Amongst the five holy Shiva temples in India, Chidambaram is a representation one of of the five elements of nature – aether or akasha. The other temples are the Thiruvanaikaval Jambukeswara temple in Trichy which represents the water element. Then we have the kanchi Ekabareswara temple in Kanchipuram representing earth, Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleswara temple representing fire and the Thiruvanna Malai and Kalahasti Nathar representing wind at Kalahasti.

The entire temple complex spans an area of around 50 acres and is in the middle of the city of Chidambaram. This ancient and very historic temple has the presiding deity in Lord Shiva or lord Nataraja. Then you also have the Lord Govindaraja Perumal. This is one of the very few religious locales in India where both the Vaishnavite and the Shaivite deities are found in the same place.

The word Chidambaram means the sky of consciousness where chit means consciousness and ambaram means the sky. The temple has the image of Lord Nataraja with lot of jewels. Lord Shiva has been depicted in the dancing pose and this is one of the very few temples where the idol is an anthropomorphic one rather than the normal Shiva lingam. The Lord is very popular for his cosmic dance which denotes the motion of the entire universe which is controlled by the Lord. There are five courts in the temple premises. It was Aragalur Udaya Iraratevan Ponparappinan who again reconstructed the temple in the 12th century. The dikshitars are the group of Brahmins of the Shaivites who have been managing the administration of the temple.

It is said that Chidambaram has a legend behind it.  It is believed that once Lord Shiva was taking a stroll in the forest of the thillai trees which are like mangroves. He came in the disguise of a mendicant asking for alms. He is with the other form of Lord Vishnu which is Mohini. They come across some sages performing some chants. The rishis and the womenfolk got enchanted seeing them. Seeing that the womenfolk got distracted they invoked many serpents to perform rituals. The mendicant who is actually Lord Shiva wears the serpents on his body. The rishis then call a tiger. The Lord drapes this as a shawl. Then they invoke a powerful demon Muyalakan who was very arrogant. The Lord stands on the demon and performs the tandava nrutya the cosmic dance. The rishis see his real form.

Chidambaram invokes the Lord Shiva in this cosmic dance form.

• The Jyotir Lingams
• The Bhuta Lingams
• The Svayambhu Lingums

It is stated that Lord Shiva had marked his presence in the five south Indian temples. The places were Lord Shiva was present as any normal elements are known to be the Bhuta Lingams.

The five south Indian temples and the particular elements are given below

• Sri Kalahasti – wind

• Chidambaram – air and the heart.
• Kanchipuram – earth

• Tiruvanaikka/Jambunath – water and the stomach.
• Tiruvannamalai – fire and the chest.

Legend behind the Temple:

Alan Morinis in one of the pilgrimage books that was related to the Hindu customs and tradition narrated a very appealing story. The story provides information regarding a blessed hill located in Arunachala, which came in the contact of the Shiva’s fire lingam. The story says that after the death of his wife Sati, Lord Shiva was roaming around in the woods of Daruvana in the remembrance of his loss. It is believed that Lord Shiva was naked and wives f the sages who lived in the forest same him. The wives wanted to unite with Lord Shiva as they were aroused seeing him naked. The sages became jealous of Lord Shiva and thus cursed his linga because of which it had fallen down. As soon as the linga touched the ground its size grew and it looked like an unblemished feature. The length of the linga kept increasing eventually lord Vishnu and Brahma saw it when it has crossed the level of the clouds. They wanted to know what exact happen. Atlast Lord Vishnu turned into a pig and dived into an ocean and reaches the bottom of the linga. Lord Brahma became a Swan and reached its top. On returning back Lord Vishu accepted that he couldn’t find the base but Lord Vishu lied that he had reached to the peak. At the same time Lord Shiva came and appreciated Lord Vishu’s honesty and told them that since it was his linga it couldn’t be measured. On the request of Lord Vishu, Lord Shiva left behind a fraction of the linga in its fire form on the hill in Arunachala.

Location and Structure:

The Arunachaleswar Shiva temple is located in Tiruvannamalai near the base of the Arunachala hill. It is the biggest as well as the oldest temples among all the temples of the South India. The total area covered by the temple is around 25 acres. The exact time when the temple was constructed is till date unknown. It is believed that the development in the temples building was going on for many years. It is known that the huge towers which are commonly known as gopurams were built around 10th as well as the 16th century. The height of the tallest tower is about 60 meters and it has around thirteen tales related to it.

The heart of the temple has the image of Lord Shiva enshrined as Lord Annamalai and also his spouse as Unnamalai. Every year a huge celebration takes place in the temple in the month of November-December. The deepam festival is celebrated as to appreciate Shiva’s appearance as the glow of Arunachala. On the full moon day a huge fire is lighted as a memory of the fire that Lord Shiva left behind on the hill. Pilgrims from all part of the country come here during the celebrations.

Getting there:

Triruvanamalai is located at a distance of around 100 km from Kanchipuram and 185 km Madras. Madras has the nearest international airport which has direct flights to many countries. The nearest railway stations are Madurai as wel as Tirupati. You can take a bus from Madras, Kachipuram as well as Tirupati to reach Triruvanamalai or else ride a car or hire a cab.

When to visit:

The best time to visit Triruvanamalai is from November to January. The ideal time of the day to visit the temple is the morning time.

Opening timing:

The temple is open for its pilgrims from early morning to late in the evening. Avoid going on Sundays or on the public holidays as there is huge crowd on these days.

Entrance fees:

Entrance in the temple is free for everyone.