It is said that the youngest of saivite saints, Thirugnana Sambandar, once went along with his father to the temple tank.
Through the windows on this hillock shrines one can view the entire layout of this Temple, specially the shrine of Ashta Bairavars. By climbing few steps from this shrine one can worship Sattainathar/Vatukanathar, incarnated as Bhairavar. The second shrine of Periyanayagar and Periyanayagi on a Thoni is located on this hillock, hence he is also called as Thoniappar. There is an elevated small hillock like structure with around 50 to 60 steps. The ground level, or the lower level of the complex, houses the shrine of Brahmapureeswarar, named so because Lord Brahma is believed to have worshipped Lord Shiva here. Just 20 kms away from Chidambaram, this majestic temple has three shrines of Lord Siva in this temple complex. Sirgazhi Temple: This temple, revered with 71 Thevara Pathikams, is the 14 th temple of the Chola region on the Northern Kaveri banks maintained by Dharmapura Adhinam. A shrine for Goddess Saraswathy as Veena Vidyambika and Lord Dakshinamoorthy in feminine form called as Kadambavana Dakshina Rubini is also located in this temple complex. In this form she is believed to destroy the evils of the world and evil doers too. Kali is the furious form of Goddess Parvati. Here Kali appears with four faces like Brahma.
This Temple of Kali is believed to have been built by Chola King Kopperumsingan. Accepting his prayer, she appeared as Brahma Chamundeswari with four faces. Lord Brahma appeared and praised Kali as Veda Nayaki to calm her down. She became furious and moved to this location as Kali. Lord Shiva played the OordhvaThandava and raised his left leg upward, and due to her feminine traits Parvathi could not do such act and accepted the defeat. Thillai Kali Temple: Legend has it that to ascertain supremacy, Lord Siva and Goddess Parvathi performed a cosmic dance contest at Chidambaram in the presence of Vishnu and Brahma. The special feature is that when the lamp is waved before the it, the ruby it is dark, but when waved from behind, it shows up the exquisite workmanship mesmerically.On witnessing this spectacle, the devotees get completely immersed in bakthi with Natarajar.Īni Thirumanjanam, Arudhra Darshan – the two annual Brahmotsavams, Natyanjali are the important festivals of this temple. During the second pooja, a special abhishekam is performed to the very special one foot Nataraja made of a highly expensive ruby, called Rathina Sababathy. This temple has a 6 time pooja format daily. It is believed that Lord Siva Performed the Cosmic dance to please Sages Patanjali and Vyakrapada. Kanaga Sabha, for performing Poojas Deva Sabha meant for celebration of important festivals and Raja Sabha measuring 103 meters by 58 meters, a 1000 pillared hall where Sekizhar believed to have recited Periya Puranam are located in the temple. The Spatika Lingam of Chandramauleeswara, Swarnakarshana Bhairavar, Mukhalingam are also inside Sanctum Sanctorum. The Five silver steps upto the Sanctum Sanctorum is the respected as the Pantchatchara Mantram Na Ma Si Va Ya. It is also believed that Celestial dance contest of Siva – Parvati took place in the presence of Lord Vishnu. Lord Shiva the Nataraja and Lord Govindaraja Perumal enshrined in one complex facing each other, emphasise the Siva-Vishnu concept which is special feature considering the divide between the Saivite and Vaishnavite culture. It is a site for performance arts including an annual Natyanjali dance festival on Maha Shivaratri. The temple wall carvings display all 108 karanas from the Natya Sastra by Bharata Muni, and these form the foundation of the art. The architecture of this temple is unique and dedicated to the art of Bharathanatyam. The temple is located at the centre point of the world’s magnetic equator. It is one of the traditional Pancha Bootha Stalams, representing Akasam (Sky), one of the five elements of nature. Natarajar Temple: This temple, with 9 gateways and 4 majestic 7 tiered towers, and Sikaram covered with gold plates, is dedicated to Lord Shiva, called as Nataraja performing his cosmic dance.