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Ramanathaswamy Temple

Hindu temple in Rameswaram island in the state of Tamil Nadu, India

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ14565670 ↗
Source-derived summary

Ramanathaswamy Temple (Rāmanātasvāmi Kōyil) is a Hindu temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva located on Rameswaram island in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the twelve Jyotirlinga temples. It is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams, the sacred sites glorified by the Nayanars (Shaivite poet-saints), Appar, Sundarar, and Sambandar, with their songs. According to tradition, the lingam (an aniconic form of Shiva) of the Ramanathaswamy Temple was established and worshipped by Rama before he crossed the bridge called Rama Setu to the island kingdom of Lanka, identified with Sri Lanka. It is one of the Char Dham pilgrimage sites. The temple was expanded during the 12th century by the Pandya Dynasty, and its principal shrine’s sanctum was renovated by Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan and his successor Gunaveera Cinkaiariyan, monarchs of the Jaffna kingdom. The temple has the longest corridor among all the Hindu temples of India. It was built by King Muthuramalinga Sethupathy. The temple is considered a pilgrimage site for Shaivites, Vaishnavites, and Smartas.

Legend

In the Yuddha Kanda of the Ramayana, on their journey back to Ayodhya, Rama narrates to Sita the appearance and worship of Shiva in the form of a lingam on the island of Rameswaram before the construction of his bridge to Lanka.

Editorial summary

“Ramanathaswamy Temple” enters the record as hindu temple in Rameswaram island in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ramanathaswamy, Temple and Hindu can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current 212-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Ramanathaswamy, Temple and Hindu.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Ramanathaswamy Temple” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Ramanathaswamy, Temple and Hindu provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q14565670. Authority coordinates are 9.288, 79.317. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Ramanathaswamy Temple”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Ramanathaswamy Temple primary sources, Ramanathaswamy Temple archive and Ramanathaswamy research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ramanathaswamy Temple”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Ramanathaswamy Temple” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.