Karthikai Deepam is a festival celebrated by Hindus in Tamil Nadu. This is the festival of lamps. Every house is lighted by bright lamps. The light is thought to ward off evil spirits and protect the inhabitants of the house.

The town of Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu is the place to be for this festival. A huge bright fire lamp is lit on the Thiruvannamalai hill where devotees can see the light for miles away. There are several temples of Shiva where followers can go to pray. The temples represent land, fire, water, air and sky. At night they are decorated with lights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxvxzht4xDM

There are several days of celebrating. On each day, there is a procession where crowds gather to see the parade in the streets. This is just one such example of a procession :