies give festival a miss
Ahead of the festival every year, Ravi said over 150 gypsies sell beaded jewellery and low-cost ornaments on the temple premises. The itinerants, traditionally believed to be connected to Goddess Mutharaman, camp at Kulasekarapattinam, a fortnight before the festival. This year, due to the lockdown restrictions, they did not show up, he added.