Arunachaleswarar Temple

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Ashram built around the samadhi of the mendicant saint Yogi Ramsuratkumar (1918-2001), noted for its large domed meditation hall on the Chengam road.

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.

The Agastheeswarar Temple in Vettavalam is an ancient Shiva temple whose presiding deity is linked by tradition to worship by the sage Agastya, from whom the name derives. It is one of the principal temples of Vettavalam, a town on the route toward the Jawadhu Hills foothills.

A major dam built in the 1950s across the Thenpennai (Ponnaiyar) river below the Chennakesava hills near Chengam, about 30 km from Tiruvannamalai, popular for its landscaped riverside park.

Goddess Renugambal temple at Padavedu, a historic village near Polur once a Vijayanagara-era administrative centre with several old shrines.

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.