Annamalai University with a sprawling campus of nearly 1000 acres is one of the largest residential Universities in Southern Asia comprising of 10 Faculties and 49 departments of study located at Chidambaram: The Abode of the Cosmic Dancer Lord Nataraja.

In the early 1920s, to serve the downtrodden and to promote Tamil Literature, Rajah Sir S. R. M. Annamalai Chettiar founded Sri Minakshi College, Sri Minakshi Tamil College and Sri Minakshi Sanskrit College in a rural setup at Chidambaram. In 1928, Rajah Sir S. R. M. Annamalai Chettiar agreed with the local Government to handover the above said institution for establishing a University. Thus, on 01.01.1929 Annamalai University was established as per Annamalai University Act 1928 (Tamil Nadu Act 1 of 1929). Ever since its establishment, Annamalai University has played an incredible role in the lives of the people near and far. In 2013, the Annamalai University Act, 2013 (Tamil Nadu Act 20 of 2013), was passed and has come into force from September 25, 2013.

Annamalai University, a “university” in the true sense of the term, has been sustaining a unified ecosystem of education – by offering sundry programmes under one roof. Being a unitary, multi-faculty institution, Annamalai University has evolved as a time-tested system of administration to ensure the ceaseless transaction of teaching-learning, boundless expansion of research and innovation, and selfless extension of service to the society.

Availability of ten diverse disciplines and 49 departments and of study along with sports pavilion, gymnasiums, libraries, yoga/meditation halls, ensures a fertile ground and favourable climate for learners to become all rounded and competent individuals rather than mere “programmed specialists”
Annamalai University is accredited with ‘A+’ Grade by NAAC in 2022