The rocky hills begin around the village Kilkuyilkudi and stretch in an easterly direction towards south Madurai.

Different parts of these rocky hills are called by different names and are home to a range of monuments dating between 2nd-century BCE and 12th-century CE.

[1] The eastern parts of the same rocky hillocks include other important sites such as the Kanjamalai with the Thiruparankundram Jain cave and Hindu monuments (Umai Andar), the major rock cut Subramaniya Swamy temple (Kandan) and the 17th to 18th-century Islamic dargah for Sikandar Shah – the last Sultan of the Madurai Sultanate (1372–1377 CE).

[1] In some Tamil texts, a Jain site named Thiruvuruvakam is mentioned, which scholars suggest is same as Samanar Hills.

[1] A few Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have also been found at the top of the Samanar hills, but their translation is a secular language, and does not imply a definite connection with Buddhism, Jainism or Hinduism.

[1] Below him is a 10th-century Tamil inscription in a rounded script (Vatteluttu), whose shape and style helps date the image.

To the left is the Jaina goddess Ambika Devi depicted as a female warrior riding a lion with a drawn bow and arrow in her hands.

[1] The Pechchipallam site is on the eastern slope, the other side of the Samanar hills yet relatively close to Settipodavu.

Taken together with many more 11th- to 13th-century Jaina inscriptions found in Madurai area, other regions of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, this Kannada inscription at Samanar hills top confirms a thriving Jaina tradition in Madurai area through the 14th century and an active interaction between Digambara Jain sites in Karnataka and those in Tamil Nadu.

[citation needed] Samanar Malai has several very old Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions, likely the early centuries of the common era.

[9] Thus these records imply the significance of Gunasena Deva around 10th-century, and that a Jain monastery existed near the contemporary Keelakuyilkudi village.

[9] Other tentative Jaina ascetics mentioned in the interpolated versions of the inscriptions at Samanar hills are Chandraprabha, Balachandradeva, Nemideva, Ajitasenadeva and Govardhanadeva.

[9] The inscription at the top of the Samanar hill that is predominantly in Kannada is partly eroded and difficult to read, but the characters that have survived and best interpolations suggest that a Jain monk, likely from a Mula sangha died here.

For example, another site near the Narthamalai group of rocky hillocks about 18 kilometers north of Pudukkottai is also called "Samanar malai".

It is also a cave with eight Jina bas-reliefs and an inscription, much mentioned in early studies on Jainism in Tamil Nadu.