Tamil Nadu   

Lakhs witness Maha Deepam

Special Correspondent

10-day festival at Tiruvannamalai temple concludes

SEA OF DEVOTEES: Maha Deepam being lit atop the Annamalai Hills at Tiruvannamalai on Sunday. — Photo: D. Gopalakrishnan

TIRUVANNAMALAI: About 10 lakh devotees thronged Tiruvannamalai to witness the lighting of the Maha Deepam atop the Annamalai Hills on the last day of the 10-day Karthigai Deepam festival of the Sri Arunachaleswara Temple here on Sunday evening.

It was a sea of humanity on the Girivalam path after 12 p.m. with some people moving in the opposite direction towards the Sri Arunachaleswara Temple while a majority of the people were doing `Girivalam.' With special buses operated from different parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, devotees started thronging the town from Saturday evening.

Earlier in the morning, thousands of devotees witnessed the lighting of the Bharani Deepam at 4 a.m. After this event, the crowds started swelling towards the afternoon, and by 2 p.m., one could see only human heads on the roads leading to the temple as well as the Girivalam path.

Thousands of devotees gathered inside the temple, in front of the Arunachaleswarar Sannadhi from 12 p.m. onwards.

The devotees inside the temple were treated to devotional music by Sri Veeramani Dasan. A little before 5 p.m., the idol of Lord Vinayaka was taken out in a procession in front of the Arunachaleswara Sannadhi, to be followed by the dancing processions of the idols of Lord Subramaniar, Lord Arunachaleswara, Goddess Unnamalaiamman and Lord Chandikeswarar within a gap of about five to 10 minutes. At the stroke of 6 p.m., the dancing procession of Lord Ardhanareewarar was taken out and simultaneously, the Aganda Deepam was lit inside the temple in front of the Swami Sannadhi, while the Maha Deepam was lit atop the Annamalai Hills.

The entire temple precincts were immediately illuminated by electric lights. The devotees lit `agal' lamps inside the temple, while those staying indoors lit the lamps in their houses.

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