When Adi Shankara visited Kailasa to pay a visit to Shiva and Parvathi, Shiva gave 5 Crystal / Sphatika Shivalingams called Aatma Lingam to Sankaracharya and asked him to place them in 5 different holy places. They are now in :
Sarada Peetham Sringeri – Konwn as Bogha lingam
Kanchipuram Kanchi kamakotipitam – Known as Yoga lingam
Nataraja temple Chidamabaram -Known as Moksha lingam
Kedarnath – Known as Mukthi lingam
Neelakanta kshetram / Budhanilkantha Temple Kathmandu Nepal – Known as Varalingam
Out of these 5 the general public can see only one – the one at Shringeri where everyday at 8pm the Shankaracharya of Shringeri performs pooja at the Shankaracharya ashram.
