TIRUVANNAMALAI: The 10-day annual festival, Karthigai Deepam, began with a flag hoisting at the Sri Arunachaleswarar temple in Tiruvannamalai on Wednesday. The festival will include the ‘Panjamoorthigal’ procession, which will be carried out later. On Friday, the last day of the festival, Bharani Deepam and Karthigai Deepam will be lit.
Maha Deepam will be lit atop the 2668-feet-tall Annamalaiyar Hills at 6 pm while the lighting of Bharani Deepam will be held at 4 am. Devotees, however, are banned from darshans and girivalam due to the Covid-19 norms, said official sources.
Deputy Speaker K Pichandi, Collector B Murugesh, SP A Pavan Kumar Reddy, District Revenue Officer R Muthukumarasamy, Joint Commissioner of the temple Ashok Kumar, government department officials, and devotees were present.