Srikalahasti

Srikalahasti

Srikalahasti is one of the Pancha Bhoota Sthalas — five temples in South India where Shiva is worshipped as one of the five classical elements. Here he is vāyu (air). The Vāyu Liṅga is the only element-linga that no human may touch. It is sealed behind an inner chamber. Two oil lamps placed on either side flicker even when all doors and windows are closed — evidence of the unseen air-element in motion.

The temple's name comes from three tiny devotees who worshipped here: śrī (the spider), kāḷa (the snake), and hasti (the elephant). The Vāyu Liṅga has never been bathed directly; only flowers are placed at distance. The flickering of the ever-present oil lamps (said to defy all meteorological explanation) is the living proof of the air-element's presence. Rāhu-Ketu kāla sarpa dosha pūjā is performed continuously at this temple — making it globally famous as the Rahu-Ketu remover.