Thai Poosam is a very important festival for Hindus, especially for the people of Tamil Nadu. It marks the occasion of Lord Muruga destroying evil in the form of the asura Soorapadman. Grand festivities take place all over the state, and even neighbouring states. Temples also have festive celebrations for the respective deities in the temple.
This year however, all festivities have been curbed because temples have been closed for Thai Poosam. The DMK government, that has been imposing lockdown restrictions from the 6th January, to curb the spread of the third wave, imposed closure of temples even on Pongal and Thai Poosam days. Hindus consider it extremely important to go to the temple for worship on these days. But, because of the restrictions, they have been deprived of this practice.
While the government may explain that it is important to close temples and other places of worship to avoid crowding, it is to be noted that Churches were kept open for Christmas and English New Year. It is also to be noted that the first case of the Omicron variant was found in Tamil Nadu on 15th December itself. So these places of worship could have been closed for Christmas and New Year itself, helping in avoiding the third wave altogether. However, not only Churches but all places of worship were over crowded on these days. In fact, the government also went against the Agama rules of temples and kept them open past midnight on New Year’s day. This also attracted a lot of crowd.
It is also noteworthy mention that government liquor outlets TASMAC which sees huge crowd daily has been kept open except on Sundays (due to full lockdown).
Critics of the DMK point out that the decision to keep temples closed for Hindu festivals, but keep other places of worship open for their respective festivals, exposes their hatred for anything Hindu.
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