EKAMBARANATHAR TEMPLE

Ekambaranathar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, located in Kanchipuram in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The temple is the largest temple in the town of Kanchipuram and is located in the northern part of the town. The temple gopuram gateway tower is 59m tall, which is one of the tallest gopurams in India.
It is one of the five major Shiva temples or Pancha Bootha Sthalams each representing a natural element representing the element - Earth. The other four temples in this category are Thiruvanaikaval Jambukeswara water, Chidambaram Natarajar Sky, Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleswara fire and Kalahasti Nathar wind. It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, where all of the four most revered Nayanars Saivite Saints have sung the glories of this temple.Legend has it that once Parvati, the consort of Shiva was doing penance under the temple's ancient Mango tree near Vegavathi river. In order to test her devotion Shiva sent fire on her. Goddess Parvati prayed to her brother, Vishnu, for help. In order to save her, he took the Moon from Shiva's head and showed the rays which then cooled down the tree as well as Parvati. Shiva again sent the river Ganga Ganges to disrupt Parvati's penance. Parvati prayed to Ganga and convinced her that both of them were sisters and so should not harm her.