CHENNAI: Lakhs of people on Wednesday paid obeisance to their forebears and performed 'Tarpanam' at various sacred ghats and water bodies across Tamil Nadu on the occasion of 'Mahalaya Amavasai.'
While all new moon days were reserved for remembering the ancestors, the Mahalaya Amavasai that falls in the Tamil month of 'Purattasi' is considered a highly auspicious day for performing oblations to the ancestors to seek their blessings.
Mahalaya Amavasai was observed with great reverence at the holy island of Rameswaram.
Over three lakh people from various parts of the country thronged 'Agni Theertha Kadarkarai' (seashore) and propitiated the departed souls on the occasion.
Special pujas were performed at the world-renowned Sri Ramanatha Swamy Temple.
Reports said lakhs of people thronged the banks of the Cauvery at religiously significant Amma Mandapam bathing ghats at Srirangam, besides the Delta districts through which the river traverses across the state, and paid their oblations.
Hundreds of people congregated on the seashore at Poompuhar, located at the confluence of the Cauvery and the Bay of Bengal in Nagapattinam district.
Devotees performed Pithru Puja to the departed souls at 'Triveni Sangamam' (convergence of three seas -- the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean) at Kanniyakumari.