Thiruvannamalai: Several lakh devotees braved heavy rain to take part in the annual Karthigai Deepam festival, circumambulating the sacred Arunachala hill barefoot along the 14-path route, as the grand ghee lamp (Maha Deepam) was lit atop the 2,668-foot-high hill on Wednesday evening.

The event marked the culmination of the ten-day Karthigai Deepam celebrations at the renowned Sri Arunachaleshwar Temple, which began on November 24 with the hoisting of the holy flag on the temple’s golden flagmast.

Despite adverse weather conditions, a clan of traditional fishermen, entrusted with lighting the Maha Deepam, carried a five-foot-high copper cauldron weighing 175 kg, along with 600 kg of ghee, 10 kg of camphor, and 1,500 metres of cotton cloth used as a wick, to the summit. The lamp was cerem

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