Overview
Girivalam is the living pilgrimage of Tiruvannamalai: the clockwise circumambulation of Aruṇācala. On full-moon nights and festival days hundreds of thousands walk the 14-km path, and during the Kārttikai Mahādeepam the numbers swell to lakhs.
1 source
- Official Tiruvannamalai district portal (tiruvannamalai.nic.in) — Girivalam and places pages
Sthala Purāṇa tradition
The Aruṇācala Māhātmya exalts pradakṣiṇā of the hill: since the mountain is Śiva himself, to walk around Aruṇācala is to circumambulate the Lord — a worship the whole body performs.
1 source
- Purāṇa Skanda Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa — Aruṇācala Māhātmya
Related in the knowledge graph
Associated with
- Sacred Mountain
Arunachala
Aruṇācala
Stops
- Mandir
Arulmigu Arunachaleswarar Temple, Tiruvannamalai
Aruṇācaleśvarar Tirukkōyil, TiruvaṇṇāmalaiTiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu
Companion resources from our family
Arunachala Samudra ↗
A site on Sri Ramana Maharshi's teachings — self-enquiry, meditation and silence, and on Arunachala, maintained by MandirPal's founding family.
A companion site from the family behind MandirPal.
Where traditions differ, MandirPal shows each view with its sources and declares none of them absolute. Sacred narrative is labelled as tradition, history as documented evidence. Timings and rules change, so confirm with the official temple channel before you travel.