Online tickets for Tiruvannamalai Maha deepam from November 21

In an effort to regulate the devotees crowd to the restricted places of the temple, tickets for Bharani deepam would be sold online, officials said. The tickets would be priced at Rs 500 and only 500 tickets would be available for sale. Similarly, tickets for the Maha deepam which would be lit, atop the 2668-foot Annamalai hill, would also be sold online. Totally, 100 tickets priced at Rs 600 and 1000 tickets of Rs 500 would be sold, they added.

Tickets could be purchased online from November 21 at www.arunachaleswarartemple.tnhrce.in. Purchasers would have to produce their Aadhaar card, mobile number and email address. Only one ticket would be allowed per Aadhaar card, Gnanasekaran said.

Once a devotee registers on the temple website, an OTP (One-Time Password) would be sent to their registered mobile phone number using which they could download the tickets, he added.

Similarly, arrangements were underway to procure 3.5 tonnes of ghee from Aavin, Vellore, to light the Maha deepam. The consignment, which would be procured at a cost of Rs 16.03 lakh, was expected to reach the temple by Saturday.

The Deepam would be lit in a huge copper cauldron using 1000 metres gada cloth as wick. The lit deepam would be visible for 11 days, Gnanasekaran said.

He said, devotees wanting to donate ghee could offer at the marked location next to the Rajagopuram.

Donors could buy tickets priced at Rs 250 for 1 kg ghee, Rs 150 for half kg and Rs 80 for quarter kg ghee. Devotees offering ghee would be provided special prasad after the Arudhra Darshan, the official added.