At the Tiruvannamalai Arunachaleswarar Temple, with this year’s Karthigai Maha Deepam festival set to be held on Nov. 24, Minister Adhav Arjuna said that entry passes for devotees to witness the Deepam will be distributed through the temple administration’s website. He also said that 50 lakh devotees are expected to attend this year’s festival.
At the world-famous spiritual destination and the Agni sthalam among the Pancha Bhoota sthalams, the Arulmigu Arunachaleswarar Temple in Tiruvannamalai, this year’s Thirukarthigai Deepam festival will be held from Nov. 12 to Nov. 28.
The main event of this festival, the Maha Deepam festival, will be held on Nov. 24. Since it is expected that lakhs of devotees from around the world will come to witness this festival, a review meeting on the preparatory works to be undertaken by the district administration was held on Saturday at the conference hall of the Tiruvannamalai District Collector’s Office, under the chairmanship of Public Works and Sports Development Minister Adhav Arjuna and Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister C. Ramesh. Officials from all departments participated in it.

50 lakh people... In this meeting, Minister Aadhav Arjuna said: Arrangements will be made through the district administration so that the devotees coming for the Deepam festival can have darshan and perform Girivalam without any inconvenience, and the necessary basic facilities for them will be provided.
This year, it is expected that more than 5 million devotees will visit. Therefore, instructions have been given to carry out preparatory work accordingly.
In addition, basic facilities such as bus stations and guide information boards should be provided. On the police side, surveillance cameras and watchtowers should be installed so that proper security and monitoring work can be carried out intensively, and adequate medical teams and, where necessary, high-quality modern ambulance vehicles should be kept ready.
Permit: The permit issued by the temple administration and the district administration for the Deepa Thiruvizha should be distributed through the online portal with transparency and without favoring any party, the Minister said, adding that advertisements for it should be brought to the public.
Earlier, the ministers personally inspected and reviewed the basic facilities to be provided for devotees, as well as the safety arrangements, in the Arunachaleswarar temple premises, the Mada streets, and the Girivalam paths. District Forest Officer K. Sudhakar, District Revenue Officer A. Sivasubramanian, District Rural Development Agency Joint Director/Project Director Poo. Kanchana, and officials from various government departments participated in these events.