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;10th-12th century CE Chola empire
;10th-12th century CE Chola empire
Trincomalee figured prominently during the medieval golden age of the Tamil [[Chola Dynasty]], due to its proximity to the Indian continent. The Koneswaram temple and the adjacent region formed a great principality under a [[Vanniar (Chieftain)|Vanniar]] as Governor. Residents in this collective community were allotted services, which they had to perform at the Koneswaram temple. The 1033-1047 CE Tamil inscriptions of the nearby [[Choleeswaram temple]] ruins of [[Peraru]], Kantalai and the [[Manankerni inscriptions]] mention Koneswaram and reveal the administrative practices of the Chola imperial prince [[Ilankeshvarar Devar]] (Sri Cankavanamar) in Trincomalee, who was coronated by his relative [[Rajadhiraja Chola]] and served as an independent king.<ref name="HTOS">{{cite book|last=Pathmanathan|first=Sivasubramaniam |title=Hindu Temples of Sri Lanka|publisher=Kumaran Book House|year=2006|isbn=955-9429-91-4|quote=As with the Nilaveli inscription, the Manankeni inscription describes Maccakesvaram (Koneswaram) of Konamamalai, mentioning that it is under the administration of Chola Ilankesvarar Deva in one of his regnal years. Both inscriptions show that Konesvaram was patronized by the Cholas.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Indrapala | first = Karthigesu | title = Senarat Paranavitana commemoration volume| chapter= An Inscription of the tenth year of Cola Lankesvara Deva from Kantalai, Sri Lanka. |publisher = Leiden|journal=Studies in South Asian Culture|volume=7| year = 1978 | location = Colombo | isbn = 9004054553 9789004054554|oclc=185925405|page=82}}</ref> A 12th century Tamil inscription from nearby Kantalai refers to the "Siva temple of Then Kailasam (Kailash of the South)".<ref name="Epigraphia Zeylanica">Epigraphia Zeylanica</ref> The [[Palamottai inscription]] from the Trincomalee district records a monetary endowment to a Hindu temple by a Tamil widow for the merit of her husband. This was administered by a member of the Tamil military caste – the [[Vellalar of Sri Lanka|Velaikkarar]].<ref>Epigraphia Zeylanica, Volume 4, Number 20</ref>
Trincomalee figured prominently during the medieval golden age of the Tamil [[Chola Dynasty]], due to its proximity to the Indian continent. The Koneswaram temple and the adjacent region formed a great principality under a [[Vanniar (Chieftain)|Vanniar]] as Governor. Residents in this collective community were allotted services, which they had to perform at the Koneswaram temple. The 1033-1047 CE Tamil inscriptions of the nearby [[Choleeswaram temple]] ruins of [[Peraru]], Kantalai and the [[Manankerni inscriptions]] mention Koneswaram and reveal the administrative practices of the Chola imperial prince [[Ilankeshvarar Devar]] (Sri Cankavanamar) in Trincomalee, who was coronated by his relative [[Rajadhiraja Chola]] and served as an independent king.<ref name="HTOS">{{cite book|last=Pathmanathan|first=Sivasubramaniam |title=Hindu Temples of Sri Lanka|publisher=Kumaran Book House|year=2006|isbn=955-9429-91-4|quote=As with the Nilaveli inscription, the Manankeni inscription describes Maccakesvaram (Koneswaram) of Konamamalai, mentioning that it is under the administration of Chola Ilankesvarar Deva in one of his regnal years. Both inscriptions show that Konesvaram was patronized by the Cholas.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Indrapala | first = Karthigesu | title = Senarat Paranavitana commemoration volume| chapter= An Inscription of the tenth year of Cola Lankesvara Deva from Kantalai, Sri Lanka. |publisher = Leiden|journal=Studies in South Asian Culture|volume=7| year = 1978 | location = Colombo | isbn = 9004054553 9789004054554|oclc=185925405|page=82}}</ref> A 12th century Tamil inscription from nearby Kantalai refers to the "Siva temple of Then Kailasam (Kailash of the South)".<ref name="Epigraphia Zeylanica">Epigraphia Zeylanica</ref> The [[Palamottai inscription]] from the Trincomalee district records a monetary endowment to a Hindu temple by a Tamil widow for the merit of her husband. This was administered by a member of the Tamil military caste – the [[Vellalar of Sri Lanka|Velaikkarar]], troops deployed to protect shrines in the state that were closely associated to King Ilankeshvarar Devar.<ref>{{cite book|last=Paranavitana|first=S. |title=A Tamil Inscription from Palamottai|journal=Ephigraphia Zeylanica|volume=4|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1943|isbn=|quote=}}</ref>


;Pandyan dynasty (1263 CE)
;Pandyan dynasty (1263 CE)
In 1263 CE, the Tamil [[Pandyan Dynasty]] king [[Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan]] defeated the ruling king and implanted the Pandyan insignia of a "[[Double Fish]]" emblem at Kona-ma-malai.<ref name="CSHindu"/> The location at this time is described as "Kona ma-malai, around which the ocean waves swept pearls, gold, precious stones, and shells from the depth of the ocean and heaped them along the shore." Local residents contributed to the wealth of the temple under the Pandyan's rule of the north of the island.<ref name="CSHindu"/> The 13th century CE Tamil stone inscription in [[Kankuveli]] village records the assignment by Vanniar chief Malaiyil Vanniyanar and Eluril Atappar of income and other contributions from the rice fields and meadows of the village to the shrine.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Pathmanathan|first1=S.|year=1978 |title= The Kingdom of Jaffna|journal= |publisher= |volume=1 |issue= |pages= 267 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=IMcLAAAAIAAJ&q=Kankuveli+inscription+K.+Indrapala&dq=Kankuveli+inscription+K.+Indrapala&hl=en&ei=bP-6S-DhG4Pr-AaIkYTZCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAQ |doi=|publisher=University of London/Colombo : Arul M. Rajendran| oclc=6530926|quote= Tamil stone inscription indited on the stone pillar in Kankuveli are grant records made by the chieftain Malaiyil Vanniyanar and the Eluril Atappar (Atappar of the seven villages) to the shrine of ''Konanayakar of Kona -ma malai.'' }}</ref>
In 1263 CE, the Tamil [[Pandyan Dynasty]] king [[Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan]] defeated the ruling king and implanted the Pandyan insignia of a "[[Double Fish]]" emblem at Kona-ma-malai.<ref name="CSHindu"/> The location at this time is described as "Kona ma-malai, around which the ocean waves swept pearls, gold, precious stones, and shells from the depth of the ocean and heaped them along the shore." Local residents contributed to the wealth of the temple under the Pandyan's rule of the north of the island.<ref name="CSHindu"/> The 13th century CE Tamil stone inscription in [[Kankuveli]] village records the assignment by Vanniar chief Malaiyil Vanniyanar and Eluril Atappar of income and other contributions from the rice fields and meadows of the village to the Koneswaram shrine.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Pathmanathan|first1=S.|year=1978 |title= The Kingdom of Jaffna|journal= |publisher= |volume=1 |issue= |pages= 267 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=IMcLAAAAIAAJ&q=Kankuveli+inscription+K.+Indrapala&dq=Kankuveli+inscription+K.+Indrapala&hl=en&ei=bP-6S-DhG4Pr-AaIkYTZCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAQ |doi=|publisher=University of London/Colombo : Arul M. Rajendran| oclc=6530926|quote= Tamil stone inscription indited on the stone pillar in Kankuveli are grant records made by the chieftain Malaiyil Vanniyanar and the Eluril Atappar (Atappar of the seven villages) to the shrine of ''Konanayakar of Kona -ma malai.'' }}</ref>


;Jaffna kings (1215 - 1620 CE)
;Jaffna kings (1215 - 1620 CE)

Revision as of 09:07, 23 May 2010

Koneswaram Temple
Shiva temple front gate with the bell tower
Religion
AffiliationHinduism
Location
LocationTrincomalee, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
Geographic coordinates8°34′57″N 81°14′44″E / 8.58250°N 81.24556°E / 8.58250; 81.24556

Koneswaram temple (Tamil: திருக்கோணேச்சரம் கோயில்) (also historically known as the Konesar Kovil and the Temple of the Thousand Pillars) is an important Hindu temple in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. The Koneswaram temple has a recorded history from 300 CE, and at its zenith was heralded as one of the richest and most visited temples in Asia. Built atop Swami Rock, overlooking the Trincomalee harbour, the temple has lay in ruins, been restored, renovated and enlarged by various royals and devotees throughout its history. One of five temples of the island dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva whose construction began in the ancient period (Ishwarams), Koneswaram is venerated by Saivites in the region. Its bronze idol statues from the 10th century CE are considered some of the high points of Chola art. Throughout its history, the temple has been administered and frequented by Sri Lankan Hindu Tamils and is located in Trincomalee, a classical period port town with a mixed Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim population.

Myths surrounding the temple of Koneswaram associate it with the popular Indian epic Ramayana, and its legendary hero-king Rama. Koneswaram was developed in the post classical era, between 300 CE and 1600 CE by kings of the Tamil Pandyan and Chola empires, and Vannimai chiefs of the Eastern Province, with decorations and structural additions such as its famous thousand pillared hall furnished by kings of the Tamil Pallava dynasty and the Jaffna kingdom. This culminated in Koneswaram becoming one of the most important surviving buildings of the classical Dravidian architectural period by the early 1600s. In 1624 CE, the Konewaram temple was largely destroyed by the Portuguese colonials. Hindus built a successor temple at a nearby site in 1632 CE - the Ati Konanayakar temple in nearby Tampalakamam - to house some of the destroyed temple's idols, where they are now worshipped. In the 1950s, the ruins of the temple were discovered underwater beside Swami Rock. The Koneswaram temple was rebuilt of much more modest dimensions at its original site by local Hindu Tamils 450 years after its destruction. Rediscovered sculptures and idols from the original temple are installed in the reconstructed building. The annual temple festival attracts Hindus from around the country.

History

In Tamil Koneswaram refers to the holy shrine and the presiding deity's names are Koneswaran or Konesar. The port town's name "Trincomalee" is an anglicized version of the Tamil word "Tirukonamalai" ("lord of the sacred hill").[1] It was constructed atop Swami Rock, a cliff that drops 400 feet (120 metres) directly into the sea.[2] The Sanskrit equivalent of the deity's name is Gokaneswara and the name of the port town in Sanskrit is Gokarna or Gokarna Pattana.[citation needed]

Although the exact date of the Koneswaram temple's birth is not universally agreed upon, inscriptional and literary evidence of the temple's history and practices from the postclassical era (c 500 CE - 1500 CE) attests to the shrine's classical antiquity. In his research book Rock cave temple of Thirukoneswaram and sequelae (2002), R. Vigneswaran concludes that the first temple of Koneswaram was constructed as a cave temple over an existing Shiva lingam, and was largely destroyed in a flood. The gopuram survived and a second temple was then built by King Manikka Raja in 1300 BCE, which consisted of three temples built at three levels on the Swami rock promontory facing the sea. The Shiva temple was built directly upon the gopuram of the original cave temple.[3] One Tamil poem written by Kaviraja Varothiyan, translated into English in 1831 by Simon Cassie Chitty, gives its date of birth as circa 1580 BCE.[1] According to historian S. Pathmanathan, Koneswaram was established by the mercantile communities that frequented Sri Lanka from the 4th century BCE ancient Kalinga region in India where one finds another temple dedicated to Gokarnasvamin at Mahendra mountains.[citation needed]

Koneswaram is venerated as one of 5 ancient Iswarams of Lord Shiva on the island.[4] Heralded as "Dakshina Kailasam"/"Then Kailasam" (Kailash of the South) because it lies on exactly the same longitude as the Tibetan mountain Mount Kailash (the primary abode of Shiva),[4] Thiru-Koneswaram has attracted thousands of pilgrims from across Asia, and from the 6th century CE, has been glorified as one of 275 Shiva Sthalams, or holy Shiva dwellings on the continent.[4]

Chronology

Mahasen's destruction

Evidence of a temple dedicated to a deity in the vicinity of the area comes from a 5th century CE religious and historical literary work called Mahavamsa. It mentions that Mahasena (334–361) a Mahayanist zealot known for his temple destructions, who ruled from the city of Anuradhapura destroyed temple dedicated to a deity in Gokarna and built a Buddhist Vihara in its place.[citation needed] A 12 century commentary on Mahavamsa indicates that the destroyed deity temple had a Lingam - a phallic form of Shiva in it.[citation needed]

Template:Koneswaram temple

Kullakottan's restoration

Tamil chronicles such as the Yalpana Vaipava Malai and stone inscriptions like Konesar Kalvettu recount that a Tamil early Chola royal Kankan, a descendant of Manu Needhi Cholan restored the ruined Koneswaram temple at Trincomalee and the Kantalai tank by 438 CE, visited the Munneswaram temple of the west coast, before settling ancient Vanniars in the east of the island. According to the chronicles, he extensively renovated and expanded the temple, lavishing much wealth on the shrine, and was crowned with the ephitet Kulakottan meaning Builder of tank and temple.[5][6] Further to the reconstruction, Kulakottan paid attention to agriculture cultivation and economic development in the area, inviting the Vanniar families to the area including Thampalakamam (Tampainakar) to maintain the Kantalai tank and the temple itself in 493 CE. The effects of this saw the Vanni region flourish.[7][8] In the sixth century CE, a special coastal route by boat travelled from the Jaffna peninsula southwards to the Koneswaram temple, and further south to Batticaloa to the temple of Thirukkovil.[9]

6th-7th century CE hymn

Koneswaram temple of Kona-ma-malai is mentioned in the Saiva literature Tevaram in the late 6th century CE by Thirugnana Campantar.[10] Along with Ketheeswaram temple in Mannar, Koneswaram temple is praised in the same literature canon by the 8th century CE Nayanmar Sundarar in Tamilakkam.[11] Koneswaram henceforth is glorified as one of 275 Shiva Sthalams (holy Shiva abodes glorified in the Tevarams) of the continent, part of the "Paadal Petra Sthalam" group. The only other sthalam from Eela Nādu (the island's Tamil country) is Ketheeswaram.[12][13] During this period, the temple saw structural development by the Tamil Pallava Dynasty.[14] The 8th-10th century CE Kanda Puranam (a Puranic Tamil literature epic and translation of the Skanda Puranam) authored by Kachiyappa Sivachariar of Kanchipuram describes the Koneswaram shrine as one of the three foremost Shiva abodes in the world, alongside Chidambaram temple and Mount Kailash.[1] Koneswaram temple is mentioned in the 10th century CE Tamil Nilaveli inscriptions as having received a land grant in the Tamil country of one thousand seven hundred and ten acres (two hundred and fifty four vèli) of dry and wet land to meet its daily expenses - revealing the temple's role in providing various services to the local community by 900-1000 CE.[15][16]

10th-12th century CE Chola empire

Trincomalee figured prominently during the medieval golden age of the Tamil Chola Dynasty, due to its proximity to the Indian continent. The Koneswaram temple and the adjacent region formed a great principality under a Vanniar as Governor. Residents in this collective community were allotted services, which they had to perform at the Koneswaram temple. The 1033-1047 CE Tamil inscriptions of the nearby Choleeswaram temple ruins of Peraru, Kantalai and the Manankerni inscriptions mention Koneswaram and reveal the administrative practices of the Chola imperial prince Ilankeshvarar Devar (Sri Cankavanamar) in Trincomalee, who was coronated by his relative Rajadhiraja Chola and served as an independent king.[17][18] A 12th century Tamil inscription from nearby Kantalai refers to the "Siva temple of Then Kailasam (Kailash of the South)".[19] The Palamottai inscription from the Trincomalee district records a monetary endowment to a Hindu temple by a Tamil widow for the merit of her husband. This was administered by a member of the Tamil military caste – the Velaikkarar, troops deployed to protect shrines in the state that were closely associated to King Ilankeshvarar Devar.[20]

Pandyan dynasty (1263 CE)

In 1263 CE, the Tamil Pandyan Dynasty king Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan defeated the ruling king and implanted the Pandyan insignia of a "Double Fish" emblem at Kona-ma-malai.[1] The location at this time is described as "Kona ma-malai, around which the ocean waves swept pearls, gold, precious stones, and shells from the depth of the ocean and heaped them along the shore." Local residents contributed to the wealth of the temple under the Pandyan's rule of the north of the island.[1] The 13th century CE Tamil stone inscription in Kankuveli village records the assignment by Vanniar chief Malaiyil Vanniyanar and Eluril Atappar of income and other contributions from the rice fields and meadows of the village to the Koneswaram shrine.[21]

Jaffna kings (1215 - 1620 CE)

The Tamil Aryacakravarti dynasty kings of the Jaffna kingdom paid homage to the Koneswaram shrine, offering gifts of gold and silver. King Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan (1380-1410 CE) had the traditional history of the temple compiled as a chronicle in verse, entitled Dakshina Kailasa Puranam, known today as the Sthala Puranam of Koneshwaram Temple.[14] Saint Arunagirinathar Swamikal, in circa 1468 CE, paid homage at Koneswaram on his way to Kadirkamam.[14] At Koneshwaram, he offered a garland of Thiruppugazh verses in praise of the Sthalam. "The population" he stated, "at Koneshwaram, where the deep ocean rolled its furious waves, was vast, the temple well organised and the priests well versed in the Four Vedas."[14] A temple of a thousand columns, during this medieval period, Koneswaram attracted pilgrims from around the Coylot Wanees Country and across Asia, becoming one of the most visited and richest temples on the continent. A Portuguese author described it as the "Rome of the Hindus of the Orient more frequented by pilgrims than Rameshwaram or Jagannath in Orissa."[22]

Location of Koneswaram temple on Swami Rock
17th century destruction

The shrine was demolished on April 14, 1624 CE, the Tamil New Years Day, by the Portuguese general Constantino de Sá (who called it the Temple of a Thousand Pillars).[1] The main statue was taken out to town in a procession during the festive occasion, during which Portuguese soldiers entered the temple dressed as Brahmin priests and began robbing it. In an act of religious zeal, the temple was then levered over the edge into the sea. Fleeing priests buried some of the temple's statues in the surrounding area. Temple stones and its carved pillars were used to construct Fort Fredrick to strengthen the colonists' influence over the eastern seaboard of the island. The Koneswaram temple had been paying protection fees of 1280 fanams a year to the Portuguese.[23] Between 1639–1689 CE, the Ati Konanayakar temple was built in nearby Thampalakamam to house the idols on procession that survived.[24][25] The destruction of the Konesar temple is historically viewed as the biggest loot of one of the richest temples of Asia. Gold, pearls, precious stones and silks collected for more than 1500 years were robbed within a few hours.[26] A site plan by a Portuguese author states: "On the first rise to the summit of the rock was a Pagoda, another at mid-ascent, and the principal one of them all at the highest eminence, visited by a concourse of Hindus from the whole of India." In his dispatch to the King of Portugal, Constantine described: "The land of the Pagoda is 600 fathoms long and 80 feet at its broadest, narrowing to 30 feet. Regarding a prophetic inscription he found at the site, he added. "When I went there to make this Fort, I found engraved on the Pagoda, among many other inscriptions, one that ran thus: Kulakottan has built this pagoda..."

Idol recovery and 20th century reconstruction

Some of the artefacts from the demolished temple, including Kullakoddan's inscription, are kept in the Lisbon Museum, along with a painting and map of the original shrine. The stone inscription has a Double-Fish insignia and is engraved with a prophesy warning of the "coming of the Franks" after the 1500s. The prediction read "O King! The franks shall later break down the holy edifice built by Kulakoddan in ancient times; and it shall not be rebuilt nor will future kings think of doing so!."[27] Pandyan king Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan's insignia of the old Koneswaram temple is seen today at the entrance to Fort Fredrick. No ceremonies were permitted to take place on Swami Rock until British rule of the island, when pilgrims were permitted to return and worship at the sacred site.[26] The Tamil Thirukonasala Vaipavam on Koneswaram was written by V. Akilesapillai in 1889, and published in 1952, sixty years later.

In 1950, the original shrine's gold and copper alloy bronze statues from the 10th century CE of a seated figure of Shiva, Lord Konesar, his consort Mathumai Ambal and Lord Ganesh were found 500 yards from the Koneswaram site by the Urban Council of Trincomalee.[27] They were taken in procession around the region before being reinstalled at Koneswaram. Other Koneswaram statues that survived remain at the Ati Konanayakar temple.[24][25] A pillar from the original temple stands under a decorated tree on Swami Rock. In 1956, while scuba diving, photographer Mike Wilson and author Arthur C. Clarke uncovered ruined masonry, architecture and idol images of the sunken original temple — including carved columns with flower insignias, and stones in the form of elephant heads — spread on the shallow surrounding seabed.[28][2] The pillar as well as the ruins display Tamil Pallava architectural influence of the 3rd-9th century era, corroborated by the discovery of Pallava Grantha script inscriptions in the area that suggest the Pallava dynasty took a keen interest in the temple.[14] The divers retrieved the legendary Swayambhu lingam from the ocean floor, a large natural stone obelisk that, according to legend, was one of 69 naturally occurring lingams from time immemorial originally found on Mount Kailash of Tibet and housed in Koneswaram by King Raavan - his most sacred power object from mythological times. This lingam was reinstalled at the Koneswaram site. Publishing their findings in the 1957 book The Reefs of Taprobane, Clarke expresses admiration for Swami rock's three thousand year veneration by Hindus.[27] Identifying at least three Hindu temples as having been built on and around Swami rock, Clarke describes the 10th century CE Koneswaram idols as "among the finest examples of Hindu bronze sculpture known to exist", the seated Shiva Chola bronze "a masterpiece" and the battered stone work at the foot of Swami Rock as "probably the most photographed underwater ruins in the world."[27] 450 years after its destruction, Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu people of Trincomalee rebuilt the Koneswaram temple in its present form in 1952, where its idols of antiquity reside.

Legends

Iconography of Ravana, the mythical king of Lanka depicted on the temple walls

According to one Hindu legend, Shiva at Koneswaram was worshipped by Indra, king of the gods. With the legend of the smiling infant, James Emerson Tennent describes "one of the most graceful" of the Tamil legends connected to the Temple of the Thousand Columns atop Swami Rock. An oracle had declared that over the dominions of one of the kings of the Deccan impended a great peril which could only be averted by the sacrifice of his infant daughter, who was committed to the sea on an ark of sandalwood, eventually reaching the island, just south of Trincomalee at a place that in the mid 1800s was still called Pannoa (smiling infant). After being adopted by the king of the district, she succeeded over his dominions. Meanwhile, a Hindu prince, having ascertained from the Puranas that the rock of Trincomalee was a holy fragment of the golden mountain of Meru, hurled there during a conflict between gods, arrived at Swami Rock and constructed a temple of Shiva. The princess, hearing of his arrival, initially dispatched an army to expel him, but ended up marrying the prince to end the war, and later attached vast rice fields of Thampalakamam and built the great Kantalai tank to endow the temple and irrigate the surrounding plain. Upon her death, the prince shut himself inside the pagoda of Swami rock, and was later found translated into a golden lotus on the Shiva altar.[29]

Temple layout

Festivals

Counter claims

There are claims that the temple in question was an exclusively Hindu temple, or an exclusively Buddhist temple or a place of joint Buddhist and Hindu worship.

See also

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Koneswaram temple.
  1. ^ a b c d e f Sivaratnam, C (1964). An outline of the cultural history and principles of Hinduism (1 ed.). Colombo: Stangard Printers. OCLC 12240260. Koneswaram temple. Tiru-Kona-malai, sacred mountain of Kona or Koneser, Iswara or Siva. The date of building the orginal temple is given as 1580, B, C. according to a Tamil poem by Kavi Raja Virothayan...
  2. ^ a b E Greig, Doreen (1987). "The reluctant colonists: Netherlanders abroad in the 17th and 18th centuries". U.S.A.: Assen, The Netherlands ; Wolfeboro, N.H., U.S.A.: 227. OCLC 14069213. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Text "issn" ignored (help)
  3. ^ Vigneswaram, R (2002). "Rock cave temple of Thirukoneswaram and sequelae". Colombo: Victoria Court. LCCN 2005310791. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ a b c Arumugam, S (1980). "Some ancient Hindu temples of Sri Lanka" (2 ed.). University of California: 37. OCLC 8305376. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ Hellmann-Rajanayagam, Dagmar (1994). "Tamils and the meaning of history". Contemporary South Asia. 3 (1). Routledge: 3–23. doi:10.1080/09584939408719724.
  6. ^ Schalk, Peter (2002). "Buddhism Among Tamils in Pre-colonial Tamilakam and Ilam: Prologue. The Pre-Pallava and the Pallava period". Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. 19–20. Uppsala University: 159, 503. The Tamil stone inscription Konesar Kalvettu details King Kulakottan's involvement in the restoration of Koneswaram temple in 438 A.D. (Pillay, K., Pillay, K. (1963). South India and Ceylon);
  7. ^ Sivaratnam, C (1968). "Tamils in early Ceylon". OCLC 248358279. As for cultivators he got fifty one tribes of Vanniyars, a caste of agriculture experts from the Pandyan coasts... on the invitation of Kulakoddan in c 493 for the noble purpose of cultivating the land at Tambalakamam. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ Arumugam, S (1980). "The Lord of Thiruketheeswaram, an ancient Hindu sthalam of hoary antiquity in Sri Lanka". Colombo. OCLC 10020492. Kulakottan also paid special attention to agricultural practice and economic development, the effects of which made the Vanni region to flourish ; temples were cared for and regular worship instituted at these, {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ Ismail, Marina (1995). Early settlements in northern Sri lanka. New Delhi: Navrang. ISBN 8170131375 9788170131373. OCLC 243878815. ln the sixth century AD there was a coastal route by boat from the Jaffna peninsula in the north, southwards to Trincomalee, especially to the religious centre of Koneswaram, and further onwards to Batticaloa and the religious centre of Tirukovil, along the eastern coast. Along this route there were a few small trading settlements such as Mullativu on the north coast... {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help)
  10. ^ Indrapala, Karthigesu (2007). The evolution of an ethnic identity: The Tamils in Sri Lanka C. 300 BCE to C. 1200 CE. Colombo: Vijitha Yapa. p. 230. ISBN 978-955-1266-72-1.
  11. ^ Raghavan, M.D. (1971). Tamil culture in Ceylon : a general introduction. Colombo: Colombo : Kalai Nilayam. p. 233. OCLC 453189836. The earliest mention of the shrine is in the hymns of Thirugnana sambandar who sings of "Konamamalai, and of the peerless God, who dwelleth on Konamamalai, to the sound of roaring ocean, and rows of Kalal and the anklets, and half of whose body is shared by the Maid of the Mountains..."
  12. ^ Arumugam, S (1980). "The Lord of Thiruketheeswaram, an ancient Hindu sthalam of hoary antiquity in Sri Lanka". Colombo: 106. OCLC 10020492. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ Varadachari, K.C. (1940-). Journal of the Sri Venkatesvara Oriental Institute. 3. Sri Venkateswara University, University of California: 64. OCLC 52321640. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  14. ^ a b c d e Navaratnam, C.S. (1964). A Short History of Hinduism in Ceylon. Jaffna. p. 43-47. OCLC 6832704.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  15. ^ Journal of Tamil studies. Tamil Nadu: International Association of Tamil Research, International Institute of Tamil Studies. 1980. p. 33. OCLC 1773647. {{cite book}}: Missing pipe in: |issue= (help)
  16. ^ Pathmanathan, S. (1978). "The Kingdom of Jaffna". 1. University of London/Colombo : Arul M. Rajendran: 56. OCLC 6530926. The Nilaveli inscription describes the land grant to the Maccakesvaram (another name for Koneswaram) temple of Konamamalai from the localities Urakirikamam, Kirikanta and Kirikamam {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  17. ^ Pathmanathan, Sivasubramaniam (2006). Hindu Temples of Sri Lanka. Kumaran Book House. ISBN 955-9429-91-4. As with the Nilaveli inscription, the Manankeni inscription describes Maccakesvaram (Koneswaram) of Konamamalai, mentioning that it is under the administration of Chola Ilankesvarar Deva in one of his regnal years. Both inscriptions show that Konesvaram was patronized by the Cholas.
  18. ^ Indrapala, Karthigesu (1978). "Senarat Paranavitana commemoration volume". Studies in South Asian Culture. 7. Colombo: Leiden: 82. ISBN 9004054553 9789004054554. OCLC 185925405. {{cite journal}}: |chapter= ignored (help); Check |isbn= value: length (help)
  19. ^ Epigraphia Zeylanica
  20. ^ Paranavitana, S. (1943). A Tamil Inscription from Palamottai. Vol. 4. Oxford University Press. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  21. ^ Pathmanathan, S. (1978). "The Kingdom of Jaffna". 1. University of London/Colombo : Arul M. Rajendran: 267. OCLC 6530926. Tamil stone inscription indited on the stone pillar in Kankuveli are grant records made by the chieftain Malaiyil Vanniyanar and the Eluril Atappar (Atappar of the seven villages) to the shrine of Konanayakar of Kona -ma malai. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  22. ^ Prematilleka, Leelananda; Seneviratne, Sudharshan (1990). Perspectives in archaeology : Leelananda Prematilleke festschrift. p. 96. Queyroz compares Konesvaram to the famous Hindu temples in Rameswaram, Kanchipuram, Tirupatti, Tirumalai, Jagannath and Vaijayanthi and concludes that the former had surpassed all the latter temples.
  23. ^ de Silva, K. M.; Ray, C.M. (1959–1973). History of Ceylon. Colombo: Ceylon University Press. p. 112. OCLC 952216.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  24. ^ a b Pathmanathan 2006, p. 102 harvnb error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFPathmanathan2006 (help)
  25. ^ a b Ramachandran 2004, pp. 86–88
  26. ^ a b "Tamil culture". Tamil Literature Society. 2–3. Tuticorin, South India: 191. 1953. OCLC 191253653.
  27. ^ a b c d Clarke, Arthur C. (1957). The Reefs of Taprobane; Underwater Adventures around Ceylon. New York: Harper. ISBN 0743445023.
  28. ^ "Expedition in the waters of Ceylon". Science Digest. 57. Chicago: 142. 1965. ISSN 0036-8296. OCLC 1624458. One of the major achievements in Ceylon was the discovery of the ruins of the sunken Konesar Temple, which as located with the wrecked treasure ship...
  29. ^ Tennent, James Emerson (1859). "The Northern Forests". Ceylon; an account of the island physical, historical and topographical, with notices of its natural history, antiquities, and productions. London: Longman, Green; Longman, Roberts. p. 484. OCLC 2975965. The districts at the southern extremity of Batticaloa, Pannoa and Pannaham are so called from the two Tamil words palen-nagai, the smiling babe.

Cited literature

Template:Hindu Temples in Sri Lanka

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