01Sung by Sambandar
Koneswaram stands on a promontory that ends in a sheer drop to the sea, and it is counted among the five ancient Ishwarams of Lanka, the Shiva shrines that mark the island’s shores. Thirugnana Sambandar and Sundarar both sang of Shiva at Thirukonamalai in the Tevaram, which places the temple in the Tamil Shaiva canon of the seventh century. The Dakshina Kailasa Puranam and the local Tamil chronicles tell of its greatness and its gopurams; Ravana is said in the tradition to have worshipped Shiva here.
021622 and after
In 1622 the Portuguese captain-general Constantino de Sá de Noronha took Trincomalee, pulled down the temple and used its stones to build a fort across the neck of the promontory, the fort later held by the Dutch and the British as Fort Frederick. Priests are said to have carried some images away to safety before the attack. In the twentieth century bronze images were recovered from the ground and the sea around the rock, and Tamil Hindus rebuilt the temple, which was consecrated in 1952. A Shiva statue now looks out over the bay.
The life of this place
- 1622Constantino de Sá de Noronha destroys the temple and builds a fort with its stones.
- 1952Rebuilding of the temple begins on Swami Rock.
- 1963The rebuilt temple opens for worship.
Reached through the gate of Fort Frederick, still an army post, in Trincomalee town. The cliff behind the temple, Ravana’s Cleft, is worth seeing at sunset.
