Officials relieved as Deepam festival passes off peacefully

TIRUVANNAMALAI: The turnout — 40 lakh — for this year’s Karthigai Deepam festival, which concluded on Sunday, in Tiruvannamalai far exceeded the expectations of officials and also previous years’ numbers.

However, the entire festivities passed off smoothly throughout the 10 days, thanks to the arrangements by district officials.

“Over 40 lakh devotees descended on the temple town, which boasts of a small population of 1.20 lakh,” sources revealed. It was a sea of humanity right from the Arulmigu Arunachaleswarar temple and along the 14-km-long Girivalam path, which circumambulates the Annamalai hill through the peripheries of the town.

“Since the lighting of the ‘deepams’ was on a Sunday, the number of devotees swelled more than the anticipated volume,” an official said.

“There was a commotion at the Government Arts College, where the announced 2,500 passes were distributed. As a huge crowd swarmed into the college premises, the compound wall collapsed. However, there were no casualties,” the official said.

In general, officials were on their toes all through the day. On the Girivalam path, the crowd regulation was so well planned, there was not even a traffic jam or congestion, said a police official, who with a team of constables was managing the crowd.

“With police placing barricades in almost all areas, vehicular movement restricted maximum, and only devotees reached their destinations mostly by foot,” said Yogeswaran of Vellore, who was one among the visitors.

Collector B Murugesh lamented that devotees express demand for facilities on a par with Tirupati not understanding that Tirupati and Tirumala are located in different locations, whereas in Tiruvannamalai, the temple is located in the heart of the town.