காஞ்சி ஏகாம்பரநாதர் திருக்கோயில்Ekambareswarar Temple, Kanchipuram

Sthala Mahātmyam

Ekambareswarar is the Pancha Bhoota Sthalam of the earth element (Prithvi), where Shiva is worshipped as a lingam said to be fashioned from sand. According to the sthala legend, Parvati was performing penance under a mango tree beside the Vegavati river; to test her, Shiva sent fire, and later loosed the river Ganga to sweep away the sand lingam she had made. Parvati embraced the lingam to protect it, and Shiva appeared and united with her. The temple's name is linked to 'Eka Amra Nathar', the Lord of the single mango tree, and the ancient mango sthala-vriksham is revered as yielding fruit of four differing tastes. Because the deity is of earth, no direct abhishekam is offered to the lingam. Sung in the 7th-century Tevaram of the Nayanmars, it is a Paadal Petra Sthalam. Spread over about 25 acres with a towering 11-storey southern gopuram, it is among the largest temples in India.