Gangaikonda Choleeswarar Temple, Koozhampandal,
Thiruvannamalai
Gangaikonda Choleeswarar Temple is dedicated to
Hindu God Shiva located at Koozhampandal Village in Thiruvannamalai District of
Tamilnadu. It is located very near to Kanchipuram Town. This temple is about 200 meters to the east of the main
road and was built by Isana Siva Pandita, the spiritual guru of Rajendra Chola
I. The temple is more than 1000 years old and maintained by ASI.
This
Siva temple was constructed during the time of Rajendra Chola I (1012 – 1044
A.D.). It is entirely possible that the Vishnu temple is also of this time. The
location of the Vishnu and Siva temples in this village are according to the
requirements of the Agamas and also the Vastu Sastra and thus reveal that this
township came up in the Chola times and was laid out in conformity with the
rules of these texts.
An
inscription in this village records the name Koozhamandal. An explanation
offered for this name is that Koozhan is the name for jackfruit tree and pandal
means a road. This was probably a village by which there was a road lined with
jackfruit trees. Now this temple is called as Jagannathesvarar temple.
Inscriptions in this temple give plenty of information about the history of
this place. The contents of these inscriptions reveal that this village was
originally called Vikramachola Puram.
The
temple is situated at about 18 Kms on Kanchipuram to Vandavasi route in a place
called Koozhampandal. From the main road, the temple is about 200 meters away towards
east. The temple is near the bus stop. Nearest Railway Station is located at
Kanchipuram and Nearest Airport is located at Chennai.
