Ketheeswaram temple
Encyclopedia
Ketheeswaram temple is an ancient Hindu
temple
in Mannar
, Northern Province
Sri Lanka
. Overlooking the ancient period Tamil port towns of Manthai and Kudiramalai
, the temple has lay in ruins, been restored, renovated and enlarged by various royals and devotees throughout its history. Tirukkētīsvaram is one of five Ishvarams dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva
and is venerated by Shaivas
throughout the continent. Throughout its history, the temple has been administered and frequented by Sri Lankan Hindu Tamils. Its famous tank, the Palavi tank, is of ancient antiquity and was restored from the ruins. Tirukkētīsvaram is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams of Shiva glorified in the poems of the Tevaram
.
Literary and inscriptional evidence of the post classical period (300BC-1500AD) attests to the upkeep of the temple during the ancient period
by kings of the Pallava, Pandyan Dynasty and Chola
dynasties who contributed to its development up to the late 16th century. In 1575, Tirukkētīsvaram was largely destroyed by Portuguese colonials
, with Pujas terminating at the shrine in 1589. Following an appeal by Arumuka Navalar
in 1872, the temple was rebuilt at its original site in 1903.
in Lanka very long before the arrival of Vijaya
in 600 B.C. . The shrine is known to have existed for at least 2400 years, with inspirational and literary evidence of the postclassical era ( 600BC - 1500AD) attesting to the shrine's classical antiquity
. The buried ancient Tamil trading port of Manthottam (Mantotai/Manthai) in the Mannar District
— where Ketheeswaram is located — has provided historians extant remains of the culture of the area during the ancient period. This includes the vestiges of its ancient temple tank (the Palavi tank), and the ruins of a former Hindu city built of brick, described by J.W. Bennet in 1843. During the ancient period, Mathoddam was a centre of international trade, with Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians, Arabs, Ethiopians, Persians, Chinese, Japanese, Burmese and others vying with each other to monopolise the trade of North Ceylon with Tamil traders. Mathoddam is currently viewed as the only port on the island that could be called a "buried city," with much of the ancient ruins under sand today. The existence of the Thiru-Ketheeswaram temple attests to the antiquity of the port. Mathoddam finds mention as "one of the greatest ports" on the seaboard between the island and Tamilakkam
in the Tamil
Sangam literature
of the classical period
(600 BCE - 300 CE). Hugh Nevill
wrote in 1887 of the illustrious city of Mathoddam “A renowned shrine grew into repute there dedicated to one Supreme God symbolized by a single stone, and in later times restored by a Saivaite after lying long in ruins. The temple was dedicated as "Tiru-Kethes-Waram.”
One of the five ancient Iswarams of Lord Shiva
on the island, Ketheeswaram joins Koneswaram
(Trincomalee
), Naguleswaram
(Keerimalai
), Tenavaram (Tevan Thurai
) and Munneswaram
(Puttalam
) as a renowned and highly frequented pilgrimage site from before 600 BCE. In the 6th-9th century CE, the temple was glorified in the Tevaram canon, becoming one of 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, the holiest Shiva temples on the continent. The only other Paadal Petra Sthalam from Eela Nādu
(the country of the temple as named in the Tamil literature) is Koneswaram.
Thiruketheeswaram's initial installment is credited to the indigenous people of the Manthai port, the Karaiyar
Naga tribe. The Karaiyar claimed to be related to several classical period public figures hailing from the international port town, including the creator of the oldest extant Tamil literature by an Eelam Tamilian, the Sangam poet Eelattu Poothanthevanar
.
6th-7th century hymn
Ketisvaram temple and the waters of the Palavi tank by its side are heralded in the Saiva
work Tevaram
in the 6th century CE by Campantar
. Along with Koneswaram temple
on Swami Rock, Trincomalee
, Ketisvaram temple and its deity are praised in the same literature canon by the 8th century CE Nayanmar, Cuntarar, in the Sangam period. Tirukketisvaram henceforth is glorified as one of 275 Shiva Sthalams of the continent, part of the Paadal Petra Sthalam group. The only other sthalam from Eelam
is Koneswaram. There is epigraphic evidence of maintenance of the temple by the Pallava and Pandyan dynasties.
10th century
Several Chola inscriptions from its medieval floruit
refer to Ketisvaram and two Sinhala inscriptions of the 10 century refer to the prohibition on slaughtering cows at the town.
12th century
Dathavamsa, (12 century) speaks of a Hindu temple at Mantotai in the reign of King Meghavannan. (301-328).
16th century destruction by the Portuguese
After 1505 A.C.E along with countless Buddhist and Hindu temples around the island, it was destroyed by Portuguese
Catholic
colonialists. The historian Do Couto recounts that the attackers encountered no resistance from pilgrims or priests while the temple was destroyed. In 1589 C.E. the temple stones were used by them to build the Mannar Fort, a Catholic church and the Hammershield Fort at Kayts
.
19th/20th century reconstruction
The original site of the Temple was traced in 1894. The Shiva lingam
of the old shrine together with several other finds were also unearthed in 1894. After a gap of almost 400 years in 1910s local Tamils, under the urging of Hindu reformer Arumuka Navalar
, came together and built the present temple. With the restoration of the ancient and holy Palavi Teertham or pond in 1949, a major effort was made to improve the temple environs. It was in October 1948 that an intensive agitation resulted in the formation of the Thiruketheeswaram Temple Restoration Society, which renovated the temple and performed Kumbhabishekam in August 1952. The Thiruketheeswaram Temple Restoration Society did further renovation of the temple and another Kumbhabhishekam was held on July 4, 1976.
As part of the civil war that has plagued the country since the Black July
pogrom of 1983 currently the temple is occupied by the Sri Lankan Army
. While granite work preparations were in progress the army took over the Temple and its environs in August 1990 and continued to occupy the site for several years. Although they have left the Temple premises their occupation of its environs is a cause of concern to the Restoration Society which has been urging the Government to remove the Armed Forces completely from the environs of the Temple and declare the site a sacred area.
recount that Mandothari, the wife of King Ravana
was from Manthai and that Mayan, the father of Mandothari and the King of Manthai built the ancient Temple of Thiruketheeswaram to worship Shiva. According to one Hindu legend, Maharishi Bhrigu worshipped Shiva at this shrine. Another tradition holds that the Hindu planetary god Ketu
worshipped Shiva at the shrine, thus creating the shrine's name "Ketheeswaram". Another legend is found in the Skanda Purana
, an ancient work in Sanskrit
, the antiquity of which is unknown. It consists of 2500 verses grouped into 27 Chapters and had been handed down in accordance with the traditional custom as oral discourses by the Guru to his disciples in this case by Sootha Munivar to the Naimisaraniya Munivars. Three Chapters of the Skanda Purana which have been given the title Dhakshana Kailasa Manmiam deal with historical events in ancient Ceylon. The first chapter narrates about the Puranas
in general and the splendour that was of ancient Ceylon; the second chapter relates about the celebrated places of religious importance in Ceylon and the story of "Thiruketheeswaram". In this chapter is narrated the incident of how, at one time long ago, the God of Wind (Vayu
) uprooted the three towers of the great mountain Maha Meru
in order to keep off Athichedan — who fought against him, obstructing the great mountain with thousands of adorned summits resembling serpents’ heads — and deposited one of these towers at Thiruketheeswaram. The Lord established Himself there, at Thiruketheeswaram. According to the Manmiam, Thiruketheeswaram along with Koneswaram are two of the nine most sacred sthalams of the Hindus. The other seven are in India.
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
in Mannar
Mannar, Sri Lanka
Mannar , formerly spelled Manar, is the capital of Mannar District, Sri Lanka. It is located on Mannar Island.Mannar is known for its baobab trees and for its fort, built by the Portuguese in 1560 and taken by the Dutch in 1658 and rebuilt; its ramparts and bastions are intact, though the interior...
, Northern Province
Northern Province, Sri Lanka
The Northern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Between 1988 and 2006 the province was...
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. Overlooking the ancient period Tamil port towns of Manthai and Kudiramalai
Kudiramalai
Kudiramalai is a headland cape, point and ancient port town on the west coast of Sri Lanka. It was once a flourishing emporium of international trade and the capital of an ancient Kingdom based in Jaffna peninsula of the Naka, before the capital was moved to Nallur in the medieval period...
, the temple has lay in ruins, been restored, renovated and enlarged by various royals and devotees throughout its history. Tirukkētīsvaram is one of five Ishvarams dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and is venerated by Shaivas
Shaivism
Shaivism is one of the four major sects of Hinduism, the others being Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas," and also "Saivas" or "Saivites," revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer,...
throughout the continent. Throughout its history, the temple has been administered and frequented by Sri Lankan Hindu Tamils. Its famous tank, the Palavi tank, is of ancient antiquity and was restored from the ruins. Tirukkētīsvaram is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams of Shiva glorified in the poems of the Tevaram
Tevaram
The Tevaram denotes the first seven volumes of the Tirumurai, the twelve-volume collection of Tamil Saivite devotional poetry. All seven volumes are dedicated to the works of the three most prominent Tamil poets - Campantar , Appar and Cuntarar...
.
Literary and inscriptional evidence of the post classical period (300BC-1500AD) attests to the upkeep of the temple during the ancient period
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
by kings of the Pallava, Pandyan Dynasty and Chola
Chola Dynasty
The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which was one of the longest-ruling in some parts of southern India. The earliest datable references to this Tamil dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC left by Asoka, of Maurya Empire; the dynasty continued to govern over varying territory until...
dynasties who contributed to its development up to the late 16th century. In 1575, Tirukkētīsvaram was largely destroyed by Portuguese colonials
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
, with Pujas terminating at the shrine in 1589. Following an appeal by Arumuka Navalar
Arumuka Navalar
Arumuka Navalar was one the early revivalists of native Hindu Tamil traditions in Sri Lanka and India. He and others like him were responsible for reviving and reforming native traditions that had come under a long period of dormancy and decline during the previous 400 years of colonial rule by...
in 1872, the temple was rebuilt at its original site in 1903.
History
The exact date of the Ketheeswaram temple's birth is not universally agreed upon. According to Dr. Paul E. Peiris, an erudite scholar and historian, Thirukketisvaram was one of the file recognized Eeswarams of SivaSiva
Siva may refer to:*Shiva, a major Hindu God*Živa , a Slavic goddess*A pro-apoptotic signaling protein*1170 Siva, asteroid named after the god*Siva , name of several rural localities in Russia...
in Lanka very long before the arrival of Vijaya
Vijaya
Prince Vijaya was the first recorded King of Sri Lanka mentioned in the ancient Sri Lankan Pali chronicles. His reign is traditionally dated to 543 BC - 505 BC....
in 600 B.C. . The shrine is known to have existed for at least 2400 years, with inspirational and literary evidence of the postclassical era ( 600BC - 1500AD) attesting to the shrine's classical antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
. The buried ancient Tamil trading port of Manthottam (Mantotai/Manthai) in the Mannar District
Mannar District
Mannar district is one of the 25 administrative districts of Sri Lanka. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The headquarters is located in Mannar, Sri Lanka...
— where Ketheeswaram is located — has provided historians extant remains of the culture of the area during the ancient period. This includes the vestiges of its ancient temple tank (the Palavi tank), and the ruins of a former Hindu city built of brick, described by J.W. Bennet in 1843. During the ancient period, Mathoddam was a centre of international trade, with Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians, Arabs, Ethiopians, Persians, Chinese, Japanese, Burmese and others vying with each other to monopolise the trade of North Ceylon with Tamil traders. Mathoddam is currently viewed as the only port on the island that could be called a "buried city," with much of the ancient ruins under sand today. The existence of the Thiru-Ketheeswaram temple attests to the antiquity of the port. Mathoddam finds mention as "one of the greatest ports" on the seaboard between the island and Tamilakkam
Ancient Tamil country
The Sangam period is the classical period in the history of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other parts of South India, spanning about the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE...
in the Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
Sangam literature
Sangam literature
Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...
of the classical period
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
(600 BCE - 300 CE). Hugh Nevill
Hugh Nevill
Hugh Nevill was a British civil servant, best known for his scholarship and studies of the culture of Sri Lanka.-Biography:Nevill went to Sri Lanka in 1865, as a Private Secretary to the Chief Justice. From 1869 to 1897 he followed a career in the British Civil Service, which led to his...
wrote in 1887 of the illustrious city of Mathoddam “A renowned shrine grew into repute there dedicated to one Supreme God symbolized by a single stone, and in later times restored by a Saivaite after lying long in ruins. The temple was dedicated as "Tiru-Kethes-Waram.”
One of the five ancient Iswarams of Lord Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
on the island, Ketheeswaram joins Koneswaram
Koneswaram temple
Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee is an Hindu temple in Trincomalee, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka venerated by Saivites throughout the continent...
(Trincomalee
Trincomalee
Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
), Naguleswaram
Naguleswaram temple
-See also:* Hinduism in Sri Lanka* Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil* Vallipuram* Keerimalai* Kantharodai-External links:******...
(Keerimalai
Keerimalai
Keerimalai 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 Keerimalai means Mongoose-Hill, see Naguleswaram temple....
), Tenavaram (Tevan Thurai
Dondra Head
Dondra Head is a cape on the extreme southern tip of Sri Lanka, in the Indian Ocean, near the small town of Dondra near Galle, Southern Province, Sri Lanka...
) and Munneswaram
Munneswaram temple
Munneswaram temple is an important regional Hindu temple complex in Sri Lanka, a predominantly Buddhist country. It has been in existence at least since 1000 CE, although myths surrounding the temple associate it with the popular Indian epic Ramayana, and its legendary hero-king Rama...
(Puttalam
Puttalam
Puttalam is the capital city of the Puttalam District in North Western Province, Sri Lanka.-History:The history of this dry zone dates back to the arrival of Prince Vijaya, nearly 2500 years ago, when his vessel washed ashore. The name "Puttalam" may be a modification of the Tamil word Uppuththalam...
) as a renowned and highly frequented pilgrimage site from before 600 BCE. In the 6th-9th century CE, the temple was glorified in the Tevaram canon, becoming one of 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, the holiest Shiva temples on the continent. The only other Paadal Petra Sthalam from Eela Nādu
Eelam
Eelam also spelled Eezham, Ilam or Izham in English is the native Tamil name for the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Eelam is also a name for the spurge , toddy and gold. The exact etymology and the original meaning of the word are not clearly known, although there are number of...
(the country of the temple as named in the Tamil literature) is Koneswaram.
Chronology
Built by KaraiyarThiruketheeswaram's initial installment is credited to the indigenous people of the Manthai port, the Karaiyar
Karaiyar
Karaiyar, also known as Karayar, Karaiar or Kurukulam, is traditionally both a seafaring and warrior caste found in the Tamil Nadu state of India, coastal areas of Sri Lanka, and globally among the Tamil diaspora.-Origins:...
Naga tribe. The Karaiyar claimed to be related to several classical period public figures hailing from the international port town, including the creator of the oldest extant Tamil literature by an Eelam Tamilian, the Sangam poet Eelattu Poothanthevanar
Eelattu Poothanthevanar
Eelattu Poothanthevanar was one of the earliest known classical Tamil poets. His poems were included in the Tamil sangam or Cankam poetry anthologies compiled in Tamilakam before 250 AD...
.
6th-7th century hymn
Ketisvaram temple and the waters of the Palavi tank by its side are heralded in the Saiva
Shaivism
Shaivism is one of the four major sects of Hinduism, the others being Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas," and also "Saivas" or "Saivites," revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer,...
work Tevaram
Tevaram
The Tevaram denotes the first seven volumes of the Tirumurai, the twelve-volume collection of Tamil Saivite devotional poetry. All seven volumes are dedicated to the works of the three most prominent Tamil poets - Campantar , Appar and Cuntarar...
in the 6th century CE by Campantar
Campantar
Tirugnana Sampantar was a young Saiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived around the 7th century CE....
. Along with Koneswaram temple
Koneswaram temple
Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee is an Hindu temple in Trincomalee, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka venerated by Saivites throughout the continent...
on Swami Rock, Trincomalee
Trincomalee
Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
, Ketisvaram temple and its deity are praised in the same literature canon by the 8th century CE Nayanmar, Cuntarar, in the Sangam period. Tirukketisvaram henceforth is glorified as one of 275 Shiva Sthalams of the continent, part of the Paadal Petra Sthalam group. The only other sthalam from Eelam
Eelam
Eelam also spelled Eezham, Ilam or Izham in English is the native Tamil name for the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Eelam is also a name for the spurge , toddy and gold. The exact etymology and the original meaning of the word are not clearly known, although there are number of...
is Koneswaram. There is epigraphic evidence of maintenance of the temple by the Pallava and Pandyan dynasties.
10th century
Several Chola inscriptions from its medieval floruit
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
refer to Ketisvaram and two Sinhala inscriptions of the 10 century refer to the prohibition on slaughtering cows at the town.
12th century
Dathavamsa, (12 century) speaks of a Hindu temple at Mantotai in the reign of King Meghavannan. (301-328).
16th century destruction by the Portuguese
After 1505 A.C.E along with countless Buddhist and Hindu temples around the island, it was destroyed by Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
colonialists. The historian Do Couto recounts that the attackers encountered no resistance from pilgrims or priests while the temple was destroyed. In 1589 C.E. the temple stones were used by them to build the Mannar Fort, a Catholic church and the Hammershield Fort at Kayts
Kayts
Kayts , is one of the important villages in Velanai Island which is a small island off the coast of Jaffna Peninsula in the North of Sri Lanka. There are number of other villages within the Velanai Island such as Allaipiddy, Mankumpan, Velanai, Saravanai, Puliyankoodal, Suruvil, Naranthanai and...
.
19th/20th century reconstruction
The original site of the Temple was traced in 1894. The Shiva lingam
Lingam
The Lingam is a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples....
of the old shrine together with several other finds were also unearthed in 1894. After a gap of almost 400 years in 1910s local Tamils, under the urging of Hindu reformer Arumuka Navalar
Arumuka Navalar
Arumuka Navalar was one the early revivalists of native Hindu Tamil traditions in Sri Lanka and India. He and others like him were responsible for reviving and reforming native traditions that had come under a long period of dormancy and decline during the previous 400 years of colonial rule by...
, came together and built the present temple. With the restoration of the ancient and holy Palavi Teertham or pond in 1949, a major effort was made to improve the temple environs. It was in October 1948 that an intensive agitation resulted in the formation of the Thiruketheeswaram Temple Restoration Society, which renovated the temple and performed Kumbhabishekam in August 1952. The Thiruketheeswaram Temple Restoration Society did further renovation of the temple and another Kumbhabhishekam was held on July 4, 1976.
As part of the civil war that has plagued the country since the Black July
Black July
Black July is the commonly used name for the anti-Tamil pogrom and attacks carried out by mobs in Sri Lanka which began on July 23, 1983. The riots occurred following a deadly ambush by a Tamil militant organization known as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam which killed 13 Sri Lanka Army soldiers...
pogrom of 1983 currently the temple is occupied by the Sri Lankan Army
Sri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...
. While granite work preparations were in progress the army took over the Temple and its environs in August 1990 and continued to occupy the site for several years. Although they have left the Temple premises their occupation of its environs is a cause of concern to the Restoration Society which has been urging the Government to remove the Armed Forces completely from the environs of the Temple and declare the site a sacred area.
Legends
Mythical stories related to the Indian epic RamayanaRamayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
recount that Mandothari, the wife of King Ravana
Ravana
' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...
was from Manthai and that Mayan, the father of Mandothari and the King of Manthai built the ancient Temple of Thiruketheeswaram to worship Shiva. According to one Hindu legend, Maharishi Bhrigu worshipped Shiva at this shrine. Another tradition holds that the Hindu planetary god Ketu
Ketu
*In Vedic astrology, Ketu is the Moon's South node. Ketu is generally referred to as a "shadow" planet.*Ketu is a historical location in present day Benin.*Ketu is another name for the mountain K2....
worshipped Shiva at the shrine, thus creating the shrine's name "Ketheeswaram". Another legend is found in the Skanda Purana
Skanda Purana
The Skanda Purana is the largest Mahapurana, a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text is devoted mainly to the lilas of Kartikeya , a son of Shiva and Parvati. It also contains a number of legends about Shiva, and the holy places associated with him...
, an ancient work in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, the antiquity of which is unknown. It consists of 2500 verses grouped into 27 Chapters and had been handed down in accordance with the traditional custom as oral discourses by the Guru to his disciples in this case by Sootha Munivar to the Naimisaraniya Munivars. Three Chapters of the Skanda Purana which have been given the title Dhakshana Kailasa Manmiam deal with historical events in ancient Ceylon. The first chapter narrates about the Puranas
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
in general and the splendour that was of ancient Ceylon; the second chapter relates about the celebrated places of religious importance in Ceylon and the story of "Thiruketheeswaram". In this chapter is narrated the incident of how, at one time long ago, the God of Wind (Vayu
Vayu
Vāyu is a primary Hindu deity, the Lord of the winds, the father of Bhima and the spiritual father of Lord Hanuman...
) uprooted the three towers of the great mountain Maha Meru
Semeru
Semeru, or Mount Semeru , is a volcano located in East Java, Indonesia. It is the highest mountain on the island of Java...
in order to keep off Athichedan — who fought against him, obstructing the great mountain with thousands of adorned summits resembling serpents’ heads — and deposited one of these towers at Thiruketheeswaram. The Lord established Himself there, at Thiruketheeswaram. According to the Manmiam, Thiruketheeswaram along with Koneswaram are two of the nine most sacred sthalams of the Hindus. The other seven are in India.