2ND LEAD (CORRECTIONS)

A few devotees attend Maaviddapuram CAR festival

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 August 2007, 16:54 GMT]
Only around two thousand devotees entered through Sri Lanka Army (SLA) checkpoint in Thellippazhai to attend the Thear festival of the historic Maaviddapuram Kandasamy temple located inside the Valikaamam north High Security Zone (HSZ). After the SLA offensives in 1990 civilians living close to temple and surrounding areas were evicted, and in 1999 the area was demarcated to fall within the HSZ, despite protests from Chaiva organizations.

However, SLA has been admitting limited number of devotees to enter into the HSZ to visit the temple for prayers and to perform other personal religious rituals at the temple.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka High Command has announced that they will be admitting devotees through the Tellipalai and Cheanthaanku'lam checkpoints for the traditional "Aadi Amaavaasai" festival Sunday. More than 10,000 devotees are expected to participate in the rituals at the historic Nakuleasvaram Temple and Keerimalai Tank where Chaiva Tamils commemorate death anniversary of their fathers.

The SLA has also announced that devotees will be admitted through Achchuveali to attend the "Kodi Eattam" festival, the first day of summer festival celebrations, at the Chelva Channathi Murukan Temple in Tho'ndaimaannaa'ru Vadamaraadchi.

Although following the signing of the CFA in 2002, normal atmosphere was present at the Temple and surrounding areas for hindu devotees to attend the temple rituals for nearly five years, currently palpable tension prevails in the area.

SLA had earlier closed the access to the rear side of the temple via the Achchuveali-Idaikkaadu path citing security reasons, and the announcement to allow devotees through this access point will greatly benefit the devotees attending from Valikaamam area through Neerveali and other towns, civil society sources said.

The new moon or "amaavasai" is a significant day in any calendar. According to Hindu astrologers, in the month of Aadi, the moon is in the ascendant in Kadaka rasi, which is occupied by Sun, and this concurrence is reminiscent of Siva and Sakthi. Hence the special significance of Aadi Amaavaasai as a day when children remember their late parents, especially the father. It is customary for them to perform ablutions, offer prayers to the souls in the presence of a priest (dharpanam) and attend a temple of Siva. In Sri Lanka, Keerimalai continues as the foremost shrine for Aadi Amaavaasai.

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