More than 10 lakh devotees are expected to attend the festival at Kulasekarapattinam, particularly between October 17 and October 21.
| Photo Credit: File Photo
With the vibrant dasara festival at Sri Mutharamman and Sri Gnanamoortheeswarar temple in Kulasekarapattinam set to begin with flag hoisting ceremony on Sunday (October 11), security arrangements are in full swing to manage the large number of devotees expected to attend the festival.
From the day of flag hoisting to “Soorasamharam” (annihilation of demon) at the shores of Kulasekarapattinam on the night of October 20, lakhs of devotees are expected to visit the temple as part of the dasara celebrations. More than 10 lakh devotees are expected to attend the festival, particularly during the peak period between October 17 and October 21.
According to an information provided by Thoothukudi District Police with The Hindu, as per the present plan, security arrangements will involve four Superintendent of Police (SP), 10 Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), 49 Assistant/Deputy Superintendent of Police, 125 Inspectors along with a total police strength of 3,806 personnel.
The deployment will cover the temple premises, Soorasamharam venue, beach area, parking areas, temporary bus stands, important junctions, approach roads, connecting routes and other vulnerable locations.
To ensure effective surveillance over the areas, where a large number of devotees are expected to congregate, three watch towers are being arranged along the beach area. In addition, three watch towers are proposed at locations where temporary bus stands are being established, along with four more watch towers at important junctions and parking areas.
Around 50 ‘May I Help You,?’ Police assistance centres are being established to assist the devotees travelling between various parking areas, temple beach area, temporary bus stands and other important locations.
To strengthen security and surveillance, seven mobile CCTV camera vans and six PTZ camera vans are being arranged. Further 27 permanent surveillance cameras were proposed to be installed exclusively for the festival period at important locations. In addition, three drone cameras will be deployed to strengthen the surveillance and three ANPR cameras at important roads to monitor vehicle movements, effective traffic management and security surveillance.
For children’s safety, 10,000 identification wrist bands are being prepared to facilitate their quick identification and tracing of children, in case they are separated from parents during a large congregation.
Special women teams will be deployed to ensure the safety and security of women devotees and 10 separate special teams from other districts will be deployed to prevent crimes during the festival. In addition, 120 police personnel from Coastal Security Police stations will be deployed along the beach to further strengthen the safety and surveillance of devotees in the area.
A dedicated Command and Control Room is being established at Kulasekarapattinam police station exclusively for monitoring festival arrangements.
As a significant number of devotees attending the dasara festival traditionally visit Tiruchendur Subramanya Swamy temple, a total of 988 police personnel will be deployed on duty in Tiruchendur, including one SP, three ASP and 16 Assistant/Deputy Superintendent of Police.
Published – October 08, 2026 08:04 pm IST
