Practice

Tiruvaṇṇāmalai

திருவண்ணாமலை

Also known as: Tiruvannamalai, Thiruvannamalai, Aruṇācala Kṣetram

Meaning

A major Śaiva kṣetra in Tamil Nadu centred on Arunācaleśvara and the sacred hill Arunācala. Tiruvaṇṇāmalai is not one of the 108 Śrī Vaiṣṇava Divya Desams and was not sung as such by Tirumaṅgai Āzhvār.

Detailed Explanation

Tiruvaṇṇāmalai (Tamil: திருவண்ணாமலை) is a major Śaiva pilgrimage centre in Tamil Nadu, centred on the Arunācaleśvara temple and the sacred hill Arunācala, traditionally associated with the element of fire.

It is not one of the 108 Śrī Vaiṣṇava Divya Desams, there is no Divya-Desam deity called 'Tiruvaṇṇāmalai Perumāḷ', and Tirumaṅgai Āzhvār did not compose maṅgalāśāsana pāsurams for a Viṣṇu shrine there. The former account also reversed the well-known Śaiva Liṅgodbhava narrative by making Viṣṇu the infinite column of fire.

If the place is retained in a Śrī Vaiṣṇava dictionary, it should be identified only as part of the broader sacred geography of Tamil Nadu, not as a Divya Desam or as an Āzhvār-maṅgalāśāsana site.

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