RamanatHapuram: Unlike the pre-covid time when thousands of people packed the island to offer Tharpanam to their ancestors on the occasion of Mahalaiah Amajasasa, the number was reduced to several hundred because the steps taken by the police.
Mahalaya Amajascaya is one of the three new days of the month that attracts many people in Rameswaram.
Anticipating the crowd, district administration as part of the steps of prevention of pandemics issued a statement that worshipers would not be permitted to offer Tharpanam and swim on the beach of Agnitheertham on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The police blocked private vehicles in Pamban to prevent the worshipers to reach Rameswaram.
Five roads connecting Agnithehertham Beach are also blocked with barricades.
However, part of the worshipers reached the island by train and by the government bus.
They offer Tharpanam and swim on Sangumal Beach which is about 100 meters from Agnitheerther Beach.
Some also offer Tharpanam on private farming and in priest priest houses that are on the main streets close to Ramanathaswamy temples from the early hours.
The locals say that the crowd was much lower than the few thousand who had come in the past.