Thousands of devotees thronged the Sri Arunachaleswara temple to witness the Kodiyetram festival.
The rituals began early morning at the temple with priests rendering hymns in praise of Lord Annamalaiyar and his consort Unnamulaiyammai.
Devotees chanted the names of Lord Siva and Goddess Parvathi during the entire duration of the festival on Sunday.
Minister for Hindu Religious Charitable Endowments, Sevoor S. Ramachandran, District Collector, K.S. Kandasamy, Deputy Inspector General of Police-Vellore, N. Kamini, Superintendent of Police, M.R. Sibi Chakravarthy, District Revenue Officer, P. Rathinasamy, Temple Joint Commissioner, R. Gnanasekar, and Joint Commissioner of HR & CE, Villupuram Division, R. Senthilvelavan participated.
Pomp and gaiety
An important event in calendar of festivals for devotees in this region is Karthigai Deepam, which is celebrated with pomp and gaiety at the temple.
This year ‘Karthikai Deepam’ falls on December 10.
It is celebrated as a ten-day festival and is widely known as ‘Karthigai Brahmotsavam’.
The Karthika Deepam festival began with the hosting of the flag signifying the commencement of the festival, also known as ‘Dwajaroghanam’. In the morning and night, Lord Arunachaleswarar was taken out on the silver vahana for procession.
The Panchamurthis (Panchamurthigal) — Lord Ganapathi, Lord Murugan, Lord Sandeswarar, Lord Arunachaleswarar and Goddess Parvathi — were also taken out in the procession.
The processions are carried out on different vahanas after the ‘Deeparadhana’ is performed at the kalyana mandapam.
On Monday, the deities will be carried on Indira Vimanam, the chariot of Lord Indira.
