Unlike other Annul Church Festivities, St Sebastian Church, Muthazhagupatti, near Dindigul, Tamil Nadu is all about community camaraderie and Harmony through cooking.
St Sebastian Church is celebrating its 326th annual festival on Tuesday. The foothills of the Rock Fort witnessed the coming together of people belonging to different communities and castes in the preparations for the festival, which attracted over 10,000 pilgrims.
The tradition of the Church is that at least one member of a family gets involved in the festival and this year, several members from each family, were engaged in the preparation of food and organising other festivities.
While women were busy cutting vegetables, men engaged themselves in chopping meat and chicken. Children washed the cut vegetables and transported them to a mega kitchen set up on the church campus. Cooking was done in the traditional way in 12 big chulas using firewood.
Dindigul Onion Commission Agents’ Association offered 1.5 tonnes of onions and vegetable donated three tonnes of brinjal and one and a half tonnes of tomatoes. Devotees offered around 2,500 chicken and 600 goats for the community feast, Sources said. The excess rice offered by donors would be auctioned and the proceeds utilised for the next festival.
Elaborate arrangements were made to serve food to all pilgrims after the evening prayer. An interesting feature of the festival was ‘anga pradakshanam’ done by men after the evening prayer.
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