சிதம்பரம் தில்லை நடராஜர் கோயில்Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram

Sthala Mahātmyam

Chidambaram is the Pancha Bhoota Sthalam of space or ether (Akasha), where Shiva is worshipped as Nataraja, the cosmic dancer performing the Ananda Tandava in the golden Chit Sabha. Here the element has no form: the Akasha Lingam is the empty space behind a curtain hung with vilva leaves, and when the Dikshitar priests draw it aside there is literally nothing to see, the celebrated Chidambara Rahasyam, revealing the all-pervading formless consciousness as the deity. The sthala legend tells how the sages Patanjali (the serpent) and Vyaghrapada (the tiger-footed) came to Thillai to behold Shiva's dance, and how Shiva danced the Urdhva Tandava to prevail over Kali in a dance contest. Worship is conducted by the hereditary Dikshitar priests, and his consort is Sivakami. Sung in the Tevaram and the Tirumurai, it is among the most sacred Shaiva shrines and a Paadal Petra Sthalam, its shrine known simply as Koil, 'the temple'.