TIRUCHY: The ‘Pagal Pathu’ ritual commenced ahead of Vaikunta Ekadasi commenced at Sri Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam, on Wednesday.
‘Paramapatha Vasal Thirappu’, the highlight of Vaikunta Ekadasi celebrations, will be organised on December 23. On Day One of the ‘Pagal Pathu Utsavam’ at Srirangam, the procession of Lord Namperumal in a gold palanquin started around 7 am from the sanctum sanctorum and reached the Arjuna Mandapam at 7.30 am. Namperumal gave darshan to the devotees in ‘Pandian Kondai Alankaram’.
The festival will celebrated for 21 days in the Tamil month of Margazhi at the famous Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy temple.
The Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival at Srirangam is divided into ten days each of ‘Pagal Pathu’, before the all-important ‘Paramapatha Vasal Thirappu’ and the subsequent 10 days ‘Ira Pathu’.
On the Vaikunta Ekadasi day, Lord Namperumal would come out through the ‘Paramapada Vasal’ and arrive at Thirumamani Mandapam (thousand-pillared hall). ‘Nalayira Dhivyaprabandham’ would be recited throughout the day and devotees would spend the entire period in devotional activities.
To avoid any type of incidents, elaborate arrangements have been made jointly by the district administration and the Tiruchy Corporation. Special teams have been deployed for crowd control and ensuring basic amenities.
Drinking water tanks have been put in various places in the vicinity of the temple.
Barricades have been put up to for better and comfortable darshan.
A police outpost has been opened to make continuous announcements for devotees and traffic has been diverted at Srirangam to ensure hassle-free movement of the public.
Meanwhile, the health department has set up medical camps.