Arunachala Hill- Skanda ashram and Virupaksha cave, Tiruvannamalai
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 1.5 mi
- Elevation gain
- 709 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 781 ft
- Max elevation
- 1,073 ft
- TrailRank
- 23
- Min elevation
- 1,073 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Moving time
- 29 minutes
- Time
- 2 hours 5 minutes
- Coordinates
- 424
- Uploaded
- April 22, 2024
- Recorded
- April 2024
near Vanadarayapalaiyam, Tamil Nādu (India)
Viewed 4 times, downloaded 0 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
We visited Skanda Ashram and Virupaksha cave which is located on the Arunachala hill, these two places are revered as places where Ramana Maharishi lived and meditated for several years before he settled at Ramana Ashram.
The starting point for this walk is from Ramana Ashram, we ended it near the Tiruvannamalai temple as we took a different route but if you follow the same path back you can end your journey back at Ramana Ashram itself.
We undertook this walk to the places barefoot because of our belief that the mountain is Lord Shiva himself, however others were climbing the mountain with shoes and socks etc. When its hot, its difficult to walk barefoot. Also, the trail is quite well laid out with stones.
On the way you will encounter many monkeys and dogs,you can carry food to give them. Be careful to keep your belongings safe from the monkeys as they can be quite aggressive.
As you follow the path, you first reach Skanda Ashram and then you need to go downhill to reach Virupaksha cave. Both the locations will be open by 8.30am till 4pm everyday. However the path to go up the hill opens at 5.30am so we started our climb earlier to avoid the sun and we waited at Skanda Ashram for it to be opened.
As you climb up, you can see beautiful views of the Tiruvannamalai Annamalaiyar and Unnamalai Amman temples as well as the Tiruvannamalai city.
The starting point for this walk is from Ramana Ashram, we ended it near the Tiruvannamalai temple as we took a different route but if you follow the same path back you can end your journey back at Ramana Ashram itself.
We undertook this walk to the places barefoot because of our belief that the mountain is Lord Shiva himself, however others were climbing the mountain with shoes and socks etc. When its hot, its difficult to walk barefoot. Also, the trail is quite well laid out with stones.
On the way you will encounter many monkeys and dogs,you can carry food to give them. Be careful to keep your belongings safe from the monkeys as they can be quite aggressive.
As you follow the path, you first reach Skanda Ashram and then you need to go downhill to reach Virupaksha cave. Both the locations will be open by 8.30am till 4pm everyday. However the path to go up the hill opens at 5.30am so we started our climb earlier to avoid the sun and we waited at Skanda Ashram for it to be opened.
As you climb up, you can see beautiful views of the Tiruvannamalai Annamalaiyar and Unnamalai Amman temples as well as the Tiruvannamalai city.
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