Devotees throng Keerimalai to fast

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 August 2004, 18:52 GMT]
Large crowds of Hindu devotees who lost their fathers Sunday thronged the Keerimalai Sea, which is located in the high security zones of the Sri Lanka Army in the Jaffna district, to perform Adi Amavasai 'theertham' (Water cutting religious ceremony held in 'July' according to the Tamil calendar). Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army who are located in the vicinity had subjected the devotees and their belongings to checks for security reasons before allowing them to enter the Keerimalai area, civil sources said.

Devotees who went by private vehicles spent several hours at the Tellipalai checkpoint of the SLA to get clearance from the soldiers to enter the Keerimalai with their vehicles, sources alleged.

Devotees from all parts of the Jaffna district for the first time after several years swarmed the Keerimalai Sea where they dipped into the sea and performed the rites remembering their departed fathers, sources said. Thereafter they attended special poojahs held at the site where the chief deities of Maviddapuram Kandasamy Temple and Keerimalai Naguleswaram Temple were kept for the day. Both temples are situated in the high security zones, which is in the control of the SLA, sources said.