Known as the City of Thousand Temples, the ancient city of Kanchipuram, also known as Kanjeevaram or simply Kanchi in Tamilnadu, is traditionally divided into two parts, namely, Shiva Kanchi and Vishnu Kanchi. The western and larger part of the city, known as Shiva Kanchi or Big Kanchi, contains several temples dedicated to Lord Shiva, among which the Ekambareswarar Temple or Ekambaranathar Temple is most important. The temple is significant to the Shaivas or Shaivites, the followers of Lord Shiva, as one of the temples associated with the five elements, the Pancha Bhoota, representing a manifestation of the five prime elements of nature with which life is made, namely Bhumi or Earth or Prithvi, Water or Varuna, Fire or Agni, Air or Vayu, and Space or Indra. The Pancha Bhoota or the five elements are believed to be enshrined in the five lingams representing Shiva in five different temples in different places, and each of the lingams has a different name, based on the element it represents. In the Ekambareswarar Temple, Lord Shiva is worshipped and represented in the form of Prithvi Lingam, named Ekambareshwarar or Ekambaranatha, representing the element Earth or Prithvi.

Legend says, one day when Goddess Parvati playfully covered Shiva’s eyes, and the world suddenly filled with darkness, as both the Sun and Moon darkened, Lord Shiva immediately opened his third eye to save the world from darkness. The after-effect of her act made Parvati feel guilty, and she decided to absolve herself from the sin of her misdeed by doing penance or spiritual meditation under a mango tree near River Vegavati. However, to test the intensity of her earnestness, when Shiva set her on fire, and Parvati started to pray to Lord Vishnu to save her from the fire, Vishnu in his turn took the moon from Lord Shiva’s head and showered its rays onto the mango tree and Parvati to cool it down. Even after that, Shiva sent the River Ganga or Ganges to disrupt her meditation, but Parvati convinced Ganga not to disrupt her penance, as they are sisters and worship the same supreme power, Lord Shiva. After completing her penance, Parvati worshipped a Shiva Lingam made out of sand, to please the Lord, and Shiva became pleased to appear before her as Ekambareswarar or Lord of Mango the Tree.

However, according to another mythical tale, one day when Parvati was worshipping Lord Shiva in the form of Prithvi Lingam, which she made out of the sand, under a mango tree located near the Vegavati River, the overflowing river threatened to engulf the Shiva Lingam. During that intimidating moment, finding no other way to save the deity, Parvati tightly embraced the Lingam in the form of Kamakshi, to protect it even at the cost of her life. That selfless attitude of Parvati won the heart of Lord Shiva, and he appeared before her in person and married her.

The history of the construction of the complete granite temple of Ekambareswarar is a testament to the architectural and religious legacy of the region, with contributions from various ruling dynasties. Believed to be one of the most ancient temples in India, it has been in existence since at least 600 AD, when its initial structure, in all probability a wooden structure, was built by the Pallava King Mahendra Varman I, who ruled in the northern parts of present-day Tamil Nadu and the southern part of Andhra Pradesh, from around 600 to 630 AD. Much later, in the 9th century, the existing structure was pulled down and rebuilt by the Chola Kings, who also made several architectural contributions to the temple. However, during the 15th century, the succeeding Vijayanagara kings, especially Krishna Devaraya, the greatest of the Vijayanagara kings, made a lot of contributions to the temple, which include the construction of the 194 feet tall massive 9-storey gopuram, the magnificent thousand-pillared hall, along with multiple Praharams or walkways around the main shrine.

Covering a huge area of more than 9.3 hectares (93000 sq m), the Ekambareswarar Temple is a prime example of Dravidian architecture, characterised by its pyramidal gateway towers, known as gopurams, spacious courtyards, and intricate carvings. Among its multiple gopurams, the 194 feet (59 m) tall Raja gopuram, equipped with shrines of Vinayaka and Murugan on either side in the bottom half, is one of the tallest in South India. Apart from several smaller shrines, the temple complex contains two halls, the Vahana Mandapam or the Vehicle Hall, and Sarabesa Mandapam, also known as Navaratri Hall. However, the Aayiram Kaal Mandapam, or the Hallway with a thousand pillars, is a stunning example of Vijayanagara architecture, featuring numerous intricately carved pillars that support the structure. The flag staff of the temple is diagonally located between the main entrance and the temple tank, and the hall of the flagstaff also has pillars sculpted with intricate figures indicating various legends and avatars or forms of Lord Shiva. In addition to that, the temple also features ten unique musical pillars in the inner corridor of the temple that produce different musical notes when tapped, showcasing the super craftsmanship of the artisans.

The inner sanctum of the Ekambareswarar Temple houses the Prithvi Lingam, representing the element of Earth or Prithvi, along with a statue of the divine pair, Shiva and Parvati sitting together. There is also a plaque in the sanctum, located behind the Prithvi Lingam, depicting Shiva and Parvati as Tazhuvakuzhainthaar Swami and Parvati as Elavarkuzhali Amma. The temple's inner most precincts are decorated with an array of Shivalingam, one of which is a Sahasra Lingam with 1,008 Siva Lingams sculpted on it. Strangely, although the temple area contains several smaller shrines dedicated to different deities, there is no shrine of Parvati within the temple complex.

Apart from the daily rituals, the weekly rituals of Somavaram, the fortnightly rituals of Pradosham, and the other monthly festivals like Amavasai, are performed regularly in the temple. In addition to that, the temple celebrates lots of festivals throughout the year, among which the Panguni Brahmotsavam is the most important and popular of all the temple festivals in Kanchipuram. The festival is celebrated for ten days during the Tamil month of Panguni, which is between March and April, when the festive images of presiding deities of the temple are carried by various mounts around the streets of the temple. On the fifth day of the celebration, Ekambareswarar is carried by silver mount Nandi or Nandikeshwara in the morning and by Ravaneshwara Vahanam in the evening. The 63 Nayanmars, a group of 63 Tamil Hindu saints revered in the Shaivism tradition, are carried in procession in the morning of the sixth day, while Ekambareswarar is carried by a silver car in the evening. The festival concludes on the 10th day with Kalyanotsavam or the marriage festival, when the wedding of Ekambareshwar and Parvati is enacted, and on that auspicious day, several unmarried men and women also tie knots, along with the divine couple.