Annamalai (Hill)


Arunachala, is a hill in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu and one of the five main shaivite holy places in South India. The Annamalaiyar Temple, a temple of Lord Shiva is located at the base of the hill. The hill is also known by the names Annamalai, Arunagiri, Arunachalam, Arunai, Sonagiri, and Sonachalam.
Every year in the Tamil month of Karthigai, the Karthigai Deepam light is lit atop the hill.
It is also an important place for devotees of Sri Ramana Maharshi, with Sri Ramana Ashram situated at its foothills.

Malai Suttru / Giri Valam / Giri Pradhakshinam

The circumambulation of Arunachala is known as Giri Pradakshina in Sanskrit and Giri Valam in Tamil. Performing pradakshina of Arunachala is considered to be beneficial in all ways. Typically, pradakshina is done in bare feet, with the Hill on the right. Sri Ramana Maharshi once explained the meaning of the word pradakshina and how it should be done by a devotee: "The letter "Pra" stands for removal of all kinds of sins; "da" stands for fulfilling the desires; "kshi" stands for freedom from future births; "na" stands for giving deliverance through jnana. If by way of Pradakshina you walk one step it gives happiness in this world, two steps, it gives happiness in heaven, three steps, it gives bliss of Satyaloka which can be attained. One should go round either in mouna or dhyana or japa or sankeertana and thereby think of God all the time. One should walk slowly like a woman who is in the ninth month of pregnancy."
Throughout the year, pilgrims engage in a practise called giri valam, considered to be a simple and effective form of yoga. The circumambulation is started from the temple with bare feet and is considered a sacred act. The central government of India asked the Tamil Nadu government through the supreme court to direct the path of girivalam under the provision of the proposed Tamil Nadu Heritage Conservation Act. There are eight small shrines of lingams located in the 14 km circumference of the hill, each associated with the 12 moon signs. These are collectively termed as Ashta Lingam and is considered one of the rituals of worship during the girivalam.
LingamMoon SignDirection
Indra LingamVṛṣabha, Tulā East
Agni LingamSiṃha South East
Yama LingamVṛścika South
Niruthi LingamMeṣa South West
Varuna LingamMakara, Kumbha West
Vayu LingamKarka North West
Kubera LingamDhanuṣa, Mīna North
Eesaniya LingamMithuna, Kanyā North East

Karthigai Deepam

Every year, on the tenth day of the celebration of Karthikai, devotees take embers in pots from the sacred fire lit in the Arunachaleswara temple and carry them to the top of Arunachala, along with cloth wicks. An enormous cauldron is placed on the highest of Arunachala's five peaks and filled with hundreds of gallons of ghee mixed with camphor. At precisely six o'clock, as the sun sets and the full moon rises, lights are lit on the top of the Hill, on a flagstaff in the temple, and at Sri Ramanasramam, accompanied by chants of Arunachala Siva by the vast crowds. The fire on top of Arunachala can be seen for miles around. Sri Ramana Maharshi described the meaning of this event in this way:

Temple

The temple is famous for its massive gopurams, some of which reach as high as 66m. It is made up of three nested rectangular walls each of which was built during different periods; the innermost could have been built as early as the 11th century. It was later refurbished by the kings of the Vijayanagara Empire from 14th through the 17th century. The temple is renowned for some of the remarkable carvings on the walls. In one particular carving Lord Shiva is shown as dancing in an elephant's skin.

Reforestation

Arunachala is in the South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests ecoregion. The forests that once covered the mountain have been reduced by fires, illegal logging, and the footfalls of thousands of pilgrims. Reforestation of Arunachala began in the 1990s by a civil society initiative called Annamalai Reforestation Society. In 2004 the Tiruvannamalai Greening Society was founded by district forest officer Pasupathy Raj and other local officials. The society registered as a non-profit trust in 2008 called The Forest Way.
The Forest Way employs full-time and part-time staff and engages volunteers to grow seedlings of native trees and plant them on the mountain. The charity operates a plant nursery, and plants 15,000-18,000 seedlings each year. The charity helped build a children's park and forest park on the site of a former dump, removes litter from the mountain, and watches for fires and creates fire breaks during the dry season.

Arunachala World Heritage Site Initiative

The Arunachala World Heritage Site Initiative was founded in 2012 in recognition of the fact that this is a crucial time for Arunachala. "If we do not do something now," founder Mr. Peter Berking says, "we may soon see more man made structures on the slopes of the ancient Hill. The pressure for development is relentless. This is only a matter of time."
This is part of a worldwide trend of human development resulting in environmental degradation of spiritual centers that we sadly see now all over the world, he says. "We have already witnessed this happening to Tirupathi Hills," Mr. Berking points out. "If it can happen there, it can happen here as well."
The main appeal to UNESCO for World Heritage Site status is being made on the basis that Arunachala is a spiritual centre for millions of spiritual seekers who converge on it from all over the world every year. This fact is underscored by highly revered Shaivite saints and other sages over the ages and emphasized in the Scriptures. The World Heritage Site program recognizes that it is in the best interests of the international community to preserve such spiritual centers for posterity.
In addition to the Great Living Chola Temples, Mahabalipuram, and other such sites in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, he feels that Arunachala, too, deserves to obtain this UNESCO status. Mr. Berking lists the benefits of World Heritage Site status as follows:
The actual measures needed to preserve Arunachala’s sacred and environmental integrity will be worked out by UNESCO in conjunction with local, state and national government authorities. The Arunachala World Heritage Site Initiative will gather and supply crucial information, and provide logistical help and encouragement.

Arunachala in popular culture

"Arunachala" is the first track of the Pervogenesis album is by The Kristet Utseende.