Jayalalithaa’s photo at Andal temple yaagam irks devotees

An AIADMK youth wing functionary flew his family to Srivilliputhur to perform a homam at the Andal temple for AIADMK to retain power in the next Assembly elections.
Jayalalithaa
Jayalalithaa
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An AIADMK youth wing functionary’s actions of putting a photo of the late Jayalalithaa at a yaagam at the Andal temple in Srivilliputhur did not go down well with some of the devotees, according to reports. Vishnu Prabha, the Ilaignar Pasarai (youth wing) deputy general secretary, went along with his family members in a chartered helicopter from Coimbatore to the temple, to offer prayers for the AIADMK’s victory in next Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.

Vishnu reportedly told the media that the yaagam and the prayers were done for the party to retain power in the state next year, which incidentally happens to be the golden jubilee year of the AIADMK as well. He added that the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had also acknowledged the role of the Ilaignar Pasarai in the party’s electoral win in 2011.  

According to reports, when the rituals were performed, the fact that her photo was placed in the temple did not sit well with some of the devotees. One of them told TOI that it was against the rules of Hinduism to pray to photographs of dead persons inside the temple.

The Andal temple, which opened to the public recently, has reportedly been seeing several AIADMK functionaries visiting in the last few days, including Member of Parliament from Theni, OP Ravindranath Kumar, who came to the temple 10 days ago. His father, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam also visited the temple on September 12.

Srivilliputtur, where the Andal temple is located, is one of the 108 divya desams of the deity Vishnu. The Andal temple was reopened after being shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic around three weeks ago, when the Tamil Nadu state government allowed for all temples to be open for devotees to offer prayers with proper precautions such as mask wearing and use of sanitisers. 

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