In southern India, people who had the knowledge built five major temples for the five elements. These temples were created not for worship but for a specific type of sadhana. To become free from the water element, you would go to a particular temple and do one kind of sadhana.
To become free from the element of air, you would go to another; for water, another one. Like this, there are five wonderful temples for all the five elements which were infused with the kind of energy that assists that type of sadhana. The temples are referred to as the Pancha Bhuta Sthalams.
Geographically, they are all within the Deccan Plateau. The temple in Kanchipuram is for earth; Thiruvanakaival for water; Thiruvannamalai for fire; Srikalahasti for air; and Chidambaram for space. These five temples were built so that they function as one system. This is a phenomenal technology that allows those who know how to do the appropriate sadhana to visit the temple and make use of it. Those who do not know will benefit just by living in that region.
Extracted from Three Truths of Well-Being by Sadhguru