Maha Deepam brings life back to Tiruvannamalai

The day began with puja, followed by lighting of ‘Bharani Deepam’ at the temple at 4 a.m.

The number of visitors is a mere 20,000 this year, not the 25 lakh that flocked the temple town every year. Yet the Maha Deepam, lit on Friday, brought life back to Tiruvannamalai, a year and a half after COVID-19 broke out.

Thousands of devotees chanted ‘Arunchaleshwara’ during the day-long puja that culminated in the lighting of the Maha Deepam at 6 p.m. atop the Annamalai Hills. It was the last day of the 10-day Karthigai Deepam festival of the Sri Arunachaleswarar temple. The day began with puja, followed by the lighting of ‘Bharani Deepam’ at the temple at 4 a.m.

With the Madras High Court having directed the State Government to allow 20,000 devotees, the flow of visitors had been steady since the morning. Vehicles were stopped two km away from the temple. Apart from nine temporary bus terminus, 10 police booths and 13 watch towers were opened. “Around 5,000 policemen were deployed,” Superintendent of Police A. Pavan Kumar Reddy told The Hindu.