Sri Meenakshi Temple Holds 9th Annual 5k-Walkathon 2020

Pearland: This year’s MTS Annual 5-K Walkathon was held on September 13th, Sunday unlike in the month of March every year. The event had to be postponed twice due to COVID-19 and temple closure.

Yet despite the pandemic the custom of conducting this health awareness annual event in our temple came to reality. Though the number of people registered and the overall donation for the event was comparable to prior years, the actual turnout of participants was less for the obvious reasons.

But all the ones participated thoroughly enjoyed it, though it was getting a bit hot by 9:30 am. As it was entirely an outdoor event it was easier to follow the CDC guidelines of social distancing and everyone participated felt safe.

We all assembled in front of the Ganesh temple and after a brief yoga and stretching session including Surya Namaskar demonstration by the event coordinator and after a brief prayer by our priest Parameshwaran Bhattar, we walked for about an hour to complete the 5 km distance, which was all marked and prepared by the temple staff and volunteers.

There were vegetable plant saplings and seeds for sale on site from our own garden enthusiasts which was very much appreciated by the participants.

Then door prices were given which were sarees and vasthrams adorned on our deities which brought a lot of joy and surprise to the winners.

The event concluded with a well-deserved hot breakfast after an hour of walk in the hot sun and participants were given a goody bag with MTS logo, few oranges, banana and agarbathi packets inside.  The event was coordinated by MTS Joint Treasurer Dr. Al Alagappan and MTS Board Member Mr. S. Muthuraman under the leadership of MTS Chairman Mr Dhani Kannan and the MTS Board.