About Pancha Bhoota Stalam
Pancha Bhoota Sthalam refers to five temples dedicated to Shiva, each representing a manifestation of the five prime elements of nature: earth, water, fire, air, and ether.
Pancha indicates “five,” Bhoota means “elements,” and Sthala means “place.” The temples are located in South India, four in Tamil Nadu and one in Andhra Pradesh.
The five elements are believed to be enshrined in the five Lingams of the temples, with each lingam named on the element represented.
All five temples are located around the 78°E and 79°E longitudes and between 10°N and 14°N latitudes.
The presiding deities are revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the Nayanars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam.
The four temples in Tamil Nadu are maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
According to the Vedas, the material world is a combination of the five fundamental elements of nature namely, earth, water, fire, air, and ether. Bhoota in Sanskrit means element and Maha Bhoota indicates a fundamental element.
The Five Temples
Ekambareswarar Temple, Kanchipuram
Shiva is worshiped as Ekambareswarar or Ekambaranathar, and is represented by the Lingam, with his idol referred to as Prithvi lingam. The temple complex covers 25 acres and is one of the largest in India.
It houses four gateway towers known as Gopurams. The tallest is the southern tower, with 11 stories and a height of 58.5216 metres (192 ft), making it one of the tallest temple towers in India.
The temple complex houses many halls; the most notable is the thousand-pillared hall built during the Vijayanagar period.
Legend has it that once Parvati, the consort of Shiva, wanted to expiate herself from sin by doing penance under the temple’s ancient Mango tree near Vegavathi river.
Jambukeshwarar Temple, Thiruvanaikaval
The sanctum of Jambukeswara has an underground water stream and in spite of pumping water out, it is always filled with water.
Once Parvati mocked Shiva’s penance for betterment of the world. Shiva wanted to condemn her act and directed her to go to the earth from Kailasam (Shiva’s abode) to do penance.
Parvathi in the form of Akilandeswari as per Shiva’s wish found Jambu Forest (Thiruvanaikoil) to conduct her penance. She made a Lingam out of water of river Cauvery (also called as river Ponni) under the Venn Naaval tree (the Venn Naaval tree on top of the saint Jambu) and commenced her worship.
The lingam is known as Appu Lingam (Water Lingam). The temple surpasses the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple in architectural terms, which were both constructed at the same time.
There are five enclosures inside the temple. The massive outer wall covering the fifth precinct, known as the Vibudi Prakara, stretches over a mile and is two feet thick and over 25 feet high. Legend maintains that the wall was built by Shiva working with the laborers.
The fourth precinct contains a hall with 796 pillars and measures 2436 feet by 1493.
Arunachaleswara Temple, Tiruvannamalai
Shiva is worshiped as Arunachalesvara or Annamalaiyar, and is represented by the lingam, with his idol referred to as Agni Lingam.
The 9th century Saiva saint poet Manikkavasagar composed the Tiruvempaavai here. The temple complex covers 10 hectares and is one of the largest in India.
It houses four gateway towers known as Gopurams. The tallest is the eastern tower, with 11 stories and a height of 66 metres (217 ft), making it one of the tallest temple towers in India built by sevappa nayakkar (Nayakar dynasty).
The temple complex houses many halls; the most notable is the thousand-pillared hall built during the Vijayanagar period. The Karthigai Deepam festival is celebrated during the day of the full moon between November and December, and a huge beacon is lit atop the hill.
It can be seen from miles around and symbolizes the Shiva Lingam of fire joining the sky. The event is witnessed by three million pilgrims.
On the day preceding each full moon, pilgrims circumnavigate the temple base and the Arunachala hills in a worship called Girivalam, a practice carried out by one million pilgrims yearly.
Kalahasthi is one of the most famous Shiva temples in South India and is said to be the site where Kannappa was ready to offer both his eyes to cover blood flowing from the Siva Linga before the Siva stopped him and granted him Moksha.
The temple is also regarded as Rahu-Ketu Kshetra and Dakshina Kailasam.
The inner temple was constructed around 5th century and the outer temple was constructed in the 11th century by the Rajendra Chola I, later Chola kings and the Vijayanagara kings. Shiva in his aspect as Vayu is worshiped as Kalahasteeswara.
Thillai Natarajar Temple, Chidambaram
Chidambaram, the name of the city and the temple literally means “atmosphere of wisdom” or “clothed in thought”, the temple architecture symbolizes the connection between the arts and spirituality, creative activity and the divine.
The temple wall carvings display all the 108 karanas from the Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni, and these postures form a foundation of Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance.
The present temple was built in the 10th century when Chidambaram was the capital of the Chola dynasty, making it one of the oldest surviving active temple complexes in South India.
After its 10th-century consecration by the Cholas who considered Nataraja as their family deity, Shiva himself is presented as the Nataraja performing the Ananda Tandava (“Dance of Delight”) in the golden hall of the shrine Pon Ambalam.
The temple is one of the five elemental lingas in the Shaivism pilgrimage tradition and considered the subtlest of all Shiva temples (Kovil) in Hinduism. It is also a site for performance arts, including the annual Natyanjali dance festival on Maha Shivaratri.
