When Kaveri Thula Kattam replaced Masi Magam in Tennessee, hundreds were relieved

The bathing ghat of the River Cauvery was filled to approximately ankle level by the Mayiladuthurai municipality a day after TNIE’s report carrying public requests for the filling of the Kaveri Thula Kattam for Masi Magam. This allowed hundreds of devotees to perform rituals in it on Saturday during the festival.

In the issue of February 23, 2024, TNIE reported on the requests made to the municipality to pump water into Kaviri Thula Kattam for the Masi Magam celebration, using the same procedure that was used for the Aippasi Thula Utsavam the previous year. On the auspicious Tamil holiday of Masi Magam, believers celebrate the arrival of their ancestors. The Kaveri Thula Kattam has religious importance, and in 2017, it played home to the Kaveri Maha Pushkaram, a gathering of around one lakh devotees seeking to be purified of their transgressions.

As a result, the municipality began draining groundwater from one of the waterbody’s borewells early on Saturday morning in order to fill the swimming ghat. In the Thula Kattam, the water level rose to around ankle height. “We made the decision to pump water for a day, just as we used to. After removing the garbage piles from the banks, we pumped the water. To fill the ghat for the event, some 3 MLD (million litres per day) of water could have been pumped out, Municipality Commissioner A Sankar told TNIE.

As there is no release from the Kallanai (Grand Anaicut) dam, the Public Works Department (PWD) already ruled out the prospect of discharging River Cauvery water into the Kaveri Thula Kattam for Masi Magam. On Saturday, hundreds of people from the town and surrounding villages flocked to the ghat’s stairs with priests to conduct rituals for their ancestors as word spread about the water’s availability. They had a bath in the ghat itself as well as by standing underneath the pipeline that carried water into it. Residents expressed their appreciation to TNIE for bringing attention to their demands. Municipality authorities were instructed by Collector AP Mahabharathi to make sure that the objects left on the riverbanks after the rites were removed.