Temple
Arunachalesvara Temple (also called
Annamalaiyar Temple) is a Hindu temple
dedicated to the deity Shiva, located at the
the base of Arunachala hill in the town of
Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, India. It is
significant to the Hindu sect of Shaivism
as one of the temples associated with the
five elements, the Pancha Bhoota Stalas,
and specifically the element of fire, or
Agni.
View of the Arunachalesvara temple towers
from the Arunachala hill
Religion
District
District
Shiva as Annamalaiar
and Parvati
Festivals
Karthigai Deepam
Features
Temple tank: Agni
Cheetham
Location
Thiruvannamalai
State
Country
India
Location
Architecture
Type
Creator
Completed
9th century
Website
https://annamalaiyar.hrce.tn.gov.in/
Shiva is worshipped as Arunachalesvara or
Annamalaiyar, and is represented by the
lingam, with his idol, referred to as Agni lingam. His consort Parvati is depicted as
Annamalai Amman or Apithakucha
Ambal.The presiding deity is revered
in the 7th-century Tamil Saiva canonical
work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint
poets were known as the nayanars and
classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam. The 9th-century Saiva saint poet
Manikkavasagar composed the Tiruvempaavai here.
The temple complex covers 10 hectares,
and is one of the largest in India. It
houses four gateway towers known as
gopurams. The tallest is the eastern tower, with 11 stories and a height of 66 metres
(217 ft), making it one of the tallest temple
towers in India built by Sevappa Nayakkar
(Nayakar dynasty) The temple has
numerous shrines, with those of
Arunachalesvara and Unnamalai Amman
being the most prominent. The temple
complex houses many halls; the most
notable is the thousand-pillared hall built
during the Vijayanagar period.
The present masonry structure was built
during the Chola dynasty in the 9th
century, while later expansions are
attributed to Vijayanagara rulers of the
Sangama Dynasty (1336–1485 CE), the
Saluva Dynasty and the Tuluva Dynasty
(1491–1570 CE). The temple is
maintained and administered by the Hindu
Religious and Charitable Endowments
Department of the Government of Tamil
Nada.
The temple has six daily rituals at various
times from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and twelve yearly festivals on its calendar. The
Karthigai Deepam festival is celebrated
during the day of the full moon between
November and December, and a huge
beacon is lit atop the hill. It can be seen
from miles around, and symbolizes the
Shiva lingam of fire joining the sky. The
event is witnessed by three million
pilgrims. On the day preceding each full
moon, pilgrims circumnavigate the temple
base and the Arunachala hills in a worship
called Girivalam, a practice carried out by
one million pilgrims yearly.
The western world learnt of
Tiruvannamalai during the mid 20th
century, through the work of Ramana
The Annamalai hills with temple towers in the foreground
In Hindu mythology, Parvati, wife of Shiva, once closed the eyes of her husband
playfully in a flower garden at their abode
atop Mount Kailash. Although only a
the moment for the gods, all light was taken
from the universe, and the earth, in turn,
was submerged in darkness for years.
Parvati performed penance along with
other devotees of Shiva. Then her
the husband appeared as a huge column of
fire at the top of Annamalai hills, returning light to the world. He then merged with
Parvati from Ardhanarishvara, the half-female, a half-male form of Shiva. The
Arunachala, or red mountain, lies behind
the Arunachalesvara temple, and is
associated with the temple of its
namesake. The hill itself is sacred and
considered a lingam, or an iconic representation of Shiva.
Another legend is that once, Vishnu
and Brahma contested for superiority, Shiva appeared as a flame and challenged
them to find his source. Brahma took
the form of a swan, and flew to the sky to
see the top of the flame, while Vishnu
became the boar Varaha, and sought its
base. The scene is called Lingodbhava and is represented in the western wall at
the sanctum of most Shiva temples.
Neither Brahma nor Vishnu could find the
source even.
The Raja gopuram – the Eastern gateway, the tallest temple tower and a view of the tank Ancient Tamil scholars such as Nakkirar
(1st century BCE to 1st century CE),
Kapila and Paranar (125 to 225 CE) have referred to the shrine at Annamalai and the
presiding deity.The 7th-century
Nayanar saints Sambandar and Appar
wrote of the temple in their poetic work,
Tevaram. Sekkizhar, the author of the
Periyapuranam wrote that both Appar and Sambandar worshipped Arunachalesvara in
the temple. The Chola Kings ruled over
the region for more than four centuries,
from 850 CE to 1280 CE, and were temple
patrons. The inscriptions from the Chola
king record various gifts like land, sheep,
cow and oil to the temple commemorating
various victories of the dynasty. The
Hoysala kings used Tiruvannamalai as their capital beginning in 1328 CE.
There are 48 inscriptions from the
Sangama Dynasty (1336–1485 CE), 2
inscriptions from Saluva Dynasty, and 55
inscriptions from Tuluva Dynasty (1491–
1570 CE) of the Vijayanagara Empire, reflecting gifts to the temple from their
rulers. There are also inscriptions from
the rule of Krishnadeva Raya (1509–1529
CE), the most powerful Vijayanagara king,
indicating further patronage.Most of
the Vijayanagara inscriptions were written
in Tamil, with some in Kannada and
Sanskrit. The inscriptions in the temple from the Vijayanagara kings indicate
emphasis on administrative matters and
local concerns, which contrasts the
inscriptions of the same rulers in other
temples like Tirupathi. The majority of the gift-related inscriptions are for land
endowments, followed by goods, cash
endowments, cows and oil for lighting
lamps. The town of Tiruvannamalai was
at a strategic crossroads during the
Vijayanagara Empire, connecting sacred
centres of pilgrimage and military
routes. Some inscriptions show
the area was an urban centre before the
precolonial period, with the city developing
around the temple.
During the 17th century CE, the temple
along with the Tiruvannamalai town came
under the dominion of the Nawab of the
Carnatic. As the Mughal empire came to
an end, the Nawab lost control of the town,
with confusion and chaos ensuing after
1753. Subsequently, there were periods
of both Hindu and Muslim stewardship of
the temple, with Muraru Raya, Krishna
Raya, Mrithis Ali Khan, and Burkat Ullakhan
besieging the temple in succession. As
European incursions progressed,
Tiruvannamalai was attacked by the French
Soupries, Sambrinet, and the English
Captain Stephen Smith. While some were repelled, others were victorious. The
French occupied the town in 1757, and the
temple along with the town came under
control of the British in 1760. In 1790
CE, Tiruvannamalai town was captured by
Tippu Sultan, who ruled from 1750 to 1799
CE.[9] During the first half of the 19th
century, the town along with the temple
came under British rule. From 1951, under the provision of the Hindu Religious
and Charitable Endowments Act, the
the temple has been maintained by the Hindu
Religious and Charitable Endowments
Department (HR & CE) of the Government
of Tamil Nadu.[15] In 2002, the
The Archaeological Survey of India declared the temple a national heritage monument
and took over its stewardship. Widespread
protests and litigation with the Supreme
Court of India, however, led the
Archaeological Survey to cede the temple
back to the Hindu Religious and
Endowment Board.
Architecture
View of the temple complex
Complex and towers
Towers
The temple is situated at the bottom of the
Arunachala hills, and faces east, lying over
25 acres. The walls on the east and west
measure 700 ft (210 m), the south 1,479 ft
(451 m), and the north 1,590 ft (480 m).
The present masonry and towers date
back to the 9th century CE, as seen from
an inscription in the structure made by
Chola kings ruled at that time.
Further inscriptions indicate that before
the 9th century, Tiruvannamalai was under
the Pallava Kings, who ruled from
Kanchipuram. It has four gateway towers, the gopuram, on its four sides. The eastern tower, the Rajagopuram, is the
tallest in the temple. The base of the
Rajagopuram is made of granite,
measuring 135 ft (41 m) by 98 ft
(30 m). It was begun by the king
Krishnadevaraya (1509–29 CE) of the
Vijayanagara dynasty, and completed by
Sevappa Nayaka (1532–80 CE).
The inscriptions indicate that the tower
was built at the behest of Sivanesa and his
brother Lokanatha in 1572 CE. The
the south tower is called
Thirumanjangopuram, and the west tower
is called Pe Gopuram. Ammani Amman
gourami in the north.
Raghunathabhyudayam and Sangitha Sudha, both Nayak scriptures, also
describe the towers. The Tanjavuri
Andhra Raja Charitamu mentions that
Krishnadevaraya built the tower and the
outer precincts of the temple. The
the temple has a total of five precincts,
each of which holds a huge Nandi, the
sacred bull of Shiva. Towers include the
Vallala Maharaja Gopuram and Kili
Gopuram, or Parrot Tower.
Shrines
The main shrine of Arunachalesvara faces
east, housing images of Nandi and Surya, and is the oldest structure in the
Temple.[28] Behind the walls of the
sanctum, there is an image of
Venugopalaswamy (Krishna), is an incarnation of Vishnu. Around the
sanctum, there are images of
Somaskanda, Durga, Chandeshvara,
Gajalakshmi, Arumugaswami (Kartikeya),
Dakshinamurthy, Swarnabairavar, Nataraja, and Lingodbhava—the last image of
Shiva emanating from lingam. The
Palliyarai, the divine room for resting deities, is located at the first precinct
around the sanctum. The shrine of his
consort, Annamalai Amman, lies in the second precinct, with Amman depicted in
a standing posture. Samantha Vinayagar
(Ganesha), is located to the north of flagstaff and Bali Peeta, or a platform for
sacrifice.To the south of the thousand-
pillared hall, there is a small shrine for
Subramanya (Kartikeya) and a large
tank.Pathala Lingam, the underground
lingam is the place where Ramana
Maharshi (1879–1950 CE) is believed to have performed his penance. The
shrine of Sivagangai Vinayagar (Ganesha)
is present in the northern bank of the
Sivanganga tank.
Halls
The View of Thousand Pillar Mahal at temple premises
There is a sixteen-pillared Deepa Darshana
Mandapam, or hall of light, in the third
precinct. The temple tree, Magizha, is
considered sacred and medicinal, and
childless couples tie small cradles to its
branches in obeisance. Vedas writes that
the mast of the temple separated the earth
and the sky during the creation of the
universe.The Kalyana Mandapam, the
marriage hall is in the south-west of the
precinct, and is built in Vijayanagara style.
A stone trident is present in the outer
shrine of the temple in the open air, and has
protective railings like a sacred tree
The Vasantha Mandapam, meaning the
Hall of spring is the third precinct, and
contains the temple office and
Kalahateeswarar shrine. The fourth
the precinct has an image of Nandi, Brahma
Theertham, the temple tank, the Yanai
Thirai Konda Vinayaga shrine, and a hall
with a six-foot-tall statue of Nandi, erected
by Vallala Maharaja.
Inside the doorway of the first tower and
the fifth precinct, there is a thousand-
pillared hall built during the late
Vijayanagara period. [5] Krishnadevaraya constructed the hall and dug the tank
opposite to it. The pillars in the hall
are carved with images of a yali, a mythological beast with the body of a lion and
head of an elephant, a symbol of Nayak
power. The Arunagirinathar Mandapam
is located to the right of the Kalyana
Linga Sundara Eswara Mandapam, and the
Gopurathilayanar shrine is to the left of a
a broad flight of stone stairs that lead up to
the Vallala Gopuram.
Worship and festivals
Temple during Karthigai Deepam
festival
Temple car procession during a
festival
The temple priests perform the pooja
(rituals) during festivals and on a daily
basis. Like other Shiva temples in Tamil
Nadu, the priests belong to the Shaivaite
Brahmin caste. The temple rituals are
performed by pandit six times a day;
Ushatkalam at 5:30 a.m., Kalashanti at
8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 10:00 a.m.,
Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m., Irandamkalam at
10:00 p.m.Each ritual comprises four
steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alankaram (decoration), naivedyam (food offering) and deepa arad-hanai (waving of lamps) for both Arunachaleshvara and
Unnamulai Amman. The worship is held
amidst music with nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and travel (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the
Vedas were read by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast.
There are weekly rituals like somavaram
and sukravaram, fortnightly rituals like
pradosham and monthly festivals like
amavasai (new moon day), kruttika,
Purnima (full moon day) and Chaturthi.
The temple celebrates dozens of festivals
throughout the year. Four prime
festivals, the Brahmotsavam, are
celebrated yearly. The most important of
these last ten days during the Tamil
the month of Karthikai, between November
and December, concluding with the
celebration of Karthikai Deepam. A huge
the lamp is lit in a cauldron, containing three tons of ghee, at the top of the Arunachala hills during the Deepam. To mark the
the occasion, the festival image of
Arunachalesvara is taken around the
wooden chariot around the mountain.
Inscriptions indicate that the festival was
celebrated as early as the Chola period
(from 850 CE to 1280 CE) and was
expanded to ten days in the twentieth
century.
Temple deities in a procession.
Every full moon, tens of thousands of
pilgrims worship Arunachalesvara by
circumambulating the Arunachala hill
barefoot. The circumambulation covers
a distance of 14 kilometres (8.7 mi), and is
referred to as Girivalam. According to Hindu legend, the walk removes sins,
fulfils desires and helps achieve freedom
from the cycle of birth and rebirth.
Offerings are made in a string of tanks, shrines, pillared meditation halls, springs
and caves around the hill.The
circumambulation continues during the
rest of the month. On the day of yearly
Chitra Pournami, the full moon of the Tamil
calendar, hundreds of thousands of
pilgrims come from across the world to
worship Arunachalesvara. Five temple
cars, called there, with wooden carvings, are used for the procession.
Tiruvoodal is another festival celebrated
during the first week of the Tamil month
Thai in mid-January every year. On the
the morning of Maatu Pongal, between 15 and
16 January, Nandi is decorated with garlands made of fruits, vegetables and
sweets. The festival deities of
Arunachalesvara and Unnamamulai
Amman is taken out of the temple to
Tiruoodal street to enact the model (or love
tiff) between the two in the evening.
The Arunachalesvara temple is one of the
Pancha Bhoota Stalams, or five Shiva temples, with each a manifestation of a
natural element: earth, water, air, sky and fire. In Arunachalesvara temple, Shiva is
said to have manifested himself as a
a massive column of fire, whose crown and
feet could not be found by the Hindu gods,
Brahma and Vishnu. The main lingam in
the shrine is referred to as Agni Lingam, and
represents duty, virtue, self-sacrifice and
liberation through ascetic life at the end of
the Agni kalpa.
Aathara Stala are Shiva temples that are considered to be personifications of the
Tantric chakras of human anatomy. The Arunachalesvara temple is called the
Manipooraga stream, and is associated
with the Manipooraga (Manipura ) chakra.
Manipooraga is the chakra associated
with the solar plexus.
Saints and literary mention
Tirugnana Sambandar, a 7th-century Tamil Saivite poet, venerated Arunachalesvara
and Unnamulai Amman in ten verses in
Tevaram, compiled as the First
Tirumurai. Appar, a contemporary of Sambandar, also venerated
Arunachalesvara in 10 verses in Tevaram,
compiled as the Fifth Tirumurai. As the
the temple is revered in Tevaram, it is
classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam, one of
the 276 temples that find mentioned in the
Saiva canon.
Manickavasagar, a 9th-century Tamil saint and poet, revered Arunachalesvara in his
writing, describing the deity as
"Annamalai". He composed the
Thiruvempavai in the Tamil month of
Margazhi at the temple. Arunagirinathar
was a 15th-century Tamil poet born in
Tiruvannamalai. He spent his early years
as a rioter and seducer of women. After
ruining his health, he tried to commit
suicide by throwing himself from the
northern tower, but was saved by the grace
of god Murugan (Kartikeya). He became
a staunch devotee and composed Tamil
hymns glorifying Murugan, the most
notable being Thirupugazh.
The western world learnt of
Tiruvannamalai during the mid 20th
century, through the work of Ramana
Maharishi (1879–1950 CE). The cave where Ramana meditated is on the lower
slopes of the Arunachala hills, with the
ashram further down at the foothills.
The basement of the raised hall inside the
the temple has the Patala Lingam, where
Ramana attained supreme awareness
while ants devoured his flesh. The place
is also called a Mukthi Sthalam, meaning
place of salvation, and saints like Seshadri
Swamigal, Gugai Namachivayar and Yogi
Ramsuratkumar have been associated
See also
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