Mayana Kollai celebrated with gusto

Devotees started preparing for the festival two days in advance. In many areas including Sathuvachari, Saidapet, Kalinjur, Virudampattu, Thottapalayam and Mottur the devotees carried the decorated idol of goddess Angala Paraeswari and took it out on a procession through the main streets of the town. In a bid to fulfil their vows, devotees dressed as various deities and walked through  the streets. Some dressed as Kaliamman went around with a ‘trishul,’ while other men dressed as women. A few of them were spotted chewing bones and others had garlands made of goats’ intestines on them.  The processions ended at the local burial grounds where they propitiated the goddess and visited the burial mounds. More than 1000 policemen were on duty and traffic was diverted to give the processions access to the nearest burial ground.