Source: Times of India
CHENNAI, INDIA, November 7, 2002: The famous Arunachaleshwarar temple, dedicated to Siva and built in the year 700, is located atop Arunachala Hill at Thiruvannamalai Temple, 200 km from Chennai. A huge sacred fire that burns on the hilltop during Karthika Deepam, November/December, can be seen from as far as 40 km, and thousands of devotees throng the temple at this time of the year. The fate of the temple is now caught in a dispute between the Tamil Nadu government and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). The state government decided to file a writ of petition in the Madras High Court challenging the preliminary notification issued by the ASI to take over the famous temple. The Tamil Nadu government believes, “The temple has now grown to be a religious center of international importance, more as an abode of faith than as a site of mere archaeological importance. Therefore, there is no ground for the Central government to issue a gazette notification for taking over the temple, which is highly unwarranted.”