A good place to start a temple tour of southern India is at Mamallapuram (formerly Mahabalipuram) near Madras, on the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu. Mamallapuram is among the most picturesque of India's Hindu temple complexes. There are almost seventy rock-cut monoliths, caves and sculptures remaining, as well as the famous twin shore temples facing the sea on the village's beaches. Its rock cut temples are the earliest examples are the earliest examples of monumental architecture in southern India, and its rock art is certainly the finest that survives from the Pallava empire, which ruled much of south India between the 4th and 9th centuries AD.

The air or wind linga is at Kalahasti, which lies on the banks of the sacred river Svarnamukhi in southern Andhra Pradesh. Kalahasti was an important religious capital of the Vijayanagara dynasty . It is dominated by the Kalahastishvara temple in which the wind linga is housed.

It is said that the five elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether ) are represented by five temple lingas in southern India. Visiting each has become an important act of pilgrimage for Shiva worshippers. The first is the earth linga at Ekambareshvara in Kanchipuram.

A little further north is the great temple city of Kanchipuram, the capital of the Pallava and, from the 9th to 13th centuries AD, the Chola dynasties. Kanchipuram is honoured as one of the seven sacred cities in India, and has over 150 functioning temples dedicated to various Hindu deities. It is , however, predominantly a shaivite centre. Among its best known temples are the Kailashanatha complex , dedicated to Shiva Nataraja and Durga, and the Ekambareshvara Shiva temple

Fire, the third linga, is worshipped at Tiruvannamalai, one of the largest Shiva temples in southern India. Tiruvannamalai is especially renowned for the great fire festival that is celebrated at the end of November . On the tenth and final night an enormous bonfire is lit to symbolize Shiva's mythical appearance as a column of flame.

The fifth element , space or ether , is represented by the linga in Chidambaram, the great Chola temple dedicated to Shiva Nataraja and his blissful dance, the Ananda Tandava. The crystal Chidambaram linga is the most important of the five because it stands for the ethereal fifth face of Shiva that encompasses and transcends the other four.

Perhaps the greatest Shaivite temple in southern India is the Brihadishvara temple in Thanjavur, which was built by the Chola dynasty between the 9th and 13th centuries AD. Its massive Linga, 12 feet high, is placed beneath the tallest gopura of any southern temple, and its murals and bronzes are among the finest examples of Shaivite art. This enormous piece of stone, which is adorned with winged niches on four sides, it is said , was moved into position along an inclined plane six km, long. Some fascinating frescoes, similar to those of Ajanta, are also found in this temple.

Guarding the portals of the shrine is a gigantic Nandi (bull), the mythical mount of Lord Shiva. It is considered the second biggest monolithic sculpture of its kind in the country. It is not known how a single stone structure of such dimension was carved out in a region without any rocky formations. The temple also houses a small museum.

Every day, the Meenakshi Temple attracts pilgrims in thousands, from all over India. The temple is named after the daughter of a pandyan king who, according to legend ,was born with three breasts. At the time of the birth, the king was told that the extra breast would disappear, when she met the man she was supposed to marry , and this happened when she met Lord Shiva on Mount Kailas. Shiva arrived in Madurai, later, in the form of Lord Sundereswara , and married her.

The Meenakshi temple is an excellent example of Dravidian architecture, with gopurams or multi pillared halls, covered from top to bottom , in a profusion of multicoloured images of gods, goddesses, animals and mythical figures. The temple occupies an area of around six hectares, and has four entrances to it. The museum called the Temple Art Gallery , is located within the temple and contains beautiful stone and brass images, examples of South Indian scripts, friezes and attempts to explain the Hindu pantheon and many other legends associated with it.