Ekambareswarar Temple

Ekambareswarar Temple is one of the Pancha Bhoota Stalas, the five great Shiva temples each associated with a classical element, here representing earth. Its towering Rajagopuram, added under Vijayanagara patronage, dominates Kanchipuram's skyline at 59 metres, while the inner courtyard preserves an ancient mango tree central to the temple's founding legend of Parvati worshipping Shiva as a Shiva lingam of sand beneath it. Building phases span from Pallava-era foundations through major Vijayanagara expansion in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, giving the complex a layered architectural history typical of Kanchipuram's temple town. As one of the city's principal Shaiva shrines alongside the nearby Vaishnava Varadharaja Perumal temple, it illustrates Kanchipuram's historic role as a twin centre of both major Hindu traditions.