Stating that even the temple cars will circumambulate within the premises on November 26, he said neither public nor devotees would be allowed for the deities’ procession. Due to the pandemic, no special buses would be operated for the Deepam festival while the regular trips by buses would continue.

While 5,000 devotees who registered online would be allowed inside the temple. Another 3,000 devotees who turn up without registration would be allowed on a first come first served basis, Nanduri said and added that on the Deepam day public would not be allowed in the temple. On Friday, the festivities started with the flag hoisting witnessed by HR&CE Minister Sevoor S Ramachandran, Collector Sandeep Nanduri, TN e-governance special secretary KS Kandasamy and SP S Aravind.