Seventy-three devotees including six children and 14 women fell ill and were hospitalised after eating prasadam at a temple in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu on Sunday.

The devotees ate sambar rice offered at an Amman temple in a village called V Sathamangalam in Cuddalore, as part of a festival, according to an NDTV report.

Soon after partaking in the offering, the devotees complained of giddiness and vomiting and were taken to the nearby Virduchalam government hospital, according to a TOI report.

Some of the hospitalised devotees claimed that a dead lizard was found in the rice served to them at the temple. A case has been registered against the temple administration and investigations are ongoing.

The incident comes barely a month after 40 devotees were hospitalised after consuming prasadam from a temple near Mettupalayam and two women had died. The devotees were admitted at the Mettupalayam Government hospital after they complained of stomach pain and diarrhoea. This was after they had consumed the prasadam of aval (rice flakes) and ghee served at the Selvamuthu Mariamman temple on April 5, according to a report in the Hindu.

Two women, Loganayagi (60) and Savithri (60) from Nadar colony, Mahadevapuram in Mettupalayam, died on the same day. The prasadam was reportedly made with expired ghee, which caused the suspected food poisoning.

It is believed that low quality ghee used for lighting lamps in temples, caused the food poisoning.