Karthigai Deepam cauldron brought to temple from Thiruvannamalai hilltop

Thiruvannamalai (Tamil Nadu), Dec 14 (PTI) The huge cauldron used to light the Karthigai Maha Deepam atop the Thiruvannamalai hill, held sacred by the people, was brought back to the Arunachaleswarar temple at the foothill on Sunday.

The lamp was lit using a particular variety of cotton cloth --that served as the wick-- on the day of Maha Deepam on the evening of December 3 using ghee as fuel. Since then, the lamp was burning for nearly 11 days and the flame rising from 2,668 feet hill could be seen from villages located kilometers away.

On the initial day alone, when the lamp was lit, about 600 kg of ghee, 10kg camphor and 1,500 metre of cloth were used to keep the lamp going. The 10-day annual Karthigai festival commenced with the hoisting of temple flag on November 24.

Every year, for the Karthigai Deepam festival, the copper cauldron (Kopparai in Tamil) is taken to the top of Thiruvannamalai hill, revered by devotees as a tangible manifestation of the abstract Almighty, worshipped also as Annamalaiyar and Arunachala, among the many names of Lord Shiva.

In a social media post on Sunday, a devotee said, "After 11 days of illuminating the skies from the summit of Arunachala, the Karthikai Maha Deepam descends in silence and grace." The soot accumulated in the cauldron is expected to be distributed as prasad to devotees later. PTI VIJ VGN VIJ KH VGN