“What occurred during the Nanganallur Temple Teerthavari Utsavam that led to the drowning of 5 priests in a pond?”

A Tirthavari program is organized annually during the Panguni Uthra festival at the Dharmalingeswarar temple in the vicinity of Tambaram in Chennai. On April 5, the Theerthawari program was conducted at Muvasaranpet Pond. During the temple teerthwari, 25 priests descended into the pond to submerge the Swami idol and some ritual objects. They repeated the process twice but on the third occasion, one of the priests got his feet stuck in the mud and struggled, causing panic among other priests who tried to save him. Unfortunately, they also drowned in the water. The fire department was called to help and the bodies of the first four priests were recovered. However, the bodies of four others, aged 18 to 22, were also found and sent for postmortem examination. Later, another body was discovered, bringing the total to five priests who lost their lives during the Tirthavari temple program. This incident is a great tragedy.

Chennai

A Tirthavari program is held every year on the occasion of the Panguni Uthra festival at the Dharmalingeswarar temple near Tambaram in Chennai. Accordingly Panguni Uthra Festival Theerthawari program was held today (April 05) at Muvasaranpet Pond.

In this pond, 25 priests descended into the pond to immerse the idol of Swami and some ritual objects during the temple teerthwari. Then they submerged the idol of Swami and the sacred objects twice and they also drowned.

The 3rd time they were drowning, a priest got his feet stuck in the mud and staggered. Seeing this, the other priests panicked and tried to save him. In this, those priests also drowned in the water.

The fire department was called to the scene. Their search by boat has recovered the bodies of the first 4 priests.

Unexpectedly, the bodies of Raghavan (18), Surya (22), Panesh (22) and Yogiswaren (21) were recovered and sent to the hospital for postmortem.

Subsequently, the body of a person was also found on the 5th. Later, his body was also sent for post-mortem. The issue of death of 5 priests during the Tirthavari temple program has caused a great tragedy.