| Koneswaram temple | |
|---|---|
Shiva temple front gate with the bell tower |
|
|
Koneswaram temple
Location in Sri Lanka
|
|
| Coordinates: | |
| Name | |
| Proper name: | Thirukonamamalai Koneswaram Kovil |
| Tamil: | திருக்கோணேச்சரம் |
| Location | |
| Country: | Sri Lanka |
| Province: | Eastern |
| District: | Trincomalee District |
| Location: | Swami Rock (Konamamalai), Trincomalee |
| Architecture and culture | |
| Primary deity: | Konesar (Shiva) |
| Architectural styles: | Dravidian architecture |
| History | |
| Date built: (Current structure) |
Unknown; earliest reference 6rd century BC[1], latest reconstruction 1952 CE |
Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee (Tamil: திருக் கோணேச்சரம் கோயில்) (also historically known as the Thirukonamamalai Konesar Kovil, the Temple of the Thousand Pillars and Thiru-Konamamalai Maccakeswaram Kovil) is an Hindu temple in Trincomalee, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka venerated by Saivites throughout the continent. It is built atop Swami Rock, a rocky promontory cape overlooking Trincomalee, a classical period harbour port town. The primary deity is the Hindu god Lord Shiva in the form Konesar. There has been a kovil at this site since the 3rd century. At its zenith, the original Konesar temple was the main shrine of the Trincomalee Koneswaram Temple Compounds, one of three ancient connected Hindu temples on Swami rock with a considerably sized gopuram. This temple stood distinctly in the middle of the cape, at its highest eminence. The other two connected temple shrines of the Koneswaram complex, to deities Ganesh, Vishnu (Thirumal), Ambal-Shakti and Murukan stretched across the cape to its extremities. The complex has lay in ruins, been restored, renovated and enlarged by various royals and devotees throughout its history. Heralded as one of the richest and most visited temple compounds in Asia, Koneswaram became one of the most important surviving and influential structures of the classical Dravidian architectural period by the early 17th century.
Developed between 300 CE and 1600 CE by kings of the Pandyan and Chola empires, decorations and structural additions such as its thousand pillared hall (Tamil: ஆயிரம் கால் மண்டபம்) were furnished by kings of the Pallava dynasty, the Jaffna kingdom as well as their local Vannimai feudal chiefs. Elaborate sculptural ornamentation adorned the megalith, embodying the popular rock-cut architectural style of the subcontinent carved out of black-coloured granite with characteristically large gopuram towers that were visible to sailors at sea. The village of Thirukonamalai (Trincomalee) was located on the isthmus of the cape within the compounds. The Trincomalee District makes up the entire property and land of the city and the surrounding villages that Thirukonamalai Koneswaram Kovil owned in its floruit, affirmed through several royal grants in the early medieval period; the shrine thus gave the city and district its name and services were provided to Trincomalee residents with the temple's revenue. Koneswaram is the most famous Hindu temple of the island, and at its peak, revered as the "Rome of the Pagans/Hindus of the Orient" in Europe and the Middle East.
In 1624, the Koneswaram compounds were largely destroyed by Portuguese colonials; Fort Fredrick was built bordering the temple complex's premises from the debris. Hindus built a successor temple at a nearby site in 1632 CE - the Ati Konanayakar temple in Tampalakamam - to house some of the destroyed temple's idols, where they are still worshipped. In the 1950s, the ruins of the original temple were discovered underwater beside Swami Rock by author Arthur C. Clarke and photographer Mike Wilson. It was rebuilt of much more modest dimensions at its original site by local Hindu Tamils 350 years after its destruction. Surviving sculptures and idols at the site are reinstalled in the reconstructed building. The Lingam form of Shiva here is believed to be Swayambhu and was retrieved from the ruins. Legends surrounding the temple associate it with the popular epic Ramayana and Swami Rock connected to Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology. The temple also has been a source of conflict between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils due to its historic position in a geo-strategically important area.
Koneswaram is a Paadal Petra Sthalam, one of the 275 Shiva Sthalams heralded as a grand seat of Shiva worship in the 6th-7th century CE Tamil hymns Tevaram of the Tirumurai canon by the Nayanar saints Thirugnana Sambandhar and Sundarar. This added greatly to its fame, as do its ancient bronze idols which reflect the high points of Chola art. Its longitudinal position and preeminence in Saivite belief earned it the epithet Dakshina/Then Kailasam (Mount Kailash of the South). Koneswaram is the easternmost shrine of the 5 ancient Iswarams of Shiva on the island. The temple has been administered and frequented by Tamil Hindus throughout its history. The modern temple is built based on classical Dravidian Hindu architecture at the cape end closest to the sea. The annual Koneswaram Temple Ther Thiruvilah festival attracts Hindus from around the continent and involves the Pathirakali Amman Temple of Trincomalee, the Papanasam Theertham at the temple's ancient Papanasachunai holy well and the proximal Back Bay Sea (Theertham Karatkarai) surrounding Swami Rock. In Kanda Puranam, the epic authored by Kachiyappa Sivachariar of Kanchipuram, Koneswaram is venerated as one of the three foremost Shiva abodes in the world, alongside Thillai Chidambaram Temple and Mount Kailash.
Contents |
In Tamil, ancient temples are known as kovils,; thus the Koneswaram temple is known locally as Koneswaram Kovil (Tamil: கோணேச்சரம்). The presiding Shiva deity's names are Koneswaran, Konesar (Tamil: கோணேசர்) or Konanathar and the goddess is called Mathumai Amman (another name for Mother goddess Amman).[2][3] The origin of the term Ko or Kone lies in the Old Tamil word for the terms "Lord", "King" or "Chief", which allude to the deity that presides here. Trincomalee, the coastal peninsula town where Koneswaram is located is an anglicized form of the old Tamil word "Thiru-kona-malai" (Tamil: திருகோணமலை), meaning "Lord of the Sacred Hill".[4] Thiru is a generally used epithet denoting a "sacred" temple site while Malai means mountain or hill; Middle Tamil manuscripts and inscriptions mention the monumental compound shrine as the Thirukonamalai Konesar Kovil.[4][5][6]
Kona (Tamil: கோண) has other meanings in Old Tamil such as peak, while another origin for the term Koneswaram could come from the Tamil term Kuna (East). Therefore other translators suggest definitions of Trincomalee such as "sacred angular/peaked hill" , "sacred eastern hill" or "three peaked hill".[7][8] The temple was constructed atop Swami Rock, also called Swami Malai or Kona-ma-malai, a cliff on the peninsula that drops 400 feet (120 metres) directly into the sea.[9]
The Trincomalee Koddiyar Bay, a circular natural harbour which the temple crowns towards the north, is sometimes referred to as Ko-Kannam or "Lord's Cheek", alluding to the cheek shape of Shiva's bull Nandi. Pathmanathan suggests that the Sanskrit equivalent of the port town is Gokarna or Gokarna Pattana and the deity's name Gokarneswara in Sanskrit. He offers an etymological link Thiru-Gokarna-Malai or Thiru-Gona-Malai based on this theory. Gokarna is also a place name in India and Nepal associated with Shiva temples.[10]
The exact date of the Ketheeswaram temple's birth is not universally agreed upon. According to Dr. Paul E. Peiris, an erudite scholar and historian, Tirukoneswaram was one of the file recognized Eeswarams of Siva in Lanka very long before the arrival of Vijaya in 600 B.C. [1]. The shrine is known to have existed for at least 2400 years[1], with inspirational and literary evidence of the postclassical era ( 600BC - 1500AD) attests to the shrine's classical antiquity. Kaviraja Varothiyan's Tamil poem inscribed on the 17th century CE stone inscription chronicle of the temple, the Konesar Kalvettu, gives the shrine's date of birth as circa 1580 BCE.[4] Its initial phase consisted of a rock cave, multi-layered brick shrine style popularly constructed to Tamil deities during the Sangam period.
Tradition holds that the Tamil Chola prince Kulakottan extensively built up/renovated the Koneswaram temple and the Kantalai tank, responsible for irrigating plains belonging to the shrine.[11] According to historians S. Pathmanathan and Paul Peiris, Koneswaram temple has a recorded history from 300 CE. Peiris states that Koneswaram was probably a widely famous temple of Shiva worship before the 6th century BCE. Pathmanathan states Koneswaram was probably established by the mercantile communities that frequented the island from the 4th century BCE ancient Kalinga region in India, where another temple dedicated to Gokarnasvamin at Mahendra mountains is found.[12] Due to royal patronage by various Tamil dynasties from the early classical to medieval era, the temple flourished in the first centuries of the common era. Hindus built at least three great stone temples with gopura on Swami Rock during Koneswaram's zenith, with the principal temple of the complex at its highest eminence.[13][14][15]
Koneswaram is the easternmost shrine of the 5 ancient Iswarams of Lord Shiva on the island, the others being Naguleswaram (Keerimalai), Thiruketheeswaram (Mannar), Munneswaram (Puttalam) and Tenavaram (Tevan Thurai).[16] Heralded as "Dakshina Kailasam"/"Then Kailasam" (Kailash of the South) because it lies on exactly the same longitude as the Tibetan mountain Mount Kailash (the primary abode of Shiva),[16] Koneswaram's early black granite rock-cut architectural style shared similarities to Kailasanathar Temples of the subcontinent and its traditional Shiva history was compiled into the Sanskrit Dakshina Kailasa-Puranam - Sthala Puranam of Koneswaram. Koneswaram has attracted thousands of pilgrims from across Asia, and from 644 CE - 660 CE, has been glorified as one of 275 Shiva Sthalams, or holy Shiva dwellings on the continent.[16] One of the other temples of the compound, the Kovil to the goddess Shankari Devi, was one of the 18 Maha Shakthi Peethas, those Shakti Peethas consecrated to the goddess which are mentioned in the Ashta Dasa Shakthi Peetha Stotram by the Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara (788 CE-820 CE). The historical literature Mattakallappu Manmiam (Batticaloa Manmiyam) that chronicles the history of Tamil settlement in Batticaloa, describes Koneswaram as one of the nine most important and sacred sites in the world for all Hindus.
| Timeline of Koneswaram temple (BCE - 1982) |
|
| Founded as a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva | (BCE) |
| Destroyed by Mahasen | (334-361) |
| Temple restored by Kankan ("Kullakottan") | (438) |
| Mentioned by Campantar in Tevarams | (Circa 700) |
| Mentioned in several stone inscriptions | (Circa 1000 - 1200) |
| Mentioned in Dakshina Kailasa Puranam | (1380-1410) |
| Visited by Arunagirinathar | (1468) |
| Destroyed by the Portuguese | (1645) |
| Successor temple built in Tampalakamam | (1650-1690) |
| Mentioned in Konesar Kalvettu | (1750) |
| Restored by Society for restoration of Koneswaram, Trincomalee | (1952 ) |
| Renovations by concerned Tamils | (1982) |
The Chola royal Kankan (Kullakottan), a descendant of the legendary King Manu Needhi Cholan of Thiruvarur, Chola Nadu, restored the Koneswaram temple at Trincomalee and the Kantalai tank after finding them in ruins. He visited the Munneswaram temple on the west coast, before settling ancient Vanniars in the east of the island. According to the chronicles, he extensively renovated and expanded the shrine, lavishing much wealth on it; he was crowned with the ephitet Kulakottan meaning Builder of tank and temple.[11][17][18] Further to the reconstruction, Kulakottan paid attention to agriculture cultivation and economic development in the area, inviting the Vanniar chief Tanniuna Popalen and several families to a new founded town in the area including Thampalakamam to maintain the Kantalai tank and the temple itself.[3] The effects of this saw the Vanni region flourish. The Vanniar claim descent from this chief.[3][19][20] Kullakottan's restorations took place despite interferences from the queen of the Pandyan King Pandia, who was absent from his throne in Anuradhapura on a visit to Jaffna.
Medieval Tamil chronicles such as the 18th century Yalpana Vaipava Malai and stone inscriptions like Konesar Kalvettu, as well as a 16th century Tamil inscription in Trincomalee and Tamil copper-plate inscriptions of the temple relate many details about Kullakottan's founding of Trincomalee and the Vanni.[11] Modern historians and anthropologists agree as historically factual the connection of the Vanniars with the Konesar temple, and some cite epigraphical evidence to date Kullakottan's renovations to 432-440 CE. Others cite poetic and inscriptional evidence to date his renovations to 1589 BCE. Some consider the story of Kullakotan to be mythical based on the travails of historical figures such as Gajabahu II, Kalinga Magha or a Chola regent of Sri Lanka.[21][3]
In the 6th century CE, a special coastal route by boat travelled from the Jaffna peninsula southwards to the Koneswaram temple, and further south to Batticaloa to the temple of Thirukkovil.[22] Koneswaram temple of Kona-ma-malai is mentioned in the Saiva literature Tevaram in the late 6th century CE by Thirugnana Campantar.[23] Along with Ketheeswaram temple in Mannar, Koneswaram temple is praised in the same literature canon by the 8th century CE Nayanar saint Sundarar in Tamilakkam.[24] Koneswaram henceforth is glorified as one of 275 Shiva Sthalams (holy Shiva abodes glorified in the Tevarams) of the continent, part of the "Paadal Petra Sthalam" group. The only other holy temple from Eela Nādu (the country of the temple as named in the Tamil literature) is Ketheeswaram.[25][26] During this period, the temple saw structural development in the style of Dravidian rock temples by the Tamil Pallava Dynasty.[27][28] This occurred after Pallava King Narasimhavarman I (630 - 668 CE) armies conquered the island and when the island was under the sovereignty of his grandfather King Simhavishnu (537 - 590 CE), when many Pallava-built rock temples were erected in the region and this style of architecture remained popular in the next few centuries.[29][30] The 8th-10th century CE Kanda Puranam (a Puranic Tamil literature epic and translation of the Skanda Puranam) authored by Kachiyappa Sivachariar of Kanchipuram describes the Koneswaram shrine as one of the three foremost Shiva abodes in the world, alongside Chidambaram temple in Tamil Nadu and Mount Kailash of Tibet.[4] Several inscriptions written in the Tamil and Vatteluttu scripts interspersed with Grantha characters relate to the temple from this period. Koneswaram temple is mentioned in the 10th century CE Tamil Nilaveli inscriptions as having received a land grant in the Tamil country of one thousand seven hundred and ten acres (two hundred and fifty four vèli) of dry and wet land to meet its daily expenses - revealing the temple's role in providing various services to the local community by 900-1000 CE.[31][32] The fertile Koddiyapuram area of Trincomalee district paid one hundred avanams of rice to the shrine and was tasked with growing oil seed for Koneswaram annually.
Trincomalee figured prominently during the medieval golden age of the Tamil Chola Dynasty, due to the proximity of the Trincomalee bay harbour with the rest of the continent and its benefits for the Chola's maritime empire. The Koneswaram temple and the adjacent region formed a great Saiva Tamil principality.[11] Residents in this collective community were allotted services, which they had to perform at the Koneswaram temple.[11] The 1033-1047 CE Tamil inscriptions of the nearby Choleeswaram temple ruins of Peraru, Kantalai and the Manankerni inscriptions reveal the administrative practices of the Chola King Ilankeshvarar Devar (Sri Cankavanamar) with the Koneswaram shrine and the Trincomalee region at the time.[33][34] The Palamottai inscription from the Trincomalee district, found amongst the inscriptions in nearby Kantalai, records a monetary endowment to the "Siva temple of Then Kailasam (Kailash of the South)" by a Tamil widow for the merit of her husband. This was administered by a member of the Tamil military caste – the Velaikkarar, troops deployed to protect shrines in the state that were closely associated to King Ilankeshvarar Devar.[34][35] King Gajabahu II who ruled Polonnaruwa from 1131-1153 CE is described in the Konesar Kalvettu as a devout worshipper of Lord Shiva and a benefactor of the temple of Konamamalai.[36][2] King Chodaganga Deva, a descendant of King Virarajendra Chola's grandson Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva - the progenitor of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty of Orissa/Andhra Pradesh - made rich donations after visiting Konamamalai on Tamil New Years Day 1223 CE, according to a Sanskrit inscription in Grantha script excavated on a door jamb at the Hindu temple.[37]
While under Pandyan suzerainty in 1262 CE, Prince Jatavarman Veera Pandyan I, brother and leuitenant of King Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I repeated his brother's 1258 conquest of the island to intervene and decisively defeat Chandrabhanu of Tambralinga, a usurper of the northern Tamil throne; he proceeded to implant the Pandyan bull flag of victory and insignia of a "Double Fish" emblem at Konamalai while he subjugated the other king of the island.[4] Historically, the Pandyans were known to have sculpted two fishes facing each other on the ceilings of their multi-storey temple gopurams once they were completed (and left it with one fish in case it was incomplete). Sundara Pandyan had renovated the gopurams by gold plating the roofs and installing gold gilded Kalasam atop them, a work of art displaying affinity to Dravidian architecture. Swami Rock at this time is described as "Kona ma-malai, around which the ocean waves swept pearls, gold, precious stones, and shells from the depth of the ocean and heaped them along the shore." Local residents contributed to the wealth of the temple under the Pandyan's rule of the north of the island.[4] The 13th century CE Tamil stone inscription in Kankuveli village records the assignment by Vanniar chiefs Malaiyil Vanniyanar and Eluril Atappar of income and other contributions from the rice fields and meadows of the Vannimai districts of the ascending Jaffna kingdom to the Koneswaram shrine.[38]
The Tamil Aryacakravarti dynasty kings of the Jaffna kingdom paid homage to the Koneswaram shrine under its sovereignty, offering gifts of gold and silver. Among the visitors were King Singai Pararasasegaram and his successor King Cankili I.[39] King Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan (1380-1410 CE) had the traditional history of the temple compiled as a chronicle in verse, entitled Dakshina Kailasa Puranam, known today as the Sthala Puranam of Koneshwaram Temple.[27] In 1468 CE Saint Arunagirinathar Swamikal paid homage at Koneswaram during his pilgrimage from Jaffna's Nallur Kandaswamy temple to Kadirkamam. At Koneswaram, he offered a garland of Thiruppugazh verses in praise of the Sthalam. The population, he stated, at Koneswaram, where the deep ocean rolled its furious waves, was vast, the temple well organised and the priests well versed in the Four Vedas. The shrine of Muruga, adoring son of Konesar and his consort, was near one of the gopuram entrances of the complex.[27][2] A rich collection of local texts written since the 14th century CE record the traditions pertaining to the shrine, including Konamamalai temple's use of the alternate name "Maccakeswaram".[33] A temple of a thousand columns, during this medieval period, Koneswaram attracted pilgrims from around the Coylot Wanees Country and across Asia, culminating in it becoming the richest and most visited place of worship in the world of any faith. The last rites during the funeral of King Bhuvanekabahu VII of Kotte, a Hindu monarch who signed all of his official proclamations in Tamil were conducted at Koneswaram in 1551. His closest religious official and most trusted ambassador was of Hindu faith. Historian Diogo do Couto described the Pagode of Triquinimale as a principle temple of its kingdom while Portuguese Catholic priest and author Fernão de Quieroz described it as the "Rome of the Hindus of the Orient more frequented by pilgrims than Rameshwaram, Tirumalai-Tirupati, Kilvelur, Kanchipuram, Jagannath in Orissa or Vaijayanti in Bengal." Furthermore, he described the splendor of the famous temple of Tenavarai at its zenith as similar in its greatness on the island to Koneswaram.[40] In a 1613 written letter by Jesuit fray Manuel Barradas, Koneswaram is described as a "... massive structure, a singular work of art. It is of great height, constructed with wonderful skill in blackish granite, on a rock projecting into the sea, and occupies a large space on the summit.”[41] By the end of 1619, a small Danish fleet had arrived at Trincomalee; in May 1620, the Danes occupied Koneswaram temple and began works for the fortification of the peninsula before being defeated.[42]
The shrine was attacked and destroyed on April 14, 1624 CE, the Tamil New Years Day, by the Portuguese general Constantino de Sá de Noronha (who called it the Temple of a Thousand Pillars).[4] The main statue was taken out to town during the Ther chariot procession in the festive period, during which time Portuguese soldiers entered the temple dressed as Iyer priests and began robbing it. In an act of religious zeal, the temple was then levered over the edge into the sea. Fleeing priests buried some of the temple's statues in the surrounding area. Temple stones and its carved pillars were used to construct Fort Fredrick to strengthen the colonists' influence over the eastern seaboard of the island against other invading European armies, including the Dutch navy during the Dutch–Portuguese Wars. An extensive campaign of destruction of five hundred Hindu shrines, the Saraswathi Mahal Library and forced conversion in the Tamil country was conducted by the Portuguese upon their arrival to the island and conquest of the Jaffna kingdom; the temple had been paying protection fees of 1280 fanams a year to the Portuguese. Trincomalee witnessed several naval battles of Europe's Thirty Years' War under Phillip II's man Phillippe de Oliveira.[43][44][45] Between 1639–1689 CE, the Ati Konanayakar temple was built in nearby Thampalakamam to house the idols on procession that survived.[46][47] The destruction of the Konesar temple is historically viewed as the biggest loot of one of the richest temples of Asia. Gold, pearls, precious stones and silks collected for more than 1000 years were robbed within a few hours.[48] A site plan by De Quieroz states: "On the first rise to the summit of the rock was a Pagoda, another at mid-ascent, and the principal one of them all at the highest eminence, visited by a concourse of Hindus from the whole of India."[13] In his dispatch to Philip III, King of Portugal, Constantine described: "The land of the Pagoda is 600 fathoms long and 80 feet at its broadest, narrowing to 30 feet." Regarding a prophetic Tamil inscription he found at the site, he added "When I went there to make this Fort, I found engraved on the Pagoda, among many other inscriptions, one that ran thus: Kulakottan has built this pagoda..."[49]
No ceremonies were permitted to take place on Swami Rock until British rule of the island, when pilgrims were permitted to return and worship Shiva at the fortressed sacred site.[48][50] By the mid 19th century, sailors, the high priest and other pilgrims visited the rock, broke a coconut and said prayers, performing sacred rites every January. Fruits and other offerings were often cast over the edge of the cliff, falling to the ruins below.[51][52][3] Thirukonasala Puranam was written during the nineteenth century by Tamil scholar Masilamanipillai Muttucumaru on the temple and the Thirukonasala Vaipavam on Koneswaram was written by V. Akilesapillai in 1889, published sixty years later in 1952.
In 1950, the original shrine's gold and copper alloy bronze statues from the 10th century CE of a seated figure of Shiva (in the form of Somaskanda), Shiva as Chandrasekhar, his consort goddess Parvati, a statue of the goddess Mathumai Ambal and later Lord Ganesh were found by the Urban Council of Trincomalee buried 500 yards from the Koneswaram site while digging for a water well.[15][2][53] They were taken in procession around the region before being reinstalled at Koneswaram. Other Koneswaram statues that survived remain at the Ati Konanayakar temple.[46][47] A pillar from the original temple stands under a decorated Vilvam (Aegle marmelos) tree on Swami Rock. In 1956, while scuba diving, photographer Mike Wilson and author Arthur C. Clarke uncovered ruined masonry, architecture and idol images of the sunken original temple — including carved columns with flower insignias, and stones in the form of elephant heads — spread on the shallow surrounding seabed.[9][54] The pillar as well as the ruins display Tamil Pallava and Chola architectural influence of the 3rd-9th century era, corroborated by the discovery of Pallava Grantha and Chola script inscriptions and Hindu images found in the premises that suggest the dynasties took a keen interest in the temple.[27] The divers retrieved the legendary Swayambhu lingam from the ocean floor, a large natural stone obelisk that, according to legend, was one of 69 naturally occurring lingams from time immemorial originally found on Mount Kailash of Tibet and housed in Koneswaram by King Raavan - his most sacred power object from mythological times. This lingam was reinstalled at the Koneswaram site. Publishing their findings in the 1957 book The Reefs of Taprobane, Clarke expresses admiration for Swami rock's three thousand year veneration by Hindus.[15] Identifying at least three Hindu temples as having been built on and around Swami rock, Clarke describes the 10th century CE Koneswaram idols as "among the finest examples of Hindu bronze sculpture known to exist", the seated Shiva Chola bronze "a masterpiece" and the battered stone work at the foot of Swami Rock as "probably the most photographed underwater ruins in the world."[15] 350 years after its destruction, Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu people of Trincomalee rebuilt the Koneswaram temple in its present form in 1952.
Some of the artefacts from the demolished temple, including De Sa de Noronha's translation of the prophesy sent to Portugal, are kept in the Ajuda Library of Lisbon (Bibliotheca da Ajuda), along with a painting and map of the original shrine. The chronicler António Bocarro shows three temples of the Trincomalee Koneswaram Temple Compounds on the extremity of the peninsula in his map of the Livro das plantas das fortalezas cidades e povoaçois do Estado da India Oriental document, but these temples are missing from the copy of the document stored at the Paço Ducal di Vila Viçosa library in Lisbon. The stone inscription discovered by the temple's destroyer has a Double-Fish insignia and its engraved prophesy, translated from ancient Tamil script, warns of the "coming of the Franks" after the 16th century. The prediction reads "O King! The franks shall later break down the holy edifice built by Kulakoddan in ancient times; and no future kings of this island will rebuild it! Following the successive reigns of the cat eyed, the red eyed and the smoke eyed nations it will voluntarily revert back to the Tamils."[15] Pandyan king Jatavarman Veera Pandyan's insignia of the old Koneswaram temple and a portion of the prophetic inscription are seen today at the door entrance to Fort Fredrick.
The Koneswaram temple is well known for its celebration of the traditional Ther chariot festival, the Navaratri and Sivarathri functions. The Ther Chariot Festival lasts for twenty two days in April and focuses on preparing the deities and the community for Puthandu, the Tamil New Year. Navaratri lasts for nine days and is dedicated to various aspects of the presiding goddess, whereas Sivarathri is dedicated to Siva. Devotees visit the temple to attend the daily pujas and make their offerings. Booths are erected outside for the sale of food, drink, brassware, pottery, cloth and holy images. These functions primarily attract Hindus to the temple.
The main Thirukoneswaram Ther Thiruvilah Festival, the twenty two day annual chariot festival begins with the hoisting of the temple Nandi flag. This is followed by temple processions of Lord Konesar and his consort Mathumai Ambal, installed and pulled in an ornate chariot temple car while deities Pillayar and Murugan with his two consorts Valli and Theivayanai are taken ahead in two other decorated chariots. This is conducted throughout Trincomalee district, and follows Kulakottan's stone scriptures detailing how Hindus in Tamil villages like Sambaltivu, lands which historically belonged to the temple, are entitled to hold poojahs as their Upayam during the annual festival period. Until April 1624 the Koneswaram Ther Festival occurred around Puthandu in April annually with five chariots and this tradition was reintroduced in April 2003, three hundred and seventy nine years later.[55] The water-cutting Theertham Thiruvilah festival (holy bath) takes place annually in the centuries old Papanasachunai holy well (Papanasam Theertham) on Swami Rock during the Ther festival period. The deity and other holy artifacts are bathed in the water of the well in the complex's sacred precincts. Devotees are sprayed with the holy water following the Theertham.[56][57] The Theppath Thiruvilah Boat Festival consists of Lord Konesar and goddess Mathumai Ambal taken in a boat around the temple from Swami Rock via the Back Bay Sea to the Dutch Bay Sea. Religious discourses and cultural items take place throughout the night before Puthandu at the Dutch Bay Sea beach. Thereafter the deities are taken to the temple early morning the next day on Puthandu by road through the Fort Frederick entrance. The Trincomalee Pathirakali Amman Temple - expanded by Rajendra Chola I - and other Hindu temples have held their water-cutting Theertham festivals in the Back Bay Sea (Theertha Kadatkarai) for several centuries.[58] The Koneswaram Poongavanam Festival - the Temple Garden Festival is held during this twenty two day festival period.
An annual three day procession follows Maha Sivarathri Day, observed every year since 1951 following the rediscovery of the bronze idols in 1950. Occurring in three stages, on each day of the festival, the images of the chief deity Konesar, the presiding consort goddess Mathumai Amman, Ganesh and Murugan are brought from Swami Rock to the entrance of Fort Fredrick in decorated Ther temple cars before being paraded through the whole Periyakadai of the Trincomalee town. The chariot cars are pulled by devotees through a decorated route while singing religious hymns. Devotees hold Poorna kumbham outside their houses along the route and worship as the procession moves. On the second day of the festival there is a procession to the Pathirakalai Ambal Temple where the images are kept for the evening. On the final day of the festival, the large chariots are pulled back to Koneswaram along a route through Trincomalee, accompanied by traditional Nadeswaram and Thavil musicians.[59][60]
According to one Hindu legend, Shiva at Koneswaram was worshipped by Indra, king of the gods.
King Ravana of the epic Ramayana and his mother are believed to have worshiped Lord Shiva in the sacred lingam form at Koneswaram circa 2000 BCE; the cleft of Swami Rock is attributed to Ravana's great strength.[4][16] According to this tradition, his father-in-law Maya built the Ketheeswaram temple in Mannar. Ravana is believed to have brought the swayambhu lingam in the temple to Koneswaram, one of 69 such lingams he carried from Mount Kailash.
With the legend of the smiling infant, James Emerson Tennent describes "one of the most graceful" of the Tamil legends connected to the Temple of the Thousand Columns atop Swami Rock. An oracle had declared that over the dominions of one of the kings of the Deccan impended a great peril which could only be averted by the sacrifice of his infant daughter, who was committed to the sea on an ark of sandalwood, eventually reaching the island, just south of Trincomalee at a place that in the mid 19th century was still called Pannoa (smiling infant). After being adopted by the king of the district, she succeeded over his dominions. Meanwhile the Hindu prince Kullakottan, having ascertained from the Puranas that the rock of Trincomalee was the holy fragment Koneiswara parwatia of the golden mountain of Meru, hurled there during a conflict between gods, arrived at Swami Rock and constructed a temple of Shiva. The princess, hearing of his arrival, initially dispatched an army to expel him, but ended up marrying the prince to end the war, and later attached vast rice fields of Thampalakamam and built the great Kantalai tank to endow the temple and irrigate the surrounding plain. Upon her death, the prince shut himself inside the pagoda of Swami rock, and was later found translated into a golden lotus on the Shiva altar.[61][3]
Another tradition holds that during his rule in 113 CE, King Gajabahu I marched from his southern strongholds to the Konesar Kovil with the intention of demolishing it and converting it to a Buddhist temple. When nearing the Kantalai tank, he is believed to have been miraculously cured of his blindness by a Hindu, and henceforth converted to Hinduism. The tank is said to be named on this account Kandalai meaning "eye grows" in Tamil.[2]
A temple dedicated to a deity in "Gokarna" city is mentioned in a 5th century CE religious and historical literary work called Mahavamsa. It mentions that Mahasena (334–361) a Mahayanist zealot known for his temple destructions, who ruled a central kingdom of the island from the southern city of Anuradhapura destroyed temples dedicated to a deity in Gokarna and built Buddhist Viharas in its place. A 12th century commentary on Mahavamsa indicates that the destroyed deity temple had a Lingam - a form of Shiva in it.[12] The interpretation of deity temples into specifically a Siva temple by the commentary on Mahavamsa is disputed by Sinhalese writers such as Bandu De Silva.[62]
Sri Lanka has had a history of conflict between its minority Hindu Tamils and majority Sinhalese Buddhists since its political independence from Great Britain in 1948 which led to the Sri Lankan Civil War. Since the 1950s Sinhalese Buddhists have claimed that the Tirukoneswaram temple was originally exclusively a Buddhist temple. They cite and interpret historical information of three Pagodas at the Koneswaram site as alluding to Buddhist temples.[62] Buddhists have also claimed that the site was the location of the ancient Gokanna Vihara built by King Mahasena.[63] It was also based on an assertion made by historian Senarath Paranavithana in reading a 12th century Sanskrit donative inscription made by a Chodaganga Deva found in the Hindu temple's premises. The inscription reads that Deva visited Gokarna. No evidence, archaeological or otherwise, supports the claim the Vihara existed at the site.[64] Other sources indicate that the complex may have had Hindu and Buddhist sections prior to its destruction.[65] In 1968, the unity government of majority Sinhalese dominated United National Party and the minority Tamil dominated Federal Party collapsed over disagreements about declaring the holy Hindu site a protected area. A committee appointed by a Federal Party Minister to study the viability of declaring the site protected was disbanded without consultation by the Prime Minister at the time, Dudley Senanayake, after receiving a letter of complaint from a prominent Buddhist monk who objected because the temple area would "get into the hands" of those "who are neither Sinhalese or Buddhist". The Federal Party withdrew its support to the government following that action.[66][67][68][69] According to journalists like T. Sabaratnam, this incident had negative repercussions towards the future cooperation between Tamil and Sinhalese communities.[64] The temple and its environs are currently occupied by the Sri Lankan Army, which maintains a base at Fort Frederick.
|
|||||