Thiruvanamalaï

Understand

Traditional stories tell us that there was an unsettled dispute between Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma as to who was superior. They sought the help of Lord Shiva to judge who was really superior; Lord Shiva grew into a long flaming light stretching between earth and heaven, and asked them to find root and crown.

Brahma agreeing to reach the crown took the form a swan and flew, and flew to an extending height and could not reach the crown. In his upward flight he caught hold of a flower of Pandavas falling from Shiva's crown and requested the flower to bear a false witness that he collected it from Shiva's crown . Knowing this Lord Shiva cursed Brahma that he would never be worshipped in the temple, and banished Pandavas flower from his adornment.

Lord Vishnu took the form of pig and kept digging down to reach Siva's foot; Shiva was really pleased with the humility of Vishnu and took him his heart.The significance of Shiva's representation as agni over here is to convey the divine message "To be blessed with true knowledge, there should be a complete destruction of the ego."

Get in

Town is well connected to many cities and towns in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh by road. It lies on the junction of the Chittoor - Cuddalore state highway and the Puduchery - Bengalooru national highway (NH 66). The TNSTC operates many bus services to the different towns and cities in Tamil Nadu. The closest airport to Tiruvannamalai is Chennai, about 180 km north. Tiruvannamalai is well connected by bus. Several other tourist destinations, like Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Vellore and Kanchipuram are connected by buses. On full moon days, several cities operate special buses to Tiruvannamalai.

First time and occasional visitors are better advised to visit Thiruvannamalai anytime during year except on Full Moon days because this pilgrim centre is heavily thronged during Full moon days and any visitor is likely to be stranded without accommodation during these days!

Get around

Lots of autorickshaws are posted on spots along the main roads waiting for hire. The next major form of public transfer would be bus if you weren't able to rent a scooter.

Eat

The town has several very good vegetarian restaurants, and a few other non-vegetarian restaurants are also available. Food quality is generally good.