Ekambareswarar Temple (Ekambaranathar Temple) is a Hindu temple devoted to the deity Shiva, placed within the town of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, India.It’s miles large to the Hindu sect of Saivism as one of the temples related to the 5 factors, the Pancha Bhoota Stalas, and especially the detail of earth, or Prithvi. Shiva is worshiped as Ekambareswarar or Ekambaranathar, and is represented with the aid of the lingam, with his idol called Prithvi lingam. His consort Parvati is depicted as Elavarkuzhali. The presiding deity is respected within the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written via Tamil saint poets referred to as the nayanars and labeled as Paadal Petra Sthalam. The temple additionally homes Nilathingal Thundam Perumal temple, a Divyadesam, the 108 temples respected within the Vaishnava canon Nalayira Divya Prabhandam. The temple complex covers 25 acres, and is one of the largest in India. It homes 4 gateway towers referred to as gopurams. The tallest is the southern tower, with eleven tales and a top of 58.5216 metres (192 ft), making it one of the tallest temple towers in India. The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Ekambareswarar and Nilathingal Thundam Perumal being the maximum prominent. The temple complex houses many halls; the most fantastic is the thousand-pillared hall constructed in the course of the Vijayanagar duration.

The temple has six daily rituals at diverse instances from five:30 a.M. To ten p.M., and twelve yearly gala’s on its calendar. Panguni Uthiram pageant celebrated for 13 days all through the Tamil month of Panguni (March – April) is the maximum prominent competition of the temple and the city. The existing masonry shape changed into built at some stage in the Chola dynasty inside the 9th century, at the same time as later expansions are attributed to Vijayanagar rulers. The temple is maintained and administered by using the Hindu religious and Charitable Endowments branch of the government of Tamil Nadu. The temple is the biggest and one of the maximum distinguished vacationer points of interest in the metropolis.

This full-size temple is one of the most historic in India having been in existence on the grounds that as a minimum six hundred advert. 2d century ad Tamil poetry speaks of Kama kottam, and the Kumara kottam (presently the Kamakashi Amman temple and the Subramanya temple). The temple unearths point out within the classical Tamil Sangam literature dated 300 BCE like Manimegalai and Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai.To start with temple changed into constructed by Pallavas. The Vedantist Kachiyapper served as a priest on the temple. The present shape then, became pulled down and rebuilt by way of the later Chola Kings. Adi Sankara, the tenth-century saint got Kanchipuram remodelled at the side of expansion of this temple along with Kamakshi Amman temple and Varadaraja Perumal Temple with the assist of nearby rulers. There are inscriptions dated 1532 CE (file 544 of 1919) indicating the present of variety of villages made by using Achutaraya.Vira Narasingaraya Saluva Nayaka who became directed through Achutaraya broke the royal order by using giving more lands to Ekambaranathar temple than the Varadaraja Swamy temple in opposition to the education of an same gift to both of the temples. Achutaraya on hearing this equally allotted the lands to both the temples.

The Vijayanagar kings, during the 15th century, additionally made lot of contributions to the temple and later developed by means of Vallal Pachiyappa Mudaliar used to head regularly from Chennai to Kanchipuram to worship in this temple, he spent big cash he amazed all through British rule at the temple maintenance, Pachiyappa Mudaliar seated at horse lower back may be seen in the temple pillar. At the later stage a comparable temple with identical name Ekambareswarar become constructed in Chennai by using Pachiappa Mudaliar that allows you to keep away from journeying time to Kanchipuram. The Archaeological Survey of India document of 1905–06 shows significant upkeep sports performed within the temple by way of Nattukottai Chettiars.

The temple covers a place of over 23 acres (ninety three,000 m2).Reaching a height of 59 m (194 feet), the temple’s Raja gopuram (the doorway tower to the temple) is one of the tallest in South India.The lowest half of the gateway tower has the shrines of Vinayaka and Murugan on either aspects. From the entrance, there are two halls particularly Vahana Mandapam (automobile hall) and Sarabesa Mandapam (additionally called Navaratri hall).The Aayiram Kaal Mandapam, or the “hallway with 1000 pillars”, which was constructed with the aid of the Vijayanagar Kings, is located on precinct after the gateway tower.There’s stated to have been an underground holy river. The fourth courtyard includes a small Ganesha temple and a pond. The third courtyard consists of lot of smaller shrines. The flag body of workers of the temple is axial to the sanctum and diagonally located to the primary front and the temple tank on either guidelines. There’s a shrine referred to as 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 positioned in 4 corners of the temple. The hall of the flagstaff has pillars sculpted with elaborate figures indicating various legends and avatars of Shiva. The sanctum sanctorum carries the lingam along side the image of Shiva.There are granite picture of the 63 Nayanmars across the first precinct.The temple’s internal most precinct are decorated with an array of Shivalingam, one in all that is a Sahasra Lingam with 1,008 Siva lingams sculpted on it.There is no separate shrine for Parvati within the complicated as with any different Shiva temples in Kanchipuram. A nearby notion is that Kamakshi Amman Temple is the consort for Ekambaranathar. At the back of the image of Lingam in the sanctum, there may be an outline of Shiva Parvathi in a plaque with Shiva depicted as Tazhuva kuzhainthaar and Parvathi as Elavar Kuzhali.