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Published: December 20th 2019
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Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram16th Dec 2019
My last destination was Thiruvannamalai in Tamilnadu. My next destination today is Chidambaram, another temple town. I reached the Thiruvannamalai bus stand by 5.30 am. The distance between Thiruvannamalai and Chidambaram is 137 km. I did not get a direct bus, so decided to take the bus to the nearest destination that of Chidambaram. Got the bus to Kadalur by 5.45 am, this goes via Panduritty from where I can get a bus to Chidambaram. Reached Panduritty by 8.20 am bus charge was Rs 57. Got a bus to Chidambaram by 8.45 am bus charge Rs 55. The bus goes by Neyveli (Famous for Neyveli Lignite factory) and Vadalur. Reached Chidambaram by 10.25 am. Checked into the Hotel and reached
Thillai Nataraja temple, by 12.45 pm. To my luck, the temple was not closed. Normally temple closing time in Tamilnadu is 12 Noon and later they reopen at 4 Pm. This is a quite nice temple. No queues the temple is able to accommodate the crowd present. When I went there the palabhishekam was going on. At the side of the shrine, there is the sanctum of Perumal/Vishnu. Had darshan with both deities, could spend plenty of
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Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram time in front of the diety
Thillai Nataraja temple (http://www.chidambaramnataraja.org/)
See the above link for Darshan time and Abhishekam time at the temple. This is not an official website of the temple but the information is provided for the benefit of the devotees. some contact name /email is also provided
This temple is spread over 40 acres of land. The temple has nine major gopuram gateways connecting the various courtyards. Four of these are huge and colorful, visible from afar, a symbolic and convenient landmark for pilgrims. These gateway towers or gopurams each have 7 stories facing the East, South, West, and North. The first edition of the four gopuram superstructures was likely built between 1150 and 1300 CE.
This a Lord Shiva shrine. Shiva himself is presented as the Nataraja performing the Ananda Tandava ("Dance of Delight") in the golden hall of the shrine Pon Ambalam. The temple is one of the five elemental lingas in the Shaivism pilgrimage tradition and considered the subtlest of all Shiva temples (Kovil) in Hinduism. It is also a site for performance arts, including the annual Natyanjali dance festival on Maha Shivaratri. The earlier name of the place was
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Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram Thillai hence the name of the temple is as such. The temple wall carvings display all the 108 karanas from the Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni, and these postures form a foundation of Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance.
The present temple was built in the 10th century when Chidambaram was the capital of the Chola dynasty, making it one of the oldest surviving active temple complexes in South India.
Chidambaram is one of the many temple towns in the state which is named after the grooves, clusters or forests dominated by a particular variety of a tree or shrub and the same variety of tree or shrub sheltering the presiding deity. The town used to be called Thillai, following Thillaivanam, derived from the mangrove of Tillai trees (Exocoeria agallocha) that grow here and the nearby Pichavaram wetlands.
The site became the capital of Cholas in the 10th century, and they renamed it to Chidambaram and built the current temple for their family deity of Nataraja Shiva. The word Chidambaram comes from the Tamil word Chitrambalam (also spelled Chithambalam) meaning "wisdom atmosphere". The roots are citt or chitthu means "consciousness or wisdom", while and ampalam means "atmosphere". This
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Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram composite word comes from its association with Shiva Nataraja, the cosmic dancer and the cultural atmosphere for arts.
Raja Raja Chola I (985-1013 CE) embarked on a mission to recover the hymns of the 63 Nayanmars after hearing short excerpts of the Tevaram in his court. He sought the help of Nambiyandar Nambi, who was a priest in a temple. It is believed that by divine intervention Nambi found the presence of scripts, in the form of cadijam leaves half-eaten by white ants in a chamber inside the second precinct in Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram. The Brahmanas (Dikshitars) in the temple are supposed to have disagreed with the king by saying that the works were too divine and that only by the arrival of the "Naalvar"(The four saints)-Appar, Sundar, Tirugnanasambandar, and Manickavasagar would they allow for the chambers to be opened. Rajaraja, however, created idols of them and prepared for them to be brought to the temple through a procession. but Rajaraja is said to have prevailed. Rajaraja thus became to be known as Tirumurai Kanda Cholan meaning one who saved the Tirumurai.
The temple, according to inscriptions found in South India and Southeast Asia, was also the
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Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram historic recipient of a precious jewel from the king of Angkor who built the Angkor Wat through Chola king Kulothunga, who submitted it to the temple in 1114 CE. Kulothunga I and his son expanded the Chidambaram Nataraja temple expanse sixfold.
In the north, the Indian subcontinent had been conquered by the Delhi Sultanate. Muslim armies had begun raiding central India for plunder by the late 13th century. In 1311, the Ala ud Din Khilji's Muslim general Malik Kafur and his Delhi Sultanate forces went deeper into the Indian peninsula for loot and to establish annual tribute paying Muslim governors. The records left by the court historians of the Delhi Sultanate state that Malik Kafur raided Chidambaram, Srirangam and other Tamil towns, destroyed the temples, and the Chidambaram Shiva temple was one of the sources of gold and jewels booty he brought back to Delhi.
Festivals A whole year for men is said to be a single day for the gods. Just as six poojas are performed in a day at the sanctum sanctorum, six anointing ceremonies are performed for the principal deity - Nataraja in a year. They are the Marghazhi Thiruvaadhirai (in December - January
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Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram ) indicating the first puja, the fourteenth day after the new moon (Chaturdashi) of the month of Masi (February - March) indicating the second pooja, the Chittirai Thiruvonam (in April- May), indicating the third pooja or uchikalam, the Uthiram of Aani (June–July) also called the Aani Thirumanjanam indicating the evening or the fourth puja, the chaturdasi of Aavani (August - September) indicating the fifth puja and the chaturdasi of the month of Puratasi (October - November) indicating the sixth pooja or Arthajama. Of these, the Marghazhi Thiruvaadhirai (in December - January) and the Aani Thirumanjanam (in June - July ) are the most important. These are conducted as the key festivals with the main deity being brought outside the sanctum sanctorum in a procession that included a temple car procession followed by a long anointing ceremony. Several hundreds of thousands of people flock the temple to see the anointing ceremony and the ritualistic dance of Shiva when he is taken back to the sanctum sanctorum. Lord Shiva, in his incarnation of Nataraja, is believed to have born on full moon day in the constellation of Ardra, the sixth lunar mansion. Lord Shiva is bathed only 6 times a year, and
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Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram on the previous night of Ardra, the bath rituals are performed on a grand scale. Pots full of milk, pomegranate juices, coconut water, ghee, oil, sandal paste, curds, holy ashes, and other liquids and solids, considered as a sacred offering to the deity are used for the sacred ablution.
No Permission to take Photos or Video inside the temple, hence only few photos
Pichavaram Mangrove Forest From Chidambaram Bus stand it is a 45 minutes bus ride. This comes under the forest department, even though mangroves like bushes, This got a great effect on environment protection and safeguarding the coastal land against a tsunami. For a 1-hour boat ride ( 30 minutes to go inside mangrove and 30 minutes for return) they charged me Rs 350 (Up to 4 people same charge). I had to pay Rs 150 for shooting with GoPro Video camera then Rs 35 for Digital camera. Near the boat jetty forest officer was present and we need to wear a life jacket during boat ride. Many tourist were there for the boat ride.
Pichavaram is a village near Chidambaram in Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located
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Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram, Pond between the Vellar estuary in the north and Coleroon estuary in the south. The Vellar-Coleroon estuarine complex forms the Killai backwater and the mangroves that are permanently rooted in a few feet of water. It is open also on Sunday
Pichavaram consists of a number of islands interspersing a vast expanse of water covered with mangrove forests. Pichavaram Mangrove Forest is one of the largest mangrove forests in India covering about 1100 hectares of area. It is separated from the Bay of Bengal by a sand bar. The biotope consists of species like Avicennia and Rhizophora. It also supports the existence of rare varieties of economically important shell and finfishes
The mangroves also attract migrant and local birds including snipes, cormorants, egrets, storks, herons, spoonbills, and pelicans. About 177 species of birds belonging to 15 orders and 41 families have been recorded. The high population of birds could be seen from November to January due to the high availability of prey, the coincidence of the time of arrival of true migrants from foreign countries and local migrants from their breeding grounds across India. The availability of different habitat types such as channels, creeks, gullies, mud flats and sand
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Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram, Pond flats and adjacent sea shore offers an ideal habitat for different species of birds and animals.
Route Mapes (Copy and paste the link in a browser then click on
'send directions to your phone' to get Driving direction)
Thiruvannamalai to Chidambaram https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Chidambaram+Bus+Stand,+Chidambaram,+Tamil+Nadu+608001/Tiruvannamalai,+Tamil+Nadu/@11.8270166,78.8397364,9z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x3a54c253d4ff567b:0xe64b639de1a4bc9c!2m2!1d79.7004904!2d11.3970873!1m5!1m1!1s0x3bacc0852cd3d6cd:0x74002b16e5bac856!2m2!1d79.0746957!2d12.2252841!3e0
Nataraja Temple & Pichavarum Mangrove Forest https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Thillai+Nataraja+Temple,+Chidambaram,+Chidambaram,+Tamil+Nadu/Chidambaram+Bus+Stand,+Chidambaram,+Tamil+Nadu+608001/Pichavaram+Mangrove+Forest,+Pichavaram,+Tamil+Nadu/@11.4221276,79.7022706,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x3a54c3b29fd11951:0x8479dd52acf29cbf!2m2!1d79.6935475!2d11.3992956!1m5!1m1!1s0x3a54c253d4ff567b:0xe64b639de1a4bc9c!2m2!1d79.7004904!2d11.3970873!1m5!1m1!1s0x3a54e964d205e2bf:0x65d8bfb6973fbab5!2m2!1d79.7810468!2d11.431882!3e0
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