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The Holy Mountain Arunachala, Tiruvannamalai India

"Bearing and tending me in the world
in the shape of my father and mother,
Thou didst abide in my mind,
and before I fell into the deep sea
called Jaganmaya (universal illusion) and was drowned,
Thou didst draw me to Thee, Arunachala, Consciousness Itself . . . such is the wonder of Thy Grace!" - Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi


Arunachala drew Ramana Maharshi to Himself as a 16 year old boy. When he entered the sanctum sanctorium at the main temple, he bowed to the lingam and said, “Father I have come at thy bidding.” His surrender was complete.

This Holy Hill invites those aspirants who are ready to dive into the Stillness and Silence within the Heart of Being.

The Legend of Arunachala

In the legend of Arunachala, Vishnu represents the ego or individuality and Brahma the mentality, while Siva is Atma, the Spirit. The main purport of the legend is that Siva once appeared as an infinite column of light. Because the column of Light was so dazzling and impossible to look upon, both Brahma and Vishnu prayed to Siva to take a more benevolent and accessible form so that all beings could worship Him and realize the goal of life. Siva accordingly took the form of the Arunachala Hill, declaring: "As the moon derives its light from the sun, so other holy places will derive their sanctity from Arunachala. This is the only place where I have taken this form for the benefit of those who wish to worship me and obtain illumination. Arunachala is OM itself. I will appear on the summit of this hill every year at Kartikai in the form of a peace giving beacon."

Kartikai is that day of the year when the constellation of Kartikai (the Pleiades) is in conjunction with the full moon - usually in November. On that night each year a huge vat of ghee is built on top of the hill and appears from a distance as a great fiery beacon. It is observed throughout the area and especially by the thousands of devotees who circumambulate the hill, like a living garland, slowly moving along the eight miles around the base of the holy hill.

Ocean of Nectar
Full of Grace
Engulfing the universe in Thy Splendor!
O Arunachala, the Supreme Itself!
Be Thou the Sun
and open the lotus of my heart in Bliss.

Hymn to Arunachala,
from: five Stanzas to Arunachala, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

Read about Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

A Special Interview with A. Ramana at AHAM’s India Center on February 2008