Devotees Gather at Mylapore Temple Tank and Across Tamil Nadu for Aadi Amavasya Rites

Thousands of devotees gathered at water bodies across Tamil Nadu on Wednesday to perform pitru tharpanam ancestral rituals on Aadi Amavasya, with large crowds converging at the Kapaleeswarar Temple tank in Mylapore and along Marina Beach in Chennai from the early morning hours.

The traditional rituals were conducted to honor departed ancestors on the sacred new moon day in the Tamil month of Aadi. According to Tamil customs, the Ammavasai days falling in the months of Aadi, Thai, and Purattasi are considered particularly sacred for ancestral rituals.

Astrologers clarified that a solar eclipse occurring late at night Indian Standard Time on Wednesday was not visible in India or Tamil Nadu, meaning there were no ritual restrictions for locals performing the rites.

Major pilgrimage sites across the state recorded heavy turnouts alongside the coastal areas of Chennai. At the Agni Theertham beach in Rameswaram, thousands of pilgrims arrived at dawn from various Tamil Nadu districts as well as neighboring Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka. Devotees offered sesame and rice balls, known as pinda tharpanam, to their ancestors before taking a holy dip at the sea and bathing in the 22 sacred theerthams within the Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple. Over 500 police personnel managed crowds in Rameswaram, while coastal security police conducted intensive offshore patrols.

In Kanyakumari, devotees gathered at the Triveni Sangamam confluence of three seas from as early as 4 a.m., with large crowds continuing past mid-morning. In Tirunelveli district, thousands gathered along the Thamirabarani river banks, including the steps of the Kurukkuthurai Subramaniya Swamy Temple, Esakki Amman Temple, and the ghats at Papanasanathar Temple in Papanasam. Local police instituted one-way traffic systems, while civic bodies and volunteers distributed eco-friendly paper bags in exchange for plastic bags.