Tamil Nadu: Priests offer prayers for conservation of river Vaigai in Madurai

With the recent dry spell in India's southern Tamil Nadu state, priests in Madurai city offered prayers and performed special rituals on Wednesday for the conservation of the river Vaigai.

Prayers were chanted, musical instruments were played and 'aarti' was performed as the priests walked to the river bed of the river for the ceremony. Water brought from various rivers including the Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Indus, and Cauvery were offered in small wells as part of the ritual of the 12-day Vaigai festival.

"The main motive of this congregation is to safeguard (Vaigai) river. The safeguarding and preservation of the purity of the river is a sacred duty. And by doing so it is equivalent to the preservation of our tradition and culture. Rivers always help humanity in various ways," said Ramananta, festival coordinator.

He said that the preservation of rivers was a sacred duty as it was equivalent to the preservation of tradition and culture.

The Vaiga flows through Theni, Andipatti, and Madurai areas of the Tamil Nadu state.