Lord Shiva known as Ekambaranathar, Ekambareswarar and Female deity known as Kamatchi Amman.

Temple Location :

Kancheepuram is well connected by train and road from Chennai, the Capital City of Tamilnadu and also from other parts of the state. It is situated at a distance of 80 Kms from Chennai by road. Kancheepuram railway station is on the Chengalpattu-Arakkonam section of the Southern Railway.

Known as the "City of Temples", Kancheepuram is one of the seven great holy centers of ancient India. It was a royal capital once, a flourishing Buddhist and Jain center mentioned in the Tamil Epic Manimekalai, was intimately associated with Pallava and Chola Kings and was connected with the lives of saints. During the Chola period it was a seat of art, religion, education and trade. The Chola kings built several temples in and around Kancheepuram, also known as Kanchi.

Ekambaranathar temple is situated in this holy town of Kancheepuram, one of the Panch Bootha Sthalangal of God Shiva. This vast temple covers an area roughly 40 acres. It is one of ancient temple reported to be in existence from the year 600 AD. Pallava, Chola and Vijanagara Kings have contributed to the building of this temple. The presiding deity Shiva is worshipped here as Prithvi Lingam (Lingam of Earth). There is no seperate shrine for the Female deity as is customary in all the Shiva Temples found in Kancheepuram. All the 4 famous Saivite Saints, Appar, Sambandar, Manickavasgar and Sundarar have sung the glory of this temple.

There is a sacred mango tree inside the temple which is supposed to be more than 3000 years old. This tree is the Sthala Vruksham (Temple Tree) of this temple. The four branches of this tree represents the 4 Vedhas and the tree bears 4 different type of mango fruits in 4 different seasons. Goddess Parvathi, once seperated from her husband, came to Kancheepuram and made a Sivalingam out of sand and installed it under a mango tree on the banks of a river and worshipped it and got Shiva's hand in marriage.

It is believed that Kancheepuram stands first among the seven sacred cities of India.
Kanchi was the capital of the pallavas and remnants of the pallava art and sculpture is visible in the many temples here Kanchi is considered to be one of the three most important centers of Vaishnavites, the other being Srirangam and Tirumalai, with the addition of Tirunarayanpuram in Mysore. Lot of saints have visited here and worshipped the Lord. There are several noteworthy temples here. The temples belonging to the Vishnu kanchi are as follows. The temple of Varadarajaswami is situated on the top of the elephant hill or hastagiri. Vishnu in the form of Varadaraja helped Brahma complete his yaga by protecting him from the Vegavati River. On Brahma’s insistence he was manifested in the physical form here. The yathotakari temple is very famous. It is believed that the whole of Kancheepuram descended into darkness when the devoted kanikannan was banished from the court following which the saint Tirumazhisai and the Lord himself left the city. They returned however after the king apologized. The Vilakkoli Perumal Temple is a temple wherein Mahavishnu is given the name Deepa Prakasa. Here Lord Vishnu is supposed to have illuminated a dark place inorder to allow Brahma carry out his yaga.
Sri Vaikuntha Perumal temple is famous for its architecture Here the Lord is in the sitting posture and the Goddess is Vaikunthavalli Tayar. Sri Ulagalandar Temple is based on the mythological story of Vishnu taking the vamana avatar and making Bali the king of the underworld. Sri Ashtabhujam temple has the image of Lord Vishnu with ten eight hands. The Chitraguptaswami temple is one of the rare temples that worship Chitragupta. The Siva Kanchi temples are also many.
The most famous of the Siva temples here is the Ekambareswara temple wherein he is worshipped in the form of Prithvi linga. It is said that Parvati regained Siva under a mango tree here; the temple was called Ekamranatha and later Ekambareswara. The Kailasanatha temple and the Kanchapeswara temple are the other famous temples. The temples dedicated to other gods include Sri Kamakshiamman temple, Kumarakoshtam, Satyavrateswara and Sri Agastswarar and Sri Upanisahd Mutt.

Kancheepuram is very popular and is easily accessed by road and rail from chennai