Ezhai Kaatha Amman Temple festival ends on a high note near Melur

Before commencement of the festival on September 12, seven girls in pre-puberty phase were selected to be Goddess. The girls, from seven different clans, were kept in the temple for 14 days. 

There was a recent controversy that the girls were kept half naked inside the temple and an official inquiry was demanded. However the festival ended on a positive note, without any major controversy. 

On the last day of the festival, hundreds of elderly women went in a procession carrying a ‘Madhu Kalayam’ (milk pot mixed with Padhaneer). They were followed by women, of all the ages, who carried figurines of Gods and Goddesses from Ezhai Kaatha Amman Temple to another Ezhai Kaatha Amman Temple at Kovilpatti, located 7 kilometres away from Vellalur. The procession was led by the seven girls (worshipped as ‘Amman’). 

Speaking about the Madhu Kalayam, Mayan, a village elder, said that not all women are eligible to carry it. He said he has been designing the Madhu Kalayam for long. His father used it before and now he is continuing the tradition. The festival had been going on for several centuries and no one knows the exact time when it started, said Mayan. He also said that people from 62 villages participated in the festival.