Place · coastal Shiva temple · Sri Lanka
Koneswaram, Trincomalee
The cliff-top Shiva temple at Trincomalee overlooking the Bay of Bengal on the northeast coast of Sri Lanka — one of the five Pancha Ishvarams of Sri Lanka and one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams sung in the Tamil Shaiva Tevaram hymns of the 7th-9th centuries. The original 10th-century temple on the Swami Rock was destroyed by the Portuguese in 1624 as part of the systematic destruction of Hindu temples along the coast; stones were used to build Fort Fredrick. The current rebuilt temple dates to 1952. The place is called Dakshina Kailasa — Southern Kailash — in some Shaiva texts. The 2004 tsunami inundated the lower town but the temple on the rock survived.
- Function
- Sacred site & pilgrimage
- Tradition
- Tamil Shaiva tradition
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 8.583, 81.245
Connections (1)
- PilgrimageRāmeshvara / Rameswaram
Koneswaram at Trincomalee is one of the Pancha Ishwarams of Sri Lanka and belongs to the same Tamil Śaiva world as Rāmeshvaram across the strait. The Portuguese destroyed it in 1622 and threw its stones into the sea; divers began recovering them in 1950. Koneswaram stood on a cliff a hundred metres above Trincomalee harbour and was pushed into the sea rather than dismantled, which is why the recovery is being done by divers.
On these journeys
Sources
Koneswaram Temple, Trincomalee
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