Koneswaram Temple

Thirukoneswaram, or the Holy Koneswaram Temple, is a Hindu temple in Thirukonamalai (Trincomalee) on the east coast of Sri Lanka. The temple lies on a high rocky promontory surrounded on three sides by the sea. It bears a history of over three millennia with its records indicating its roots in 1580 BC. This, still beautiful, historical monument is what remains of what once was a sprawling temple city equal to the ancient city of Madurai, India.

History

A 17th century stone inscription in the temple states that the temple began its history in 1580 BC. Though this is unconfirmed, the truth remains that the ancient cave shrine that lies beneath the pinnacle of the mountain points towards a history well predating the Sangam Period. It is also a confirmed fact that Koneswaram was a well established and popular temple during the arrival of the exiled Indian prince Vijayan during the 6th century BC.

On the other hand legend states that King Ravana, along with his mother, was a devout worshipper of Koneswaram. Ravana is also supposed to have created the hot springs of Kanniya as part of Thirukoneswaram, for the last rites of his mother. King Ravana was a legendary emperor of Sri Lanka who is believed to have lived over 5000 years ago. If this legend were to be true, then that would indicate that the temple was alive and thriving for over 5000 years.

The Rise of Koneswaram

The true rise of Koneswaram however occurred in 205 BC when the Chola king Elara Manu Needhi Cholan renovated the temple creating a temple complex that mirrored the Dravidian temple cities. The city was built as huge temple city with the Thirukoneswaram temple at its centre. The city was entered through gates that were housed in smaller temples, and the walls surrounded fields and various shrines in addition to the homes of occupants. The temple complex/city covered most of Trincomalee as it is now. The pilgrimage path was 225km long and was traditionally travelled by foot. There were separate shrines and temples for gods and goddesses like Ganesha, Padrakali, Vishnu/Thirumal, Shakthi, Suryan (Sun), Murukan and also King Ravana.

The main temple of Koneswaram was created, on the summit of the rocky promontory, with hard black granite (Karungal) which was skillfully carved with classical temple bas relief sculptures by Indian temple architects and sculptors. One of its finest features was its Thousand-Pillared hall which was used to host religious and cultural events. The hall was so famous that the Portuguese who visited temple called it the Temple of a Thousand Pillars.

The fame of Koneswaram continued to rise through the next millennium. The temple was one of only two non-Indian temples that were praised by the great 6th century AD Hindu poet-saint Sambandhar in his Tevarams, the other temple Thiruketheeshwaram also being in Sri Lanka. Records from the Kingdom of Anuradhapura in the 4th to 7th century AD and the Kingdom of Jaffna which rose between the 12th and 17th centuries AD; as well as records from the Chola, Pallava and Pandya Kingdoms of India show that kings from over a millennia both donated, contributed and made renovations for Koneswaram.

Another famous Hindu saint to pay homage to Koneswaram was the 15th century saint Arunagiri Nathar. The interesting fact about this is that Arunagiri Nathar primarily worshipped God Murugan, the Lord of Love and Beauty, and the son of God Shiva. Yet this was one of the very few instances where he praised and sang for another god.

The Destruction

Despite the Portuguese respecting the famed temple, all it took was a single piece of stone to disturb the seemingly still waters. In this case the stone was the Dutch. The Kingdom of Jaffna had been paying a protection fee to the Portuguese to prevent them from destroying the historical temple. When the Portuguese-Dutch war began early in the 17th century, the Portuguese wished to strengthen their position in Asia by building a fort in Trincomalee; which had one of the best and most centralized natural harbours in Asia at the time. However the king of Jaffna at the time, King Ethirimana Cingam, refused to assist in building the fort. The incensed Portuguese made war on Jaffna. They conquered it after several years of difficult battle during the reign of the last king of Jaffna, Cankili. The reign of terror then began as the Portuguese took their revenge by destroying over five hundred Hindu temples and shrines, the Saraswathie Mahal Library and various other relics and structures in the area.

Koneswaram was destroyed on the 14th of April 1622, during the Tamil New Year Day festival massacring many devotees who had been attending the religious ceremonies. Soldiers camouflaged as priests entered the temple and ransacked it of over two millennia worth of treasures in the form of golden statuettes, other gold items, gems and expensive silks. As one of the richest temples at the time, the loot was counted to be one of the biggest in the history of Asia. Meanwhile, the panicked priests (the real ones) took as many of the remaining idols and statues, which has been part of a procession, and buried them into the ground around the temple grounds to avoid their destruction. Then some fled the massacre while some took the path of suicide, unable to escape. The temple was destroyed and most of it was pushed into the sea. The remaining stones were used to build Fort Frederick two years later resulting in a complete destruction of an unrecoverable relic.

The bare promontory was later called Swami’s Rock and during the Dutch era no ceremonies were allowed on the rock. However during the British rule the ban was lifted and pilgrims once again trod the land as they did for many millennia. By the mid 19th century the site was once again famous as worshippers gave their offerings and prayers to the ruins of the temple in the sea below.