Chidambaram

(“clothed in thought”) Temple town in
the South Arcot district of the state of
Tamil Nadu, about 125 miles south of
Madras. The town of Chidambaram is
famous for the temple of the same
name, dedicated to the god Shiva in his
form as Nataraja, the lord of the dance.
This temple is also renowned as containing the subtlest of the five elemental
lingas (bhutalingas), the linga made
from space. The temple is built in the
classical Dravida style, with temple towers (gopurams) rising in each of the cardinal directions, and the walls enclosing
the temple between them. The present
temple was erected in the tenth century
C.E., when Chidambaram was the capital
of the Chola dynasty, and is reputed to
be one of the oldest temples in southern
India. As lord of the dance, Nataraja
symbolizes the connection between
religion and the arts. Nataraja is the primal dancer whose dance encompasses
creation, destruction, and all things in
between. Human dancers imitate him
literally, by performing the dance positions he codified, and figuratively, by
participating in a creative activity. The
temple’s eastern wall has relief carvings
of the 108 basic dance positions
(karanas) that are still central to classical Indian dance, particularly to the
Bharatanatyam school, which is the
major dance form in Tamil Nadu.
Nataraja also has a group of hereditary
servants, the Dikshitars. According
to their tradition, the Dikshitars
were members of Shiva’s heavenly host
(gana) and accompanied him down
from heaven when he took up residence
in Chidambaram.