8 Ancient Shiva temples stand on same geographical line

8 Ancient Shiva temples stand on same geographical line

In Hinduism Lord Shiva is one of the principal deities and known as the destroyer of the evil. Hindus believe his powers of destruction and recreation are used even now to destroy the illusions and imperfections of this world, paving the way for a beneficial change. Some of the most famous temples of Lord Shiva were built when there were no modern advancements to measure the latitude or longitude of a place. In spite of this, many of these temples seem to be almost on a straight geographical line i.e. on the same longitude which still remains a mystery. These 5 temples were built for each representing the manifestation of the five prime elements of nature and known as Pancha Bhoota Stala (Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space).  Each lingam of Shiva is known by the name of the element represented by them. ‘Pancha’ indicates Five, ‘Bhoota’ means elements and ‘Stala’ means place. Flickering lamps in the Srikalahasti temple shows the play of wind (respiration of Vayu Linga), Water spring in the innermost sanctum of the Tiruvanaikka temple shows the temple’s relationship to the element water, Annual Kartikai Deepam (giant lamp is lighted atop the Annamalai hill) shows the Annamalaiyaar’s manifestation as fire, Swayambhu lingam of sand at Kanchipuram signifies the Siva’s association with the earth while the formless space (Akasa) at Chidambaram shows the association of lord with formlessness or nothingness. 

All above temples exist for thousands of years when no satellite technology was available to measure latitude and longitude of those places. Thiruvanaikkaval is located at around 3 degrees to the south and exactly 1 degree to the west of the northern tip of this divine axis, while Thiruvannamalai is around midway (1.5 degree to the south and 0.5 degree to the west). In-fact, Kedarnath temple in Himalayas is also almost on same longitude as of these temples, Kaleshwaram temple (where Lord Siva and Yama are placed on same platform), and Ramanathaswamy temple at Rameswaram are also almost on same line. How people have constructed temples separated by thousands of miles (2383 km between Kedarnath and Rameswaram) on almost same longitude, remains a mystery.

Lord Siva Temples in India on almost same Longitude

1. Kedarnath – Kedarnath Temple (30.7352° N, 79.0669)

2. Kaleshwaram – Kaleshwara Mukteeshwara swamy Temple (18.8110, 79.9067)

3. Srikalahati – Srikalahasti Temple (13.749802, 79.698410)

4. Kanchipuram – Ekambareswarar Temple (12.847604, 79.699798)

5. Thiruvanaikaval – Jambukeswara Temple (10.853383, 78.705455)

6. Tiruvannamalai – Annamalaiyar Temple (12.231942, 79.067694)

7. Chidambaram – Nataraja Temple (11.399596, 79.693559)

8. Rameswaram – Ramanathaswamy Temple(9.2881, 79.3174)