Prithvi linga in Ekambareswarar temple of Kanchipuram and Muthuswami deekshithar kruthi

Prithvi  linga in Ekambareswarar    temple  of Kanchipuram   and Muthuswami deekshithar kruthi

       Ekambareswarar temple (Derived from Eka amreswarar  i.e Lord of the single  mango tree-He is also called as Ma moola natha)   is located  in the town of Kanchipuram.There   is a great story attached  to this temple. It  seems just for fun Goddess Parvathi    closed the eyes of Lord Shiva . His eyes being Sun and moon  , the entire   world became very dark and there  was a chaos in the world. Then Lord Shiva cursed  Goddess   to be born as   a human being. Later   he pardoned  her and told her   to do his worship and penance  under a great mango tree  in Kanchipuram .In order  to test her devotion it seems  he  sent fire to destroy the  idol of sand which she was worshipping .Goddess Parvathi requested her brother  Lord Vishnu  to save her .Lord Vishnu  took the moon from Shiva’s head and showed  it  to the fire  and the fire got cooled down .Later Lord   shiva sent river ganges to destroy the Linga. Since river ganges   was the  sister  of Goddess Parvathi   she also did not destroy  the lingam.(some legends say that  Shiva sent river Vegavathi to destroy the Linga and God vishu lay down on the way to  prevent the  river water   from reaching the Linga).But when Goddess Parvathi hugged the Linga for saving it, God Shiva  was pleased and came there  and married her beneath  that mango tree.(Because of this Lord Shiva  there is called in Tamil as THazhuva Kuzhaindanar-He who got pleased by an embrace and Ekamra Natha-Lord of single mango tree). This mango tree is supposed to be 3500 years old and yields four different type of mangoes in its four main branches). The name of the Goddess  is Kamakshi but she does not have  a temple in this complex or any other Shiva temple in Kanchipuram and has a separate temple  of her own  as Kamakshi in Kanchipuram .It is also believed that Lord Shiva and Goddess Kamakshi danced in this place   to save  the world. The temple occupies an area of  23 acres. The Raja Gopuram(main tower at entrance) to this temple  is 59 meters high and is one of the tallest  in South India. The temple has a thousand pillared hall  .Since the Linga worshipped by Goddess  Parvathi  was made of sand , this Linga is believed to be Prithivi Lingam.  Muthuswamy Deekshithar, one of the trinity of Carnatic music has composed  the following Krithi  in praise of the Lord Ekambareswarar:-

Chinthayaa  maa  kandha   moola kandham

By

Muthuswami deekshithar

Translated  by

P.R.Ramachander

Ragam  BHairavii

Thalam Roopakam

Pallavi

Chinthaya maa kandha   moola kandha  ,

Chetha sri Somaskandham.

Pallavi

Oh mind , meditate  on  the Somaskandha* ,

Who sits  under the mango tree and who is  the basic God

        *A panel of Shiva, with uma and Skana(Somaskanda) is there  below the  mango tree.

Anupallavi

SAnthatham akhanda  sachid anandam  ,

Samrajya pradha*  charanara vindham

      *Lord  is believed have given kingdom to Pallavas

Anupallavi

He is always   the  endless  divine  joy  ,

Whose lotus  like feet   would give an empire.

Charanam

Mangala kara  mandahasa  vadanam,

Manikhya  maya   Kanchi sadanam,

Anga soundharya   vijitha  madanam

Anthaka soodanam KUndha radhanam,

(Madhyama  kala SAhithyam)

Uthunga   kamaneeya   vrusha thurangam bhairavi prasngam*,

Guru guhantharangam Pruthvee  lingam.

    *Embraced by Parvathi

Charanam

He has an auspicious  shining  face  ,

He lives  in Kanchi   which is filled  with Manikhya gems,

He has won over God of love   by his  beauty  ,

He is the killer of  God  of death   and has teeth like  jasmine,

(Madhyama  Kala  Sahithyam)

He rides  on a tall  and very pretty bull and is the consort of Bhairavi,

He is in the mind of Guruguha and is there as a  Linga made of earth.