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Ramanathaswamy Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to god Shiva located on Rameswaram island in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is also one of the twelve Jyothirlinga temples, where Shiva is worshipped in the form of a ''Jyotirlingam'' (English: pillar of light).It is one of the 274〔http://www.shivatemples.com/pps.php〕 Paadal Petra Sthalams, where the three of the most revered Nayanars (Saivite saints), Appar, Sundarar and Tirugnana Sambandar, have glorified the temple with their songs. The temple was expanded during the 12th century by Pandya Dynasty, and its principal shrines sanctum were renovated by Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan and his successor Gunaveera Cinkaiariyan of the Jaffna kingdom. The temple has the longest corridor among all Hindu temples in India.〔Bhargava 2006, p. 396〕 The temple is located in Rameswaram, an island town in South India, considered a holy pilgrimage site for Shaivites, Vaishnavites and Smarthas. According to the Ramayana, Rama, the seventh incarnation of god Vishnu, is believed to have prayed to Shiva here to absolve sin of killing a brahmana, committed during his war against the demon king Ravana in Sri Lanka.〔Jones 2007, p. 359〕 Rama wanted to have the largest ''lingam'' to worship Shiva. He directed Hanuman, the monkey lieutenant in his army, to bring the ''lingam'' from Himalayas. Since it took longer to bring the ''lingam'', Sita, the wife of Rama, built a small lingam out of the sand available in the sea shore, which is believed to be the ''lingam'' in the sanctum.〔 ==The Temple== The primary deity of the temple is Ramanathaswamy (Shiva) in the form of ''lingam''.〔 There are two lingams inside the sanctum - one built by Goddess Sita, from sand, residing as the main deity, Ramalingam and the one brought by Lord Hanuman from Kailash called Vishwalingam.〔Singh 2009, p. 18〕〔 Rama instructed that Vishwalingam should be worshipped first since it was brought by Lord Hanuman - the tradition continues even today.〔 Like all ancient temples in South India, there is a high compound wall (madil) on all four sides of the temple premises measuring about 865 feet furlong from east to west and one furlongs of 657 feet from north to south with huge towers (Gopurams) at the east and west and finished gate towers on the north and south. The temple has striking long corridors in its interior, running between huge colonnades on platforms above five feet high.〔Cole 1885, pp. clxvi-clxvii〕 The second corridor is formed by sandstone pillars, beams and ceiling. The junction of the third corridor on the west and the paved way leading from the western gopuram to Setumadhava shrine forms a unique structure in the form of a chess board and it is popularly known as Chokkattan Madapam where the Utsva deities are adorned and kept during the Vasanthotsavam (Spring festival) and on the 6th day festival in Adi (July–August) and Masi (February–March) conducted by the Setupati of Ramnad. The outer set of corridors is reputed to be the longest in the world being about 6.9 m height, 400 feet in each in the east and west and about 640 feet in north and south and inner corridors are about 224 feet in east and west and about 352 feet each in north and south.〔 Their width varies from 15.5 feet to 17 feet in the east and west about 172 feet on the north and south with width varying 14.5 feet to 17 feet.〔〔Bandopadhyay ,pp. 88-89〕〔 The total length of those corridors is thus 3850 feet. There are about 1212 pillars in the outer corridor.〔 Their height is about 30 feet from the floor to the center of the roof. The main tower or ''rajagopuram'' is 53 m tall. Most pillars are carved with individual composition.〔T. 2007, p. 28〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ramanathaswamy Temple」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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