Pancha Bhoota Sthalams
Five Shiva temples for the five elements
Five great Shiva temples, each worshipped as the manifestation of one of the five elements (pancha bhoota): earth, water, fire, air and space. Four are in Tamil Nadu and one, Srikalahasti, is in Andhra Pradesh.
In Shaiva tradition the universe is made of five elements, and Shiva pervades all of them. Visiting all five temples is considered a complete worship of Shiva in every form of creation.
Each temple shows its element in a tangible way: an earthen (sand) linga at Kanchipuram, a water spring that seeps up in the sanctum at Thiruvanaikaval, the hill itself as fire at Tiruvannamalai, a lamp that flickers in a windless sanctum at Srikalahasti, and an empty space – the Chidambara Rahasyam – at Chidambaram.