Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar: Procession highlight of celebrations in Trichy

The leaders of various political parties paid tribute to Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar on his 106th birth anniversary celebrations held here on Wednesday. The city and nearby areas reported no untoward incident, though a large number of people had gathered for the anniversary functions. Though police were on their toes, their efforts to ensure peaceful conduct of the event and management of crowds were effective. In Trichy, the highlight of the celebrations was a procession in which around 200 people carried 'Mulaippari' from Khadi Craft junction to the statue near the Central bus stand. Unlike last year, the police allowed 'mulaippari' procession to commence from Khadi Craft junction, instead of the usual starting point at Gandhi Market. The participants carried pots carrying sprouted nine grains (navadhanyam). A group of 100 women also took out another 'mulaippari' procession at Thuvakudi on the outskirts of the city to mark Thevar Jeyanthi. Their procession ended at the Karuppu temple. Police had set time limits for functions held near the statue in the morning. The members of the All-India Forward Bloc Thevar Statue Maintenance Group, All-India Mukkulathor Paasarai and Thevar Welfare Trust garlanded the statue. The representatives of AIADMK, DMK, Congress, BJP and PMK also paid tributes at the Thevar statue. The first session of garlanding the statue was over by 12 noon and the second session started from 3pm and continued till evening. As curfew was imposed in Pasumpon, people were not keen on going there, police said. Police here had received one one application for vehicle entry into Pasumpon.