Devotees are not allowed to climb the Arunachala Hills in Tiruvannamalai for the Maha Deepam festival

Devotees will not be allowed to climb the Arunachala Hills near Arunachaleswara temple in Tiruvannamalai town on the occasion of Maha Deepam on December 3, 2025, revenue and forest officials said.

Now that the northeast monsoon has begun, the intensity of rain is expected to increase in the coming weeks, bringing heavy downpours in the temple city.

Revenue officials said this will be the second year in which devotees will be banned from climbing the hills on Maha Deepam day. The ban came into effect in 2024 after seven people, including children, died in a landslide caused by Cyclone Fengal in the hills.

After the landslide incident, an eight-member team of experts from the state government, led by Professor K. Premalatha, head of the Center for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Anna University, Chennai, climbed the 800-metre-high hill with a team of police, forest and revenue officials to assess the condition of the hills. A report has been submitted to the state government.

Officials said the safety of climbers was taken into account as the terrain on the hills was still wet and loose. In October, the State Highways Department demolished a huge boulder weighing about 20 tons in the hillside because officials feared rain could cause the boulder to fall.

Deportation order

Tiruvannamalai Corporation has issued eviction notices to 143 families in the foothills to ensure their safety. “The soil in the hills is still unstable. Any movement of a large number of people will further loosen the soil. There is no way that devotees will be allowed to climb the hills on Maha Deepam day,” a senior forest official said on condition of anonymity.

However, the officials further said that a group of local fishermen who traditionally light the lamp atop the hills on Maha Deepam day as part of the Karthigai Deepam festivities would be allowed to climb. “The ritual of lighting the lamp on top of the hills will continue as per tradition. We will check the special passes provided to them by the Collector to climb the hills on that day,” a forest official said.

The fishermen carry a kettle of 175 kg; 750 kg ghee; 10 kg of camphor; and about 300 yards of cotton cloth (as a wick) to light the ‘Kopparai’. The fishermen are allowed to follow the traditional route that they have walked for generations during the Maha Deepam day.

Earlier, the district administration issued special passes to around 2,500 persons to climb the hills on Maha Deepam day. However, the State Forest Department opposed this move in view of the 2024 landslide. Currently, the hills are divided into eastern and western parts, covering more than 698.03 hectares. The landslide had occurred on the eastern side of the hills, near the path where devotees climb the hills.