Siva Shakti Aksh Rekha
Siva Shakti Aksh Rekha or Siva Shakti Axis line is the line along 79 Degrees Longitude on which the 8 famous Siva temples are located, starting from Kedarnath in the North to Rameswaram in the South. Apart from these 2 temples, it includes Kaleswaram in Telangana and the five Panchabhoota Linga temples, Srikalahasthi, Jambukeshwarar in Tiruvanaikavil, Arunachaleswarar in Tiruvannamalai, Ekambaranathar in Kanchi and Thillai Natarajar in Chidambaram.
It is quite astonishing how these temples were built in the same longitude without any instruments or Technology. It suggests that the ancient builders had advanced knowledge of Geography and Astronomy. While some believe that 5 of these are in perfect line the others also fall under 79 degrees longitude.
Below are the details of the same:
1. Kedarnath, Uttarakhand: Kedarnath is part of the Chota Chardham temples in Himalayas, located in the state of Uttarakhand. Due to inclement weather here, the shrine remains open to the pilgrims only for a period of 6 months from May to October.
2. Kaleshwara Mukhteswara Swamy temple, Kaleshwaram, Telangana : Kaleshwara Mukteswara Swamy Temple is located in Kaleshwaram at the confluence of the rivers Godavari and Pranahita on the border of Telangana and Maharashtra in Mahadevpur mandal of Jayashankar Bhupalapally District of Telangana State. The unique aspect of this ancient temple is the presence of two Lingams next to each other. There are two nostrils on the top of Muktheshwar linga and it is believed that the water poured into them does not come out of it but goes into the river.
3. Srikalahasthi temple(Air – Vayu Lingam) is located at Srikalahasthi in Andhra Pradesh. This is believed to be the place where Bhakta Kannappa supposedly offered his eyes to Siva when blood was flowing from the eyes. There is also a Spider and Elephant that worshipped Siva. This linga is big and has web kind of structure around it. There are Rahu and Kethu Poojas offered in this temple through out the year and the temple complex is quite big.
4. Ekambaranathar Temple(Earth – Pruthvi Lingam) is located at Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu and is also called Ekambareswarar Temple. It is one of the largest temples and has 4 gopurams and lot of halls. It would take more than an hour to cover the temple. It is one of the many big temples in Kanchipuram and need to plan your visit accordingly to cover all.
5. Arunachaleswara Temple(Fire – Agni Lingam) is located at Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu. This is considered to be one of the most powerful of the 5 lingas and very crowded. This is surrounded by Hills and devotees go around(Giri Valam or Giri Pradakshina) the main Hill which is called the Arunachalam. This is around 14 kms and one can go by foot or cars. There are also autos available for the same. It takes around 4 hrs by walk and around 1.5 hr by vehicle to cover the 6 lingas around the Hill.
6. Thillai Natarajar Temple(Sky – Indra Lingam) also referred to as Chidambaram Nataraja temple is located at Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu and is 235 kms from the capital Chennai. This temple has a statue of Nataraja(dancing Siva) and only place without a Linga which is synonymous with Siva temples. This temple also has a big statue of Vishnu in sleeping position. It was built in the 10th century and one of the oldest active temple complexes. This is huge and architecture is mind blowing.
7. Jambukeshwarar Temple(Water – Varuna Lingam) is located at Thiruvanaikavil near Trichy in Tamil Nadu. This Siva linga is below the ground level and one has to go down a few steps to have Darshan. The lingam is relatively smaller compared to the others. The temple complex is huge and is very close to the famous Srirangam temple.
8. Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu: It is last of the temples in the Siva Shakti Aksh Rekha. Rameswaram along with being one of the 12 Jyotirlingas is one of the destinations of Char Dham in South Indian state of Tamil Nadu on the shores of Bay of Bengal sea. The main temple is called Sri Ramanathaswamy temple and is the only Siva temple of the 4 Char Dham temples. It is believed that the main Siva Lingam in sand was built by Lord Rama and Sita on his way back to Ayodhya after killing Ravana.
You can find information about more temples of Tamil Nadu here .
You can find information about more temples here .