Mysterious Facts of The Seven Ancient Shiva temples

As we know that India is a country of ancient temples that are as old as 1000 – 3000 years and beyond. One can explore many such temples in India. It has been more than 4000 years that the temples of Shiva are been made in India, which all lie on a straight line. Isn’t it shocking? To know that when there were no Satellites or maps, building temples exactly on the same longitude of 79.6954°? which is next to impossible!

1.The distance between Rameshwaram to Kedarnath is 2383 km

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There is almost 2383 km distance between Rameshwaram and Kedarnath, yet these temples and the ones between them all lie on the same longitude on a straight line. Kedarnath is a famous destination for Shiva Bhakts and Rameshwaram on the Southern end is also a great religious sight!

2. There are five Shiva temples which represent the elements of Nature

According to the 5 Elements of nature which are Air, water, fire, earth and space, the five Shiva temples are :

• The temple of air is Kalahasti, Srikalashasteeswara
• The temple of Earth is Kanchipuram, Ekambarehwar Temple
• The Temple of fire is Thiruvanamalai, Arunachaleshwara Temple
• Temple of Water is Tiruchirapalli, Jambukeshwara Temple
• The Temple of Space is Chidambaram, Nataraja Temple

These five temples are built in a straight line, based on the Yogic sciences. How powerful is our Sanatana Dharma.

3) Ramanathaswamy Temple, Rameshwaram

‘Ramanathaswamy’ literally means ‘The Master of Rama’, which refers to Lord Shiva. The temple is believed to have been established and worshiped by Lord Rama, an avatar of the Lord Vishnu, to absolve the sins created in Sri Lanka.

The temple tanks hall of 1212 pillars in the outer corridor, whose height is about 30 feet from the floor to the center of the roof. 

The outer set of Ramanathaswamy temple corridors is reputed to be the longest corridor in the world, measuring about 6.9 m in height, 400 feet each in the east and west and about 640 feet in the north and the south. 

4) Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram

Built around the 10th century, this temple is located in the center point of Earth’s magnetic equator.

• Some Sadhus say that only a few noble people can see Shiva and Parvathi when the curtain is unveiled.
• The temple has 4 towers in four directions.
• Inside the temple, for the dancing hall of Nataraja, there is a golden roof made by King Anabhaya Chozha.
• The golden roof is made of 22600 tiles representing so many breaths of a Human, per day.
• The temple has always followed both Vedic and Tamil versions of worships, chanting of Rudram and singing Tevaram and Tiruvachakam.

5) Arunachaleshwara Temple, Thiruvanamalai

This temple was built by the famous King, Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara dynasty, and completed by Sevappa Nayaka (1532–80 CE).

The temple is situated at the bottom of the Arunachala hills, and faces east, lying over 25 acres. The walls on the east and west measure 700 ft (210 m), the south 1,479 ft (451 m), and the north 1,590 ft (480 m). 

There is a sixteen pillared Deepa Darshana Mandapam, or hall of light, in the third precinct.

The temple tree, Magizha, is considered sacred and medicinal, and childless couples tie small cradles to its branches in obeisance.

 Vedas say that the most of the temple separated the earth and the sky during the creation of the universe.

6) Jambukeshwara Temple, Tiruchirapalli

Famously known as the Thiruvanaikaval temple, the Jambukeswarar temple is a renowned abode of Lord Shiva and is one of the five holiest temples which come under the reference of Pancha Bhoota Stalam.

Among the five elements, it represents ‘water’, which in Tamil is called ‘neer’. The significance of the Jambukeswarar temple lies in the water stream underground in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, which keeps the holy place always filled with water.

It was built around 1,800 years ago and is situated in Tamil Nadu.

7) Srikalashasteeswara Temple, Kalahasti

Situated in Kalahasti, this is an important ancient Shiva temples of Southern India. It is named after Sri (spider), Kala (snake) and Hasti (elephant) that once worshiped Shiva Lingam here and attained Moksham. The Srikalahasti temple was originally built during Pallava period and the current structures were built by Chola king Kulothunga Cholan I, II and III during the 11th century.