The Sacred Mountain City — Arunachala Hill is Shiva himself made mountain, the Arunachaleswarar Temple is among the largest temple complexes in India, and every full moon thousands of devotees circumambulate the hill barefoot in a pradakshina that Ramana Maharshi made famous
Tiruvannamalai is one of South India's most sacred pilgrimage cities — a Tamil city at the base of Arunachala, the sacred hill that is venerated in Shaivite tradition as an embodiment of Shiva himself (one of the Pancha Bhuta Sthalas, where Shiva manifests as fire/Agni). The Arunachaleswarar Temple (Sri Arunachaleswarar Swami Temple) is one of the largest temple complexes in India — its four magnificent gopurams (gateway towers) rise 66 metres and are among the finest examples of Dravidian architecture in Tamil Nadu. The hill's 14 km circumambulation route (Girivalam/Pradakshina) is walked ba…
Arunachala (the 'Red Mountain' in Tamil) is one of the most ancient sacred sites in South India — Sangam-era Tamil literature mentions Tiruvannamalai and the Arunachaleswarar Temple in texts dating to at least 200 BCE. The Annamalai Swami tradition holds that Arunachala is older than the Himalayas as a sacred site. The Chola, Hoysala, and Vijayanagara dynasties all built and expanded the Arunachaleswarar Temple complex over 1,500 years; the current gopuram towers were primarily constructed during the Vijayanagara period (14th–17th centuries). Ramana Maharshi's arrival in 1896 and his 54 years…