Vallimalai is Valli's hill. Near Vellore, a small rocky hill holds a cave temple, and tradition says this is where Valli was born, grew up among the hill people and met Murugan.
What is special here
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Remembered as the birthplace of Valli
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A temple built largely inside a rock cave
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About 300 steps up a rocky hill
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Praised in Arunagirinathar's Thiruppugazh
Chapter 1
Where Valli was born
The story told here is that Valli was found as a baby on this hill, born to a deer, and brought up by the chief of the hill people. She grew up guarding the millet fields and chasing away the birds.
Murugan came to her in disguise, first as a hunter and then as an old man, and with his brother Ganesha's help he won her. Of all the places connected with that story, Vallimalai is the one that holds her childhood.
Chapter 2
A temple in the rock
The temple is small and much of it is cut into a natural cave near the top of the hill. About three hundred steps lead up through the rocks. The work is old, and is usually placed in the time of the Pallava kings.
Arunagirinathar sang of this hill in his Thiruppugazh, as he sang of so many Murugan shrines.
Chapter 3
Before you go
The temple keeps short hours, from seven in the morning to half past seven in the evening. The climb is rocky and there is little shade, so the morning is best.
If you know the story of Valli and the old man in the millet field, read it again before you climb. The hill is its setting.
Stories told of this place
Our reflection: most Murugan temples remember what he did. Vallimalai remembers the girl he came looking for.
Our own retelling of the temple's history and traditions.