Karthigai Deepam: Tamil Nadu's Festival of Lights to Shiva

The festival's origin is tied to a well-known Puranic legend. When Brahma and Vishnu once disputed over who was the greater among them, Shiva is said to have appeared as an infinite, blazing column of light, the Jyotirlinga, stretching beyond the reach of either god. Brahma and Vishnu each set out, one flying upward and one diving downward, to find the ends of this pillar of light, but neither could reach it, and both eventually accepted that Shiva's form was without beginning or end.

Thiruvannamalai is regarded as the site where this pillar of light appeared, and the great flame lit atop the hill every Karthigai Deepam is understood as a re-enactment of that divine, boundless light.

In the days leading up to the festival, Tamil homes are cleaned and decorated with kolam patterns at the doorstep. On the night of the full moon, rows of lamps called akhanda deepam are lit at homes, and clay lamps are placed on compound walls and window ledges, filling every street with a warm glow.

At Thiruvannamalai's Arunachaleswarar Temple, priests carry out elaborate rituals through the day before the Maha Deepam, filled with ghee and camphor, is lit atop the hill at dusk, an event that draws lakhs of devotees who climb or circle the hill (Girivalam) in devotion.

• Lighting akhanda deepam lamps at home
• Kolam decorations at the doorstep
• Temple rituals culminating in the Maha Deepam at Thiruvannamalai
• Girivalam, circumambulation of the hill, by devotees

While Thiruvannamalai's Maha Deepam is the most famous celebration, Karthigai Deepam is observed with devotion across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh with Tamil heritage. Many families also honour it as a day connected to Kartikeya (Murugan), given the month's name and the star Krittika's association with him, and some temples combine the day's lamp lighting with prayers to both Shiva and Murugan.

In villages, the festival often stretches into a multi-day affair, with the third day known as Kedara Gauri Vratam observed by many Tamil women in honour of Parvati.

As lamps are lit, devotees often chant the simple Shiva invocation:

"Om Namah Shivaya" - salutations to Shiva, the auspicious one, whose light knows no beginning or end.

At its heart, Karthigai Deepam is a reminder that the divine cannot be measured or contained, only approached with humility and devotion. Every small lamp lit in a home is understood as an echo of that boundless flame atop Thiruvannamalai, a reminder that even the smallest act of devotion connects the devotee to the infinite.