Tamil Nadu - Erode   

Sea of believers at Kundam festival

ERODE: This year, too, the Kundam festival at the famous Arulmigu Bannari Amman Temple near Sathyamangalam bore scene of deep reverence that at times hit euphoric levels.

Men and women alike walked on the bed made of lit charcoal barefoot, after a wait spanning hours.

Those at the ritual included senior government officials such as Inspector General of Police, P. Balasubramanian, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Bala Naga Devi, and District Forest Officer, N. Satheesh, and some elected representatives.

In total, over 1.5 lakh people attended the famous festival.

Hundreds of college and school students, and children along with their parents were also seen walking on the charcoal bed.

The ritual began at 4 a.m. and went on for 10 hours. The devotees had lined up in queues since 2 a.m. itself. The ritual, which began around 4 a.m., went on for more than 10 hours.

Apart from devotees from Erode, Sathyamangalam, Bhavanisagar, Gobichettipalayam and other places in the district, a large number of people from various parts of the State also participated. Devotees from Karnataka came in large numbers.

The district and temple administrations had made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of the event.

The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation operated special buses from various places, including Chamrajnagar, Mysore, Kollekal and a few other places in Karnataka.

The police made heavy security arrangements for the festival.

Over 1,300 personnel were deployed to provide security and manage the crowd.

Of them, 500 personnel were deployed near the charcoal bed to regulate the crowd. Superintendent of Police T. Jayachandran supervised the security arrangements.

Traffic on the Bannari main road was suspended. Vehicles to Karnataka were diverted via Kadambur and Germalam.

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