Online booking for Meenakshi Sundareswarar celestial wedding opens April 29

Madurai: Authorities of the Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai announced on Tuesday that registration for tickets to witness the ‘Thirukalayanam' (celestial wedding) of Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswarar, to be held on May 8 as part of the annual Chithirai festival, will be available online from April 29 to May 2 until 9pm.
The Chithirai festival of the Meenakshi Amman Temple is being held from April 28 to May 10, with the celestial wedding scheduled for May 8 between 8.35am and 8.59am. S Krishnan, joint commissioner/executive officer of the temple, informed that 200 and 500 tickets will be available for devotees to witness the celestial wedding via the north tower of the temple. Free darshan will be allowed on a first-come, first-served basis via the temple's south tower.
Devotees can check the official websites of the HR and CE department at http://hrce.tn.gov.in/ and the temple at http://maduraimeenakshi.hrce.tn.gov.in/ for online ticket registration. One person can book a maximum of two 500 tickets or a maximum of three 200 tickets. One cannot book both Rs 200 and Rs 500 tickets simultaneously. Only one ticket can be booked from one mobile number. For safety reasons, devotees are advised not to bring children.
A facility at Birla Vishram lodge on West Chithirai Street will be set up for devotees to register for booking tickets with the help of staff on the booking days from 10am to 6pm. Devotees who want to book tickets are required to provide their Aadhaar card, photo ID proof, email ID, and mobile phone number. If more registrations are received than the number of tickets available, a computerised lottery will be used, and selected devotees will receive a confirmation message on May 3.
Those who receive the confirmation message must collect their special entry ticket from the counter to be set up at Birla Vishram lodge between 10am and 5pm from May 4 to 6. Meanwhile, the temple authorities also announced that devotees can make their gift (moi) offerings of 50 and 100 on May 8 through the official websites.