Pancha Bhoota Sthalams

The five basic elements in nature are - Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Aakash (Space). Pancha Bhoota Sthalams refer to the five Shiva temples each of which represents the manifestation of each of the above five elements. All these temples are located in South India – 4 in Tamil Nadu and 1 in Andhra Pradesh. It is believed that above 5 elements are enshrined in the Shiva Lingas at these temples. The following chart refers to these five Stalams

Elements	Shiva Linga	Temple	Name of Consort (Devi) of Shiva	Location
Earth	Prithvi Lingam	Ekambareshwar	Kamakshi	Kanchipuram, TN
Water	Appu (Jambu) Lingam	Jambukeshwar	Akhilandeshwari	Thiruvanaikaval (near Trichi), TN
Fire	Agni Lingam	Arunachaleshwar	Unnamalai Devi	Thiruvannamalai, TN
Air	Vaayu Lingam	Srikalahasteeshwar	Jananaprasannamba	Srikalahastee, (near Tirupati), AP
Space	Aakash Lingam	Thillainataraja	Sivakami	Chidambaram, TN

Thiruvannamalai

It is one of the Pancha Bhoota Sthalams representing fire element (Agni). It is believed that Lord Shiva appeared as column of Fire whose ends could not be gauged by Lord Vishnu and Lord Bramha. On the request of Lords Bramha and Vishnu, the column of Fire became a Hill. The Hill itself is considered as Lord Shiva. Since Shiva manifested in a column of Fire at this place, it is known as Arunachalam and hence the Lingam is known as “Agni Lingam”.

Kanchipuram

It is one of the Pancha Bhoota Sthalams representing Earth element (Prithvi). The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva (Ekambareshwar). According to Puranas, Parvati worshiped Shiva in the form of Lingam made of sand (known as Prithvi Lingam) under a mango tree. According to another Sthala Puran, Prithvi Lingam is located at Thiruvarur, TN.

Thiruvanaikaval

It is one of the Pancha Bhoota Sthalams representing the water element (Jala).  The name of this Lingam is Jambookeshwarar. The sanctum of Jambookeshwarar has an underground water spring. Parvati was directed by Lord Shiva to do penance for her misconduct. As per his directions, she found Jamboo forest (Thiruvanaikaval) and made a Lingam of water from the river Kaveri under a white jamboo tree. This place is located near Trichi.

Srikalahastee

It is one of the Pancha Bhoota Sthalams representing air element (Vaayu). This place is named after 3 staunch devotees of Shiva namely the spider (Sri), the serpent (Kala) and the elephant (Hasti). Pleased by their devotion Lord Shiva gave them the boon that their names will be merged with the Vaayu Linga and it will be called as Srikalahasteeswara. There are several legends connected with the glory of this temple. This kshetra is reputed to be Raahu-Ketu kshetra where people perform rituals to get rid of Raahu-Ketu dosh and Sarpa dosh.

Chidambaram

Shiva temple at Chidambaram represents the space element (Akash). In the Shiva puran this place is referred as the place where Lord Shiva strolled into Thillaivanam (spacey of Mangrove trees). He was followed by Lord Vishnu as Mohini. The rishis who were performing Tapas in this forest were disturbed by presence of Mohini and Lord Shiva. They tried to drive away Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu by their magical rituals and failed in their attempts. Then Lord Shiva with gentle smile and a serpent around his neck performed Aanand Tandava on the body of the demon (apasmara) under his foot. Hence deity is known as Thillainatarajan.