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Koneswaram Temple

Trincomalee, Italy

Koneswaram Temple

Koneswaram Temple of Trincomalee (Tamil: திருக்கோணேச்சரம் கோயில்) or Thirukonamalai Konesar Temple – The Temple of the Thousand Pillars and Dakshina-Then Kailasam (Southern / Ancient Kailash) is a classical-medieval Hindu temple complex in Trincomalee, a Hindu religious pilgrimage centre in Eastern

Province, Sri Lanka. The most sacred of the Pancha Ishwarams of Sri Lanka, it was built significantly during the ancient period on top of Konesar Malai, a promontory overlooking Trincomalee District, Gokarna bay and the Indian Ocean. The monument contains its main shrine to Shiva in the form Kona-Ishvara, shortened to Konesar. The original kovil combined key features to form its basic Dravidian temple plan, such as its thousand pillared hall – "Aayiram Kaal Mandapam" – and the Jagati. Regarded as the greatest building of its age for its architecture, elaborate sculptural bas-relief ornamentation adorned a black granite megalith while its multiple gold plated gopuram towers were expanded in the medieval period. One of three major Hindu shrines on the promontory with a colossal gopuram tower, it stood distinctly on the cape's highest eminence. The journey for pilgrims in the town begins at...

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