Tamil New Year was celebrated across Tamil Nadu with traditional gaiety and religious fervour. Tamil New year is celebrated every year on the first day of first Tamil month ‘Chithirai’.
People, some clad in new clothes, thronged various temples across the state and offered worship to mark the occasion.
Right from early in the morning, a large number of people visited the famous Sri Parthasarathy Swamy temple, the ancient Kapaleeswarar temple, the Vadapalani Murugan temple and at the six abodes of Lord Muruga, the Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple, Sri Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam, Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameswaram, Sri Natarajar Temple in Chidambaram, Padaleeswarar Temple in Cuddalore and Sri Devanathaswamy temple at Thiruventhipuram, Sri Oppiliappan Temple and Sarangapani temple at Kumbakonam, the Navagraha temple and famous Lord Ganesha temple at Pillayarpatti and offered special prayers.
Amid sharp rise in COVID cases across the State, devotees wearing face masks alone were allowed entry after thermal scanning.
In all the temples, authorities have installed hand sanitisers and ensured that social distancing norms were followed by erecting barricades to streamline the crowd.
Tamils in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries also celebrated Tamil New Year as per the tradition and custom.