Koneswaram Kovil, located on the highest point of Trincomalee at Swami Rock, is often said to be the most important Hindu temple in Sri Lanka with temples on this site being mentioned in the ancient chronicles of Mahavamsa where it was referred to as Gokarna.
While the rock has stood steadfast since time began, this temple, which started as a shrine 2500 years ago, has not always been so embedded in the landscape as, in 1622 on the Tamil New Year's Day, the Portuguese attacked and destroyed it completely. They then built a Fort and their own church on the site. So, this morning, to get to the rebuilt temple, we had to drive through the Fort.
Today, Fort Frederick is an army base and I was warned not to take photos as we passed through to the Temple.
Trincomalee harbour, on the Indian Ocean, was an important port for the British. Now that the conflict of the past thirty years is under wraps, it is being redeveloped. We walked along the top towards the highest point, Swami Rock, once known as the Sacred Hill of Three Temples and also as the Temple of a Thousand Pillars.
Friday was not a busy day at the temple and the stalls selling religious icons, incense and candles were not busy.
Having
been born in the part of the world where ancient history means a mere
two hundred years or so, I have always been fascinated when I stand on a
spot where history goes back 2000 years or more. The legends that
abound in such places have always enthralled me, giving my mind license
to recreate the story, of course interpreting them with the values and
beliefs of a western woman living in the 21st Century. The stories of
the many Kings, still regarded as heroes, building great temples and
cities, always has my mind creating a story of their advisors, subjects,
slaves and women who are the real unsung heroes. Show me a king who put
his shoulder out hauling one of those granite blocks that some of the
ruins display! Instead, I hear the groans of the ant people above the
whoosh of the whip as they heave and haul, see their broken bodies fall
by the wayside, uncared for when they are of no further use.
So, here's what I understand of the story of the Koneswaram Kovil . . .
Throughout the ages the Tamil kings alternately invaded, ruled and were chased out of the northern area of the country and so established their own language, religion, social and cultural practices. This elevated point, its peak so close to the heavens, overlooking the stunning Indian Ocean with its waves crashing below, would have been a seen as the perfect place for a shrine. Between 300 and 1600 the Tamil kings thought so because they built several shrines and endowed them with many riches such as pearls, precious stones, silk, bronze statues. The fame of this temple was known over India and other Asian countries. It thrived until that terrible day, the fourteenth of April 1622 when the Portuguese rulers descended on it with great force, seizing many of its treasures before toppling it, sending it bouncing over the monstrous rocks, down the cliff and into the raging surf below. There it slept for three and a quarter centuries.
No religious further religious ceremonies on the rock were permitted by the Portuguese who built a Fort in its place. The Dutch ousted the Portuguese and captured the Fort in 1639 and it was not until the British took over the rule of Sri Lanka around 1795 that the Hindu believers were able to access their holy rock more freely. After that, the high priest would come and conduct ceremonies once a year and the pilgrims would cast offerings and fruit over the cliff. After the country regained independence from the British, shrines began to appear and the temple was reconstructed in 1963.
The most famous legend about this temple is that involving King Ravana who was a character in the famous Ramayana story where he was portrayed as King of Lanka. It is said that he was a man of incredible strength and that he got that strength from the holy lingam that was part of the temple. He and his ailing mother used to worship at the shrine and, maybe because it was in a difficult spot for his feeble mother, he wanted to move the temple of Koneswaram to another spot. As he tried to lift a rock, Lord Shiva, the chief deity of the temple, made him drop his sword, creating a cleft in the rock. This cleft became known as Ravana's cleft.
On the day that the Portuguese raided and then wrecked this famous temple, gaining access, it is said, with their soldiers dressed as priests, many of its valuable icons and statues disappeared to surface a very long time later in Europe. Some quick thinking priests fled with as many items as they could, burying them in secret locations while the rest of the temple and its treasures, including Ravana's lingum, were thrown into the sea. Gradually some of the treasures that found their way to Europe have returned home and some that were buried by the priests resurfaced and were restored to the temple or sent for safe guarding to a museum in Lanka.
As luck, or design, would have it, some of those treasures that lay buried on the ocean floor, including the lingum, were discovered by the world famous Sci Fi writer and foreteller of space travel, Arthur C Clark. Clarke had emigrated to Sri Lanka in 1956, it is said for his passion in scuba diving, and lived there until his death aged about 90. Already famous internationally, this discovery made him Sri Lanka's most important foreign citizen.
Just below the flight of steps we left our shoes at the booth, read the useful notice that outlined the religious requirements of visitors, washed our feet in the water trough provided on the edge of Lover's Leap and made our way up the steps under the gaze of Lord Shiva.
Lover's Leap is so named after a love stricken young girl, daughter of a Portuguese Official, threw herself to her death after her forbidden lover was sent from her, back to Europe.
The Hindu God Lord Shiva, the presiding deity at this temple, sits impressively atop the whole hill commanding the pilgrim's full attention as they make their way up the steps.
Inside, other deities such as Vishnu, Ganesha, Durga, Murukan and the Sun god Surya, have their own shrines.
As with many of the significant Hindu Temples in Sri Lanka, the main shrines are in the centre with others around the walls. Devotees make circuits praying as they go, many carrying coconuts which they later smash outside. There are several explanations as to the question "Why coconuts?" The coconut is regarded as an auspicious fruit by both Hindu and Buddists Sri Lankans and rituals involving it are common at many important events, such as the opening of a new building, weddings . . . and so on. It is believed to symbolise God - the fruit of the gods- sacred, pure, clean, healthy. Once broken, a small piece is then placed as an offering to Lord Shiva. Another explanation is that it resembles a human head with the outer coir being the hair, the hard shell the skull, the water blood and the kernel the brain.
Not only are the carvings of Hindu temples exceptionally colourful, their designs are also so very intricate and detailed, each layer gradually drawing attention ever upwards.
Realising that my companions were long gone and disappointed that I hadn't found the famous lingum, I hurried outside to the temple compound and found myself in front of an amazing tree! It was a frangipani tree, adorned with wooden boxes and colourful ribbons, some of which I recognised as pieces of sari fabric. I was puzzled until a young woman whom I had noticed praying in the temple went over to the tree and tied another box to an already laden branch. I realised then that the boxes were actually tiny cradles and that they had been placed there after women had made a plea to the gods for a baby.
Following path on the edge of the cliff I found the lingum and other interesting tableaux in the clefts of rocks.
During this visit I chatted with two women after they had completed their devotions. As I followed my companions out of the temple complex, I reflected on how faith in something far greater than oneself brings peace and acceptance to a large number of people as they deal with personal problems.
While the rock has stood steadfast since time began, this temple, which started as a shrine 2500 years ago, has not always been so embedded in the landscape as, in 1622 on the Tamil New Year's Day, the Portuguese attacked and destroyed it completely. They then built a Fort and their own church on the site. So, this morning, to get to the rebuilt temple, we had to drive through the Fort.
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| Fort Frederick. Trincomalee |
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| Trincomalee town from Fort Frederick |
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| Trincomalee town, from Fort Frederick |
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| Religious items for sale |
So, here's what I understand of the story of the Koneswaram Kovil . . .
Throughout the ages the Tamil kings alternately invaded, ruled and were chased out of the northern area of the country and so established their own language, religion, social and cultural practices. This elevated point, its peak so close to the heavens, overlooking the stunning Indian Ocean with its waves crashing below, would have been a seen as the perfect place for a shrine. Between 300 and 1600 the Tamil kings thought so because they built several shrines and endowed them with many riches such as pearls, precious stones, silk, bronze statues. The fame of this temple was known over India and other Asian countries. It thrived until that terrible day, the fourteenth of April 1622 when the Portuguese rulers descended on it with great force, seizing many of its treasures before toppling it, sending it bouncing over the monstrous rocks, down the cliff and into the raging surf below. There it slept for three and a quarter centuries.
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| Swami Rock, 1935 |
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| Swami Rock - picture from sacred sites |
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| lingum, Koneswaram Temple |
As luck, or design, would have it, some of those treasures that lay buried on the ocean floor, including the lingum, were discovered by the world famous Sci Fi writer and foreteller of space travel, Arthur C Clark. Clarke had emigrated to Sri Lanka in 1956, it is said for his passion in scuba diving, and lived there until his death aged about 90. Already famous internationally, this discovery made him Sri Lanka's most important foreign citizen.
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| Koneswaram Kovil, Trincomalee |
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| Religious requirements and Rules, Koneswaram Kovil |
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| Lover's Leap, Swami Rock, Trincomalee |
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| Lord Shiva, Koneswaram kovil |
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| Seaside Entrance Koneswaram Kovil, Trincomalee |
As with many of the significant Hindu Temples in Sri Lanka, the main shrines are in the centre with others around the walls. Devotees make circuits praying as they go, many carrying coconuts which they later smash outside. There are several explanations as to the question "Why coconuts?" The coconut is regarded as an auspicious fruit by both Hindu and Buddists Sri Lankans and rituals involving it are common at many important events, such as the opening of a new building, weddings . . . and so on. It is believed to symbolise God - the fruit of the gods- sacred, pure, clean, healthy. Once broken, a small piece is then placed as an offering to Lord Shiva. Another explanation is that it resembles a human head with the outer coir being the hair, the hard shell the skull, the water blood and the kernel the brain.
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| Koneswaram Kovil, Trincomalee |
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| Koneswaram Kovil, Trincomalee |
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| Koneswaram Kovil, Trincomalee |
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| Pleas for a baby, Koneswarum Kovil, Trincomalee |
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| Koneswaram Kovil, Trincomalee |
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| Koneswaram Kovil, Trincomalee |
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| Koneswaram Kovil. Trincomalee |
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| Koneswaram Kovil, Trincomalee |
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