Aarani is a town and a municipality in Tiruvanamalai district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The name comes from the word araneeyam which means a place surrounded by a forest. Aarani is located on the banks of the Kamandala Naaga river. It has an average elevation of 151 metres (495 ft). It is located about 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Vellore and 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Thiruvannamalai. The city is well connected through various well formed roads, the state highways SH-4 (Arcot - Arni - Gingee - Villupuram Road), SH-132 (Kannamangalam - Arni Road) are the major roads connecting arni. A bypass road works has been completed outside Arni. Aarani had a population of 60,888.The population is evenly split between males and females. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. Aarani has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. Aarani is well known for its rice paddies. The town also has a large community of silk weavers. Though the town is not well known outside Tamil Nadu, a bulk of India's silk apparels is produced by the people of Arni.
