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The Annamalai Mountain, Tiruvannamalai: Stories of how Siva manifested Himself at the temples of Ekambareshwar, Jambukeshwar, Arunachaleshwara, Srikalahasti and Chidambaram are related to the belief that these are lingas of earth, water, fire, air and ether respectively. At Tiruvannamalai, the hill Annamalai/Arunachala is worshipped as Siva. It is said it was here Siva manifested Himself as Lingodbhava, the pillar of fire. Vishnu and Brahma asked Him to abide there in the form of a linga that they might offer him worship. Else, the all-encompassing Lord would be beyond the worship of any but elemental forces like the rain, sun and constellations ('Arunachalapuranam', verse 161). Tiruvannamalai thus represents the Sivalinga of fire. This perception of the temples in relation to the panchamahabhutas (five primal elements) is found in the 'Suta Samhita' and is likely to have developed only after the 10th century CE (Rangaswamy 1958, p. 199).

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