Chidambaram is a town of India, in the Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, 11 km from the coast and 240 km south of Chennai by rail.

History

Chidambaram has been the northern frontier of the ancient Chola kingdom, the successive capitals of which were Uriyur on the Kaveri, Kumbakonam and Thanjavur.

Four most revered Saivaite Saints (Appar, Sundarar, Sambandar and Manikkavachakar) have worshipped at Chidambaram, and the bulk of Manikkavachakar's work is in praise of Shiva at Chidambaram.

Temple Architecture

The gopurams (pagodas) at Chidambaram are the oldest in the south of India, and portions of them are gems of art.The principal temple is sacred to Shiva, and is said to have been rebuilt or enlarged by a leper emperor, who came south on a pilgrimage and was cured by bathing in the temple tank.

It contains a "Hall of a Thousand Pillars", one of numerous such halls in India. The exact number of pillars in this case is 999; each is a block of solid granite, and the roof of the principal temple is of GOLD-gilt.

Unlike most Shiva temples, the icon or murti is not in the typical form of a linga. Rather the image is of Shiva as Nataraja, which

Chidambaram is one of the Panchabhoota Sthalams - temples built for the 5 elements said to embody Shiva - at Chidambaram (space), Kalahasti (wind), Thiruvanaikkovil (water), Tiruvannamalai (fire) and Kanchipuram (earth).

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain.

References and Related Links

• Cited and adapted from a public domain source,
• cited from
• Chidambaram

ta:சிதம்பரம்