TIRUVANNAMALAI - KARTHEEKA DEEPAM

That valivilakku, the Akhanda paranjyoti is installed in the sheltered part of the the temple, and greets the eyes of the visitors as soon as they cross the portal, rather visitors have to pass by it invariably due to placing it in the front hall leading to the garbhagriha. So screened from the onslaughts of weather. Flickering or signs of dying down are impossible occurrences. More over it is small in' size, holding, say a few liters of oil, but to feeding goes on timely and constantly.

Imagine the size of one deepam holding two thousand litres of ghee and thirty metres of cloth used for wick. You at once let fall' fantastic from your lips. Your senses allow not to stomach such truth. So brush it aside instantly. Believe it or not, a gargantuan metal vessel with a capacity of 2000 liters of ghee is used in one temple on an auspicious day, it is but once a year. And lo! it draws pilgrims and tourists in lakhs. It is a red latter day in the temple calendar. An annual festival celebrated with unusual religious fervor and unprecedented fanfare. More over,  it is placed atop a hill known for divine connections. In consequence it is exposed to the vagaries of climate. Yet it withstands and burns for one full week, visible for miles afar. The temple made elaborate arrangements to conduct this occasion with the appointment of special persons, who are given hereditary rights. The piety attached to it justifies the occasion and its emergence marked the fulfillment of one ardent desire of MOTHER Parvati, the divine better-half of Lord of Kailasadhipathi.

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