Senior priests from several nearby temples entered the sanctum carrying sacred water, which they will pour over the temple’s towering gopurams that have been festooned with flowers; the ritual is slated to run between 7:40 a.m. and 8:10 a.m.
A large contingent of VIPs arrived as early as 4 a.m., including ministers from the Tamil Nadu cabinet, High Court judges, senior government officers, and members of Parliament and the state legislature, all of whom were seated on the upper deck by officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department.
Thousands of devotees from across the region lined the streets outside the temple to witness the ceremony, prompting the Madurai Corporation to issue strict notices to nearby property owners, warning them against allowing people to climb onto private buildings for a better view.
The Kumbhabhishekam, which marks the periodic re‑consecration of a Hindu shrine, draws both religious followers and civic leaders, underscoring the temple’s cultural importance and the need for coordinated crowd‑control measures during such high‑profile events.