Tamil Nadu - Ramanathapuram   

Thousands take holy dip in sea at Rameswaram

RAMANATHAPURAM: Thousands of devotees from different parts of the country on Monday took a holy dip at in the sea at Rameswaram on the occasion of Adi Amavasai.

The idol of Lord Rama was taken out in a procession to the Agni Theertha Kadarkarai in the early hours.

The idol of Goddess Sri Ambal, after completing ‘veethi ula' reached the ‘mantapam' of Ramanathapuram Samasthanam and gave darshan to the devotees.

Theerthavari (sprinkling of holy water) was also performed. Devotees, who came from Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar, Sivaganga, Dindigul, Madurai and Tiruchi visited the seashore in the early hours to take a holy dip.

Though many pilgrims reached Rameswaram well in advance, some of them waited for the start of Amavasai that was after 10 a.m. to take bath. They performed pithru pujas in memory of their ancestors. Later, they visited Sri Ramanathasamy temple and offered prayers.

It was estimated that more than one lakh pilgrims visited Rameswaram on Monday.

It was more than the estimated crowd that visited last year. Pilgrims, who reached Rameswaram on Sunday night to take part in the Adi festival in which Amavasai was an important event, found it difficult to get rooms, as almost all lodges were full.

Other holy places such as Dhanushkodi, Sethukarai and Devipattinam also witnessed a heavy crowd.

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