Tiruvannamalai: Tens and hundreds thronged the Thiruvannamalai Annamalaiyar temple to get the glimpse of Karthigai Deepam festival and to offer their worship to the Jothi, which will be lit up later in the evening. Amid the huge footfall of devotees, a religious procession was taken out. A column of devotees was surging along the Deepam and adequate security measures were in place to regulate the crowd.
The Deepam festival which kickstarted on November 27 with the hoisting of the religious flag. For the past nine days, the Panchamurthy Mada Vethi Ula rituals were organised and religious processions were taken out in the morning as well as in the night.
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On the tenth day of Deepam festival, the sanctums-sanctorum of Annamalaiyar temple was opened in the wee hours of Tuesday. Priests performed Special Abhishekam (obeisance) to Lord Annamalaiyar and Goddess Unnamalai. Before the commencement of Special Puja, priests performed rituals and then lit the Barani Deepam (earthen lamps carrying wick in the ghee). The lighting of earthen lamp signifies transformation of one into scores. The rituals were performed amid chanting of mantras.
Thousands of devotees attended this Barani Deepam darshan and had got a glimpse of the presiding deity by chanting devotion to Annamalaiyar as Arokara. Maha Deepam will be lit on the 2,668 feet high hill behind the temple later at 6 pm today. Tamil Nadu celebrates Karthigai Deepam as a traditional festival. It is a very old festival and is also celebrated in the neighbouring states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Karthigai Deepam festivities at Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleshwara Swamy temple are famous and popularly known as Karthikai Brahmotsavam.
