NEW DELHI, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- A 38-year-old man slipped to death after falling from the edge of 2,400-feet high temple on a cliff while performing a banned ritual of going around the Hindu temple in southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, police said Monday.
The man identified as T Arumugam, an auto-rickshaw driver, was filmed by witnesses in Tiruchirappalli district, about 332 km south of Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu.
Reports said onlookers had no time to save him.
The video shows the man casually stepped on to the narrow ledge of the temple perched on top of a hill and encircled it. By the time he realised he had lost his grip, it was too late to do anything.
Following the incident, locals alerted police who undertook searches along the foothills to recover his body on Sunday.
Though the ritual is banned at the temple, but police said the victim defied it and took two rounds around it.
"He carried out the ritual in clear violation of the ban," a police official said.
Reports said hundreds of devotees visit the temple during the Tamil month of Purattasi as part of their faith attached to it.
