The annual River Festival held on the banks of the Then Pennaiyar at Manjakuppam in Cuddalore town and Nathapattu near Panruti on Monday turned out to be a crowd puller.
The event marked the end of the five-day-long Pongal festival. Presiding deities from temples all over the district were brought in a procession, in palanquins bedecked with flowers and bullock carts, to the river front for the “theerthavari” (sanctified ritualistic bath).
From the morning an endless stream of people were seen moving towards the river. Towards evening all roads leading to the river were milling with people.
However, those who turned up at Nathapattu were disappointed as they did not get to see the presiding deity, Devanatha Samy, from the Thiruvahindrapuram temple.