Tiruchi : Blood was dripping from a pipe in the fist tier of the great south gopuram (tower) of the Srirangam temple on Aug. 12 morning. By noon, there was a big pool of blood at the entrance of the gopuram.
Enquiries showed in the current Tamil month of Adi, as per temple custom, over 100 goats were slain as sacrifice to the deity Muneeswaran. The tradition is that the deity has his abode in the south tower.
The southern tower of the Srirangam temple was built in March 1987. Before this, the goats were sacrificed atop the open first-tier. The stream of blood flowing down the pipeline from the first tier came as a shock for the devout.
It is said that goat sacrifice was in vogue for a long time, and many British Collectors also offered goats at the temple tower. A police station is situated hardly 100 meters from the gopuram. Devotees felt that the custom must be changed in this holiest of holy temples (Hindu Aug. 13).
