A 36-year-old man from Godavari in Andhra Pradesh died of cardiac arrest while trying to exit a narrow passage for worship at Vinayagar temple on the girivalam path near Arunachaleswar temple in Tiruvannamalai on Saturday.

The police said the deceased devotee was identified as S. Manikumar.

The police said that as part of worship, Manikumar visited a Vinayagar temple on the 14-km-long path. As he tried to exit from the temple through a narrow passage, he reportedly got stuck. Other devotees and temple authorities managed to pull him out of the passage.

However, the police said that Manikumar fainted and was rushed to Government Medical College Hospital where doctors said that he was brought dead. A case was registered by Tiruvannamalai Town police. A probe is under way.

Saturday’s incident was the third incident in recent years after a 47-year-old man from Bengaluru died of cardiac arrest while climbing steep staircases at the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple atop the hillock in Sholinghur town near Ranipet in May 2024.

In April 2024, 14-year-old S. Harish, died while climbing down from a hillock temple in Ratnagiri town near Arcot in Ranipet.