Nataraja Temple

The temple has nine entrances, said to represent the nine openings of the human body, and four gopurams. It has five sabhas of which the chit sabha is the oldest and the nucleus, equated with the sanctum, the others being Kanaka, Deva, Nritya and Raja. The sanctum, sabhas and pillared halls are all square. The Sivaganga teertham is a large rectangle with four lingams around it. The roofs of the chit sabha and the kanaka sabha before it are covered in gold, and five silver clad steps between them denote the Panchakshara.

The gopurams carry superb artwork, probably built between 1150 and 1300 CE, damaged and rebuilt many times. The western tower holds inscriptions under each figure naming what it represents, which is rare, and the eastern tower has 108 reliefs of the Karana dance poses of the Natya Shastra facing the sanctum, credited by epigraphy to Koperunjingan II, who ruled 1243 to 1279 CE. The south tower, bearing the Pāṇḍya fish insignia, was likely their work. In the chit sabha the icons of Nataraja as Ananda Thandavam stand with Sivakami to his left and the curtained Rahasya chamber, the Chidambara Rahasya, to his right.

The temple was the venue for Chōḷa coronations and Naṭarāja was their favourite deity, with several inscriptions from their time. Parāntaka I gilded the roof in the tenth century. In 1539 CE Achyuta Raya of Vijayanagara consecrated the Govindaraja shrine in its present location. From 1749 to 1790 the temple sheltered the French and the British and was occupied by Hyder Ali, and was closed for worship. From 1754 to 1794 CE Pachaiappa Mudaliyar carried out extensive reconstruction. In 1773 Ananda Thandava was reinstalled and the priests, calling themselves Dikshitars, took full ownership of the temple.

Naṭarāja's dance depicts five powers: the drum in the upper right hand for creation, the abhaya mudra of the lower right for protection, the fire in the upper left for destruction, the right foot upon the apasmara purusha for the obscuration that hides truth, and the raised left foot for revealing grace, while the lower left hand in gajahasta mudra indicates accessibility. The name chit ambaram joins chit, consciousness, with ambaram, endless space, for limitless wisdom.

Legend holds that Naṭarāja appeared here to his devotees Patanjali and Vyaghrapada and performed the Ananda Thandavam. It is also said that Śiva and Sivakami held a dance contest judged by Vishnu, and when Śiva dropped his earring and lifted it with his foot, Sivakami out of modesty could not match the step and accepted defeat, leaving to dwell on the outskirts as Tillai Kali Amman.