in Camera

It is `aadi kirthigai' today and important to the devotees of Lord Muruga. Every Murugan temple attracts hundreds of visitors carrying various types of `Kavadi.' This little village of Thiruporur about 40 km south of Chennai on the Old Mahabalipuram Road has a Murugan temple about 800 years old. The ride along the Old Mahabalipuram Road is a picture of contrasts. The area the road cuts across is an important location for multinational information technology companies that are setting up offices in modern multistoreyed buildings. You can see scores of these new structures as you go along the road but just minutes past these is this village where centuries old traditions are still alive.