The twin cities of Chidambaram and Seerghazhi were long pending in the list in spite of being near to Chennai. So on a Friday early morning we set forth to Chidambaram.
We started by 5:30 AM from Chennai. This time our route was ECR - Pondy - Cuddalore - Chidambaram. Had a break at Puducherry for breakfast, we had pongal and poori we keep us non-sleepy for the next few hours of drive. Around 11 AM we reached Chidambaram. Our stay was pre-booked at Vandayar Hotel. We had to wait for sometime as the room was getting cleaned since they did not expect us so soon. Meanwhile we complete the check-in formalities. The hotel looks old but was maintained well. We had to step out to get tea as the restaurant inside the hotel was all done. We had lunch at the hotel's restaurant - meals for Rs. 150 was very average, not worth the price. So decided to have dinner else where.
After a quick nap we discussed with a friend who is a native of Chidambaram and got the contact of a Deekshithar who would take us inside the Natarajar Sannadhi and the Chidambara Ragasiyam. He asked us to reach temple by 8 PM. So asked the hotel people for temple directions and walked all the way from our hotel. The forth right from our hotel is the east car street. The streets around the temple are called car street - Keezhaku ratha veethi, Merku ratha veethi, Therku ratha veethi and vadaku atha veethi. These streets are broad enough to let the temple ther to go around during festivities.
The east car street seem to be the busiest housing many restaurants and tea shops. Tea time franchisee shop was full with customers coming in for tea and other snacks. There was Palagaram.com, another franchisee just for snacks combos. Apart from this are the age old udipi restaurant - Krishna vilas, Ramesh veg, etc. As we walk beyond this we get to the east entrance of the temple. If we skip the entrance and walk further in the east car street you will find Saravana bhavan and Adyar Ananda bhavan.
After a quick tea break we reached the temple by 6 PM and went around the temple premises. Its a huge temple spread around 40 acres, with separate sanctums for each of the deities. This temple is not under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government. Instead it is maintained by the Deekshithars. They have been offering pooja to Lord Natarajar here since its existence. They live here in Chidambaram and only here. Some 400+ Deekshithars are part of a committee that takes care of the temple and its properties.
The Nandi in the temple is huge and is enclosed within a structure. The cravings in the temple walls depict dancing postures as this is the temple dedicated to Bharathanatyam. There is a huge hall probably for dancing. The temple pond is surrounded by corridor with mandap structure and carvings. There is separate shrine for Ganapathi, Murugar, Vishnu and Durga Devi.
It is believed that Lord Shiva came in the form of a Danseur to destroy the sages in the near by mangrove forests who were onto evil activities. He danced here, which attracted the wives of the Sages. This angered the Sages and ultimately their destruction. In Tamil its believed that Chidambaram means Male domination and Madurai means Female domination. And one can understand this from how the consort to Lord Natarajar, Goddess is left to the corner and cannot be seen directly by the devotees. We have to move to our left and peek into the sanctum to workship the Goddess. We had a good darshan once the sanctum opened up at 8:15 after the pooja. The Othuvar sang so well that one feel the presence of the Lord there.
Our Deekshithar then took us inside, a bit near to the deity to worship Lord Natarajat, Goddess Ambal, Bhairavar and Chidambara Ragasiyam - golden vilvam leaves. We were told the final pooja here happens at 10pm after it happens in all other Shiva temples around the country and its a must watch. As we had been in the temple for around 3 hours we decided to leave. We went to Krishna vilas and had - Idly gothsu and onion rava dosa. This time we took a autorickshaw for Rs. 50 to reach our hotel and called it a day.
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