Tiruvannamalai Arunachaleswarar

Tiruvannamalai is a town about 185 kms on NH45 from Chennai. Sthalas are associated with the 5 natural elements of fire, water, wind, land and sky. Tiruvannamalai is associated with Agni or fire and is considered to be an Agnitheertham. It is said that one can attain Mukthi or Salvation by just thinking of TIruvannamalai.

The main shrine of the Tiruvannamalai temple is Arunachaleswarar and his consort Tiru Unnamulai amman. Rudraksha beads from the Naagam adorn the Siva Lingam. Other shrines include those of Selva. Ganapathy, Dakshinamurthy, Ardhanareeswarar, Parasakthi, Kala Bhairava, Patala Linga and Gajalakshmi. The temple is also the place where Siddhar Sri Edaikkadar attained his Jeeva Samadhi. Any temple having Patala Linga Sannidhi reportedly also has one or more Jeeva Samadhis. Arunagirinathar a devotee of Lord Muruga attained salvation after falling off from a gopuram in this temple and being rescued by Lord Muruga Himself. 

A lot of Siddhars are said to be in visible (sometimes in the form of parrots) and invisible forms in the hill. Girivalam on Pournami (full moon day) is famous in Tiruvannamalai. There are reportedly as many as 360 Theerthams and 400 Lingams in the eight mile circuit of the hill. Kaarthigai Deepam is also famous in this temple and is celebrated in the Tamil month of Karthigai (November-December). People with Sukran in 7th place from Lagnam are considered to have “Kalathra Dosha" affecting the marital life. Pariharam for such people involves Girivalam in Tiruvannamalai. 

Ramana Maharishi performed penance in this temple’s Patala Lingam sannidhi before going on to establish Ramana Ashramam in Tiruvannamalai.


This is also considered to be the place where Brahma and Vishnu went in search of Lord Shiva’s head and feet in a test of their prowess. Lord Shiva assumed the form of Jothi/ Light. While Vishnu returned accepting that He was unable to find Lord Shiva’s feet, Lord Brahma conspired with the Thazhampoo flower that fell from Lord Shiva’s head to falsely claim victory in the test. Enraged by the false testimony of Thazhampoo, the flower  was cursed by Lord Shiva and lost its ability to be used for Lord Shiva’s worship.