TIRUVANNAMALAI: The renowned Karthigai Deepam festival, an important annual event at Sri Arunachaleshwar temple in Tiruvannamalai, began on Monday with the hoisting of the temple flag atop the flagmast.
The temple administration expects over 40 lakh devotees from various cities of Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country to participate in the ten-day festival.
The festival coincides with Karthigai (Tamil month).
On December 3, the Bharani Deepam will be lit in front of the sanctum. Followed by it, Maha Deepam will be lit atop the 2,668-foot-high hill, behind the temple, in the evening.
The temple car festival will take place on November 30, while the float festival will be held from December 4 to 6. Full moon darshan will be provided from 7.58 pm on December 4 to 5.37 am on December 5 at the Arunachaleswarar temple. It is considered the auspicious Agni Sthalam among the Panchabhootha Sthalams.
The district administration has made required arrangements with enhanced facilities for devotees and has provided strict police protection as a precautionary measure.
Earlier, district collector K Tharpagaraj inspected the arrangements made for the devotees.
This time, the precautionary security measures are expected to be more tightened and the crowd will be under keen watch following the tragic stampede at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Kasibugga, Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh on November 1.
At least nine devotees were killed, and several others were injured.
The incident took place during ‘Ekadashi’ in the holy month of Karthikamasam, as an unexpected number of devotees arrived for darshan.