Police lathicharge to control crowd in Kancheepuram temple

Tension prevailed in the Ekambareshwarar (Ekambaranathar) temple in Kancheepuram when devotees assembled for the Panguni Uthiram festival were lathicharged by the police in the early hours of March 28.

Every year, the Panguni festival at the temple is celebrated with grandeur, attracting a large number of devotees for a glimpse of the Kalyanotsavam festival held on the last day.

Despite the increasing number of COVID-19 infections, a large crowd, unmindful of social distancing, assembled at the temple, prompting the police entrusted with regulating the crowd, to lathcharge.

T. Karunamurthy, a resident of Kancheepuram, complained that the temple authorities failed to make arrangements and announcements to control the crowd, leading to the police having to use force to disperse the growing crowd of devotees. The temple authorities should not have allowed the public owing to the ongoing pandemic, he said.