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Tiruvannamalai

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Arunachaleswar temple, Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India, Asia

Getty Images/Robert Harding World Imagery

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Overview

There are temple towns, there are mountain towns, and then there are temple-mountain towns where God appears as a phallus of fire. Welcome to Tiruvannamalai, one of Tamil Nadu's holiest destinations.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Arunachaleshwar Temple

    Arunachaleshwar Temple

    Tiruvannamalai

    This 10-hectare temple is one of India's largest. Its oldest parts date to the 9th century, but the site was a place of worship long before that. Four…

  • Gingee Fort

    Gingee Fort

    Tiruvannamalai

    With three separate hilltop citadels and a 6km perimeter of cliffs and thick walls, the ruins of enormous Gingee Fort rise out of the Tamil plain, 37km…

  • Mt Arunachala

    Mt Arunachala

    Tiruvannamalai

    This 800m-high extinct volcano dominates Tiruvannamalai – and local conceptions of the element of fire, which supposedly finds its sacred abode in…

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