Compiled by MAHADHIR MONIHULDIN, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
THE Sri Marathandavar Temple in Maran, Pahang, is gearing up for its 92nd Panguni Uthiram festival, which is expected to draw half a million visitors, reported Makkal Osai.
The festival is celebrated on the 12th month of the Tamil calendar, Pangguni, during which the moon “enters” the Uthiram constellation.
Locally, the festival is primarily associated with the Hindu deity Lord Murugan, but devotees of Ayyappa, Shiva and Vishnu also participate.
Temple committee chairman Datuk K. Tamilselvan said the festival had been celebrated without much fanfare for the past three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year, the temple has received approval to hold various activities such as processions and the bearing of kavadis.
The festivities, which will begin on March 26, will see four poojas being held daily for the first nine days.
> Malaysia Nanban reported that police in Tamil Nadu had to intervene when two women turned up at the district office with a rifle.
However, they were only there to return the weapon, which had previously belonged to their late family member.
The gun had belonged to a farmer named Pazhanivel in Salem, who apparently held a gun licence for 25 years to protect his land.
However, after he passed away in 2021, his family felt that they no longer needed the gun for protection.
His wife Parvathi and daughter Sumathi turned up at the office with the weapon.
Authorities quickly established that the women meant no harm and even accompanied the duo to the office to complete the surrender of the weapon.
● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
