20,000 participate in men-only feast festival in Thanjavur

TIRUCHY: Over 20,000 men from Thanjavur turned up for the 200-year-old tradition of men-only festival and participated in the ‘kari virunthu’ (non-veg feast) in which over 1,000 goats were sacrificed on Friday.

The festival of Nallaperuma Ayyanar, Semmuni and Muthumuni temple at Thaligaividuthi village near Orathanadu commenced on Thursday night. The major event of sacrificing goats was conducted during the Friday of the Tamil month of Aadi. Devotees offered 1,000 goats and all of them were sacrificed and cooked on the temple premises to be served to the men. The community feasting in which 100 kg rice was used commenced in the afternoon.

“Interestingly, only men are allowed to participate in the festival and they would be served rice along with mutton in open ground,” said Pon Muthuvel, the temple trust chairman.

He said that it was a 200-year-old custom and people from villages like Thaligaividuthi, Akkaraivattam, Sillathur, Vettikadu, Thiruvonam, Karambaikudi, Therku Kottai, Vadakku Kottai and Kilamangalam come for the festival. The annadanam commenced from Friday morning and 500 men served food to the devotees on plantain leaves.

Muthuvel said that this mega feasting used to be held once in five years. The goat sacrifice commenced on Thursday night and the preparation of rice began during the early hours of Friday. “Since it is customary that only men should participate in the feasting, the cooking also was made by them,” Muthuvel added.