KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, April 15, 2022 (The Star): A little crowded but manageable – that sums up the sentiments of the Tamil community who attended Chittirai Puttandu, the Tamil New Year celebration, at various Hindu temples in the city yesterday. Many devotees who thronged their neighborhood temples were pleasantly surprised by the crowd. “I was apprehensive at first and was genuinely fearful that there might be too many people attending the festival, but it was well managed and orderly,” said realtor Shamini Mahalingam. Shamini, who attended prayers at the Sri Sakthi Vinayagar Temple in Brickfields, said people were respectful of one another and everyone was wearing masks and practicing social distancing. Over at Sri Kandaswami Temple in Jalan Scott Brickfields, it was slightly crowded but people were also well-behaved.
The Kortumalai Pillayar Temple in Pudu was reported to have been the most crowded – however, the temple committee had come up with a system to ensure that there was no overcrowding. “There was a queue system in place, and people were allowed into the temple in batches, and each batch was given about 10 minutes to pray and move on,” said student Aarthi Gopal. Malaysia Hindu Sangam president Datuk RS Mohan Shan attributed the well-behaved crowd to people being cautious after two years of observing a strict Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP). “For the morning prayers everything went smoothly and the crowd was manageable; all the temples reported a peaceful celebration,” he said. Sri Sakthi Vinayagar Temple president SKK Naidu said it helped that it was a working day. “We anticipate maybe a larger crowd in the evening, but we have everything under control,” he added.
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/04/15/temples-filled-yet-well-managed