Pancha Bhoota Sthalas: the five elements
In five temples of the south Mahadev is worshipped as one of the five elements, the pancha mahabhuta, out of which the Upanishads say the world is made.
At Kanchipuram he is earth, a linga of sand under the ancient mango tree; at Thiruvanaikaval he is water, and a spring seeps up beside the linga in the sanctum; at Tiruvannamalai he is fire, the hill itself, and the Karthigai Deepam is lit on its summit; at Srikalahasti he is air, and a lamp in the sanctum flickers though no breeze can reach it; at Chidambaram he is space, the akasha, and the Chidambara Rahasyam is an empty space behind a curtain hung with golden bilva leaves. Four are in Tamil Nadu and one in Andhra Pradesh, and all five are sung in the Tevaram.
Temples in this circuit
StandingEkambareswarar Temple, Kanchipuram
The earth (Prithvi) sthala of the Pancha Bhuta lingas, where Mata Parvati shaped a linga of sand under a mango tree. Its 11-tier rajagopuram is one of the tallest in the south.
StandingJambukeswarar Temple, Thiruvanaikaval
The water sthala of the Pancha Bhuta lingas, on Srirangam island, where a spring rises in the sanctum around the linga. An elephant and a spider worshipped Shiva here.
StandingArunachaleswara Temple, Tiruvannamalai
The fire sthala of the Pancha Bhuta lingas, at the foot of Arunachala, the hill that is itself worshipped as Shiva. On Karthigai Deepam a great flame is lit on its summit.
RebuiltSrikalahasteeswara Temple, Srikalahasti
The air linga among the five element shrines of Shiva, on the Swarnamukhi river, where the hunter Kannappa offered his eyes. Its Vijayanagara gopuram fell in 2010 and has been rebuilt.
StandingThillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram
Where Shiva danced the Ananda Tandava in the Thillai forest, and the Akasha (space) sthala of the Pancha Bhuta lingas. The sanctum’s ‘Chidambara Rahasyam’ is an empty space hung with a golden garland.