Arunachaleshwara Temple is a famous Hindu temple dedicatedto Lord Shiva, located atop the Arunachala hill in Tamilnadu, India. It is the home of Annamalayaar or Arunachaleswarar (Lord Shiva worshipped as a Shiva Lingam) and Unnamulaiyaal (Apitakuchambaal - Parvati), is one of the largest temples in India. It occupies a special place in the Saivite realm and is regarded as one of the Pancha Bhoota Stalams (one of the five grand temples associated with the five basic elements) – associated with the element Fire, the other four being Thiruvanaikaval Jambukeswara (water), Chidambaram Natarajar (sky),Kanchi Ekambareswara (earth) and Kalahasti Nathar (wind). Shiva is said to have manifested himself in the form of a massive column of fire, whose crown and feet, Bhramma and Vishnu attempted in vain to reach. A celebration of this manifestation is seen today in the age old traditions observed in the Shivaratri and the Karthigai Deepam Utsavams held here.

Importance of the Mountain

The Arunachala hill is the concrete form of Sri Arunachala, the Universal Lord. It's that form of God that even our ordinary human eyes can perceive. Arunachala, the hill and Arunachala, the Lord are not different, because the Arunachala Hill itself is a manifestation of Lord Siva. This is foundational spiritual reality which has been personally experienced and vouchsafed by all Siddhas(Sages).

Arunachala is the spiritual focal point of the universe. It is the endless spiritual fount that nourishes all beings. It is the spiritual cornucopia that embraces all spiritual seekers. It is the spiritual magnet that attracts spiritual seekers from all corners of the universe. It is the spiritual panacea for everyone, irrespective of race, religion or nationality.The Arunachala hill is so charged with spiritual energy that spiritual benefits get magnified manifold here. Spiritual activities conducted in Arunachala are thousand times more efficacious when compared to other places. The place is constantly buzzing with millions and millions of Siddhas in their subtle form who bestow countless spiritual blessings on the devotees engaged in spiritual pursuits in Arunachala.

Hence the importance of visiting Arunachala and engaging oneself in spiritual activities there. Whether it be charitable works, service to the poor and the needy, meditation on the divine name or singing the divine name, do it in Arunachala and you'll reap untold spiritual benefits which will contribute to your rapid advancement on the spiritual path. Everything in the universe is represented in Arunachala. Thus circling the Arunachala hill is like circling the universe. This is why the Siddhas say that circling the Arunachala hill is the most effective spiritual practice for all beings. Circling the Arunachala hill is referred to as Arunachala giri valam. This is the best spiritual exercise for all of us. Regular practice of this spiritual exercise is Girivala Yoga, the simplest yet most effective yogic practice known to man. Even though circling the Arunachala hill takes just three and a half hours, there's no spiritual activity in the universe which is its equal.

Every human being, irrespective of race, religion or nationality Must do it at least once in his or her lifetime. It doesn't matter if you live ten thousand miles away. You must make the trip to Arunachala just to circle the hill. The spiritual benefits of doing so can not be described in words, say the Siddhas. Sri Agasthiar says that if you circle the Arunachala hill but once, you'll destroy the karma of ten million births. No other spiritual exercise has this kind of power. If circling the Arunachala hill once can bestow so much spiritual good, imagine circling the hill thousands of times! Those who circle the hill thousands of times are the ones who become Siddhas. It is absolutely crucial that you circle the Arunachala hill barefoot. The reason is that the very land surrounding the hill is a physical manifestation of Siddha beings and it is a sacrilege to place your shoes on them. So one must circle the hill barefoot.
 

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History of Temple and Mountain

Lord Arunachaleswara and Godess Unnamulai nayakiA dispute arose between Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma about who is the greatest god, with each proclaiming himself as the greater. Lord Shiva who was watching this manifested as a huge infinite pillar of fire which filled the heavens and earth of which none could see the beginning or end. He asked them to find the beginning and end of the fire.The two gods were perplexed at seeing this column of fire transcending the ends of the universe.

Lord Arunachaleswara
and
Godess Unnamulai Nayaki

They agreed that whichever of them could discover either end of it was the greater. Vishnu took the form of the boar Varaha and began digging down through the nether worlds.  Brahma took the form of a swan and soared heavenward to find the summit. Even though Vishnu descended four worlds below he could not find the end but returned acknowledging defeat. Brahma also failed to reach the summit, but in flight he caught a flower falling from paradise and, taking it back with him, claimed to have reached the summit and found it there.

In this myth Siva, the Destroyer, is the Self or Enlightenment, destroyer of the illusion of a separate individual being; Vishnu, the Preserver, is the ego-sense, preserver of the apparent individual being, stringing all its moments together into an apparent entity. He delves down into himself, seeking in vain for the truth of Being. Brahma, the Creator, is the mind which falsely assumes the creative function, soars aloft into ideas and theories, even receives an intuition fallen from paradise and claims wrongly that it is Enlightenment.

Appearing before them, the Supreme Lord blessed Vishnu for his truth and devotion, but Brahma he cursed, saying that for this offence no temples should be dedicated to him. And indeed, to this day temples are raised to Siva and Vishnu but not to Brahma. At that time Brahma had a fifth head rising above the four faces with which he is now depicted, but Siva in his anger struck it off.

The fifth head of Brahma is the quintessence beyond the four elements, the centre above the directions of space, the pure knowledge above the earthly knowledge of mind and senses. It is equivalent to the third eye of Siva, the unitary knowledge beyond duality. Its being struck off is equivalent to the 'fall of man' in the Christian tradition: man or mind being deprived of the direct intuition of paradise and reduced to the world of opposites, the world of good and evil and the strife between them.

Then, it is said, Vishnu intervened with a prayer to the Lord, reminding Him that, Brahma is the Lord of the four Vedas, to which his four faces correspond, and that the Vedas are not mere meaning but the primal basic sound by which the universe is created and held in being, and if the Lord of the Vedas was destroyed the universe would crumble into ruin. To this Sambhu replied that Brahma was still be Lord of the Vedas and that whatever place the Vedas were chanted would be his temple. And so it has been and is.

Then the Brahma and Vishnu prayed to Lord Shiva to withdraw His effulgence and let the pillar of fire assume the appearance of an inert hill that the world might be blessed and not destroyed by it. Graciously hearing their prayers, the Lord withdrew the effulgence into himself and remained in the form of a hill with the name of ARUNACHALA, that those who come to it or even turn to it in their heart may be blessed in this life and ultimately attain Liberation.

Without ‘Movement’ there is no pilgrimage. Even a movement from one standpoint to another is a pilgrimage. It is said: ‘The duration taken for the self to reach the Self is TIME; and the distance covered by the self to reach the Self is SPACE.’ And we can also say: ‘The effort put forth by the self to be the Self makes up the ‘Pilgrimage to Arunachala’. One residing in Arunachala or elsewhere, remembering that one is no more conditioned by time or space, is the beginning of this pilgrimage. From the pleasures of the external to the bliss supreme within is this sacred yatra. The sages affirm that when one realizes that there had never been any dvandva – the dyads of outer and inner – then this pilgrimage is completed. The yatra, the pilgrim and Arunachala-kshetra, Infinite Column of Fire, all these in one is Arunachala Shiva!

The Arunachaleswar Shiva temple in Tiruvanamalai (Tiruvanamalai is the Tamil word for the Sanskrit Arunachala), situated at the foot of the Arunachala hill, is one of the largest (25 acres) and oldest temples in all of south India. The era of its founding is unknown; the complex grew over several millennia; and the large towers, called gopurams, were erected between the 10th and 16th centuries. The tallest gopuram is over 60 meters tall and has 13 stories. The central temple enshrines images of Shiva as Lord Annamalai and his consort as Unnamalai. Every year during the Hindu month of Kartikai (November-December), the great Deepam festival is held to celebrate Shiva's manifestation as the light of Arunachala. For ten days the whole city of Tiruvanamalai is alive with celebration, processions, dancing and singing. On the final day of the festival, the eve of the full moon, a huge beacon fire is lighted atop the hill in commemoration of the fire left by Shiva. Many thousands of pilgrims flock to this exciting festival from all over southern India. Arunachala hill is considered a miraculous healing place, especially for ailments of the lungs and barrenness in women. The hill of Arunachala is also a symbol of spiritual knowledge and several great sages have lived here, including Arunagirinathar, the author of the Tiruppugal, and Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950).
 

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The area of the Temple is 25 acres. It has two big tanks, one as 'Brhamma Theertam' and 'Siva Ganga Theertam'. It has also the 'Thousand Pillar Mantapam' which has thousand pillars in it. The temple was built by many kings on several periods. The first two prakaras was the oldest one and built by the oldest and first Pandiyan Kings. Then the Chola Kingsand Pandiyan Kings built the other prakaras. Later in the Thirteenth century the 'Hoysala Kings' from Karnataka built some small sannadhis and prakaras in the temple. They also make some contributions to the temple.

This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article.Please improve it or discuss changes on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. The Eastern tower was built by the King 'Krishnadevaraya' of TuluNadu (Coastal Karnataka). So the temple has 'Stone Scripts' of olden Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. But most of the 'Stone Scripts' were in 'Grantha'-a form of Sanskrit language. From the 'Stone Scripts' we came to know that Lord Arunachaleswara has several names and the temple has very good tradition since very long time.

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Indira Lingam on the East (Worshiped by Lord Indira) Agni Lingam on the South East (Worshiped by Lord Agni) Yama Lingam on the South (Worshiped by Lord Yama) Nirudhi Lingam on the South West (Worshiped by Lord Nirudhi) Varuna Lingam on the West (Worshiped by Lord Varuna) Vayoo Lingam on the North West (Worshiped by Lord Vaayu) Kubeara Lingam on the North (Worshiped by Lord Kubeara) Easaanya Lingam on the North East (Worshiped by Lord Easaanya).
 

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Festivals

Annually many festivals are carried out in the temple. Some of the festivals are famous and important. The most famous festival is "Karthigai Deepam" and is celebrated in the month of November/December. The 'Karthigai Deepam' festival is celebrated for ten days. During the festival every day in the morning and night 'Lord Arunachaleswara' will come for procession.

Every day at night 'Pancha Moorthis' will come for the procession. They are 'Vinayagar', 'Subramaniyar', 'Arunachaleswarar', 'Abeethakuchaambal' and 'Sandeswarar'.

Fifth day has the very big vahanam and it is 'Rishabha Vahanam'. It is made up of silver and the total height is 25 feet from the ground. The diameter of the umbrella for that day is 17 feet.

The sixth day is 'Silver chariot'. The chariot is made up of pure silver and it is beautifully built.

The seventh day is 'MahaRatham'. This chariot is made up of wood and it is very big. It takes the full size of the road while running. All these 'Silver Vahanams' are maintained by the Nagarathars.

The Tenth day is 'Maha Deepam'. On the morning at 4 o'clock, the 'Bharani Deepam' will be lit. And then these Deepams will be placed all over the temple.

On the Evening, 'Panch Moorthis' will have the maha-abhishekam and very grand 'alankaram' then they come to the 'Deepa-darshana Mandapam'. Exactly at 6 o'clock 'MahaDeepam' will be lit on the top of the Mountain. At the same time 'Deeparadhana' will be performed to 'Pancha moorthis'. Lakhs of people will dharshan the 'Mahadeepam' every year and they will go to the extreme excitement.
 

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Why this festival

This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. Please improve it or discuss changes on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. The importance of this festival is that Lord Arunachaleswara is giving darshan in three forms as Brhamma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Rudra. There was a Saint called Bhrigu Maharishi who was a follower of Lord Shiva only. He worships only Lord Shiva and not Goddess Parvathi. In Mount Kailash he usually goes round Lord Shiva and not Lord Parvathi.

Once Parvathi gets angry and sits very close to Lord Shiva. As usual Bhringu Maharishi came and see Parvathi is sitting very close to Lord Shiva. So he makes half round as human form and take a form of insect that will penetrate into woods. He penetrates in between Lord Shiva and Parvathi and completes his pradhakshana (rounding). And Parvathi gets really angry and takes all the energy from his body. Bhringu Maharshi is now with only Bones and skin. By seeing his condition Lord Shiva became very pity on him and he wants to give him "Mukthi". But Parvathi objects to that. But Lord Shiva goes ahead and gives him "Mukthi".
 

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