Madurai, a cultural hotspot, has its biggest and most special festival approaching – the Chithirai festival, the ban on which has made the people of Madurai take to the streets in protest.
It is the largest festival in the southern part of Tamil Nadu and was cancelled last year due to the pandemic. Just 2 weeks before, the people started to accept the strict general curfew rules that had come into force. However, the ban on the Chithirai festival this year has caused a stir among the people of Madurai. Spontaneous protests are taking place in Madurai against the ban.
Small traders, pavilion organizers, florists, artisans and the general public who make a living from the Chithrai festival staged a protest in front of the Madurai Tamukkam ground on the 12th of April. This caused a roadblock, forcing the police to open fire at them. But the protests did not end. The next day, the protest took place at the same spot. Similarly, the gathering and chanting of devotees at the District Collector’s Office and the Meenakshi Amman Temple has become a huge movement.
An organization called the Madurai Kallazhagar Chithirai Festival Committee was formed for these protests and on its behalf, its Chairman KC Thirumaran, Coordinator Solaikannan and others met the District Collector and submitted a petition. The petition said, “This year’s Chithrai festival should be held in Vaigai and devotees should be allowed to participate in the festival.”
Meanwhile, the temple’s Thakkaar Karumuthu T. Kannan wrote a letter to the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu asking him to allow devotees to hold ceremonies at the temple premises without participation. Following this, the temple administration released a list of the festival with the permission of the government. It said, ‘During the festival, devotees will be allowed to perform darshan as usual at times other than the departure times of Swami and Ambal and major ceremonies’. There was opposition to this as well.
Commenting on this, Sundaravadivelu, the leader of the Hindu Temple Security Movement, was quoted saying in a report that it is a deception to allow only regular worship except during festivals. “If the festival takes place inside the temple premises, only the families of treasury officials, politicians and police officers, including Thakkar, can attend the festival. None of the people of Madurai can participate.”, he said.
It is to be noted that despite last year’s corona restrictions, all of the festival’s performances at the Azhagar Temple were held inside the temple premises and broadcast live for devotees to see. Now, half of the performances at the Meenakshi Temple have been cancelled. No live broadcast of any show. The most important event, the Pattabhishekam, was not even held.
“All the events as per the rules of Agama Veda should be held. The government’s argument that corona will spread now falls flat. Didn’t political parties conduct huge rallies? The government has to respect the feelings of the people and conduct the festival outside the temple with due care.”, Sundaravadivelu said.
Adding on to this,DMK lawyer from Madurai RM Anbunithi said, “Corona is not the only reason why the Chithra festival was not held last year. The reason is that under the Smart City project, the streets around the temple as well where the chariot is taken on a stroll have been dug up. Therefore, there was no opportunity for the chariot festival to take place. The reason is that the temple administration is well aware that the ceremony cannot be held. The BJP, which claims to be the representative of Hinduism as a whole, maintains a deep silence on the issue. Local ministers, who wear saffron, vibudhi on their foreheads, and sacred threads in five or six colours on their hands as a display of their devotional side, are also keeping quiet. They say if the chariot is pulled on the cement road laid under the Smart City project, it will get stuck. The BJP is as silent as the AIADMK.”
In this regard, Indhu Makkal Katchi (IMK) leader Arjun Sampath has also spoken in support of the people of Madurai. Visiting the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, he said, “The government has accepted the request of Islamic leaders to allow Muslims to perform prayers until 10 a.m. on the occasion of Ramadan. We welcome it. Similarly, devotees should be allowed to participate in the historically significant festival of Chittirai with due care. ”
As new organizations, leaders and the general public jump into the fray day by day, the protest in support of the Madurai Chithrai Festival is evolving into something similar to the Jallikkattu protests.
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