Wonderful are the ways of the divine. The nameless and formless assumes hundreds of names and forms only for the sake of the ignorant devote. The omnipresent gives refuge to the devotees in the temples. Temples are sacred institutions capable of uplifting human beings to godhood.
 
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If the Supreme Lord manifests as a strident Trivikrama in Thirukoilur, on the banks of south Pennar river, where indeed the three Alwars sang their first hymns in praise of the lord, He appears in the fascinating reclining posture just a few miles upstream the same river in a kshetra known as Thiruvarangam.
The ancient temple at Thiruvarangam is spread over an area of nearly three and half acres on the south bank of Then Pennar river, is located, about 18 km from Tirukoilur, 30 km from Tiruvannamalai via Manlurpet, 25 km from Sankarapuram.
One might wonder if it would be proper to call the place "Arangam" in as much as Tiruvarangam is not surrounded by rivers, even if the Lord is in the reclining posture. The word "Arangam" has several meanings, and can also be interpreted to mean "stage". The Lord of Tiruvarangam possibly presents the stage in which the cosmic play of creation, and sustenance are ceaselessly enacted and hence the name. The account in Skanda Puranam seems to lend support to this view.
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