Chennai, August 13: The annual Avani Moola festival will not take place in Madurai this year due to fear of coronavirus transmission. The festival was earlier scheduled to be held between August 15 to September 1. The management of Meenakshi Amman Temple, which organises the fest, announced that the holy event is being cancelled due to virus concerns. Tirupati Temple: 743 Employees of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Test Positive For COVID-19.

With the COVID-19 threat yet to subside, the temple management body, which had convened in Madurai, decided to call off the festival. The decision is aimed at protecting the lives of devotees, priests and staff at the temple.

Avani Moola Festival 2020 Cancelled

The decision comes in the wake of alarming COVID-19 spike in all parts of the nation. Tamil Nadu, which is the second-worst affected state in the country, has reported more than 3.2 lakh cases. As per the latest update issued by the health department, 5,835 new cases and 119 deaths were recorded in last 24 hours.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 13, 2020 09:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).