King Vallalan was an ardent Saivite and during his stays in Tiruvannamalai made many improvements to the Arunachaleswarar Temple. Tiruvannamalai was near the geographical centre of his empire and this encouraged him to make protracted stays there, particularly after the destruction of Dwarasamudra.
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| Vallala Gopuram, Arunachaleswarar Temple |
It seems that during the last fifteen years of his reign he was constantly in residence at Tiruvannamalai.
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| King Vallalan, Arunachaleswarar Temple |
In a concluding verse on King Vallalan in the Arunachala Puranam, Lord Siva undertakes to perform King Vallalan’s funeral rites for him, a task which is normally performed by the son of the deceased. The promise is still remembered in Tiruvannamalai and each year King Vallalan’s funeral is re-enacted to commemorate the event.
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| The Lord on his way to river |
In the month of Masi the Temple priests read out the news of King Vallalan’s death to Arunachaleswarar. Then the image is carried in procession to the village of Pallikonda Pattu, about three kilometres from Tiruvannamalai, for the performance of the King’s annual sraddha rites.
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| Puja at riverbank |
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| Pallikonda Pattu |
The connection between Pallikonda Pattu and the life and death of King Vallalan is no longer known. It is unlikely that he lived there since his palace is thought to have been located about a mile to the east of the main Temple. Until about a hundred years ago the last remains of what was reputed to be his palace could still be seen there, but around the turn of the century the land was levelled and cultivated and the railway line from Villupuram to Tirupathi now runs across the site.
