Tiruchirappalli, Aug. 27 -- Avani Avittam, an important Hindu religious observance, was marked across Tiruchirappalli on Thursday with traditional rituals, prayers and the changing of sacred threads.

The festival is observed on the full moon day in the Tamil month of Avani. On the day of the Avittam star, people who have traditionally undergone Upanayanam and Gayatri Upadesam, including members of Brahmin, Viswakarma and Chettiar communities, take part in the ritual.

As part of the ceremony, devotees remove their old sacred threads and wear new ones. The ritual is traditionally performed near rivers or other water bodies.

In Tiruchirappalli, members of different Hindu communities gathered at the Cauvery riverbank, a private marriage ha...