Cell phones will be banned inside Sri Arunachaleswarar temple on November 23 on the occasion of Karthigai Deepam. Persons, including devotees, entering the temple for Bharani Deepam and Maha Deepam will not be allowed to take their phones inside.
Collector K.S. Kandasamy said this move was aimed at improving crowd management within the temple premises.
“In our experience, we have noticed that people take ‘selfies’, photographs and videos using their mobile phones when the deities are brought in a procession. As a result, those, who are seated, stand up due to lack of visibility.
“This affected crowd management. Hence, this year, we have banned mobile phones inside the temple on November 23,” he said.
About 4,000 persons would be present inside the temple for Bharani Deepam on the morning of November 23, and 10,000 to 12,000 persons during Maha Deepam in the evening.
The festival will begin with flag hoisting on November 14, while the car festival will be held on November 20. On Friday, Sevur S. Ramachandran, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister, reviewed the arrangements being made for Karthigai Deepam.
The district administration has decided to permit 2,000 people to climb the Annamalai Hills with the sole permitted entry point being behind Pei Gopuram.
The Minister said there would be 16 temporary bus stands and 77 car parking lots in Tiruvannamalai. The parking lots can accommodate 23,700 cars, and online booking facility will be available.
A total of 2,650 special buses will be operated from various parts of the State to Tiruvannamalai. These buses will make 6,600 trips. Additionally, 500 buses will be operated from nearby places such as Vellore, Arni, Chetpet and Cheyyar. Sixty buses will ply as free shuttle service from the temporary bus stands to the nearest points on the ‘girivalam’ path.
The district administration has fixed ₹20 as minimum auto fare for a radius of up to 2.5 km, and ₹30 for beyond ₹2.5 kms. Three mobile medical teams and 13 static medical camps along ‘girivalam’ path have been organised. Besides these, 15 ambulances and 10 first responder bikes of the 108 network would be on standby.
Police security
A total of 10,500 police personnel would be deployed as part of security measures for Karthigai Deepam. Seventy closed circuit television cameras have been installed inside the temple, while there will be another 103 surveillance cameras outside the temple. As many as 45 watch towers would be installed along the ‘girivalam path’.
T.K. Ramachandran, Principal Secretary/Commissioner of HR and CE, V. Vanitha, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Vellore range and M.R. Sibi Chakravarthi, Superintendent of Police, Tiruvannamalai were present.
