Why devotees come here
Arunachaleswarar Temple stands at the foot of the Arunachala hill in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu. It is one of the five Pancha Bhuta Sthalams, the Shiva temples linked to the natural elements, and this one stands for fire. Its lingam and Parvati's idol are both linked to fire.
The temple is one of the 276 sacred Saivite temples glorified in medieval Tamil Shaiva literature. Its presiding deity is shown as the Agni Lingam, a lingam that represents fire, one of the five natural elements.
Legend says Brahma and Vishnu were locked in a dispute. Shiva settled it by appearing as a huge column of fire, a jyotirlinga, stretching across the three worlds. Devotees believe that light took lingam form at the foot of the hill where the temple now stands. Legend also says Shiva directed Parvati to Tiruvannamalai to perform tapas at the ashram of sage Gautama. Afterwards Shiva appeared in the shape of a hill over the Thiruvannamalai region, and pilgrims still walk around that hill today.
The present structure was built during the Chola Empire in the 9th century CE, and later expansions were made under the Vijayanagara rulers. Their thousand-pillared hall is one of the notable parts of the complex. The Archaeological Survey of India took charge of the temple in 2002, when it was named a national heritage monument. Four large gopurams, the ornamental gateway towers, mark the complex, and the east tower is the tallest, at 66 m with 11 stories.
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