The Star reported that “thousands” of devotees were left frustrated at the delay in the arrival of the chariots to their respective temples.
It said what was supposed to be a 13- to 14-hour procession over a 6.5km route took a gruelling 22 hours.
The golden and silver chariots rolled out at 5.20am and 7.20am respectively on Wednesday from the heritage enclave and only reached their temples on Jalan Kebun Bunga at 3am and 3.30am on Thursday.
The golden chariot was to have left at 5.10am and the silver chariot at 6.30am but a heavy shower had caused a delay in their departures.
For the last 100-plus years, when only one chariot – the silver chariot – was used, the procession had taken just half the time.
Thousands of devotees who waited in the vicinity of the temples were left fuming as they waited for hours to make offerings to Lord Muruga, the report said.
The 126-year-old silver chariot, operated by the Nattukotai Chettiar Temple, trailed behind the golden chariot operated by the state-run Penang Hindu Endowment Board.
“This is what we have been saying from (the) beginning. If there are two chariots, the ultimate consequence will be for the poor devotees,” The Star quoted Nattukottai Chettiar Temple trustee M Renganathan as saying.
He said there were points along the way where the silver chariot had to wait more than an hour because the golden chariot had stopped.
Penang Hindu Endowment Board executive director M Ramachandran, however, was quoted as saying: “We were not the cause of the delay as we were there for the devotees.”