ஏகாம்பரநாதர் அல்லது ஏகாம்பரேசுவரர் திருக்கோயில் காஞ்சிபுரம்
One of the most sacred Saivite temples in Tamil Nadu, this ancient Sivasthalam is a very special temple. It is one the five Pancha Bootha Sthalams. Here the Lord is celebrated as the Earth - the Prithvilingam. The lingam in the sanctum is made of sand. It is venerated in Thevaram by all three of the Moovar and Manickavasagar, making it one of the temples celebrated by all four of the Kuravars. It is the first Paadal Petra Sthalam in the Thondai Nadu. It is mentioned in numerous other Tamil Saivite literary works. It has a Vishnu shrine within the premises celebrated in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, making it a Divya Desam temple also. Only two temples including the Thillai Natarajar at Chidambaram have this rare distinction.
It is a vast temple and covers an area of 23 acres. Together with the adjacent Kamakshi Amman temple and the Kumarakottam Murugan temple in the middle, it forms a Somaskanda configuration. The 59 m or 192 feet rajagopuram built by the great Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya in 1509 is one of the tallest in South India. It has nine tiers or nilai. It has wide prakarams and numerous beautiful sculptures. An ancient mango tree is the Sthala Virutcham here.
The temple predates the Pallavas and was certainly in existence in the 7th century as it was venerated by the Nayanmar in the Thevaram. It was rebuilt by the Pallavas and rebuilt again by the Cholas. Vijayanagar and Nayakkan kings also contributed much to its maintenance and expansion. During colonial time the great philanthropist, Pachaiyappa Mudaliar in the 18th century and the Nattukkottai Chettiar in the 19th and early 20th centuries were very generous in their support of this temple. Today it is under control of the HR and CE Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
It is located in Kanchipuram, about 80 km or 2 hours southwest of Chennai.
We visited in July 2010. We were based in Chennai.
Credits: Google Maps
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