Natyanjali Festival The Natyanjali dance festival at Chidambaram brings together all the prominent dancers of India. They offer their abhinaya and their dance to the Lord Nataraja. To many of them it is like a dream come true, to be able to perform in the vicinity of the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Nataraja’s temple, whose padams and varnams they often use creating an imaginary figure of the Lord.
This festival opens on the auspicious occasion of the Maha Shivaratri day and of course in the right kind of venue, which is the Prakara of the Chidambaram temple.
The Nataraja Temple
The temple located in the centre of the town covers an area of 40 acres. It is one of the ancient temples of Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity of the temple is represented by air, one of the five elements of the universe and is known as Akasa Lingam. Dedicated to Lord Nataraja, this ancient temple of the Cholas is unique as it one of Panchabootha sthala in India - and it is one of the rare temples where Shiva is represented by an idol rather than the customary lingam. This temple is aslo having exquisite carvings giving importance to Bharathanatya postures, gestures, mudhras etc thus giving concrete evidences and throws lights on the Classical Dance of Tamil Nadu. This temple spread over an area of 40 acres with magnificent gopurams on each side. The temple is also distinguished by five sabhas or courts.
The eastern tower of the temple rises to a height of 40.8 metres. There are a 108 Bharatha Natyam dance poses can be seen on the Eastern tower as well as on Western tower. The Northern tower rises to a height of 42.4 metres is the tallest. This temple is also noted for its Gold Plated roof that adorn the sanctum sanctorum other wise called as kanakasab ha
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