Koneswaram Temple
Templo Koneswaram
Koneswaram Temple (Trincomalee) – located 5 ½ hours (311 km.) northeast of Colombo), Koneswaram Temple of Trincomalee is a Hindu house of worship venerated by Saivites throughout the continent. It is built atop Swami Rock, a rocky promontory cape overlooking Trincomalee, a classical period harbor port town. The primary deity is the Hindu God Lord Shiva in the form Konesar. At its zenith, the Konesar Temple was the main shrine of the Trincomalee Koneswaram Temple Compounds, one of three ancient connected Hindu temples on Swami Rock with a considerably sized Gopuram. This temple stood distinctly in the middle of the cape, at its highest eminence.
The other two connected temple shrines of the Koneswaram complex, to deities Ganesh, Vishnu (Thirumal), Ambal-Shakti and Murukan stretched across the cape to its extremities. The complex has laid in ruins, been restored, renovated and enlarged by various royals and devotees throughout its history. Heralded as one of the richest and most visited temple compounds in Asia, Koneswaram became one of the most important surviving and influential structures of the classical Dravidian architectural period by the early 17th century. Admission: free (donations accepted).