| Ekambareswarar Temple | |
|---|---|
Arulmigu Kanchi Ekambaranathar Thirukoil | |
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| Deity | Ekambaranathar (Shiva) |
| Location | |
| Location | Kanchipuram |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| Country | India |
  Location in Tamil Nadu Show map of India Ekambareswarar Temple (Kanchipuram) (Tamil Nadu) Show map of Tamil Nadu | |
| Coordinates | 12°50′51″N79°42′00″E / 12.84750°N 79.70000°E /12.84750; 79.70000 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Dravidian architecture |
| Creator | Pallava,Chola kings |
Ekambareswarar Temple (Ekambaranathar Temple) (Kacchi Eakamban Tirukkoyil) is aHindu temple dedicated to the godShiva, located in the town ofKanchipuram inTamil Nadu,India.[1] It is significant to the Hindu sect ofSaivism as one of the temples associated with the five elements, thePancha Bhoota Stalas, and specifically the element of earth, orPrithvi. Shiva is worshiped as Ekambareswarar or Ekambaranathar or Rajalingeswaram, and is represented by thelingam asPrithvi lingam. His consortParvati is depicted as Elavarkuzhali.
The presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, theTevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as thenayanars and classified asPaadal Petra Sthalam.
The temple complex covers 10 hectares (25 acres), and is one of the largest in India. It houses four gateway towers known asgopurams. The tallest is the southern tower, with 11 stories and a height of 58.5216 m (192 ft), making it one of the tallest temple towers in India. The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Ekambareswarar and theVishnu shrine -Nilathingal Thundam Perumal (aDivyadesam)[2] being the most prominent. The temple complex houses many halls; the most notable is the thousand-pillared hall built during theVijayanagar period.
The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 3:30~4:00 a.m. to 10 p.m., and twelve yearly festivals on its calendar.Panguni Uthiram festival celebrated for thirteen days during theTamil month ofPanguni (March - April) is the most prominent festival of the temple and the town.[3]
The present masonry structure was built during theChola dynasty in the 9th century, while later expansions are attributed to Vijayanagar rulers. The temple is maintained and administered by theHindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of theGovernment of Tamil Nadu. The temple is the largest and one of the most prominent tourist attractions in the city.[4]
Legend has it that onceParvati, the consort of Shiva, wanted to expiate herself from sin by doingpenance under a mango tree near Vegavati river.[5][6] In order to test her devotion Shiva sent fire on her. Parvati prayed to the god Vishnu. Vishnu brought the Moon whose rays cooled down the tree and Parvati. Shiva again sent the river Ganga (Ganges) to disrupt Parvati's penance. Parvati convincedGanga that since they were sisters, she should not harm Parvati. Parvati worshipped aShiva Linga out of sand to please Shiva. Ultimately, Shiva appeared before her as Ekambareswarar or "Lord of Mango Tree".[7]
According to another legend, Parvati worshipped Shiva in the form of aPrithvi Lingam (or a Lingam out of sand), under a mango tree.[1] Legend has it that the Vegavati river overflowed, threatening to engulf the Shiva Lingam; Parvati asKamakshi embraced the Lingam. Shiva touched by the gesture materialized in person and married her. In this context he is referred to asTazhuva kuzhainthaar ("He who melted in Her embrace") in Tamil.
Tirukuripputhonda Nayanar, anayanar saint, was a washerman near the temple and he washed the clothes of all the Saivities. He was divinely tricked by Shiva appearing as an agedbrahmin and asked him to wash before dawn. At the same time, Shiva made a cloudly evening. On observing the approach of the evening, the washerman banged his head in a stone in disappointment. God appeared in his true form and graced his devotee.[6]
This vast temple is one of the most ancient in India having been in existence since at least 600 CE. Second-century-CE Tamil poetry speaks ofKama kottam, and theKumara kottam (currently the Kamakashi Amman temple and the Subramanya temple). The temple finds mention in the classicalTamilSangam literature dated 300 BCE likeManimegalai andPerumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai.[8] Initially temple was built byPallavas. The VedantistKachiyapper served as a priest at the temple. The existing structure then, was pulled down and rebuilt by the laterChola Kings.Adi Sankara, the 10th-century saint got Kanchipuram remodelled along with expansion of this temple along withKamakshi Amman temple andVaradaraja Perumal Temple with the help of local rulers.[9]
There are inscriptions dated 1532 CE (record 544 of 1919) indicating the gift of number of villages made by Achutaraya.[10] Vira Narasingaraya Saluva Nayaka who was directed by Achutaraya broke the royal order by giving more lands to Ekambaranathar temple than the Varadaraja Swamy temple against the instruction of an equal gift to either of the temples. Achutaraya on hearing this equally distributed the lands to both the temples.[10] The eleven-storied southerngopuram, built byKrishnadevaraya (1509-29), is 57 m (187 ft) tall and is one of the tallestgopurams in the country.[11]
The Vijayanagar kings, during the 15th century, also made lot of contributions to the temple[12] and later developed by Vallal Pachiyappa Mudaliar used to go regularly from Chennai to Kanchipuram to worship in this temple, he spent significant money he amazed during British rule on the temple renovation, Pachiyappa Mudaliar seated at horse back can be seen in the temple pillar. At the later stage a similar temple with same name Ekambareswarar was constructed in Chennai by Pachiappa Mudaliar in order to avoid travelling time to Kanchipuram. TheArchaeological Survey of India report of 1905–06 indicates widespread renovation activities carried out in the temple by Nattukottai Chettiars.[13] In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by theHindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of theGovernment of Tamil Nadu.[14]
The temple covers an area of over 9.3 hectares (23 acres).[2] Reaching a height of 59 m (194 ft), the temple's Rajagopuram (the entrance tower to the temple) is one of the tallest in South India.[12] The bottom half of the gateway tower has the shrines of Vinayaka and Murugan on either sides. From the entrance, there are two halls namely Vahana Mandapam (vehicle hall) and Sarabesa Mandapam (also called Navaratri hall).[15] TheAayiram Kaal Mandapam, or the "hallway with a thousand pillars", which was built by the Vijayanagar Kings, is found on precinct after the gateway tower.[12] There is said to have been an undergroundholy river. The fourth courtyard contains a small Ganesha temple and a pond. The third courtyard contains lot of smaller shrines. The flag staff of the temple is axial to the sanctum and diagonally located to the main entrance and the temple tank on either directions. There is a shrine called Thirukachi Mayanam and Kalayana Mandapa, named after Pachayappa Mudaliar, both of which are located close to the flag staff. Thirukachi Mayanam, Valeesam, Rishabesam and Satyanadeesam are located in four corners of the temple. The hall of the flagstaff has pillars sculpted with intricate figures indicating various legends andavatars of Shiva.[15]
The sanctum sanctorum contains thelingam along with the image of Shiva and Parvati sitting together. The gold plated lingam depicts the story of Parvati hugging the lingam to save it from the flooding Vegavati river.[16] There are granite image of the 63Nayanmars around the first precinct.[17] The temple's inner most precinct are decorated with an array of Shivalingam, one of which is a Sahasra Lingam with 1,008 Sivalingams sculpted on it.[18] There is no separate shrine forParvati within the complex as with all other Shiva temples in Kanchipuram. A local belief is that the deity at theKamakshi Amman Temple is the consort for Ekambaranathar. Behind the image of Lingam in the sanctum, there is a depiction of Shiva and Parvathi in a plaque with Shiva depicted as Tazhuvakuzhainthaar Swami and Parvathi as Elavarkuzhali Amman.[8]
There is a small shrine forVishnu namedNilathingal Thundam Perumal temple inside the temple complex. Vishnu is prayed asVamana and the shrine is hailed by theAlvar saints as one of the 108Divya Desams. There is a separate shrine forNataraja on the second precinct.[15] Thesthala-vriksham or temple tree is believed to be a 3,500-year-oldmango tree whose branches are said to yield four different types of mangoes from its four branches.[1][7][12][18][19]
Pancha Bhoota Stalam refers to the five Shiva temples,[20] each representing the manifestation of the five prime elements of nature - land, water, air, sky, fire.[21]Pancha indicates five,Bhoota means elements andStala means place. All these temples are located inSouth India with four of these temples atTamil Nadu and one atAndhra Pradesh. The five elements are believed to be enshrined in the fivelingams[20] and each of thelingams representing Shiva in the temple have five different names based on the elements they represent. In the temple, Shiva is said to have manifested himself in the form of Prithvi Lingam. The other four manifestations are Appu Lingam (representing water) atJambukeswarar Temple, Thiruvanaikaval,[22] Akasha Lingam (representing sky)[20] atThillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram,[22] Agni Lingam (representing fire)[23] atAnnamalaiyar Temple[22] and Vayu Lingam (representing air) atSrikalahasti Temple.[22][24] Kanchipuram is famous for hand-wovensilk sarees - a design by name Ekambaranathar obtain its name from the designs of these shrines.[25]
Tirugnana Sambandar, a 7th-century TamilSaivite poet, venerated Ekambareswarar in ten verses inTevaram, compiled as theFirst Tirumurai.Appar andSundarar, contemporaries of Sambandar, also venerated Ekambareswarar in 10 verses inTevaram, compiled as theFifth Tirumurai andNinth Tirumurai respectively. As the temple is revered inTevaram, it is classified asPaadal Petra Sthalam, one of the 276 temples that find mention in the Saiva canon.Manickavasagar, a 9th-century Tamil saint and poet, revered Ekambareswarar in his writing. Thus the temple is revered by all four Saiva Kuravars. The presiding deity is also revered in the verses of famous folk singer Kanchi Kotayappa Nayak, one of the trinities ofCarnatic musicMuthuswami Dikshitar andPattinathar.[15]
The temple priest perform thepooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to theShaivaite community, a Brahmin sub-caste. The temple rituals are performed six times a day; Ushathkalam at 5:30 a.m., Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Ucchikalam at 10:00 a.m., Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m., Irandamkalam at 8:00 p.m. and Ardha Jamam at 10:00 p.m. Each ritual comprises four steps:abhishekam (sacred bath),alankaram (decoration),naivedyam (food offering) anddeepa aradhanai (waving of lamps) for the pedestal of Ekambareswarar. Since it is a Lingam made of sand mound, all the ablution is done only to the pedestal. The worship is held amidst music withnagaswaram (pipe instrument) andtavil (percussion instrument), religious instructions in theVedas read by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast. There are weekly rituals likesomavaram andshukravaram, fortnightly rituals likepradosham and monthly festivals likeamavasai (new moon day),kiruthigai or on krittika nakshatram,pournami (full moon day) andchaturthi.[15][26]
The temple celebrates dozens of festivals throughout the year. The most important of these is the Panguni (or Phalguni in devanagari) Brahmotsavam that lasts ten days during theTamil month ofPanguni, between March and April, concluding with the celebration of Kalyanotsavam. The festival is the most popular of all the temple festivals in Kanchipuram.[27] There are various processions during the ten days with the festive images of presiding deities of the temple carried in various mounts around the streets of the temple. During the fifth day, Ekambareswarar is carried silver mountNandi during the morning and Ravaneswara Vahanam during the evening. The 63 Nayanmars are taken in procession the sixth day morning, while Ekambareswarar is carried on Silver car festival in the evening. Silver Mavadi seva is performed on the ninth day. On the concluding day, Kalyanotsavam (marriage festival) is held when the marriage of Ekambareswarar is enacted. During the day, many unmarried people get married irrespective of their caste along with the deity. The event is witnessed by thousands of people every year.[15]
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