Devotees queued up to receive whip lashes from the temple priest as part of a ritual vow at the Nithya Sumangali Mariamman temple in Rasipuram, Namakkal district. The practice was a highlight of the temple’s annual Aippasi month festival.
The historic temple holds the festival every year. This year’s celebrations began last month with the Poochatuthal ritual, followed by special abhishekam and aradhana for the goddess every day.
The main event, the Poovodu procession, began yesterday morning. The head priest carried a fire-filled flower pot (agni poochatti) around the temple’s inner corridor. Men, women and other devotees gathered at the temple dropped coins, brought as offerings, into the pot with deep devotion.
The priest, holding a long whip, then struck the hands and bodies of devotees waiting in line. According to belief, this ritual drives away evil forces such as ghosts and spirits, relieves long-standing illnesses and chronic ailments, and grants childless couples the blessing of a child.
People of all ages, from women and men to infants and the elderly, waited in a long queue to receive the lashes. Afterwards, the devotees had darshan of the goddess and concluded their worship.
