Town of Chidambaram 

It is situated in the east-central part of Tamil Nadu state of southeastern India extending 11.24`N and 79.44`E. The town is in the Coleroon River Valley on the Madras - Thanjavur road and rail system. Chidambaram (also Thillai)  literally means the sky permeated by an atmosphere of intelligence and wisdom. According to legend, it was once a forest of thillai, a mangrove species of trees.

There was once a small shrine on the banks of a tank. The saints Vyagrapada and Patanjali are said to have worshipped at this shrine, now called Thirumoolanathar. It is believed that their penance attained fruition with the revelation of Shiva's cosmic dance by Lord Nataraja on the auspicious Thai Poosam day.

The golden hall of dance was built and covered with gold plates by Jatavarman Sundra Pandya (AD 1251 - 1272). He was very proud of his achievement, and as such assumed the title of Hemachandandana Raja (literally the king who covered the temple with gold).

The Nataraja Temple

It is about 43 km from Cuddalore and 45 km from Neyveli. The temple is located in the center of Chidambaram town and covers an area of 40 acres. The roof of the sanctum sanctorum is covered with gold plates. The presiding deity of the temple is represented by air, one of the five elements of the universe and is known as Akasa Lingam.

This is the temple of the Cosmic Dancer, where the presiding deity is called Nataraja. This temple has five halls, of which two-the Kanaka Sabha and the chit Sabha-have gold-plated roof. The main icon of Nataraja is in the Kanaka Sabha. One of the significant aspects of the temple is that there is no image of god in the Chit Sabha, which houses the Akasa Lingam.

This to signify that God exists in vacant space too. The Nritta Sabha or the Hall of Dance of the most beautiful and remarkable of the five halls, built in the form of a chariot on wheels drawn by horses. There are 56 pillars in the hall depicting the 108 po ses of Bharat Natyam, the classical dance of Tamilnadu.

Deva Sabha and Raja Sabha

The Deva Sabha was the Hall of Festivals and the Raja Sabha, which is a thousand-pillared pavilion, was the Celebration Hall of the Pandyas and Cholas who gathered here after every victorious campaign to thank the Lord. Adjacent to the Nataraja shrine is a shrine dedicated to Lord Vishnu (Govindaraja). There are also shrines dedicated to Subramaniya and Vinayaka. The sacred tank is called Sivaganga.

Thillaikaliamman Temple 

The Thillaikaliamman Temple is on the Northern end of the town. Kopperunjigan, who ruled between AD 1229 and 1278, built this temple. This temple is dedicated to Goddess Kali. It is said that Goddess Kali's anger did not subside even after killing the demon Tarakasura. Hence, Lord Nataraja performed thandava dance to contain her anger. It is enjoined that all those who visit Chidambaram should pay a visit to Thillaikaliamman Temple.

Fairs and Festivals

Brahmotsavam, Aani Thirumanjanam, Thai Poosam, and Arudra Dharshan are some of the temple festivals that attract large crowds from far and nearby places.


The Natyanjali festival

This festival held for five days during February is an eloquent tribute to this center as origin of dance. The dance avenue, which was originally in front of the 1000-pillared Raja Sabha, has now been shifted to the enclosure beyond the gopurams to facilitate closure of temple in time and accommodate a larger audience.

The number of dance performances has been increasing year after year even though they are only paid travel and lodging expenses. The performance starts from 6.30 PM on the festival days and continues past midnight.


How to Reach chidambaram?

BY FLIGHT - The nearest airports are Tiruchirappalli (195 km) and Chennai (245 km). From Tiruchirappalli, Indian Airlines flights can be taken to Chennai. Chennai is connected to all the major cities in India and abroad though regular flights.

BY TRAIN -  Chidambaram is situated on the Chennai - Tiruchirappalli main line of the Southern Railway. It is connected with Tiruchirappalli, Chennai, Madurai (335 km), Rameswaram (575 km) , Bangalore (340 km), and Tirupati (290 km).

BY ROAD - Frequent bus services are available to various places in Tamilnadu, Andhra pradesh, Karnataka and Pondicherry states from Chidambaram. There are non-stop bus services and express to major cities like Chennai, Bangalore etc.

LOCAL TRANSPORT - For local transportation, taxis and auto rickshaws are available without meter. Other modes of transport are bus, and cycle rickshaws. Bullock carts for hire are a speciality.    

Places Around Chidambaram

Situated around 16 km from Chidambaram is Pichavaram. The place is a scenic spot with abundant and varied tourism resources. A unique natural phenomenon in the form of mangrove forests, which sprawl over 11,000 hectares of backwaters, is the main tourist attraction here. The backwaters, which are interconnected by the Vellar and Coleroon system, offer abundant scope for water sports-parasailing, rowing, and canoeing.

Pichavaram consists of a number of islands interspersing a vast expense of water and covered with green trees. The Area is separated from the sea by a sand bar, which is a patch of extraordinary loveliness. To a botanist, rare species like Avicennia and Rhizophora will present special attractions. Sirkazhi is about 20 km from Chidambaram.

The temple here has the shrines of Sri Brahmapureeswarar, Sattanathar and Thoniappar the Goddess Tirunilai Nayaki shrine and the shrine of God Child, Gnanasambandar. Neiveli is 45 km from Chidambaram. Lignite mines are located here.