Tiruvannamalai – the name immediately evokes the image of the sacred, calm, rocky hill standing vigil right behind the temple of Lord Tiruvannamalai. Just visiting that land is said to wash one’s sins away. The presence of several spiritual organisations and the special place it has in the hearts of spiritual leaders vouches for the sanctity of the city.
The coffee table book, brought out by Amish Media Consultant, is a rich tribute to not only the main city of Tiruvannamalai, but the entire district. Amish Media Consultant team travels through the length and breadth of the district of Tiruvannamalai, discovered tremendous peace not only in the religious and spiritual symbols abundantly found there, but in the vast fields and the rocky terrain that characterised the place.
Tiruvannamalai, part of Vellore district till 1989, is a rich repository of relics from the prehistoric ages to heritage buildings – constructed by different rulers and people from different religious backgrounds. Traditional and modern industries co-exist – with silk weaving, idol making and street play having been handed down for generations on the one hand, and brick making and modern mills and industries coming up in a big way on the other. Tiruvannamalai houses people not only from the native state of Tamil Nadu, but lambadis settled from Maharastra, and Sri Lankans. It has the wonderful, cool Jawadhu Hills on the one hand, and the challenging Parvatha Malai on the other. Padavedu is a combination of the old and the new, as the innumerable temples were razed to ground and are now coming up through private efforts.
Despite the April-May heat, when the team undertook the journey to a very inhospitable climate in Tiruvannamalai, the hospitality of the local people helped traverse the length and breadth of the district, from morning till night. The simplicity of the people living close to nature is still rare to come by, and Tiruvannamalai has this in abundance.
For more details email us to: amishmc@gmail.com
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