Devotees have been barred from climbing the Arunachala Hills near the Arunachaleswara temple in Tiruvannamalai on Maha Deepam day, November 24, for the third year in a row, The Hindu reported.
District Collector Vandhana Garg said the decision followed a forecast of heavy rain. "The decision to prohibit devotees from climbing the hills has been taken to ensure the safety of people's lives," she said, adding that about 50 lakh devotees are expected in the temple town for Karthigai Deepam.
The lamp will still be lit
A group of local fishermen who traditionally light the lamp atop the hill will be allowed to climb on their usual route with special passes from the Collector, a forest official said.
They will carry a 175-kg cauldron, 750 kg of ghee, 10 kg of camphor and about 300 metres of cotton cloth as the wick. In past years, the administration issued passes to about 2,500 people to climb, but the Forest Department opposed this after the 2024 landslip.
Officials said the soil on the hills remains loose and wet after recent heavy rain.
Families to be moved
Revenue officials have issued eviction notices to about 1,400 families living on the hills. They will be moved to temporary shelters in the town in the coming weeks, especially after Maha Deepam, as heavy rain is expected later in November, an official said.
Why it matters
The ban dates from a fatal landslip. On December 1, 2024, during heavy rain from Cyclone Fengal, mud and a huge boulder came down on a house at the base of the hill in VOC Nagar, killing a family of seven, including five children, The News Minute reported.
After that, an eight-member State expert team led by Professor K. Premalatha of Anna University assessed the 2,668-foot hill and submitted a report to the government. The landslip occurred on the eastern side, near the pathway devotees use to climb, The Hindu reported.