Karthigai Deepam

The lingodbhava: Brahma and Vishnu argued over who was greater, and Shiva appeared between them as an infinite column of fire whose top and bottom neither could find. At Thiruvannamalai the hill itself is held to be that column, and the beacon lit on its summit represents it.

Rows of clay lamps at every doorway. This is among the oldest attested festivals in Tamil literature, mentioned in Sangam texts. At Thiruvannamalai, a great cauldron of ghee is lit on the summit of Arunachala and burns for days, visible for miles; pilgrims perform girivalam, the fourteen-kilometre circumambulation of the hill.

Pori urundai (puffed rice and jaggery balls), appam, adhirasam, and nel pori.

Tamil Nadu principally, and Kerala's Thrikkarthika. Andhra keeps Karthika Deepam through the whole of Karthika Masam with lamps at temples and rivers.