Ekambareswarar (Earth)

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 of Kama kottam, and the Kumara kottam (currently the Kamakashi Amman temple and the Subramanya temple). The temple finds mention in the classical Tamil Sangam literature dated 300 BCE like Manimegalai and Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai. Initially temple was built by Pallavas. The Vedantist Kachiyapper served as a priest at the temple. The existing structure then, was pulled down and rebuilt by the later Chola Kings. Adi Sankara, the 10th-century saint got Kanchipuram remodelled along with expansion of this temple along with Kamakshi Amman temple and Varadaraja Perumal Temple with the help of local rulers. There are inscriptions dated 1532 CE (record 544 of 1919) indicating the gift of number of villages made by Achutaraya. 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. The eleven-storied southern gopuram, built by Krishnadevaraya (1509–29), is 57 m (187 ft) tall and is one of the tallest gopurams in the country. The Vijayanagar kings, during the 15th century, also made lot of contributions to the temple 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.

Legend has it that once Parvati, the consort of Shiva, wanted to expiate herself from sin by doing penance under a mango tree near Vegavati river. 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 convinced Ganga that since they were sisters, she should not harm Parvati. Parvati worshipped a Shiva Linga out of sand to please Shiva. Ultimately, Shiva appeared before her as Ekambareswarar or "Lord of Mango Tree". According to another legend, Parvati worshipped Shiva in the form of a Prithvi Lingam (or a Lingam out of sand), under a mango tree. Legend has it that the Vegavati river overflowed, threatening to engulf the Shiva Lingam; Parvati as Kamakshi embraced the Lingam. Shiva touched by the gesture materialized in person and married her. In this context he is referred to as Tazhuva kuzhainthaar ("He who melted in Her embrace") in Tamil. Tirukuripputhonda Nayanar, a nayanar 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 aged brahmin 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.

Shiva, also known as Mahadeva and Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism.

Read more about [Shiva](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva).

The temple covers an area of over 9.3 hectares (23 acres). Reaching a height of 59 m (194 ft), the temple's Raja gopuram (the entrance tower to the temple) is one of the tallest in South India. 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). The Aayiram Kaal Mandapam, or the "hallway with a thousand pillars", which was built by the Vijayanagar Kings, is found on precinct after the gateway tower. There is said to have been an underground holy 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 and avatars of Shiva. The sanctum sanctorum contains the lingam 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.

Pancha Bhoota Stalam refers to the five Shiva temples, each representing the manifestation of the five prime elements of nature - land, water, air, sky, fire. Pancha indicates five, Bhoota means elements and Stala means place. All these temples are located in South India with four of these temples at Tamil Nadu and one at Andhra Pradesh. The five elements are believed to be enshrined in the five lingams and each of the lingams 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) at Jambukeswarar Temple, Thiruvanaikaval, Akasha Lingam (representing sky) at Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram, Agni Lingam (representing fire) at Annamalaiyar Temple and Vayu Lingam (representing air) at Srikalahasti Temple. Kanchipuram is famous for hand-woven silk sarees - a design by name Ekambaranathar obtain its name from the designs of these shrines.

The temple priest perform the pooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Shaivaite 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) and deepa 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 with nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the Vedas read by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast. There are weekly rituals like somavaram and shukravaram, fortnightly rituals like pradosham and monthly festivals like amavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai or on krittika nakshatram, pournami (full moon day) and chaturthi. The temple celebrates dozens of festivals throughout the year.

Located in: Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.