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Villagers go fishing to celebrate temple festival
by Jaikumar

         Madurai: Villagers celebrated the fish festival in the pond of Kallandhiri Muthan Swamy Thirukovil temple. Coming on the final day of the week-long temple festival, the fish festival allows devotees from five villages to fish in the temple's pond. They take away the fish caught to their homes, believing it is God's gift. The main purpose is to help clear the pond of old fish. Every year, village elders and astrologers determine the appropriate date in the Tamil calendar's first month of 'Chittarai' to clear the pond. The practice has been on for years. According to some estimates, over 5,000 people converged at the Muthan Swamy Thrukovil Pond to perform the annual fishing ritual. "Muthan Swamy Thrukovil pond is used commonly be residents of five villages around it. This is a community activity with no caste or class discrimination. From time immemorial, this ritual has been observed by the villagers. Every year, we conduct this fishing festival and anybody is allowed to participate in it," Ilamman, a village leader said. "Many of us came from Pudupet (another village) and we are all very happy today. We have made a very good catch and each fish is about three kilograms," said Murugan, one of the devotees from a village.
- April 10, 2007

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