On Thevar Jayanthi, people queue up in Goripalayam to pay respects to statue

In Madurai, the 118^th Thevar Jayanthi and 63rd guru puja on Thursday, which started with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and council of ministers paying homage to the Muthuramalinga Thevar statue, continued late into the evening with people queuing up to pay their respect to the leader. 

Public from various parts of the district and nearby districts descended at Goripalayam to pay their homage to the statue of Thevar. 

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin  pays homage to the statue of Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar at Goripalayam in Madurai on Thursday.
| Photo Credit:
G. MOORTHY

Many people, including a large number of women and teenagers, started arriving at the location since morning to pay their respects to the leader.  

A majority of the women carried milk pots and ‘mulaipari’ (sprouts) waited in long queues which reached as far as Meenakshi Government Arts College for Women around noon. 

Youngsters affiliated with various outfits wore uniformly coloured T-shirts and headbands for the celebration.  

Leaders from various political parties, including AIADMK, DMK, MDMK, BJP, All India Forward Bloc and Naam Tamilar Katchi, garlanded the statue. 

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) founder and leader Vaiko, Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan, AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran, V.K. Sasikala, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) general secretary N. Anand alias ‘Bussy’ Anand and general secretary C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar, among others paid their respect to the statue.  

Due to strict police regulations and visible policing across the city, youngsters performing stunts in their vehicles, by sitting atop cars, flouting rules, largely reduced.