Renugambal Temple, Padavedu

A Jain temple complex on a hillside near Polur with a tall monolithic Neminatha statue, rock-cut caves, and medieval cave paintings dating back over a thousand years.

The Kovilur Shiva temple, built during the Chola period, is an ancient hill shrine in the Jawadhu (Javvadhu) Hills and one of the range's important pilgrimage spots. Visitors touring the hills often combine it with Beema Falls and Komutteri Lake. It is a rare Chola-era stone shrine set in the tribal Malayali heartland of the Eastern Ghats.

A steep forested hill with a hilltop Shiva-Parvati shrine, reached by a strenuous barefoot climb of around 10 km through reserve forest, popular with pilgrim trekkers.

Ancient Shiva temple on the girivalam path on the far side of Arunachala, regarded as the original ('adi') Annamalai shrine and an important stop for pilgrims circling the hill.

Annual November-December festival at Arunachaleswarar Temple in which a giant ghee lamp is lit atop Mount Arunachala, visible for miles around.

The sacred red hill worshipped as an embodiment of Shiva; focus of the Girivalam circumambulation and the site of the Karthigai Deepam beacon flame.

Cave on the south-east slope of Arunachala where Ramana Maharshi lived for about 17 years (1899-1916), named after the 13th-century saint Virupaksha Deva entombed there.

One of the five Pancha Bhoota Stalams representing the element of fire, this vast temple complex sprawls across roughly 25 acres at the foot of Arunachala hill and hosts the annual Karthigai Deepam festival.

Kuppanatham Dam, built in 1987 on the Solai River near Paramanandal in Chengam taluk, is the second-largest dam in Tiruvannamalai district after Sathanur, storing about 700 Mcft. Set amid mountains, the surrounding village and its seasonal waterfalls are a popular local picnic spot. The scenic valley has featured in Tamil films including Marumalarchi and Samudhiram.

Ashram at the western base of Arunachala where sage Ramana Maharshi lived from 1922 until 1950, built around his mother's samadhi shrine; a major international centre for self-enquiry pilgrimage.

Ashram and samadhi shrine of the saint Seshadri Swamigal (1870-1929), a contemporary of Ramana Maharshi, located adjacent to Sri Ramanasramam.

Pavalakunru is a small rocky hillock on the eastern spur of Arunachala with an ancient Shiva temple traditionally hallowed by the sage Gautama Rishi. In late 1898 the young Ramana Maharshi lived in this temple, where his mother found him seated motionless and pleaded with him to return home. It is a revered stop for pilgrims and devotees of Ramana Maharshi near the Girivalam path.