01The dance in the Thillai forest
Thillai was a forest of mangrove trees when the rishis Patanjali and Vyaghrapada sat here in tapas, praying to see Shiva’s dance. He danced for them in the Kanaka Sabha, the golden hall, and has stood there since as Nataraja, right foot on the demon of forgetfulness, left foot raised. Beside the image is a curtained space. When the priest draws the curtain there is nothing to see but a string of golden bilva leaves: Shiva as formless space, the Akasha linga. The temple is served by the Podhu Dikshitars, a hereditary community of priests.
02Gold, hymns and dance
Chola copper plates credit Parantaka I with covering the golden hall’s roof with gold. Under Rajaraja I, the Shaiva tradition holds, the hymns of Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar were found decaying in a sealed room of this temple and were gathered by Nambiyandar Nambi into the Tirumurai. The four gopurams of the 12th–13th centuries carry the 108 karanas, the dance poses of the Natya Shastra, carved with their Sanskrit verses. The two great festivals are Arudra Darshanam in Margazhi and Aani Thirumanjanam in June–July.
The life of this place
- 10th centuryParantaka Chola I gilds the roof of the Kanaka Sabha.
- c. 1000The Thevaram hymns are recovered here and compiled by Nambiyandar Nambi.
Ask to see the Chidambara Rahasyam at the evening puja. Govindaraja Perumal’s shrine, a Divya Desam, is inside the same complex.
