Ekambareswarar Temple (Kanchipuram): Difference between revisions

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.<ref name="Schreitmüller">[[#Schreitmüller|Schreitmüller]], p. 545</ref> There are granite image of the 63 [[Nayanmars]] around the first precinct.<ref>{{cite book|title=Hindu Pilgrimage Centres|last=Harshananda|first=Swami|ref=Harsha|edition=second|publisher=Ramakrishna Math|location=Bangalore|year=2012|isbn=978-81-7907-053-6|page=61}}</ref> The temple's inner most precinct are decorated with an array of Shivalingam, one of which is a Sahasra Lingam with 1,008 Siva [[lingam]]s sculpted on it.<ref name="Alexander">[[#Alexander|Alexander 2009]], p. 91</ref> There is no separate shrine for [[Parvati]] within the complex as with all other Shiva temples in Kanchipuram. A local belief is that the deity at the [[Kamakshi 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.<ref name=Diwakar>{{cite book|title=Temples of South India|first=Macherla|last=Diwakar|location=Chennai|year=2011|edition=1st|page=141|isbn=978-93-83440-34-4|publisher=Techno Book House}}</ref>

 

==Religious significance of the temple==