Ekambareswarar Temple
— the temple that holds the element of earth.
Not only on a wall.
“One of the five Shiva temples in southern India that hold the elements. Ekambareswarar holds earth, a lingam of packed sand the priests do not bathe in water. The eleven-tiered south tower carries you in. Inside, a mango tree is said to have stood since before the temple wore its present name. Pilgrims walk the four corners and go quiet near the root.
Ekambareswarar Temple, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Ekambareswarar stands in Kanchipuram, about 70 kilometres southwest of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the Pancha Bhoota Stalas, the five temples in southern India that hold the elements, and the one that holds earth. The earliest shrine dates to the Pallava period. The southern rajagopuram was raised to roughly 58.5 metres by Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara empire in 1509, among the tallest in southern India. A thousand-pillared hall sits inside the outer wall.
The complex covers more than nine hectares within four concentric granite walls, the work of successive dynasties layered into one footprint. Krishnadevaraya's 1509 rajagopuram is granite in the lower courses and brick with lime mortar above, eleven receding tiers crowded with sculpted figures. The thousand-pillared hall, raised under Vijayanagara patronage, runs along the inner court. The principal shrine houses a Prithvi Lingam, a lingam of packed earth, kept dry rather than bathed in water as the other elemental lingams are.
Two cycles shape the year here. Panguni Uthiram, in March or April, draws the largest crowd. The bronze utsava deities are processed through Kanchipuram on a tall wooden chariot. Maha Shivaratri, in February or March, fills the inner halls through the night. Inside the third courtyard a mango tree, the sthala vriksham, is said to have stood for centuries before the temple wore its present name. Pilgrims circle the four cardinal branches and tie cloth at the root.