Cite
MLA
“Arunachala Girivalam.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/yatra/arunachala-girivalam/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). Arunachala Girivalam. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/yatra/arunachala-girivalam/
The route
- 1Arunachaleswara temple
- 2Indra Lingam
- 3Agni Lingam
- 4Yama Lingam
- 5Niruti Lingam
- 6Varuna Lingam
- 7Vayu Lingam
- 8Kubera Lingam
- 9Ishana Lingam
What defines it
- 01
About 14 km, barefoot, clockwise
- 02
Ashta Lingams of the eight directions
- 03
Agni sthala among the Pancha Bhuta temples
- 04
Maha Deepam on the summit at Karthigai Deepam
- 05
Ramana Maharshi lived here 1896–1950
01The hill that is Shiva
The Arunachala Mahatmya of the Skanda Purana places the katha of the pillar of light here: when Brahma and Vishnu could find no end to the column of fire, Bhagwan Shiva, at their prayer, cooled into this red hill so that people could worship him. So Arunachala is itself the deity, and among the five Pancha Bhuta temples of Shiva it stands for fire. The Arunachaleswara temple at its foot has Chola inscriptions and grew over the centuries under the Hoysalas, Vijayanagara and the Nayakas into one of the largest temple complexes in India; Appar and Sambandar sang of Annamalai in the Tevaram in the seventh century.
02Fourteen kilometres on the full moon
Giri valam means going round the hill. Pilgrims walk barefoot and clockwise, keeping the hill on the right, slowly, as the tradition compares the pace to that of a queen in the last month of pregnancy. The path of about 14 km passes eight shrines of the guardians of the directions, the Ashta Lingams: Indra, Agni, Yama, Niruti, Varuna, Vayu, Kubera and Ishana, with tanks, mandapas and smaller temples between them. Any day will do, but on each Purnima night the road fills from dusk until dawn, and the state runs extra buses and trains. Ramana Maharshi, who came to Tiruvannamalai in 1896 and lived on and below the hill until 1950, urged his devotees to make the round.
03The flame on the summit
On Karthigai Deepam, when the full moon falls with the Krittika nakshatra in the Tamil month of Karthigai, a lamp is lit at dawn in the temple, the Bharani Deepam, and at dusk, as the deity Ardhanarishvara is shown at the flag-staff, the Maha Deepam is lit in a huge cauldron of ghee on the summit, about 800 metres up, and burns for days, visible for miles. In 2025 the Maha Deepam fell on 3 December, and officials prepared for about 40 lakh people. The festival came a year after a landslip on the hill’s slope during Cyclone Fengal on 1 December 2024 killed seven people.
Great masters
In the texts
- Arunachala Mahatmya of the Skanda Purana
- Tevaram
- Ramana Maharshi, Arunachala Akshara Manamalai
