Festive fervour returns to Tiruvannamalai on Maha Deepam day

A quite drizzle and surging crowd of devotees did not hamper the festival mood in the temple town of Tiruvannamalai on Wednesday as thousands of devotees chanted Lord Arunchaleshwara’s name during the day-long puja that culminated in the lighting of the ‘Maha Deepam’ atop Arunachala Hills.

The Karthigai Deepam festival of Sri Arunachaleswarar Temple that began on November 24 with the hoisting of a flag culminated with the lighting of the ‘Maha Deepam’ at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

The day began with puja followed by lighting of the ‘Bharani Deepam’ at the temple at 4 a.m. It was attended by Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P.K. Sekarbabu and Collector K. Tharpagaraj.

“I regularly visit the temple town especially on Maha Deepam day. Despite mild rain, we managed to witness the lighting of lamp atop the hills. Availability of buses for return journeys remains a challenge,” said K. Prabhu, a devotee.

The flow of visitors was steady in the town since Wednesday morning with vehicles including cabs, cars and buses including government buses were stopped around two kms from the temple.

Long distance visitors made use of 180 shuttle services operated by TNSTC from the temporary bus terminus to the 14-km Girivalam path and Arunachaleswarar Temple, around 4 km away. Each commuter has to pay ₹10 per trip. 

Around 120 forest staff were on vigil to prevent devotees from climbing the hills that have around 700 hectares of forests. A joint team of forest officials and police at least in 13 spots on the hills were also deployed to ensure safety of Maha Deepam team, who light the lamp atop the hills, and to prevent accidental forest fires.

Police monitored movement of devotees, through 1,060 CCTV cameras including 303 cameras within temple premises. Police also used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to prevent stampede-like situations. Children were tied wrist bands to ensure their safety during the festival.