Arunachala
Arunachala is a hill in Tiruvannamalai district, Tamil Nadu, and one of the five main Shaiva holy places in South India. The Arunachalesvara Temple to Shiva is located at the base of the hill. The hill is also known by the names Annamalai, Annamalaiyar Hill, Arunagiri, Arunachalam, Arunai, Sonagiri, and Sonachalam.
Every year in the Tamil month of Kārttikai, the Kārttikai tīpam light is lit atop the hill.
It is also an important place for devotees of Ramana Maharshi, with Sri Ramana Ashram situated at its foothills.
Girivalam
The circumambulation of Arunachala is known as Malai Suttru 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.
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 66 m. 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 7th century by Pallavas. It was later refurbished by the kings Cholas, Pandyas, Hoysalass, and Vijayanagara Empire from 10th 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.