Secrets of Chidambaram Thillai Natarajar Temple | Chidambara Ragasiyam | Panch Bhoota Sthalam

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Chidambaram 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. To the followers of Shaivism or the saivaite, the very word koil refers to Chidambaram.

The word Chidambaram may be derived from chit, meaning "consciousness", and ambaram, meaning "sky" (from aakasam or aakayam); it refers to the chidaakasam, the sky of consciousness, which is the ultimate aim one should attain according to all the Vedas and scriptures.Another theory is that it is derived from chit + ambalam. Ambalam means a "stage" for performing arts. The chidakasam is the state of supreme bliss or aananda and Lord Natarajar is the symbolic representation of the supreme bliss or aananda natanam. Saivaites believe that a visit to Chidambaram leads to liberation.


Amongst the Pancha bhuta stahalas (five elements place) of Shiva, Chidambaram represents aakasha that is Ether.

The sanctum sanctorum housing the Nataraja statue is called the Chit Sabha or Ponnambalam. The five pillars of the Chit Sabha indicates the five senses. The roof of this Sabha contains 9 kalasas depicting the 9 forms of energy. 
The 9 gateways signify the 9 dwaras (gateways) in the human body (namely 2 eyes, 2 nostrils, 2 ears, mouth, rectum, genitals).
The roof has 21600 gold sheets which denotes the number of times a person can breathe in a day. The gold sheets are fixed to the vimana using 72000 nails depicting the number of nadis (channels of prana in the body).


Just as the human heart is not at its centre, the Nataraja statue is also slightly shifted to the side. One can notice this if you view the statue from within the two horns of the Nandikeshvara. Also, one can notice that the entrance paths to the sanctum sanctorum are not straight as is the case in most of the temples. Instead, entrance paths are through the sides representing the fact that human blood circulates only through the sides of the heart and not straight.

To reach the Ponnambalam we need to climb five silver steps representing panchakshara (Na Ma Si Va Ya) are the 5 Panchatshara mantras. There are Four pillars holding the kanagasabha representing the 4 vedas.


The Ananda Tandava posture of Lord Shiva is one of the famous postures recognized around the world by many. 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.

These are the main things that the Natarajar murti and the celestial dance posture depict.

The dance of Lord Nataraja is described as cosmic dance.
What is there in external cosmos existing within this body and the vice versa.


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 appearance 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.


Chidambara Rahasyam translates to the Secret of Chidambaram.
Since ancient times, it is believed that this is the place where Lord Shiva and Parvathi are present, but are invisible to the naked eyes of normal people. In the Chidambaram temple of Lord Nataraja, Chidambara Ragasiyam is hidden by a curtain which is related to Maya. Darshan of Chidambara Ragasiyam is possible only when priests open the curtain (or Maya) for special poojas. People who are privileged to have a darshan of Chidambara Ragasiyam can merely see golden vilva leaves (Aegle Marmelos) signifying the presence of Lord Shiva and Parvathi in front of them. The Chidambara Rahasyam hence represents the time when one totally surrenders them to God to intervene and remove the ignorance. It is believed that the Chidambara Rahasyam will always remain a secret.