Devotees pulling the cars of Arilmigu Swarnamutheeswarar Temple at Kandadevi in Sivaganga district on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: L. BALACHANDAR
The famous car festival of Sri Periyanayaki Ambika Sametha Swarnamutheeswarar Temple concluded peacefully here on Sunday, marked by harmony as people from all communities joined hands to pull the ‘vadam’.Amidst tight police security monitored by senior police officials, the temple car, which started at around 7:45 a.m., after passing through the main thoroughfares, returned to its position at 8:42 a.m.The Kandadevi temple car festival—the centerpiece of the annual ‘Aani’ celebrations—became a subject of intense dispute in 1998 when members of the Scheduled Caste communities asserted their right to pull the chariot. Although the procession was held once under tight security in 2006, the tradition was suspended yet again and had remained halted ever since.Although the temple’s kumbabhishekam took place in 2012, the car festival remained stalled as officials cited the chariot’s poor condition and need for refurbishment. The issue resurfaced in 2020 when Maha. Chidambaram filed a petition with the Madurai Bench of the High Court. However, just as the court ordered a trial run of the refurbished chariot, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic halted the plans yet again.
