Panchmahabhoot Temples.

Panchamahabhoot- Five principles or Five elements which are the base of construction of everything in this universe. They constitute Pruthvi - Earth, Aap/Jal - Water, Tej- Fire, Wayu- Air and Akash- Sky or Space.

We had heard that there are five Shiv temples representing these five elements. These temples are in South India. We were looking for a chance to visit them. In August 2018 we could visit three of them.

We had started from Kanyakumari. So we visited the Temple For Water first, as it was the nearest temple on the route from Kanyakumari to Chennai.

Jambukeshwaram Temple - Thiruvanaikaval

This temple is on Srirangam island in Trichi district. Srirangam island is surrounded by Kaveri and Colladam rivers. The temple is dedicated to Water principle from Panchamahabhoot and so the lingam is known as Appu lingam. There is a water stream under the Shivlinga which increases considerably in Monsoon season. But all along the year, though not visible, the stream is there which is evident by the wetness of the cloth draped around the Shivling.

The temple campus is huge with a thick outer wall like a fort. There are five enclosures with Gopurams and pillars and water bodies inside them.

📷 YouTube Video (Link Given below)

You can watch the inside area of the temple in this You Tube video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7bWVNrLyh4

Jambukeshwara

There are many legends attached to this temple. Jambu is a fruit tree, known as Rose apple or Jawa apple in English. I won't go in details about all the legends but the sculptures depicting the legends are worth watching. The carvings on the pillars are beautiful.

What is very unusual about this temple is the entrance of Garbhgruh. When we enter the innermost precinct, the entrance to the Garbhgruha is closed by a stone window having viewing apertures. You can watch the Shivling from the window. For the entrance, you have to turn left from your right hand side and the entrance is very small. You have to bend your neck to enter the temple. Taking into account the huge campus of the temple, towering gopurams and tall compound walls, one keeps wondering why the entrance to the Garbhgruha will be so small!

There is Goddess Akhilanandeshwari Shrine inside the temple as well.

We were lucky to witness a festival and procession on 15th August 2018, when we had visited the temple. The procession started from the innermost prakara and taking a round visited the lake in the campus. Unexpectedly we could enjoy this visual treat.

Jambukeshwar Temple.

Jambukeshwar Temple.

Jambukeshwar Temple.

Jambukeshwar Temple.

The temple houses a school, giving education of Nadhswaram- the classical pipe instrument.

Jambukeshwar Temple.

Jambukeshwar Temple.

Jambukeshwar Temple.

Jambukeshwar Temple.

In Trichi, there is another beautiful temple which is not included in Panchmahabhoot temple, but is one of the largest temples in India. It is Rangnathswami temple. It is a prominent Vaishnavite temple. This is very ancient temple which was looted and destroyed by Mughals in 14th century. More than 10,000 Vaishnava devotees had died at that time in attempts to protect the temple.

It was rebuilt after some decades in the Vijayanagar rule. Again and again this temple and city has faced many invasions. But has sustained all the attacks.

Rangnathswami Temple, Shrirangam, Trichi

Rangnathswami Temple, Shrirangam, Trichi

Rangnathswami Temple, Shrirangam, Trichi

Rangnathswami Temple, Shrirangam, Trichi

The second Panchmahabhoot temple which we had visited was Chidambaram temple.

Thillai Natraja Temple or Chidambaram Natraja Temple.

This temple is in Chidambaram town in Cuddalore district in Tamilnadu. It is around 60km from Pondicherry and 100 kms from Tanjavur.

Shiva Doing his cosmic dance is the main deity of the temple. There are many small temples inside the huge complex and Chidambaram temple has one of the tallest Gopurams.

This temple is dedicated to the Sky principle from Panchamahabhoot. Being a prominent temple, it is always very crowded.

The Shivling is very unusual. There is a dancing natraja Shiva idol and an empty space in the Chit Sabha. It is known as Rahasya in Hindu scripts. It is a curtained space, probably open to sky. If you want to see a glimpse of it, you have to stand in long queue!

Thillai Natraja/ Chidambaram Temple

The third Panchmahabhoot Temple which we could visit was in Kanchi.

Ekambareshwar Temple

This temple is in Kanchi near Chennai. It is one of the most ancient temples in India and it's reference can be found in ancient scriptures. Here is, in the garbhgruh, a shivling representing Earth principle.

Ekambareshwar Temple, Kanchi
📷 wikimedia commons

The tallest temple tower is 192 ft. The unusual fact about this temple is that there is no Parvati temple inside the campus. It is said that Kamakshi Temple in Kanchi is the Parvati of Ekambareshwar.

Kanchi Kamakshi Temple.

One of the most beautiful idols of Devi is the main deity of this temple. Be ready to stand in the long queue but don't miss to see the Devi idol.

Kanchi Kamakshi Temple

Rangnathswami Temple, Shrirangam, Trichi

This temple must be in your 'must visit' list. I would say, the most beautiful Devi Temple. A huge campus of nearly 5 acres consists of many shrines.

When you are in Kanchi, don't miss to visit the Shri Kanchi Kamkoti Peetham and if possible, be present at the pooja timing.

Kanchi is famous for silk and cotton sarees. As a vegan, though I don't buy silk, I could surely buy beautiful cotton sarees! The shop which we had visited was having the largest stock of sarees I had ever seen in any shop!

No Caption Needed

When you are in this region, don't worry about the food! Excellent vegan/vegetarian food is available.

There are two more Panchmahabhoot temple to visit. One is Arunachaleshwar temple (Fire) and Shrikalahasteeshwar temple (Air) in Andhra Pradesh. But couldn't visit it in the same trip.

Chennai is the nearest airport. It is around 70 kms from Kanchi.

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Arundhati PatkiFebruary 1, 2021 at 8:53 PM
Amazing 👌
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राष्ट्रीय अस्मितेची चिन्हे परकीय आक्रमक पुसून टाकायचा प्रयत्न करतात, करतातच. जगभर अशी असंख्य उदाहरणे सापडतील. कारण त्याशिवाय त्यांना त्यांची सत्ता निर्माण करता येणार नसते. पण मग त्या त्या देशातील, देशावर प्रेम असणारे लोक काय करतात हे जाणून घ्यायचे असेल तर एक उदाहरण सांगते. आपल्याला सेऊल मधील ग्यानबोक पॅलेस याच्याविषयी वाचायला हवे. ------------- तसा पोचायला आम्हाला थोडा उशीरच झाला होता. शेवटची इंग्लिश गाईडेड टूर चुकते की काय अशी भीती वाटायला लागली होती. अनेक कोरियन युवक युवती राजवाड्याकडे जाताना दिसत होते. विशेष म्हणजे त्यांनी पारंपरिक कोरियन पोशाख घातले होते. फार छान दिसत होते ते सगळे. आम्ही गेलो होतो, कोरियाच्या सार्वभौमत्वाचे मानचिन्ह असलेल्या ग्यानबोक पॅलेसला ( Gyeongbok Palace ) भेट देण्यासाठी. तिकिटाच्या काउंटर जवळच राजवाड्याचे मुख्य प्रवेशद्वार आहे. त्याचे नाव आहे ग्वान्गमन गेट.( Gwanghwamun) . सेऊलच्या पुरातन इतिहासाचे प्रतीक असलेले हे प्रवेशद्वार १३९५ मध्ये बांधले गेले आहे. आज हे प्रवेशद्वार कोरियाची ओळख बनलेले आ...

Deoriatal - Chandrashila trek - Part 1 - Preparation

We dream… we dream about many things … but we strive to make only few of them a reality and leave the rest of the dreams as dreams only, to cherish them someday in our leisure time. A high altitude trek was one such dream of mine, always enthralling and yet a little daunting. So for years that dream remained a dream without becoming a reality. In November, my friend Dhanshree Jagtap did the Deoria Tal Chandrashila trek with Indiahikes. While chatting with her, I could get detailed information about this trek. She told that in March and April, rhododendron flowers will be blooming in this region … and the dormant dream was awakened once again. It is said that DeoriaTal is the lake where the famous Yaksha and Yudhishthira conversation had taken place. On the way to the summit, Tungnath is the highest temple of Shankara in the world, one of the Panch Kedars. It is said to have been built by the Pandavas. The summit point of the trek is Chandrashila. The place where Chandra did Tapas. It i...

Deoriatal Chandrashila trek - Part 2- - Sari to Deoriatal.

The next morning, the trek started with a steep climb!! At one point during the climb, we turned back and bade goodbye to the Sari base camp. It was not known whether we would successfully complete the trek or not. But I was sure that we will definitely come back with a life changing experience. Sari Base camp 📷 Supan Shah The road was paved with rough stones. But while climbing I was telling myself that these stones were better than walking in the slippery soil. 📷 Pawan Gowda You can guess how much the climb was, from this photo, but if you want to know how we were climbing, there is a video! विडिओ - सम्राट दर्डा https://youtube.com/shorts/CJuWDSml8XU?feature=share The initial, few meters part of the road passed through populated areas. But the houses there were very few and sparse. Green fields were visible everywhere. Farming was done on the mountain slopes, by step method. This greenery enlivened the entire slope. The view 📷 Supan Shah 📷 Samrat Darda After walking o...

Deoriatal Chandrashila trek - Part 3- Deoriatal to Syalmi

That was the third day of the trek. I was feeling contented. Yesterday's journey from Sari to Deoria was beautiful. Neither were my legs paining nor was I feeling tired. Today was surely going to be a tough day. I had read the description on the Indiahikes website, which gave a rough idea about the day. Today the distance was more than nine kilometers. But there were many peaks which will be visible on the way. We were going to pass through a dense forest, so there was a chance to watch variety of birds. So I was curious and excited about the journey. All of us, left from Deoriatal campsite and started our journey. Even though we had only been there for a day, we had already grown attached to the place. Even if it has only been a day, surely there is always attachment with the place.There was a fork in the forest path on the left side of the road to Deoriatal. We went that way. After walking for a while, most likely we were goi...

Deoriatal Chandrashila trek - Part 5(Last part)- Baniyakund - Tungnath- Chandrashila

📷Samrat Darda A beautiful photograph of the moon taken from Baniyakund campsite, April 15. That day should be Saptami or Ashtami of Shukla Paksha. Because Ram Navami was on 17th April. In the intense and tranquil darkness of the beautiful night, though the full moon day was still seven or eight days away, the moon was already bright. The shining moon, occasionally hiding behind the clouds, the curiosity of the summit in our minds.. it was a very unique night. There was going to be a two o'clock wakeup call tomorrow. we had to pack up, have breakfast, and be ready to leave for the day at three o'clock. I packed the essential things in the day pack and packed everything else in the bag to be offloaded. That bag was to kept in the main tent while leaving in the morning. Tomorrow, in few hours we would gain an altitude of 4000 ft. I closed my eyes to sleep, but even before my closed eyes, the images of the snow-capped peaks were floating. I woke up at quarter to two in ...

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