Models, junior artists.street dancers and TV actresses have arrived at the Kulasekarapattinam Mutharaman Temple in recent years and danced in vulgar ways to double meaning songs for Dussehra celebrations.
The ‘sacrilege’ as many devotees call it, has turned the religious festival into an event of full-fledged entertainment. Finally, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had to step in to put an end to this not-so-appeasing practice.
Kulasekarapattinam is famed for its Dussehra celebrations, with lakhs of devotees from various parts of Tamil Nadu participating in it. Dussehra celebrations here is considered second only to the festival in Mysuru.
This year, the 11-day event at the Kulasekarapattinam Mutharaman Temple is from September 21 to October 1, with Surasamharam marking the conclusion of the festival.
Now, paid dancers have proved to be an embarrassment to the devotees arriving for the festival.
Devotees dressed in unique attires, with some dressed like animals and some men dressed as women, collect offerings from the public and commercial establishments as a fulfilment of a vow.
