The temple of Arunachaleshvara, and surrounding town of.Tiruvannamalai, viewed from the hill-dwelling of a sadhu (holy man). The temple, one of the largest in India, is dedicated to the god Shiva as Lord of the Eastern Mountain. Its 9 gopurams (entrance towers) are visible for miles, the principal one having 13 storeys and rising to 66 m. The mountain that gives the temple its name towers over it to the east, and is itself sacred..