Chidambaram Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in the heart of the temple town of Chidambaram, 78 km south of Pondicherry and 60 km north of Karaikal in Cuddalore District ot Tamil Nadu. To the followers of Shaivism (Saivism) or the saivaite, the very word koil refers to Chidambaram (to the followers of Vaishnavism koil refers to Srirangam or Thiruvarangam). The Pallava king Simhavarman (also known as Hiranyavarman, who lived in the 5th century CE) is a well known renovator of this temple.

     In Hindu literature, Chidambaram is one of the five holiest Shiva temples, each representing one of the five natural elements; Chidambaram is space. The other four temples in this category are: Thiruvanaikaval Jambukeswara (water), Kanchi Ekambareswara (earth), Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleswara (fire) and Kalahasti Nathar (wind).

     The Chidambaram Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva (Siva) in His form of the Cosmic Dancer, Nataraja, is a temple complex spread over 40 acres (160,000 m2) in the heart of the city. It is an ancient and historic temple dedicated to Lord Shiva Nataraja and Lord Govindaraja Perumal, one of the few temples where both the Shaivite and Vaishnavite deities are enshrined in one place.

     The word Chidambaram may be derived from chit, meaning "consciousness", and ambaram, meaning "sky". A unique feature of this temple is the bejeweled image of Nataraja. It depicts the Lord Shiva as the Lord of the dance Bharatanatyam and is one of the few temples where Shiva is represented by an anthropomorphic murthi rather than the classic, anionic Lingam. The Cosmic Dance of Lord Nataraja symbolises the motion of the universe as sustained by Lord Shiva. The temple has five courts. Aragalur Udaya Iraratevan Ponparappinan (alias Vanakovaraiyan) rebuilt the Siva temple at Chidambaram around 1213 AD. The same Bana Chief also built Tiruvannamalai temple.

     The story of Chidambaram begins with the legend of Lord Siva strolling into the Thillai Vanam (Vanam meaning forest and thillai trees - botanical name Exocoeria agallocha, a species of mangrove trees - which currently grows in the Pichavaram wetlands near Chidambaram. The temple sculptures depicting the Thillai trees date back to the 2nd century CE).

     In the Thillai forests resided a group of saints or 'rishis' who believed in the supremacy of magic and that God can be controlled by rituals and 'mantras' or magical words. The Lord strolls in the forest with resplendent beauty and brilliance, assuming the form of 'Pitchatanadar', a simple mendicant seeking alms. He is followed by his Grace and consort who is Lord Vishnu as Mohini. The rishis and their wives are enchanted by the brilliance and the beauty of the handsome mendicant and his consort. On seeing their womenfolk enchanted, the rishis get enraged and invoke scores of serpents by performing magical rituals. The Lord as the mendicant lifts the serpents and dons them as ornaments on his matted locks, neck and waist. Further enraged, the rishis invoke a fierce tiger, which the Lord skins and dons as a shawl around his waist. Thoroughly frustrated, the rishis gather all their spiritual strength and invoke a powerful demon Muyalakan - a symbol of complete arrogance and ignorance. The Lord wearing a gentle smile, steps on the demon's back, immobilizes him and performs the Ánanda Thaandava (the dance of eternal bliss) and discloses his true form. The rishis surrender, realizing that this Lord is the truth and he is beyond magic and rituals.

     The Ananda Tandava posture of Lord Shiva is one of the famous postures recognized around the world by many (even people belonging to other religions having a liking towards Hinduism). This celestial dancing posture tells us how a Bharathanatium Dancer should dance.

The demon under Nataraja's feet signifies that ignorance is under his feet
The Fire in this hand (power of destruction) means destroyer of evil
The raised hand signifies that he is the savior of all life.
The Ring at the back signifies the cosmos.
The drum in his hand signifies the origin of Life.

     Adhisesha, the serpent who serves as a bed for the Lord in his manifestation as Vishnu, hears about the Ananda thaandava and yearns to see and enjoy it. The Lord blesses him, beckons him to assume the saintly form of 'Patanjali' and sends him to the Thillai forest, informing him that he will display the dance in due course.

     Patanjali who meditated in himalayas during krita age joins another saint, Vyagrapathar / Pulikaalmuni (Vyagra / Puli meaning "Tiger" and patha / kaal meaning "feet" - referring to the story of how he sought and got the feet and eyesight of a tiger to help climb trees well before dawn to pick flowers for the Lord before the bees visit them). They move into the Thillai forest and worship Lord Shiva in the form of Shivalinga, a deity worshiped today as Thirumoolataneswarar (Thiru - sri, Moolatanam - primordial or in the nature of a foundation, Eswarar- the Lord). Legends say that Lord Shiva displayed his dance of bliss (the Aananda Thaandavam) - as Nataraja to these two saints on the day of the poosam star in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan - Feb).

     Chidambaram is also referred to in various works such as Thillai (after the Thillai forest of yore in which the temple is now located), Perumpatrapuliyur or Vyagrapuram? (in honour of Saint Vyagrapathar).

     The temple is supposed to be located at the Lotus heart of the Universe": Virat hridaya padma sthalam. On the spot where the Lord displayed his dance of bliss, the Ananda Thaandavam - a spot exactly south of the "Thirumoolataaneswar temple", today is the Ponnambalam/ Porsabai (Pon meaning gold, Ambalam/Sabai meaning stage) housing the Lord Shiva in his dancing form. The Lord is also hence referred to as the Sabhanayakar, meaning the Lord of the Stage.

     This gold-roofed stage is the sanctum sanctorum of the Chidambaram temple and houses the Lord in three forms:

the "form" - the anthromorphological form as an idol of Lord Nataraja, called the Sakala thirumeni.

the "semi-form" - the semi-anthropomorphological form as the Crystal linga of Chandramouleswarar, the Sakala nishkala thirumeni.

the "formless" - as the Space in Chidambara Rahasyam, an empty space within the sanctum sanctorum, the Nishkala thirumeni.

     Chidambaram also is one of the five places where Lord Shiva is said to have displayed his dance and all these places have stages/ sabhais . Apart from Chidambaram which has the Por sabhai, the others are the Rathina sabhai at Thiruvaalangadu (rathinam - ruby / red) , the Chitra sabhai at Courtallam (chitra - painting), the Rajatha sabhai or the Velli ambalam at Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple (rajatha / velli - silver) and the Thaamira sabhai at Nellaiappar Temple, Tirunelveli (thaamiram - copper).

     The temple and the Lord were also immortalized in poetry by four poet Saints - Thirugnana Sambanthar, Thirunavukkarasar, Sundaramoorthy Nayanar, and Manikkavasagar. The collected works of the first three are called the Devarams. Thirugnana Sambanthar has composed 2 Tevarams in praise of the Lord at Chidambaram , Thirunavukkarasar aka Appar 8 Tevarams in praise of Nataraja, and Sundarar 1 Tevaram in praise of Lord Nataraja. Manikkavasagar has written two works, the first called Tiruvasakam (The sacred utterances) which largely has been sung in Chidambaram and the Thiruchitrambalakkovaiyar (aka Thirukovaiyar), which has been sung entirely in Chidambaram. Manikkavasagar is said to have attained spiritual bliss at Chidambaram. The works of the first three saints (Tevaram) were stored in palm leaf manuscripts in the temple and were recovered by the Chola King Arunmozhivarman, more famously called Sree Rajaraja Chola under the guidance of Nambiandarnambi.

The Gopurams      The temple has 9 gateways and four of these have towering pagodas or gopurams each with 7 levels in the East, South, West and North. The eastern pagoda has all the 108 postures (karnams) of the Indian dance form - Bharathanatyam sculpted on it.

The Five Sabhais
     There are 5 sabhas or diases or halls:

the Chit sabhai, which is the sanctum sanctorum housing Lord Nataraja, his consort Goddess Shivagamasundari

the Kanaka sabhai - in front of the Chitsabhai, from which the daily rituals are conducted

the Nrithya sabhai or Natya sabhai, to the south of the temple's flag mast (or kodi maram or dwaja sthambam) where the Lord is said to have danced with Goddess Kali - an embodiment energy and established His supremacy

the Raja sabhai or the 1000-pillared hall which symbolizes the yogic chakra of thousand pillared lotus or Sahasraram (which in yoga is a 'chakra' at the crown of the head and is a seat where the soul unites with God. This chakra is represented as a 1000-petalled lotus. Meditating by concentrating at the Sahasrara Chakra is said to lead to a state of union with the Divine force and is the pinnacle of yogic practice)

the Deva sabhai, which houses the Pancha moorthis (pancha - five, moorthis - deities, namely the deities of Lord Ganesh - the remover of hurdles, Lord Somaskanda, a form where the Lord is in a seated posture with his grace and consort, the Lord's consort Sivananda nayaki, the Lord Muruga and the deity of Chandikeswarar - the principal and chief of the devotees of the Lord).

Other shrines
Apart from the five sabhais are:

the shrines for the original Shivalinga worshiped by Saints Patanjali and Vyagrapathar - called the Thirumoolattaneswarar and his consort Umaiyammai or Umaiya parvathi

the shrines for the 63 prime devotees of Lord Siva - or the Arubathu moovar

the shrines for Sivagami - an embodiment of knowledge or Gyanasakthi

for Lord Ganesha - in his manifestation of one who removes hurdles

for Lord Muruga or Pandiya nayakan - in his manifestation of one who holds the three forms of energy - Itchai or "desire" represented by his consort Valli, Kriya or "action" represented by his consort Deivayanai and Gnana or "Knowledge" represented by the spear He carries to destroy ignorance.