Chidambaram is the seat of the cosmic dancer Nataraja
(Ananda Tandava pose ; the Cosmic Dance of bliss). It is one
of the Pancha (five) Bhutasthalas. Chidambaram is the Akasa
sthalam - Space. The other four are at Kanchipuram (Prithvi sthalam -
Earth), Tiruvanaikaval (Appu sthalam - Water), Kalahasti
(Vayu sthalam - Air) & Tiruvannamalai (Thejo sthalam -
Fire). The temple was in vogue for centuries,but its known
glory in records begins with the visit of Hiranya
Chakravarthi of Kashmir around 500 A.D. The king is said to
have been cured of his leprosy with a single dip in the temple
pushkarini, Sivaganga thirtham . The four great saiva
acharyas Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar and Manikkavachakar are connected
with this holy temple and produced master pieces eulogising
their respective paths - Charya, Kriya, Yoga and Gnana. This
kshetra is said to have given liberation to several hundreds
of devotees - notable among them are Nandanar,
Tirunilakandanayanar, Vyagrapada, Patanjali.
In the 10th century, the Chola king Parantaka I
made rich endowments to the temple, besides providing a
golden roof to the Karuvarai. The Cholas, who were devout
Saivites made improvements to the temple maintaining its glory.
The north Gopuram was built by Krishnadeva Raya and the
east Gopuram was built by Sundra Pandyan.
The temple is built of
granite on 39 acres of land in the heart of the city. It is
surrounded by massive walls with four big tall gopurams in
four directions and a big tank called Sivagangal tank measuring
175x100 feet towards the North. The North & South
gopurams are 160feet high. The 108 dance postures as seen in
the Natya Sastra are sculpted in these towers. It has five
principal sabhas known as Kanakasabha, Chit sabha, Nritya sabha, Deva
sabha and Raja sabha.
The idol of
Nataraja is enshrined in the Chit sabha. Behind this idol,
is a black screen, which is considered to cover the Akasa Lingam.
There is no Lingam, but we are made to believe that there is an
invisible Lingam, with golden vilva garlands, i.e stressing
the belief that there is everything in nothing. There are
five silver plated steps to reach the Chit Sabha,
representing the Panchakshara mantram - Na ma si va ya. The
embossed images of the saints Vyagrapada and Patanjali, are to be
seen on the doors. Both these saints had been blessed witht
the sight of the cosmic dance of Shiva. Lord Vishnu also is
said to have witnesses this scene.
The sanctum
of Sivakama Sundari lies to the left of Natarajar Sannidhi. The images
of Ratnasabhapati (Nataraja of Ruby), the Spatika Lingam of
Chandramauleeswara, Swarnakarshana Bhairavar, Mukhalingam
are also to be found in the Chitsabha.
In the Kanaka Sabha
(golden hall) lying adjacent to the Chit Sabha, poojas are
offered. The ceiling of these two sabhas are gold
plated.The Nritya Sabha, which is richly sculpted in
the form of a chariot drawn by horses houses the images of
Nataraja in Urdhava Tandava pose, image of Sarabheswara. The
Deva Sabha is a spacious hall meant for the
celebration of important festivals and houses the festival
images of the Pancha Murtis (Somaskandar, Parvati, Vinayaka,
Subramanya and Chandikeswara) and other deities. The Raja sabha
measuring 103 metres by 58 metres is housed in a 1000
pillared hall in the outermost prakaram. Tradition holds
that Sekhizhar recited the Peria Puranam here.
The images of
the Saiva saints Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar and Manikkavachakar are
placed in the temple entrances through which they entered the
temple (Appar - West, Sambandar - South, Sundarar - North
and Manikkavachakar - East).
Two annual Bhrammotsavams
are celebrated. One in the month of Margazhi, during Arudra
Darisanam festival and the second in the month of Aani
concluding with Aani Tirumanjanam, when the deities are taken out
in procession.
