The Pancha Ishwarams (five abodes of Shiva) () are five coastal ancient
kovils (temples) built in dedication to the Hindu supreme being
Ishwara in the form of the god
Shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ÉɦaËd̪eËÊ‹Éh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
, located along the circumference of
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
.
The most sacred pilgrimage complexes for
Sri Lankan Tamil devotees of
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
, they adhere to the ancient Saiva Siddhanta philosophy with central shrines for Shiva in each temple. Initial construction was by royal architects of the
Naga kingdom (Nayanar). The Shiva lingams in each kovil are recorded as being Ravana's installations, while one of his descendants, the ancient
Yaksha queen Kuveni was a devotee of Ishwara. Eventually, the kovils became international focal points of their classical era capitals in their respective districts, maintaining their own historical records, traditions and broad influence across Asia. Figures such as Agastya, Rama, Ravana and Arjuna – featured with the temples in ''Sthala Puranas'', local ''Maanmiyams'', ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'' – are displayed at these shrines, although recent research points to the temples' pre-Vedic origins, built to protect devotees from
natural disasters
A natural disaster is the very harmful impact on a society or community brought by natural phenomenon or Hazard#Natural hazard, hazard. Some examples of natural hazards include avalanches, droughts, earthquakes, floods, heat waves, landslides ...
.
Developed through the patronage of Ceylonese residents, Sri Lankan and Indian royals during the Nayanar-Anuraigraamam
Tamraparniyan floruit, pilgrims of other
dharmic schools are noted to have worshipped and made donations for their upkeep – thus Buddhist and Jain elements are also within the complexes. The Pancha Ishwarams were looted and destroyed during the Portuguese colonial period in Sri Lanka, and extensive ruins of primarily Pallava construction were unearthed up until the 21st century. Most of the temples have since been restored. Their complexes retain elaborate
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
lintels and pediments, intricate black
granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
carvings, tall
gopurams, and stone iconography. Foundational
stele
A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...
s remain and contain inscriptions. Bathing
ponds
A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression, either naturally or artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing the two, although defining a pond t ...
and lake tanks constructed by the same Nayanar engineers to cultivate agriculture and irrigation are a typical feature.
''
The Athenaeum'' published that a research drive was underway in 1832 into the ancient sciences, literature, fine arts customs and city governance of the Pancha Ishwarams.
The scholar and historian, Dr. Paul E. Pieris declared in 1917, at a meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch), that:
List of the Pancha Ishwarams
Popular culture
The temples have hosted several music, dance and dramatic performances, including a well received performance from the celebrated Carnatic vocalist Nageswari Brahmananda at Thiru Ketheeswaram.
The
Bharathanatyam dance drama musical "Pancha Ishwarams of Lanka" was debuted at Logan Hall, University of London in October 1999 as the second of a two-part concert. The production brought narratives of all five temples to the stage, as researched at the time by the historian
S. Arumugam and professor
K. Kailasanatha Kurukkal who presented the concert. Commissioned by the Shruthi Laya Shangam after the unearthing of the stone
Nandi and
lingam
A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or Aniconism, aniconic representation of the Hinduism, Hindu Hindu deities, god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Up ...
of the Tenavaram complex, its music and lyrics were composed by the
Carnatic violinist
Lalgudi Jayaraman
Lalgudi Gopala Iyer Jayaraman (17 September 1930 – 22 April 2013) was an Indian Carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer. He is commonly grouped with M.S. Gopalakrishnan and T.N.Krishnan as part of the violin trinity of Carnatic mu ...
, written by Jayaraman and Professor Va Ve Subramaniam, and choreographed by Vijayalakshmi Krishnaswamy. The production was performed by Jayaraman on the violin alongside his disciples Dr. Lakshmi Jayan, S. P. Ramh singing, Pavithra Mahesh on
veena as well as Jagdeesan on
mridangam
The ''mridangam'' is an ancient percussion instrument originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion in ...
, and dancers of the Kalakshetra school, Chennai and London. It was critically acclaimed and a huge audience favourite. Jayaraman interacted with the audience following the production, most of whom were expatriate Sri Lankan Tamils of the diaspora.
Related temples
Two other shore Shiva temples of ancient Sri Lanka rank in high sanctity alongside the Pancha Ishwarams. The
Rameswaram Ramanathaswamy Kovil of
Ramanathapuram district
Ramanathapuram District, also known as Ramnad District, is one of the 38 administrative districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The old Ramanathapuram District consists of Present day Virudhunagar and Sivagangai districts, it touches th ...
, linked to Koneswaram and Tenavaram, connected to
Kalinga Magha
Kalinga Magha or Gangaraja Kalinga Vijayabahu (, , ) was an invader from the Kingdom of Kalinga (historical region), Kalinga who usurped the throne from Parakrama Pandyan II of Polonnaruwa in 1215. A massive migration followed of Sinhalese peop ...
and expanded by Jaffna kings
Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan and
Gunaveera Cinkaiariyan is now part of Tamil Nadu, India but formerly under Jaffna sovereignty. The Taantondreswaram temple of
Kokkadichcholai,
Batticaloa district was consecrated by Kalinga Magha and is also mentioned in the ''
Mattakallappu Manmiyam''.
See also
*
List of Hindu temples in Sri Lanka
References
{{Reflist
Hindu pilgrimage sites in Sri Lanka
Hindu temples in Sri Lanka
Shiva temples