page_title: Kameeswarar temple
section_title: Religious importance and festivals
hierarchical_section_title: Kameeswarar temple / Religious importance and festivals
caption_attribution_description: English: Villianur temple panorama
context_page_description: Kameeswarar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva, located in Villianur, a town in the South Indian Union territory of Puducherry. Shiva is worshiped as Kameeswarar, and is represented by the lingam. His consort Parvati is depicted as KokilambaAmman.
  The temple complex covers an area of two acres and all its shrines are enclosed with concentric rectangular walls. The temple has a number of shrines, with those of Kameeswarar, his consort KokilambaAmman and Ranganathar being the most prominent.
  The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and many yearly festivals on its calendar. Brahmotsavam, the prime festival during the Tamil month of Aadi is the most prominent festival celebrated in the temple.
  The original complex is believed to have been built by Cholas, with later additions from different ruling dynasties. In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Puducherry.
context_section_description: The temple priests perform the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis. The temple rituals are performed three times a day; Kalasanthi at 8:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 a.m. and Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m. Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram (decoration), naivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for Kameeswarar and Gnanambigai. Unlike other shiva temples, anointing with oil is not performed in the temple. There are weekly rituals like somavaram (Monday) and sukravaram (Friday), fortnightly rituals like pradosham, and monthly festivals like amavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, pournami (full moon day) and sathurthi. Brahmotsavam, the prime festival during the Tamil month of Aadi (July - August) is the most prominent festival celebrated in the temple.
caption: Panorama of the temple
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