Girivalam
Taurus Moon
As expected thousands of devotees thronged Tiruvannamalai on Tuesday night (May 1st) to perform circumbulation of Arunachala and have darshan of Lord Annamalaiyar at the Big Temple (Arunachaleswarar Koil).
The period of this month's Poornima began at 2 p.m., Tuesday and continued until 3.57 p.m., Wednesday. However due to the heat and bright sunlight, a large number of devotees waited until after 5 pm Tuesday to start their Hill giripradakshina.
As mentioned in a previous posting Poornima during the month of Taurus signals the birth of the Buddha, and after Karthigai Deepam festival attracts the largest annual gathering of pilgrims and visitors to Tiruvannamalai.
Some new arrangements designed to make giripradakshina easier for devotees were unveiled for the first time this month. These arrangements include the opening of a newly laid tiled pathway on part of the girivalam roadway from Anna Arch to Abhaya Mandapam. Also fire service personnel took measures inside Arunachaleswarar Temple to mitigate the distress of bare footed devotees walking on the scorching stone flooring inside the Temple premises.
