A priest suffered head injuries after he fell down from a 11-feet elevated platform while performing puja to the famous 18-feet high Lord Hanuman shrine here, officials said Monday.
The 53-year-old priest, Venkatesh lost his balance and fell from the platform after garlanding the idol with tulsi leaves offered by a devotee.
"Venkatesh fell from the elevated platform. It seems he was diabetic.. he has been admitted to a hospital in Salem," a temple official told PTI.
The official claimed such an incident has not happened in the history of the old temple.
Venkatesh was not a priest on the rolls of the temple but was there to assist his brother Nagarajan, who was a priest attached to the shrine, a priest said.
A private hospital at Salem where he was admitted said the condition of the priest was very critical.
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He was very critical even at the time of his admission on Sunday evening," a hospital official said.
The priest suffered a hemorrhage and an emergency surgical procedure was done to drain the blood in his brain, the official said.