 Tiruvannamalai
 Arunachaleswrar temple in Tiruvannamalai is one of the famous temples in India, especially Tamil Nadu. This temple is situated at the foot of the eastern hills. This hill is also known as Jothirlingam and Tejothilingam. According to Hindu mythology, Lord Siva manifest as the hill itself.
Tiruvannamalai is one of the four mukti sthalas. It is also one of the sthlas sung by many poets. The temple is very big, the extent of the outer prakara is 1,320 metres. If one adds the Girivalam route, then there are seven outer prakaras. There are rajagopurams on four sides of the outer walls. The gopuram on the eastern side is 65 metres high with a lot of valuable sculptures.
 There are many gopurams, other than the rajagopurams. There are more than 300 shrines inside the temple. One has to cross a Nandi when one enters the temple. On the eastern side, there are many tanks, including Sivagangai
theertam.
The Sarvasidhi Vinayagar temple lies north-west of Sivagangai theertam and the Kambathu Ilaiyanar shrine opposite the Vinayagar temple. The Girivalam route is 14 km long with a lot of temples en route. Lord Siva in this temple is called Arunachaleswarar. The ambal is called Abithakuchalambal and Unnamulaiyammai. The sthala tree is
magizham.
 We can reach the Ambal shrine through the northern gopuram. There are a lot of monuments in the temple. Many kings have done renovation work in the temple from the first Parantaka Chola to the Nayaks. The Nagarathar community has also done a lot of renovation work.
The Deepam festival in the month of Karthigai is celebrated with great festivity and fervour for 10 days. On the 10th day, a big deepam is lit atop the hill. The Masi Sivarathri is also celebrated every year.
Azhagiyanayagi
Translated by N Arun Kumar
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