Melur locals celebrate a centuries-old fishing event

The local of Melur celebrating the Kallandhiri Fishing Festival

Melur in Tamil Nadu hosted the well-known and historically significant fishing festival on Saturday.

To celebrate the annual fishing festival, a large number of people from five villages near Melur gathered at Kallandhiri village, one of the villages close to Melur, as reported by ANI.

The centuries-old fishing festival of Kallandhiri is one of its kind in the entire state. The villagers offer the fish they catch to the deity for their better harvest and well-being. Every year, the celebration begins with the onset of summer.

According to the reports, last month, Tamilians celebrated the magnificent Vaikasi Visakam festival to commemorate Lord Murugan's birth anniversary.

The "Vaikasi Visakam" festival was observed in the Vadapalani Murugar Temple, a neighborhood of Chennai city, with a chariot parade. The festival started on May 13 with the hoisting of flags. The festival attracts hundreds and thousands of people to the gathering.

Throughout the occasion, a large and dense crowd of devotees watched the chariot parade. Some devotees were seen offering prayers to the god, while others were observed playing various musical instruments in a spirit of devotion.

Lord Murugan is a six-faced deity who rides a peacock. He is also known by the names Kartikeya, Skanda, and Subrahmanya. It is stated that Kartikeya was born to defeat Tarkasura, the demon. All the gods and those who worship him with immense devotion and pure intentions are granted protection by him.

Hindu scriptures state that Vaikasi Visakam holds great significance among Hindus. South India is where most people celebrate this festival.

On May 22nd, the Sornamalai Kathirvel Murugan temple in Kovilpatti, Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu, hosted eighteen types of unique 'Abhishekam' and decorative 'Deeparathan' for 'Moolavar' and 'Parivar Murthys' as part of the 'Vaikasi Visakam' festival.

The fishing festival custom is not unique to Kallandhiri. In July 2023, a similar celebration was fervently observed in Pugaiyilaipatti, which is close to Sanarpatti. The Periyakulam tank, which had been dry for a while, filled with water last year after heavy rains. The villagers put fingerlings of different fish species into the tank, hoping for a successful fishing season.

The event was marked by a sense of joy and communal harmony, as participants of all ages joined in the fishing and subsequent festivities.