Ammani Ammal Gopuram : Inspiring story behind

This Gopuram of Tiruvannamalai was not built by a great king like Pandiyan or Cholan; it was built by a woman named Ammani Ammal. Her birth name is Arualmozihil. She was born in a village near Tiruvannamalai called Chinnasamuthram. She had a great devotion to Lord Shiva, so she left her village and came to Tiruvannamalai. She spends her whole life in devotion to Lord Shiva. She used to visit temples and Girvilam quite often and was very happy about it. That's when she notices that the East Gopuram of the Tiruvannamalai temple is not built. So she decides to build it herself. She asks for donations from the people of Tiruvannamalai, starts building the Gopuram, and manages to build five towers. Then she realizes that she needs more money to complete it. So she goes to Mysore to meet the king of Mysore and ask for donations. He decides to help her by giving her some money and jewelry. She used that to build the 6, 7, and 8 floors of the building. Then she started worrying about where she would get the rest of the money to build the leftover floors in Gopuram. That is when Lord Shiva comes to her dream and advises her to give vibuthi to the people who work for her instead of money. As per Lord Shiva's advice, she starts giving just vibuthi to the laborers, and they happily accept it as it starts bringing them good fortune. The remaining work gets completed. This Gopuram was built as hugely as the Raja Gopuram. The khumbaabishekam gets done in her presence; that is how the gopuram got its name, Annamani Ammal Gopuram. This shows how when a woman has devotion and dedication, she can achieve anything and everything.