Keerimalai Naguleswaram temple ( ta, கீரிமலை நகுலேஸ்வரம் கோயில்), historically known also as the Thirutambaleswaram Kovil of Keerimalai, is a famous
Hindu temple
A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...
in
Keerimalai
Keerimalai ( ta, கீரிமலை kīrimalai) is a town in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka. Naguleswaram temple is located in this suburb also a mineral water spring called Keerimalai Springs reputed for its curative properties. In Tamil Keeri ...
, located north of
Jaffna
Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...
,
Northern Province,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
in the suburb of
Kankesanthurai
Kankesanthurai (, , lit. ''Port Kankesan''), colloquially known as KKS, is a port suburb, fishing division and resort hub of the Jaffna District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Formerly an electoral district, Kankesanthurai is home to the Kankesan ...
. One of the oldest shrines of the region, it is the northernmost of the island's
Pancha Ishwarams
The Pancha Ishwarams (five abodes of Shiva) ( ta, பஞ்ச ஈஸ்வரங்கள், translit=Pancha Eeswarankal) are five coastal ancient kovils (temples) built in dedication to the Hindu supreme being Ishwara in the form of the god Sh ...
of
Siva, venerated by Hindus around the world from
classical antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
. Hindus believe its adjacent water tank, the
Keerimalai Springs
Keerimalai Naguleswaram temple ( ta, கீரிமலை நகுலேஸ்வரம் கோயில்), historically known also as the Thirutambaleswaram Kovil of Keerimalai, is a famous Hindu temple in Keerimalai, located north of Jaff ...
, to have curative properties, which irrigation studies attribute to high
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...
content sourced from underground.
Keerimalai is 50 feet above sea level, and situated west of
Palaly. Hindus flock in large numbers on ''Aadi Amaavaasai'' day which falls during the Tamil month of ''Aadi'', to carry out rituals for their forefathers and bathe in the natural springs. Carried out largely by men, “Keerimalai” is particularly famous for this festival.
The temple was largely destroyed by Jesuit missionaries following the
Portuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom
The Portuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom occurred after Portuguese traders arrived at the rival Kotte Kingdom in the southwest of modern Sri Lanka in 1505. Many kings of Jaffna, such as Cankili I, initially confronted the Portuguese in the ...
, restored by
Arumuka Navalar
Arumuka Navalar (; 18 December 1822 – 5 December 1879) was a Sri Lankan Shaivite Tamil language scholar, polemicist, and a religious reformer who was central in reviving native Hindu Tamil traditions in Sri Lanka and India.
Navalar's bir ...
in 1894, was occupied by the
Sri Lankan Army
ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம்
, image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png
, image_size = 180px
, caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army
, start_date ...
in 1983 and bombed by the
Sri Lankan Air Force
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; ta, இலங்கை விமானப்படை, Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) is the air arm and the yo ...
in 1993. After nearly twenty years, a major expansion and reopening of the temple occurred in 2012.
History
Etymology
''Keeri'' in Tamil and ''nagula'' in
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
mean "
mongoose
A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to so ...
". ''Keeri-malai'' in Tamil means "Mongoose-Hill". The temple is situated adjacent to the mineral water springs. The legendary sage
Nagula Muni, shrunk by age and austerity while meditating at a cave in Keerimalai was likened to mongooses that frequented the area. The sage bathed in the springs and was cured of his mongoose face. In gratitude, Nagula Muni constructed a small shrine and worshipped the
Lingam
A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional im ...
enshrined there. This became known as the Thirutambaleswaram Kovil of Keerimalai and also the Naguleswaram Kovil of Keerimalai alluding to the sage.
[M.D. Rhagavan (1971). ''Tamil culture in Ceylon'']
Development
Naguleswaram temple of Kankesanthurai was restored during the reign of
Prince Vijaya
According to the ''Mahāvaṃsa'' chronicle, Prince Vijaya (c. 543–505 BCE) was the first Sinhalese monarchy, Sinhalese king. Legends and records from both Indian and Sri Lanka sources say that he along with several hundred followers came to ...
of
Vanga
The family Vangidae (from ''vanga'', Malagasy for the hook-billed vanga, ''Vanga curvirostris'') comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to which the family o ...
(543-505 BCE). One of the oldest shrines of the region, it is the northernmost shrine on the island of the
Pancha Ishwarams
The Pancha Ishwarams (five abodes of Shiva) ( ta, பஞ்ச ஈஸ்வரங்கள், translit=Pancha Eeswarankal) are five coastal ancient kovils (temples) built in dedication to the Hindu supreme being Ishwara in the form of the god Sh ...
of Lord
Siva, venerated by Hindus around the world from classical antiquity.
Its adjacent
water tank
A water tank is a container for storing water.
Water tanks are used to provide storage of water for use in many applications, drinking water, irrigation agriculture, fire suppression, agricultural farming, both for plants and livestock, chemi ...
, the Keerimalai Springs attribution to curative properties has been related in irrigation scientific studies to its high mineral content, sourced from underground.
![Keerimalai Springs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Keerimalai_Springs.jpg)
The
Pandyan-
Chola
The Chola dynasty was a Tamils, Tamil thalassocratic Tamil Dynasties, empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated ...
n princess ''Maruthapura Veeravalli'' built the
Maviddapuram Kandaswamy Temple
Maviddapuram Kandaswamy Temple ( ta, மாவிட்டபுரம் கந்தசாமி கோவில்) is a Hindu temple in Maviddapuram in northern Sri Lanka.
History
According to legend Maviddapuram has had a Hindu shrine for ...
two miles from Naguleswaram in 785 CE after she was cured of her facial disfigurement at the Keerimalai springs, and later married the King
Ukkira Singhan a scion of Vijaya's dynasty, at the temple's springs.
[ Eliandurvan, one of the four brothers of the ]Mukkuvar
Mukkuvar is a maritime ethnic group found in the Indian states of Kerala , Tamil Nadu and the Eastern and North Western coastal regions of Sri Lanka. They are mostly found on the Malabar Coast, South Travancore Coast and Kanyakumari district, Tam ...
king Vedi Arasan ruled at Keerimalai.[
]
Festivals
"Maasi Magam" and "Aadi Amaavaasai" festival days, the latter falling during the Tamil month of "Aadi" (mid July-mid August) brings Hindu pilgrims to the town to carry out rituals for their forefathers and take a divine dip in the natural spring
A spring is a point of exit at which groundwater from an aquifer flows out on top of Earth's crust (pedosphere) and becomes surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fresh w ...
s. These rituals are usually carried out by men. Keerimalai is particularly famous for this festival. The new moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
or Amaavasai is a significant day, and according to Tamil astrologers, in the month of Aadi, the moon is in the ascendant in Kataka rasi, which is occupied by the Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
; this concurrence is reminiscent of Siva and Sakthi in Hinduism. Hence, there is special significance of Aadi Amavaasai as a day when children remember their departed parents, notably their late fathers. It is customary for them to perform ablutions, offer prayers to the departed souls with the help of a priest ( Dharpanam) and attend a temple of Siva. In Sri Lanka, Keerimalai Naguleswaram temple continues as the foremost shrine for Aadi amavaasai.
Literature
'' Dakshina Kailasa Puranam'', a Sanskrit treatise on another Pancha Ishwaram, Koneswaram of Trincomalee
Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...
, recalls events in the Naguleswaram shrine. On Saivism in the 6th century, the '' Suta Samhita'' of the ''Skanda Purana
The ''Skanda Purana'' (IAST: Skanda Purāṇa) is the largest ''Puranas#Mahapuranas, Mukyapurana'', a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text contains over 81,000 verses, and is of Kaumaram, Kaumara literature, titled after Kartikeya ...
m'' mentions Naguleswaram as among ancient sites of pilgrimage. Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
navigators spread the wonders of the temple's springs to the West, and James Emerson Tennent
Sir James Emerson Tennent, 1st Baronet, FRS (born James Emerson; 7 April 1804 – 6 March 1869) was a British politician and traveller born in Ireland. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 5 June 1862.
Life
The third son of William ...
, citing Lane's ''Arabian Nights
''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
'' elaborates on Keerimalai as the site of the shipwreck of Sinbad the Sailor
Sinbad the Sailor (; ar, سندباد البحري, Sindibādu al-Bahriyy; fa, سُنباد بحری, Sonbād-e Bahri or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a story-cycle of Persian origin. He is described as hailing from Baghdad ...
during his sixth voyage, where he collected pearls
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living animal shell, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pea ...
, hyacinth
Hyacinth or Hyacinthus may refer to:
Nature Plants
* Hyacinth (plant), genus ''Hyacinthus''
** '' Hyacinthus orientalis'', common hyacinth
* Grape hyacinth, '' Muscari'', a genus of perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia
* Hyacinth bean, ''L ...
and ambergris
Ambergris ( or , la, ambra grisea, fro, ambre gris), ''ambergrease'', or grey amber is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour produced in the digestive system of sperm whales. Freshly produced ambergris has a mari ...
. Arjuna
Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Panda ...
of the ''Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...
'' fell in love with the Nagakanya (daughter of the Naga king) Ulupi
Ulupi (), also known as Uluchi and Ulupika, is a character the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. She is a Naga princess, the daughter of the king Kauravya, and is among the four wives of Arjuna. She also finds a mention in the ''Vishnu Purana'' and t ...
, who bore them a son, Iravan
Iravan also known as Iravat and Iravant, is a minor character from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The son of Pandava prince Arjuna (one of the main heroes of the Mahabharata) and the Naga princess Ulupi, Iravan is the central deity of the
cu ...
.[
]
Destruction by the Portuguese
Following destruction by the Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
in 1621, Naguleswaram's Brahmin priests hid the main icons in a well before fleeing, which were since recovered.
Reconstruction
After a gap of almost 400 years in 1894 ACE, local Sri Lankan Tamil
Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...
Hindu people of under the urging of Hindu reformer Arumuka Navalar
Arumuka Navalar (; 18 December 1822 – 5 December 1879) was a Sri Lankan Shaivite Tamil language scholar, polemicist, and a religious reformer who was central in reviving native Hindu Tamil traditions in Sri Lanka and India.
Navalar's bir ...
came together and built the present temple. However the temple was destroyed by fire in 1918 and had to be rebuilt.
Occupation and bombing by Sri Lankan Army
In 1983, the temple was occupied by the Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
n army and devotees and priests were unable to visit the premises without special permits. At 16:00 on 16 October 1990, the Sri Lankan Air Force
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; ta, இலங்கை விமானப்படை, Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) is the air arm and the yo ...
dropped three bombs at Naguleswaram. The first fell on the front of the temple destroying two temple chariots and other buildings, the second bomb fell on the southern courtyard of the temple destroying the premises of the priest. Two days later, on 18 October at 14:30, the Sri Lankan Air Force returned and bombed the temple during the Kedara Gowri fast when thousands of devotees were present, killing 180 Tamil civilians, including 5 infants. Temple buildings, its ancient gopuram, the library housing palm leaf manuscripts and statues incurred substantial damage. The bombing was carried out despite the presence of temple identification flags at four corners of the temple, as instructed by the International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...
. No access to the area was granted to devotees until 1997, when the Chief Priest was allowed to visit with an Additional GA of the Sri Lankan government. The temple was found to be ruins with the sacred icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
s vandal
The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...
ized or missing. The temple was not restored.["Case of the missing idols – vandalism or sacrilege?" (1997). '' Weekend Express''.]
Mahakumbhabhishekam in 2012
On Monday 6 February 2012, a major reconstruction of the temple was completed under the authority of the chief priest, Sivasri Naguleswara Kurukkal, and Naguleswaram's Mahakumbhabhishekam took place. It was a monumental event with thousands of devotees who came to pray and receive blessings.
Gallery
See also
* Hinduism in Sri Lanka
Hinduism is one of Sri Lanka's oldest religions, with temples dating back over 2,000 years. , Hindus made up 12.6% of the Sri Lankan population. They are almost exclusively Tamils, except for small immigrant communities from India and Paki ...
* Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil
Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil ( ta, நல்லூர் கந்தசுவாமி கோவில் si, නල්ලුරුව ස්කන්ධ කුමාර කෝවිල) is a significant Hindu temple, located in Nallur, Northe ...
* Vallipuram
Vallipuram ( ta, வல்லிபுரம், translit=Vallipuram, ) is a village in Vadamarachchi, near Point Pedro in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. The village is an ancient settlement with rich archeological remains. The village is home to ...
* Keerimalai
Keerimalai ( ta, கீரிமலை kīrimalai) is a town in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka. Naguleswaram temple is located in this suburb also a mineral water spring called Keerimalai Springs reputed for its curative properties. In Tamil Keeri ...
* Kantharodai
Kandarodai ( ta, கந்தரோடை, translit=Kantarōṭai, si, කදුරුගොඩ, translit=Kadurugoḍa, also known as ta, கதிரமலை, translit=Katiramalai) is a small hamlet and archaeological site of Chunnakam town, a ...
References
External links
Naguleswaram restoration committee
* ttp://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=12679 Devotees throng Keerimalai to fastbr>Five ancient Shiva temples of Sri Lanka
State Sponsored Destruction and Desecration of Hindu Temples
Naguleswaram Temple
Photos
{{Hindu temples in Sri Lanka
Hindu temples in Jaffna District
Siva temples in Sri Lanka
Archaeological protected monuments in Jaffna District
Tamilakam
Tamil architecture