RAMANATHAPURAM: Over 2,000 farmers thronged the Ellai Pidari Amman temple in Kamuthi on the occasion of the Purattasi festival on Sunday. However, not a single woman could be spotted in the crowd. For, this temple restricts entry of women. As a result, be it carrying the prayer plate, or conducting rituals, all temple-related activities are executed by men.
So, when farmers gathered at the sanctum sanctorum to pray for rains in a bid to save this year's harvest, the absence of women did not come as a surprise. In fact, local sources said, women and girl children are not even allowed to loiter around the temple vicinity once the dates for the temple festival are announced.
Additionally, the food served at the temple has to be eaten at the venue and cannot be carried outside, lest it comes within the visual periphery of the female kind. In fact, once the festival is over, all the leftover food and pooja items, including vibhuti, have to be buried.
