Koneswaram Temple - Etymology

Etymology

In the Tamil language, ancient temples are known as kovils,; thus the temple complex is known locally as Konecharam Kovil (Tamil: கோணேச்சரம்), the abode of Kona—Eiswara (the Chief Lord). The presiding Shiva deity's names are Konesar (Tamil: கோணேசர்) (pronounced Konechar or Konasir — a compound of Kona and Eiswara), Koneswaran, Kona—Natha and the goddess consort is called Mathumai Amman (another name for Mother goddess Amman). It later earned the title Thiru Koneswaram Kovil. The origin of the term Ko or Kone lies in the Old Tamil word for the terms "Lord", "King" or "Chief", which allude to the deity that presides here; this term appears in several Damili inscriptions of the 6th century BCE — 2nd century CE. Trincomalee, the coastal peninsula town where Koneswaram is located is an anglicized form of the old Tamil word "Thiru-kona-malai" (Tamil: திருகோணமலை), meaning "Lord of the Sacred Hill", its earliest reference found in the Tevaram of the 7th century by Campantar. Thiru is a generally used epithet denoting a "sacred" temple site while Malai means mountain or hill; Middle Tamil manuscripts and inscriptions mention the monumental compound shrine as the Thirukonamalai Konesar Kovil. Kona (Tamil: கோண) has other meanings in Old Tamil such as peak, while another origin for the term Koneswaram could come from the Tamil term Kuna (East). Therefore other translators suggest definitions of Trincomalee such as "sacred angular/peaked hill", "sacred eastern hill" or "three peaked hill". The temple was constructed atop Swami Rock, also called Swami Malai or Kona-ma-malai, a cliff on the peninsula that drops 400 feet (120 metres) directly into the sea.

The Trincomalee Koddiyar Bay, a circular natural harbour which the temple crowns towards the north, is sometimes referred to as Ko-Kannam or "Lord's Cheek", alluding to the cheek shape of Shiva's bull Nandi. Pathmanathan suggests that the Sanskrit equivalent of the port town's name is Go-Karna, meaning "Cow's Ear" or Gokarna Pattana and the deity's name Gokarneswara in Sanskrit. He offers an etymological link Thiru-Gokarna-Malai or Thiru-Gona-Malai based on this theory. Gokarna is also a place name in Karnartaka, India and Nepal associated with ancient Shiva temples and Ravana of the Ramayana, the former temple, the Mahabaleshwar Temple also earning praise in the Tevaram. A major shrine to the deity Bhadrakali exists within the Mahabaleshwar Temple complex, and similarly the Pathirakali Amman Temple of Trincomalee, dedicated to the same deity and significantly expanded by Rajendra Chola I, stands on Konesar Road before the entrance to Swami Rock.

Heralded as "Dakshina Kailasam"/"Then Kailasam" (Kailash of the South) because it lies on exactly the same longitude as the Tibetan mountain Mount Kailash (the primary abode of Shiva), Koneswaram's early black granite rock-cut architectural style shared similarities to Kailasanathar Temples of the subcontinent. Its traditional history and legends were compiled into the Sanskrit treatises Dakshina Kailasa Puranam — Sthala Puranam of Koneswaram, written in 1380 by Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan, and the Dakshina Kailasa Manmiam — three chapters of the Skanda Puranam of unknown antiquity — manuscripts of which have been discovered and dated from the 5th — 7th century. It was in the Puranas that the shrine first found reference as Koneiswara Parwatia, motivating Kullakottan Chola who learnt of its sanctity to sail to Trincomalee and develop the temple.

Koneswaram was also referred to as the Thirukonamalai Macchakeswaram/Macceswaram Kovil in some Middle Tamil inscriptions such as the Nilaveli inscription of the 10th century, which some writers note to be a Tamil rendering of the Sanskrit Matsyakesvara. Its connection to the Hindu spiritual master and ardent Shiva devotee Macchendra Nath, who founded the school of Hatha Yoga based on Shiva's teachings, and solidified the Natha order of Saivite belief as a distinct sect that gained ground on the island between the 9th and 10 century CE might have contributed to this name. The temple's "Aayiram Kaal Mandapam" earned it the title Pagoda of Trincomalee — Temple of a Thousand Columns among Europeans. The rocky promontory is dedicated to Siva in his ancient form of Kona-Eiswara, and is a major centre of pilgrimage today. The worship of Eiswara is noted to have been the original worship of the island; Jonathan Forbes and George Turnour state that it is probable there is no more ancient form of worship existing than that of Eiswara upon his sacred promontory.