தில்லை நடராஜர் கோயில்Chidambaram Thillai Nataraja Temple

Sthala Mahātmyam

Chidambaram is the foremost of the Pancha Sabhai and holds the Kanaka Sabhai, the Golden Hall, where Lord Nataraja eternally performs the Ananda Tandava, the dance of bliss embodying the five cosmic acts of creation, preservation, dissolution, concealment and grace. Legend holds that Shiva danced here in the Thillai (mangrove) forest to enlighten the sages Patanjali and Vyaghrapada, who longed to witness the cosmic dance. The bronze Nataraja stands in the Chit Sabhai, the Hall of Consciousness, fronted by the gold-roofed Kanaka Sabhai from which worship is conducted. Beside the deity hangs the curtained Chidambara Rahasyam, an empty space adorned with golden bilva garlands, revealing the formless Aakaasha (ether), for Chidambaram is also the Pancha Bhoota Sthalam of space. The very name means atmosphere of wisdom. Served by the Dikshitar priests and hymned in the Thevaram, the shrine draws its greatest crowds at the Margazhi Arudra Darshan and the Aani Tirumanjanam, when the festival Nataraja is bathed and the eternal dance adored.