Ekambareswarar Temple – Kanchi

It is one of the most sacred Shiva temples represents element Earth. Shiva is worshipped here as Ekambareswarar from 600 AD and172 feet Raja Gopuram is a marvelous piece of architectural wonder built by the Vijayanagara Empire. The Cholas made architectural contributions to the temple too.

The lingam here at the Ekambareswarar Temple is made and worshipped by Goddess Parvati.

Story

Once Goddess Parvati covered Shiva’s eyes and the world suddenly filled with darkness. With Shiva’s eyes closed, the Sun and Moon darkened without even a beam of light. He opened his third eye and saved the day for mankind. Parvati was filled with guilt after witnessing all these. Shiva asked her to do penance to free her from wrong karma. Parvati born on earth as Kamakshi and started her penance. She made a Shiva linga out of the sand and worshipped him in the form of Prithvi Lingam(earth) under an ancient mango tree. At the same time, Shiva in order to test her devotion caused a flood where Kamakshi was busy worshipping him.

Kamakshi on realizing the flood got scared of the Prithvi Lingam being washed off, embraces the lingam. Lord Shiva who literally started melting due to her devotion and love appears in his materialized human form and marries Kamakshi. Also, this is when Kamakshi accidentally left some marks on the lingam as a result of her bangles and kuchas hitting the sand made lingam which can be seen even today.

The “Sthala Vriksham” or the ancient temple mango tree is more than 3500 years old under which Kamakshi worshipped the Shiv Lingam is still present here and is one of the significant landmarks of the temple. It has four branches and each represents one of the four Vedic texts and yields four different flavors of fruits. The other significant features of the temple include the “Aayiram Kaal Mandapam” or the 1000 pillared hall, 1008 Shiv Lingams that adorn the inner walls of the temple, and the ten musical pillars at the inner corridor of the temple. Another architectural brilliance is that the sun rays fall directly on the Shiva linga every 19, 20, and 21 of the Panguni month (March-April) which is when the most important festival of the Ekambareswarar Temple is celebrated, the Panguni Uthiram.

Temple Timings

6:00 AM to 11:00 AM and 05:00 PM to 08:00 PM.

Festival Days

February- March Shivaratri Festival, a great gathering of Shiva devotees.

March- April Panguni Uthiram, the most important as per the Vedic tradition.

September- October Navaratri Festival

Distance

By Air: Chennai International Airport – 64 km.

By Rail: The nearest railway station is Kanchipuram Railway Station. You can catch trains from any part of the country which passes through Kanchipuram. After getting down at Kanchipuram, grab an auto-rickshaw or taxi to the temple.

By Road: Tamil Nadu Government Buses to Kanchipuram are available from all the parts of the Tamil Nadu state and also from major cities in South India. It is 64 km from Chennai which is the major city close to Kanchipuram from where can find frequent buses to Kanchipuram.

Temple Contact Numbers

+91-44-27420836| +91-99441-17450| +91-99768-42058

Address

Ambigapadeeswar temple, Kilambi, Tamil Nadu 631502.