The grand Deepam festival at the famous Thiruvannamalai Lord Arunachaleswarar Temple is commenced today (Wednesday, 14th November) with the divine flag-hoisting ceremony.
With the divine flag-hoisting ceremony, the deities of Lord Arunachaleswara along with His Consort Sri Unnamulaiyamman will be placed in front of the Golden flag-tree.
The Bharani Deepam will be lit near the Sanctum Sanctorum of the temple on 23rd November at 4.00 AM. At 6.00 PM in the evening, the Maha Deepam will be lit at the peak of the 2668’ mountain.
As lakhs of devotees are expected to participate, temporary bus stands have been set up and a number of special buses are scheduled to be operated.
On the ‘Girivalam’ route, for the security of the lakhs of devotes undertaking Girivalam, 8500 police personnel have been deployed.
45 temporary police complaint centres have been set up in the important locations of the city as well as the Girivalam route. 45 monitoring owers are also being set up.
CCTV cameras have been set up throughout the city and the temple complex – 53 locations in the city, 103 in the temple complex, and 350 in the Girvalam route.
In order to prevent any criminal activities, a pilot-less small plane will be used to monitor. Permission chits have been distributed to 2000 devotees to climb the mountain
