Sengazhuneer Amman Temple, Veerampattinam

Sengazhuneer Amman Temple is at Veerampattinam, a fishing village in Puducherry. Its age is unknown, but it could be about 1,000 years old. The story goes that a fisherman, Veeraraghavan, netted a big piece of wood; when his wife cut it for fuel it bled, and he began to worship it. Amman then came to him in a dream and asked for her idol to be set on the wood at a spot in the village, which a cobra showed by beating the ground with its hood.

The shrine grew from a hut into a huge temple and was the first in the province to have a temple car. The festival runs for six Fridays from the Tamil month of Aadi. Thousands pull the car on the fifth Friday, a public holiday, when by custom from French times the Lieutenant Governor starts the procession. The last Friday brings the muthu pallakku, and 100,000 to 200,000 people gather over the final two.