TIRUCHY: Beats of drums and sound of crackers filled the air around the Kannimaramman shrine at Kallumalai in Manapparai, which wore a festive look on Friday and Saturday. Thousands of people belonging to all communities arrived, carrying mini idols of cattle, horses and dogs atop their head, to take part in the ‘Puravi’ festival being held after a gap of 45 years.
C Vinayagamurthy, a resident of the panchayat, said, “Our ancestors used to carry mini idols to the temple, praying for the welfare of cattle heads. If a cow dies, we would pray that the next one does not die. As a vow, we make a cow idol and carry it to the temple. Everyone has his and her own reason for carrying the idol.”
Talking about the deities, V Chinnathambi, another resident , said, “The group of presiding deities is known as Kannimar, which includes seven goddesses. They maintain order of the land. We will place the mini idols around the presiding deities in the open and return.”
Explaining about the name of the festival, A Chinnasamy, an aged resident, said, “It means rebirth. We have reconstructed the horse and our village deity (kaval deivam), which were damaged. This, and carrying of the idols, signify rebirth. We have also distributed food to nearly 2,000 people on this occasion.”
The festival has not been held for the past 45 years, owing to an issue within members of a community.
Panchayat leader A Thirumalai told TNIE, “There were issues dividing the village for a long time. This year, villagers have sorted them out and the festival has been held once again. Our entire village is happy. This happened only because of the efforts of our youth, who wanted to bring back our traditional festival uniting all communities.”
