The Ekambareswarar temple located in Kanchipuram is one of the most ancient temple in India and has been in existence even prior to 600 AD. The presiding deity here is Ekambareswarar (Shiva). The temple is the largest temple in the town of Kanchipuram and is located in the northern part of the town. The temple has a mango tree that is more than 3500 years old and till date gives four varieties of mangoes and this is said to symbolize the four Vedas.

As per the legend, once while God Shiva was meditating Parvati playfully covered his eyes with her fingers which resulted in complete darkness on the earth for several years, Shiva who was angered by her mischievous act cursed Parvati to penance in the earth, so that she would realize the seriousness of such act. Goddess Parvati created the earth linga and worshiped it beneath a mango tree in Kanchipuram which gave birth to the temple.

The Ekambareswarar temple in Kanchipuram is a Hindu temple dedicated to God Shiva. It is one of the five major Shiva temples or Pancha Bootha Sthalams (each presenting a natural element) representing the element – Earth.

Some other facts that you possibly didn’t know:-

• The sun rays fall directly on the main shivalinga every 19, 20 and 21 of Panguni month (March-April).
• In the inner corridor of the Ekambareswarar temple there are 10 pillars, they produce different musical sounds if we tap them with a stick.
• The kubera idol in the temple is believed to grant riches to his worshippers.
• The most important thing is we can see all 12 zodiac signs on the roof of the temple. It is believed by many people that we need to pray to our zodiac sign at the temple to get rid of horoscopic defects (Jatakadosha).
• Goddess Parvathi created the temple’s Shivalinga.

More details on this shrine and how to get there on Ishta Devata