In the southern state
of Andhra Pradesh, some fifty miles east of Tirupati and 125 miles northwest of
Madras, there is a temple and holy spot (tirtha).
The bhutalingas ("elemental lingas"), a network of
five southern Indian locations devoted to the deity Shiva, including Kalahasti.
Shiva is worshiped as a linga, a pillar-shaped item that
represents his symbolic form, in each of these locations, and the linga is said
to be made from one of the five primordial elements (bhuta)—earth, wind, fire,
water, and space (akasha).
Kalahasti's linga is related with the element of wind, and
Kalahasteshvar, the "Lord of Kalahasti," is Shiva's incarnation
there.
Kalahasti is also one of the Shakti Pithas, a network of
Goddess-sanctuary places spread over the Indian subcontinent.
Each Shakti Pitha commemorates the location where a body
part of the forgotten goddess Sati fell to earth and became the shape of a new
goddess; in the case of Kalahasti, the body part was Sati's left shoulder.
The sanctity of Kalahasti is therefore enhanced by the presence of two immensely powerful and holy places dedicated to two separate deities.
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