पालानी मुरुगन मंदिर में थाईपुसम: सुरक्षा कमी से महिलाएं गिरीं, भक्तों को सात घंटे दर्शन

On the occasion of Thaipusam today, lakhs of devotees gathered at the Palani Murugan Temple for darshan. Due to the lack of adequate security arrangements, women devotees fainted and collapsed. This has led to a tense situation at the temple.\nIn Tamil Nadu, at the Palani Dhandayuthapani Swamy (Murugan) Temple, which is witnessing the main event of the Thaipusam festival today, lakhs of devotees have been visiting the hill temple since the early hours of the morning.\nTo avoid crowd congestion, the routes have been converted into one-way paths. Both the ascent to the hill temple and the descent have been arranged as one-way routes.\nIn this situation, as the gate near the Kudamuzhukku Ninaivarangam on the steps pathway was not opened for nearly one and a half hours for devotees waiting outside, several women devotees fainted and fell at the spot.\nMoreover, due to the lack of sufficient drinking water facilities, devotees are facing severe hardship.\nEarlier, on the occasion of Thaipusam in Palani, thousands of devotees gathered in the early morning hours for the Sun darshan, holding camphor in their hands and worshipping the Sun God with chants of “Arogara.”\nAt 4 a.m., the temple doors were opened, special poojas were performed, and devotees were allowed to proceed to the hill temple.\nAt the foothills, devotees are celebrating the Thaipusam festival with great enthusiasm by carrying various types of kavadi such as paal kavadi, mayil kavadi, and tender coconut kavadi, performing kavadi dance to the beats of drums and music.\nDuring the early hours of Thaipusam, lakhs of devotees gathered at the Shanmuga River and Idumban Kulam areas, worshipping the Sun God, lighting camphor, and offering prayers with loud chants of “Arogara, Arogara.”\nMen and women are also circumambulating the hill while singing Murugan devotional songs and proceeding towards the hill temple for darshan.\nDue to the uncontrollable surge in the number of devotees, the path leading to the hill temple for darshan has been converted into a one-way route. Police have erected barricades and are allowing devotees in batches of 500 500.\nDevotees are being permitted to go up the hill for darshan via the Elephant Path, while those who have completed darshan are being directed to descend through the steps pathway.\nAs the number of devotees on the hill is extremely high, devotees are waiting for nearly seven hours to have darshan.\nMeanwhile, many devotees are eagerly waiting at various places to participate in the Thaipusam festival chariot procession scheduled to take place in the evening.\nAlthough the temple administration has made basic arrangements for the devotees attending the festival, around 3,000 police personnel have been deployed for security due to the massive crowd.\nAdditionally, for devotees who arrived on foot and are returning to their hometowns, 500 special buses are being operated from Palani to various parts of Tamil Nadu.\nHowever, as lakhs of devotees have gathered at the Palani Murugan Temple in a single day, the district administration and police are struggling to provide adequate security arrangements and meet the drinking water requirements.\nIn this situation, the fainting and collapse of women devotees amid the crowd congestion has created a major commotion.