Temple Knowledge
Sacred Sites
Practical reference and contemplative depth. For the practitioner, not the tourist.
Arunachaleswar — Annamalaiyar
Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu
Thiruvannamalai is the Agni (fire) temple among the Pancha Bootha Sthalams. Shiva here is worshipped as Arunachaleswar — the Lord of the Red Mountain. The hill itself, Arunachala, is considered to be Shiva in physical form. Ramana Maharshi lived in the shadow of Arunachala for 54 years, drawn by its energy.
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Chidambaram Nataraja
Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu
Chidambaram is the Akasha (ether/space) temple among the Pancha Bootha Sthalams — where Shiva is worshipped as Nataraja, the cosmic dancer, and as pure space (chidambaram = the space of consciousness). The Ananda Tandava (dance of bliss) performed here is considered the primordial act of creation.
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Kamakhya Devi
Guwahati, Assam
Kamakhya is among the most sacred of the 51 Shakti Peethas — the site where the yoni (womb) of Sati is said to have fallen. It is the premier Tantric shrine in India and one of the oldest goddess temples on the subcontinent.
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Kashi Vishwanath
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Kashi Vishwanath is the most sacred of the twelve Jyotirlingas — the Lord of Kashi, the city that Shiva himself is said to hold on his trident. Dying in Kashi is believed to confer moksha — Shiva himself whispers the Taraka mantra in the ear of the dying.
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Kedarnath
Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
Kedarnath is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas and the most important of the Chota Char Dham pilgrimage — the highest Jyotirlinga in the world, at 3,583 meters in the Garhwal Himalayas. The temple sits in one of the most dramatic landscapes on earth, surrounded by snow peaks and glaciers.
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