The Thillai Natarajar temple is located in Chidambaram, an important religious town in Tamil Nadu. The temple is part of the 5 shiva temples known as Pancha-bhuta-sthalam, where each temple is dedicated to the 5 basic elements (fire, water, air, ether & earth). Chidambaram is the Ākāsha bhuta sthalam i.e, it represents ether or the whole cosmos. The word Chidambaram means – Clad in consciousness (Chit is our self consciousness & ambar means clothed). The temple and its main deity – Natarāja, is praised in several Thevaram (Ancient Tamil devotional songs) composed by Nayanmars (Tamil Shaiva saints).
Legend
Once Shiva, in his Bhikshātana form, performed the Ānanda Tāndava dance i.e, the dance of joy & creation. Only a handful of Rishis & their wives witnessed the rare divine dance of Shiva. Rishi Patanjali & Rishi Vyāghrapāda desired to witness the Ānanda Tāndava again. So they came to Chidambaram and established a Shivalingam – divine manifestation of Shiva. They performed penance and selfless service to the Shivalingam, devoting their life itself to Shiva. Impressed with their expression of devotion, Shiva decided to fulfill their desire. Mahādeva appeared in front of the two rishis in His form of Natarāja – the deva of dance. He performed the Ānanda Tāndava again, filling the consciousness of the two rishis with pure ecstasy. On further request of the rishis, Shiva stayed at Chidambaram forever thereafter – in the form of cosmos. This tale is recalled from the Chidambaramahātmyam – a Sanskrit text which describes the greatness of Chidambaram Temple & the local Tamizh Sthalapurānam.
History
The Chidambaram town & the temple, the center of town, has ancient roots; traced back to the Sangam period of Tamil History. It rose to popularity during the early rule of Chola kings because Chidambaram was the capital city of the Chola empire in its early stages. Later the capital was moved to Thanjavur, yet Chidambaram remains an important religious town and flourishing center of Tamil culture & Hindu civilization.
