About
How we check facts
Pilgrims plan journeys around what they read here, so accuracy matters. This is how the guide decides what to say, how it marks what is uncertain, and how to tell us when something is wrong.
The short version
- We prefer
- Official notices and the institutions’ own publications, then published calendars and standard references, then news reports.
- We label
- “Reported”, “traditional” and “calculated” facts, so you know how firm each one is.
- We never
- Invent a date, time, price or distance. If we cannot confirm something, we say so.
- Found a mistake?
- Tell us through the contact page; corrections are made and dated.
Where our facts come from
When sources disagree, we lean on them in this order:
- Official notices. The Arunachaleswarar temple and the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department (HR&CE), and the Tiruvannamalai district administration, for festival programmes, timings and restrictions.
- The institutions’ own publications. Sri Ramanasramam, the ashram trusts and teachers’ official websites, for their own history, schedules and teachings.
- Published Tamil calendars (panchangams) for full-moon windows and festival days, checked against the moon’s position.
- Standard references and published histories for history, scripture and the lives of the saints.
- News reports, for things announced but not yet published officially.
What our labels mean
| Label | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Reported | Taken from news reports; we have not seen the official notice itself | The hill-climbing restriction on Karthigai Deepam day |
| Traditional | Sacred lore and devotional tradition, told as tradition rather than as documented history | The legend of the column of fire; the stories of the Siddhas |
| Calculated | Our own astronomy, using the standard methods, for times that are not officially published | Sunrise and sunset; the 2027 full-moon windows; where to see the Krittikas |
| About / approximately | A figure that varies, or that sources give differently | Distances by road; the Girivalam length (about 14 km) |
Dates on our pages
Every guide shows when it was last updated. Festival and full-moon pages are checked against new notices as the date approaches, and the time-sensitive pages (the Girivalam dates and this week at Arunachala) are reviewed every month. Dates for a coming year are never added until they are published, except our clearly marked calculations.
Links and independence
ArunachalaShiva is independent and is not run by any temple, ashram or teacher. Links to accommodation booking sites are marked as sponsored links in our code, as search engines ask. Official websites are linked so that you can always check the source yourself.
Corrections
If you find a mistake, or something has changed on the ground, please tell us through the contact page. We correct it, update the page’s date, and where the change matters to your plans, say what changed.
Last updated 12 November 2026.