Koneswaram Temple

Getting there

• By train

  Most trains to Trincomalee start from Colombo Fort and end at Trincomalee Railway Station.

• By road

  Trincomalee sits at the eastern end of the A6 and A12 highways, and the northern end of the A15.

Why devotees come here

Koneswaram Temple stands on Konesar Malai, a promontory above Trincomalee in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province. It is dedicated to Shiva as Kona-Ishvara, shortened to Konesar. It is the most sacred of the Pancha Ishwarams, the five Shiva temples of Sri Lanka.

Koneswaram is called Dakshina Kailasam, the Kailash of the South, because it lies on the same longitude as Mount Kailash. Legend says Indra worshipped Shiva here. Another legend says Ravana worshipped the lingam at this temple, and that the cleft in Swami Rock comes from his strength.

The Chola king Kulakkottan restored the temple after finding it in ruins. On 14 April 1622 the Portuguese general Constantino de Sá de Noronha attacked and destroyed the shrine. In 1950 the Urban Council of Trincomalee recovered some of the original statues, buried five hundred yards from the site.

Europeans called the temple the Temple of a Thousand Columns, after its Aayiram Kaal Mandapam. Its gold-plated gopuram towers were expanded in the medieval period. In 1956 the photographer Mike Wilson and the author Arthur C. Clarke found ruins of the original temple on the sea-bed nearby.

Festivals

• AprilTher chariot festival

  Lasts twenty-two days and prepares the deities and the community for Puthandu, the Tamil New Year.

• Maha ShivaratriMaha Shivaratri

  A three-day procession follows the festival day, held every year since 1951. The deities are carried from Swami Rock to the entrance of Fort Frederick in decorated temple cars.

• NavaratriNavaratri

  Nine days dedicated to the various aspects of the presiding consort, Mathumai Amman.

• During the Ther festivalTheertham holy bath

  Pilgrims take a holy bath at the Papanasam holy well on Swami Rock.

Tips for your visit

• The pilgrim path begins on Konesar Road and passes courtyard shrines on the way up to Shiva at the top.
• The Bhadrakali Amman Temple stands on Konesar Road before the entrance to Swami Rock, and it was expanded by Rajendra Chola I.

Questions people ask