Historical Period10c CE
10th c. CE (Chola)
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Deities
Chidambaram NatarÄja
ÄkÄÅa Liį¹ ga ā space-element / Lord of the Cosmic Dance
ÄkÄÅa Liį¹ ga ā space-element / Lord of the Cosmic Dance
Chidambaram NatarÄja is one of the Pancha Bhoota Sthalas ā five temples in South India where Shiva is worshipped as one of the five classical elements. Here he is akÄÅa (space). The ÄkÄÅa element ā formless space ā is represented here NOT by a linga but by an empty space behind the curtain (Chidambara Rahasya). A garland of golden bilva leaves flutters to mark the invisible cosmic dance.
The temple houses the golden Nataraja dancing in the gold-roofed Chit-Sabha. The ÄkÄÅa-linga is the "secret of Chidambaram" ā behind a velvet curtain is... empty space. The cosmos itself is the linga. This is the most philosophically pure of the five elemental temples.
