Tamil Nadu: Over 5 lakh devotees participate in holy walk Pournami Girivilam at Arunachaleswarar temple

More than 5 lakh devotees thronged Arunachaleswarar temple to attend ‘Pournami Girivilam’ in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvannamalai on Friday. Visuals show thousands of pilgrims from across the country gathered for Girivalam, a practice in which devotees walk for 14 km to worship Asthalingam (8 Lingams).

Meanwhile, security arrangement has been beefed up in the city to avoid any threat or difficulty to devotees. Officials said that in view of the foreign and local devotees who have come to visit the temple, the security has been tightened. “Checkposts have been set up at all four entry points of the temple and vehicle checking of all vehicles is also being done.”

To ease the facilities for devotees 13 temporary bus stops have also been set up, the official said. Visuals from Thursday evening showed devotees playing traditional musical instruments to worship the Hindu deity Shiva (Arunachalesvara or Annamalaiyar) at the temple. The Pournami Girivalam began on September 28, at 6:48 PM and will continue until September 29 at 3:25 PM.

Girivalam is a popular religious practice in Tamil Nadu in which devotees circle around the Annamalai Hill on the occasion of a full moon every month.
Thousand of devotees gather at the Arunachaleswarar Temple at Tiruvannamalai to walk all the way around the 14 km path around the hill. (