A large number of people entered the village pond at Kallandiri near Azhagarkoil to participate in the ‘Meen Pidi Thiruvizha’ on Saturday.

In Madurai district, numerous festivals are celebrated in novel ways. Festivals such as the straw-rope tying festival (Piri kattum vizha), bull-tying festival (Erudu kattu thiruvizha), clay-horse festival (Puravai eduppu thiruvizha), straw-bale festival (Vaikol piri thiruvizha), mango-eating festival (Maambazham unnum thiruvizha), Puttu festival (Puttu thiruvizha), betel-leaf separating festival (Vetrilai piri thiruvizha), plow-tying festival (Kalappai kattu thiruvizha), Paniyaram baking festival (Paniyaram sudum thiruvizha), and the liquor-offering festival (Saarayam padaithu thiruvizha) are celebrated across Madurai.

In this line of celebrations, the ‘Meen Pidi Thiruvizha’ is also held in several villages of Madurai.

As per the tradition, in a pond associated with Ainthu kovil (temple) and Muthan kovil located at Kallandiri, the festival was celebrated.

People from across the district and also from Sivaganga and Dindigul took part in the event.

A resident of the village said, “Every year, it is customary to hold a festival for Lord Kallazhagar during the Tamil month of Chithirai or Vaikasi.”

To ensure flourishing agriculture and the well-being of their families, people also pray and release fish fingerlings into the irrigation tank (kanmoi), after the fish catching event.

Once the released fish grow fully, the village elders assess the weather conditions and choose the right time to catch the fish from the tank.

As soon as the festival begins, the village head waves a white flag. Instantly, all the members of the public plunge into the tank to catch fish.

However, it cannot be said that everyone will definitely get a fish here. Even so, they venture into the water to catch fish just to receive the blessings of Lord, said a participant, A. Murugan from Dindigul.

They take the fish caught in their nets back home, pray to the deity, offer it as a dish, and consume it as Prasadam (sacred offering), he added.

The special feature of this festival is that everyone participates in it, completely transcending differences of religion and caste.

A few others added, “This is not just our belief, but it is also a festival that benefits us in other ways. The reason is that if we don’t conduct such a traditional fish catching festival, there is a risk that the tank will be put up for auction. The water resource will be destroyed. Furthermore, our tradition will be forgotten. By organising the festival, we prevent these things. This festival also paves the way for people in our region to live without differences of caste and religion.”

However, more number of fishes could not be caught due to the overgrowth of water hyacinth in the waterbody.