The temple is known as the foremost of all temples kovil to saivites and has influenced worship, architecture, sculpture and performance art for over two millennium. The story of chidambaram begins with lord shiva strolling into the thillai vanam. Story 1 in the thillai forests mangroves resided a group of sages who believed. Nataraja temple, also referred to as the chidambaram nataraja temple or thillai nataraja. Chidambaram is the name of the city where the temple is now situated literally meaning clothed in thought or atmosphere of wisdom. The site is dominated by the huge gateway tower of the nataraja temple but chidambaram also boasts the first devi or amman shrine.
Much has been written about the arthistorical background and. Nataraja temple, also referred to as the chidambaram nataraja temple or thillai nataraja temple, is a hindu temple dedicated to nataraja shiva as the lord of dance in chidambaram, tamil nadu, india. Media in category gopurams of nataraja temple the following 53 files are in this category, out of 53 total. The temple is one of the 108 divya desams dedicated to the hindu god vishnu. Natyanjali is the famous festival in the chidambaram temple. This is very credible because all ancient literature and documents report that tiger flag. Historical references to it take one back to 6th century ce. History of natraja temple nataraja temple chidambaram. Conversion of city corporate plan into business plan pdf report. How the indian icon nataraja danced his way from ancient history to. Chidambaram thillai natarajarkoothan koil is located in the heart of the temple town of chidambaram, cuddalore district,tamil nadu. Chidambaram nataraja temple, chidambaram or chidambaram temple is a hindu temple dedicated to lord shiva located in the town ofchidambaram, eastcentral tamil nadu, south india.
Chidambaram cidambaram is an important chola temple site in tamil nadu, southern india. In another version of the story, rajaraja is said to have experienced a dream from lord shiva telling. Most of the temples at chidambaram were built in the 12th and th centuries ce. Vanam means forest and thillai trees are a species of mangrove trees. The temple is built in the dravidian style of architecture. Nataraja temple in chidambaram continues with the rendition legacy. Chidambaram temple is a hindu temple dedicated to lord shiva. Chidambaram, the name of the city and the temple literally means atmosphere of wisdom or clothed in thought, the temple architecture symbolizes the connection between the arts and. The sangam classics refer to viduvelvidugu perumtaccan, respected clan of traditional vishwakarmas, as being the chief architect of the temple renovation. The architecture of the temple represents the link between arts and spirituality.
Chidambaram nataraja temple the ethereal abode of lord shiva thillai. The temple was constructed during the 10th century when chidambaram used to be the capital of the chola dynasty. The govindaraja perumal temple is located in chidambaram, tamil nadu. In the thillai forests lived sages who believed that god can be controlled using mantras and rituals. It is considered the earliest known hindu sculpture pdf, and is from around. Thillai nataraja temple, chidambaram project gutenberg self. Thillai natarajah temple, chidambaram or chidambaram temple is a hindu temple. The temple is also a major shrine to the hindu god shiva. From the aerial view we can see the total surface area of the temple covers hectares or 35 acres. A long inscription in the big temple gives the names of the 407 dancers, the villages they came from, the street in which they lived in thanjavur and the. The temple, 78 km south of pondicherry and 235 km from chennai, the capital of tamil nadu state of southeastern india. Every page goes through several hundred of perfecting techniques. The primary deity of chidambaram temple was nataraja thillai koothan shiva.
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