Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee or
Thirukonamalai Konesar Temple – The Temple of the Thousand Pillars and
Dakshina-Then Kailasam is a classical-medieval
Hindu temple complex in
Trincomalee, a Hindu
religious pilgrimage centre in
Eastern Province,
Sri Lanka. Built significantly during the reign of the early Cholas and the Five Dravidians of the
Early Pandyan Kingdom atop Konesar Malai, a promontory overlooking
Trincomalee District,
Gokarna bay and the
Indian Ocean, its Pallava, Chola, Pandyan and Jaffna design reflect a continual Tamil Saivite influence in the
Vannimai region from the classical period. The monument contains its main shrine to
Shiva in the form
Kona-Eiswara, shortened to
Konesar and is a major place for Hindu pilgrimage, labelled the "Rome of the Gentiles/Pagans of the Orient". Connected at the mouth of the
Mahavilli Ganga River to the footprint of Shiva at
Sivan Oli Padam Malai at the river’s source, the temple symbolically crowns the flow of the
Ganges River from Shiva’s head of Mount Kailash to his feet.