The Hindu : Reporter's Dairy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 26, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Reporter's Dairy

The `Jadayu Theertham' — a Siva shrine forming part of the Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameswaram — is being renovated for the `mahamaham' festival.

The shrine is situated amidst thick casuarina groves on the Rameswaram-Dhanuskodi highway and thousands of devotees participate in the festival. They offer worship to the deity after a holy dip in the sea.

The temple administration has decided to celebrate the next `mahamaham' festival on March 6 and as a first step, the `Jadayu Theertham' was desilted.

Abisekams and special pujas were performed recently to begin the renovation of the temple.

* * *

The book Kavioviam, authored by Paul Sathianathan alias Arangasamy Kumaran, former pastor of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church, was released at a function held at Kodaikanal in Dindigul district recently.

Releasing the book, the Kodaikanal Municipal Chairman, K.C.A. Kurian Abraham, said it was a pioneering work in the field of Tamil literature and religious study, highlighting the archaic classic forms in Tamil poetry.

Receiving the first copy, The Servite Provincialate, Madurai Provincial, Sr. Eustasia Mary, said the book was a symbol of communal harmony and useful to research scholars in the field of religion and literature.

The Madurai American College professor, Evangeline Manoharan, in her keynote address, praised the author's effort in touching the mysterious depths of Tamil language. There were only a few poets, who were well-versed in `Chitrakavi,' she added.

* * *

Creating an awareness among people alone will help speedy implementation of any programme and enactment of law. To prove it, the Gandhigram Animal Welfare Association, in association with the Ambathurai panchayat president, Chinnammal, recently arranged a campaign to popularise the Law for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in the panchayat.

Pamphlets were issued, guiding cattle transporters on safe journey of the cattle from one place to another.

The Veterinary College professor, Beer Mohammad, said competitors administered lime juice in the eyes of bulls before Jallikattu to irritate them, which was big offence attracting fine and three-month imprisonment under the Law for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The Animal Welfare Association Managing Trustee, S. Palanisamy, said the association would start a pet care clinic to treat pet animals and give anti-rabies injection free of cost.

* * *

The forthcoming Parliamentary election fever has not even spared the Tirunelveli Freedom Fighters' Association, as it has decided to contest the polls.

The decision to contest the election was taken in its meeting held in Tirunelveli on Sunday.

Besides fielding their candidates as independents, the association has also expressed its desire to have an `electoral alliance' either with the Karunanidhi-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or the Jayalalithaa-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to send their representatives to the Parliament.

The meeting was attended by 15 members, aged between 70 and 80, and their relatives. Whenever the freedom fighters seriously discussed their electoral prospects, the entire hall, where the meeting was held, plunged into laughter.

* * *

The putting up of road dividers in the stretch between the Tower Junction and the Veppamoodu Junction on the busy Cape Road in Nagercoil has not deterred two-wheeler riders from overtaking while entering from the Veppamoodu Junction.

Though the entire stretch of the road between the Christopher bus stand in Vadasery to the Anna bus stand in Meenakshipuram is one way for most vehicles save the two wheelers and entry into the Cape Road from the Veppamoodu junction or the Kottar Junction is banned for all vehicles except two-wheelers, the authorities decided to permit two-way traffic for two-wheelers alone.

But this seemed to have proved `disastrous' as the traffic police could not manage to regulate traffic at the Veppamoodu Junction where the signal has been razed to the ground recently and has not been replaced yet.

Recently, the police set up temporary dividers `to provide a safe passage' to two-wheeler riders in the stretch between the Tower Junction and the Veppamoodu Junction, but to no avail.

This has led to frequent traffic snarls and the dividers make driving for motorists a perilous task.

* * *(Contributions from P.S. Suresh Kumar in Ramanathapuram, K. Raju in Dindigul, P. Sudhakar in Tirunelveli and J.V. Siva Prasanna Kumar in Nagercoil.)

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