The temple town of Chidambaram, 58 km south of Pondicherry,greets the visitors, with a beautiful temple, dedicated to Lord Nataraja - Lord Siva in the enthralling form of a cosmic dancer. This is one of the few temples, where Siva and Vishnu are enshrined under one roof. Chidamparam is also called Thillai.

It is in Thillai, Lord Siva performed his cosmic dance.

It is one of the five Shaivite mukti sthalams, others are Kalahasti, Kanchipuram, Tiruannamalai and Tiruvanaikaval. A unique feature of Chidamparam is that a person of any race or religion or cast can visit the shrine and pray. (When is the rest of Tamil Nadhu going to follow this ? The politicians foster cast for their benifit)

What is there to see in this Nataraja Temple?

1 The Gold plated roof, towering over the presiding deity, Akasa Lingam - the Lingam of Space.

2 Chidambaram is unique in that, there is no lingam made of stone in the sanctum of this temple, for here Siva was seen in his formless form

3 The magnificent bejewelled Nataraja image.

4 An unusual shrine without an image in it. This is known as *the secret of Chidambaram* - the implication is that god is to be found everywhere, and specialy in the heart.

5 The poses of the classical Bharata Natiyam are sculpted around the shrines and on the gateways. Scholars consider these to be their entirety a veritable encylopedia of Bharata Natiyam.

6 The four tall Gopurams each rising to 40.8 meters. 108 Bharatanatyam poses can be seen each of the tower.

7 Details of the NATYA SASTRA carved in one of the Gopuram.

Interpretations of the Cosmic Dance : -

There are several interpretations, as per a famous scholar, it is a symbol of god/s rhythmic play as the source of all movement within the cosmos, it releases the soul of men from the snare of illusion, and it is actualy within the heart of the individual.

The figure of the dancing Siva exemplifies these concepts

Nataraja holds a drum in his hand, with the beat of this drum, he brings all cration into being.

The deer he holds in the other hand stands for the nimble and leaping mind of the individual.

The tiger - skin he wears is the skin of egotism which he has killed.

The river Ganga whom he has trapped in his matted locks represents wisdom, which is cool and refreshing.

He stands on the demon of illusion on one foot, while the other is raised to represent a state of transcendental bliss.

Other symbols stand for the concept that the ego or self must be destroyed if man is to be master of himself.

Einstein said that all his thoughts on the strcture of the world and its movements found lucid expression in the image of Lord Nataraja

How to get there? Chidambaram is connected by road to all major towns. Rail connections to Trichy, Madurai and Madras. Nearest Airport is Trichy.

Hotel Tamil Nadhu (TTDC) provides cheap but reasonable accommadation.

Thos who are interested in Bharathanatiyam may need two days to cover all the Gopurams.

Travelx an International travel agency has a branch in Mahabalapuram, there are reliable and resonable. From my own experience I found that some of the travel agents cheat forign tourist. Refer to Article Mahabalapuram for more detail.