Pancha Bhoota Stalams

[Guest guest]

Pancha Bhoota Stalams

 

Indian belief associates the origin of life with the five basic elements

(Pancha - five, Bhootam - Element) of Wind, Water, Fire, Earth and Space

(ether). In Sanskrit, these elements are referred to as Vayu, Jalam (Apah),

Agni, Prithvi and Aakasam. The Indian system of belief in Divinity also

worships the divine as a manifestation of these basic elements. Accordingly,

Shiva is worshipped as a manifestation of these elements in five ancient

temples in India.

These five temples are

 

The Sri Kalahastiswarar temple at Sri Kalahasti near Tirupati - Vayu Stalam

(Wind)

The Jambukeswarar temple at Tiruvanaikka near Tiruchirappalli - Apustalam

(Water)

The Annamalaiyaar (Arunachaleswarar) temple at Tiruvannamalai - Agni Stalam

(Fire)

The Ekambranathar Temple at Kanchipuram - Prithvi Stalam (Earth)

The Natarajar Temple at Chidambaram - Akasa Stalam (Space )

 

There is much in common between these five temples. These are among the

holiest Saivite shrines in India, and have been glorified by the poems of

the Nayanmar Saints of Tamilnadu. Reference to these five temples in various

literary works place them in history, in as early as a period as the Sangam

period in the very early Christian era.

 

A flickering lamp in the Sree Kalahasti temple shows the play of wind, the

water spring in the innermost sanctum of the Tiruvanaikka temple shows the

temple's relationship to the element water, the annual Kartikai Deepam

festival at Tiruvannamalai where a giant lamp is lighted atop the Annamalai

hill shows the Annamalaiyaar's manifestation as fire, the swayambhu lingam

of sand at Kanchipuram signifies the deitie's association with the earth

while the formless space at Chidambaram shows the association of the Supreme

being with formlessness or nothingness.