TIR UVANNJMAI,AI TOWN
401
the largest mluk in South Arcot, its area being r,oo9 square miles, and
its population, which numbered 244,085 in 1901, compared with
205,403 in 18gr, increased during that decade by 18.8 per cent.,
showing a higher rate of growth than any other. It is still, however,
the most sparsely peopled in the District, the density being only
242 persons per square mile, compared with the District average of
450. It contains 400 villages and one town, the municipality of
TIRUVANNAMALAI (population, 17,o6g), the head-quarters. The rain-
fall is the lightest in South Arcot, being 36 inches annually, compared
with the District average of 43 inches; and the tdluk is more liable
to scarcity than its neighbours. The demand for land revenue and
cesses in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 4932,000.
Tiruvannamalai Town.-Head-quarters of the tdluk of the same
name in South Arcot District, Madras, situated in 12° 14' N. and
79° 4' E., with a station on the Villupuram-Dharmavaram branch of
the South Indian Railway. The population in xgoi was 17,069, of
whom 14,981 were Hindus, 1,932 Musalmans, and the rest Christians.
Roads diverge in four directions, and it is an entrep6t of trade
between South Arcot and the country to the west. The name means
' holy fire hill,' and is derived from the isolated peak at the back of
the town, 2,668 feet above the sea, which is a conspicuous object for
many miles around. The story runs that Siva and Parvati his wife
were walking one evening in the flower garden of Kailasa, when
Parvati playfully put her hands over Siva's eyes. Instantly the whole
world became darkened and the sun and moon ceased to give light;
and though to Siva and his wife it seemed only a moment, yet to the
unfortunate dwellers in the world the period of darkness lasted for
years. They petitioned Siva for relief, and to punish Parvati for her
thoughtlessness he ordered her to do penance at various holy places.
Tiruvannamalai was one of these, and when she had performed her
penance here Siva appeared as a flame of fire at the top of the hill
as a sign that she was forgiven. A large and beautifully sculptured
temple stands at the foot of the hill, and at a festival in the month
of Kartigai (November-December) the priests light a huge beacon at
the top of the hill in memory of the story. This festival is one of the
chief cattle fairs in the District. The hill and the temple, command-
ing the Chengam pass into Salem, played an important part in the
Wars of the Carnatic. Between 1753 and 1790 they were subject to
repeated attacks and captures. From 1760 the place was a British
post, and Colonel Smith fell back upon it in 1767 as he retired through
the Chengam pass before Haidar All and the Nizam. Here he held
out till reinforced, when he signally defeated the allies. In 1790,
after being repulsed from Tyaga Durgam, Tipu attacked the town and
captured it. Tiruvannamalai was constituted a municipality in 1896.
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