Information about Annamalaiyar Temple
The unique temple of Shiva is situated within the Tiruvannamalai district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which is known as Annamalaiyar or Arunachaleswarar Shiva temple.The temple is situated within the Terai area of the Annamalai Mountains in Thiruvannamalai district, giving it a special form of geographical structure.
Each full moon on this temple is thronged by devotees and an enormous fair is organized especially on Kartik Purnima. The devotees need to do a 14-km long circumambulation of the Annamalai mountain earlier than reaching here.
Interesting info about Annamalaiyar Temple
1. On the eastern aspect of the main temple of Arunachaleswara, Nandi and Surya Pratima stays, which is the oldest structure of the temple.2. Behind the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, there is a picture of "Venugopalaswamy", an avatar of Vishnu with the statues of Somaskandar, Durga, Chandeshwar, Gajalakshmi, Arumugaswamy, Dakshinamurthy, Swarnaibarvara, Nataraja, and Lingodbhavar around the sanctum sanctorum.
3. Within the 4 instructions of the sanctum sanctorum of the primary temple there are 4 sanctum named Palliarai and to the south of the thousand-pillared hall, there's a small temple for Subramaya and a big tank.
4. The underground lingam inside the temple is the place the place Ramana Maharishi did his penance between 1879 AD and 1950 AD.
5. The third boundary of the temple has the Deepa Darshan Mandapam or Corridor of Mild with sixteen pillars. The Magija namper situated within the temple is considered sacred and medicinal.
6. The wedding pavilion contained in the temple, Kalyan Mandapam, is to the west of the southeast which is built within the Vijayanagara style.
7. The tower to the west of the temple is called Pei Gopuram, the southern tower is called Tirumanjangopuram and the tower within the northern course is called Ammani Amma Gourami.
8. There are several halls constructed by the Sangam dynasty within the premises of the temple which includes an enormous hall with eleven thousand pillars.
9. The temple has six rituals every day from 5:30 AM to 10 PM every day and there are twelve annual festivals in line with the Indian calendar. The Kartigai Deepam festival is well known on the full moon day between November and December.
10. A day before every Purnima within the temple, the pilgrims carry out a temple known as Girivalam orbiting the bottom of the temple and the Arunachal hills, that are performed yearly by one lakh pilgrims.
11. Vasant Mandapam is situated within the third courtyard of the temple, also known as the Hall of Spring, and the identical courtyard contains the temple office and the Kalahatishwar temple.
12. The fourth courtyard of the temple has a Nandi, Brahma Tirtha, temple tank, a Vinayaga temple known as Yanai Thirai Konda and a six-foot-tall statue of Nandi, which was built by Vallala Maharaja.
13. The complex of Annamalaiyar temple is spread over 10 acres of land and at current it's considered to be one of the largest temples in India.
14. There are 5 Shiva temples within the premises of Annamalaiyar Temple which include land, water, air, sky and fire and each depict the expression of a natural component.
15. His idol by Lingam is known as Agni Lingam, depicting his spouse Parvati as Annamalai Amman.
16. The presiding deity of the temple is distinguished within the seventh century Tamil Sayava canonical works and the poet Manikkavasakara, often called Nayanar of the Tamil saint poets, composed a Tamil text known as Saivit Tirumurai here within the 9th century.
17. There are 4 gateway towers contained in the temple which is known as Gopuram. The tallest gateway tower of the temple is East Rajagopuram with a top of 66 meters. That is why this temple is included within the tallest temples in India and it was inbuilt 1572 AD at the behest of Shivanessa and her brother Lokanath.
Reach Annamalaiyar Temple
1. Road Thiruvannamalai is nicely connected. Tindivanam railway station at a distance of 69 km from the temple and Villupuram junction at a distance of 63.2 km is easily accessible by bus and taxi to the temple.2. Moreover, the nearest airport to the temple by air is Puducherry Airport. It's located at a distance of 106 km from the temple and is definitely accessible by bus and taxi to the temple.
History of Annamalaiyar Temple
According to an inscription found within the temple, the present construction and minarets of the Annamalaiyar temple have been built by the kings of the Chola dynasty. Further inscriptions found within the temple also show that the area was under the Pallava kings before the 9th century, whose empire extended to Kanchipuram.According to historians, the Chola kings ruled town of Tiruvannamalai from 850 AD to 1280 AD and served because the guardian of the temple. Thiruvannamalai city was made the capital in 1328 AD by King Veera Ballala III of the Hoysala dynasty.
After which the Vijayanagara rulers of the Sangama dynasty from 1336 AD to 1485 AD and the Saluva dynasty and Tuluva dynasty from 1491 AD to 1515 AD expanded and maintained the temple.
