Kanchipuram Temples

Kanchipuram Temples - The presiding deity here is Ekambareshwarar or Shiva, worshipped as the Prithivi Lingam. A Somaskandar panel featuring Shiva, Parvati and Skanda adorns the rear of the main shrine, which has been held in worship for centuries together. It is believed that Parvati, the consort of Shiva worshipped him in the form of a Prithivi Lingam, or a Lingam improvised out of sand, under a mango tree. Legend has it that the neighboring Vegavati river overflowed and threatened to engulf the Shiva Lingam and that Parvati or Kamakshi, embraced the Lingam, and Shiva, touched by the gesture materialized in person and married her. In this context he is referred to as 'Tazhuvakkuzhainthaar' in Kanchipuram Tamilnadu.

As mentioned before, there is no separate shrine for Ambal or the Goddess in the Temples in Kanchipuram as she is worshipped along with Shiva, as in every other Shiva temple in the precincts of the Kanchipuram temples.

There is another shrine of Shiva and Kamakshi under the Stala Vruksham or the Kanchipuram tree, which is a mango tree said to be 3500 years old. The mango tree is said to be the embodiment of the four Vedas and the tree is said to bear fruits of four different tastes each season here.

The Saint poet Sundaramoorthy Nayanar is said to have recovered his eyesight (left eye) after offering worship here.