On the bank of the Swarnamukhi river in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, near Tirupati, the Srikalahasti temple enshrines Shiva as the Vayu Linga, representing the element of air among the five Pancha Bhoota Sthalas. Its very name preserves the memory of three humble devotees whose worship won the Lord's grace — Sri the spider, Kala the serpent, and Hasti the elephant. The air-element is honoured in a wonder of the sanctum: a lamp within the inner shrine flickers as though stirred by wind, though no breeze can reach it.
The temple is also revered as the place of Kannappa Nayanar, the hunter-saint who, in supreme devotion, offered his own eyes to the Lord. Celebrated too as a Rahu-Ketu kshetra, Srikalahasti draws pilgrims for the Rahu-Ketu dosha rituals. Sung in the Tevaram, it stands as the great shrine of the air-element in the Shaiva tradition of the South.
