The Chidambara Rahasyam

If there are men who want to see anything in the world

other than the dance of Aran, whose feet we serve,

in Cirrampalam shrine in Tillai,

where the areca tree with broad fronds grows tall,

the streets are lined with great mansions,

and all the fields are watered

by streams full of valai fish—

then they are but devil-devotees,

seeing worthless things with rheumy eyes.”

APPAR, TRANSLATED BY INDIRA VISWANATHAN PETERSON (1)

Chidambaram, or Tillai, the sacred shrine of Śiva as Naṭarāja, has been the epicenter of Tamil Śaivism for over a millennium. Located in South Arcot district a few hours from Chennai, one would be hard-pressed to find a shrine with a richer history of religion and art. The Nāyanmārs Appar, Sundarar and Jñānasambandar have sung about Tillai in their verses of Tillai being the spiritual and ritualistic center, beginning in the 8th century AD. While literary works such as the Cidambara Māhātmya in Saṃskrit and Koyil Purāṇam in Tamil trace the sanctity of the shrine back to the time of Sages Patañjali and Vyāghrapāda, circa second century BCE, the Tamil work Tirumandiram pushes its antiquity even further back, to the 5th century BCE. Śiva is said to have performed his ānanda tāṇḍava at the Cit Sabhā, which represents wisdom, where he continues to dance eternally. Naṭarāja is known as ‘Sabhānāyaka’ or ‘Sabhāpati’, both meaning ‘Lord of the sabhas ’, with sabha here referring to the five assembly halls found in the structure of the temple. Hence the temple has come to be known as Naṭarāja Temple or Sabhānāyaka temple. The five steps leading to the Cit Sabhā represent the five sacred letters of pañcākṣara mantra, namely na, ma, śi, vā, ya. The twenty-eight pillars in Cit Sabhā signify the twenty-eight holy scriptures, the sixty-four letters above the pillars signify the sixty-four arts, and so on and so forth, building a magnificently meaningful hall at the crux of the shrine.

History of the Temple (2)

Epigraphical evidence shows that Chidambaram sprawled over a much larger area in prior centuries than it does now. A 12th century inscription mentions it as Perumpatrapuliyūr-Taniyūr, a large self-governing local unit comprising 23 hamlets with a radius of eight miles. The temple complex itself comprised an area of almost 40 acres, as it does in the present. Century after century, the various dynasties of Southern India contributed to the grandeur of the temple. Aditya I (871-907 AD) of the Cholas is credited for gilding the inside of the kanaka sabhā, while Parantaka I (901-953 AD) utilized the wealth from his conquests to enrich the shrine. From the time of Kulottunga-I (1070-1120 AD), the history of the Cholas and other successive dynasties and the history of Chidambaram have been entwined. Every rise in a conquest or kingdom has been noted by additional structures, additions and renovations in the temple. Kanchipuram inscriptions reveal that Kulottunga-I constructed a palace at Chidambaram, probably to supervise the exhaustive renovations he undertook in the temple. From an inscription it is gleaned that he installed a stone brought from Cambodia in Edirambalam to establish a relationship with the king of Cambodia. After the Cholas, the rise of the Mediaeval Pandyas during 1216 AD did not in any way diminish the royal patronage to the temple. After the Muslim invasions, the renaissance of Hinduism during Vijayanagara rule witnessed a benevolent and enriching temple administration throughout Southern India. An inscription dated to1428 A.D. found in the temple shows the continuous patronage of the shrine by the Vijayanagara kings. Among them a significant benefaction is the construction of the north gopura in 1560 by Kṛṣṇadevarāya. Another Vijayanagara ruler, Achyuta Rāya bestowed 18 villages for the completion of this gopura in 1529 AD, when it was completed. The Nāyakas of Thanjavur also made endowments to this temple, an instance being the gift of a village on 22nd Jan 1567, to the Chidambaram temple by Achuttapa Nayakar, as evidenced by another inscription. This continued generous patronage continued until the 17th century, when kings and patrons would make continuous additions to the structure of the temple and its endowments. Throughout this time, the administration of the temple was held squarely in the hands of the Dīkṣitars, their authority in the shrine never being questioned or usurped. In the 18th century, the French occupied the temple and used it as a Fort during the French wars from 1753 to 1760 A.D. and also during the invasion by Hyder Ali. Hyder Ali succeeded in occupying the temple in 1780 A.D., and it was only in 1781 that Sir Eyre Coote attacked and gained victory. Owing to these wars the temple suffered significant destruction, mostly in the form of demolition of many maṇḍapas in the Third Prākāra. Many of the valuable inscriptions were destroyed or lost during these wars. An inscription dated 1773 A.D. mentions that Lord Naṭarāja’s idol was brought back to Cit Sabha from Tiruvarur in this year, having been taken there during the war. In this manner, century after century, Chidambaram has been an inseparable link between religion and temporal power.

With the expansion of British rule in the nineteenth century, the Naṭarāja Temple had no land to its name, and instead relied on specific contracts with patrons (kaṭṭaḷaitār or upayatār) for its survival. During the second half of the 19th century, the Ceṭṭiyārs of Nāṭṭukoṭṭai in southern Tamil Nadu, who had made economic advances into Burma under the protection of British rule, accumulated enormous wealth and strived to renovate the Naṭarāja Temple3. The construction and restoration of the main temple buildings and walls seen today were possible only due to the financial support offered by the Ceṭṭiyārs and other members of the newly-arisen merchant class in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They built a school in Chidambaram, provided the necessaries for religious services, and maintained the flower gardens.With the growing popularity of pilgrimages, they also built accommodation facilities for pilgrims. Among these patrons, the name of Annamalai Cettiyar, the founder of Annamalai University, is especially well-known.

The Dīkṣitars

The Naṭarāja temple is administered by an endogenous group of brāhmaṇas known as the Dīkṣitars, who function as both priests and trustees. The Dīkṣitars are divided into four patrilineal exogamous groups (gotras), and marriage takes place between the gotras, between which there is no distinction drawn. The Dīkṣitars have been associated with the shrine since its first inception, mentioned multiple times in the Tevāram and featuring in the sthala purāṇa. The association of the Dīkṣitars of Chidambaram with the temple is inseverable. They are a close-knit community of about 250 families numbering about 1500, and have been associated with the shrine since its inception, for about 20 generations or at least a millennium. At the time of the establishment of the temple, it is recounted that 3000 learned brāhmaṇas of great spiritual merit were brought from Antarvedi to Chidambaram to conduct sacred rituals for the Lord Naṭarāja. According to the sthala purāṇa, Lord Naṭarāja himself is regarded by the Dīkṣitars as one of them, and is, apart from being the object of their worship, also the leader of their clan. The Dīkṣitars were responsible for bringing the jyōti mūrti of Naṭarāja to Chidambaram from Antarvedi (near Varanasi), the ancestral home of the Dīkṣitars.

Along with the Dīkṣitars, there are several other brāhmaṇas who participate in the religious rites of the temple. One of them are referred to as the Cōzhiyas, said to have been as many as six earlier, but at present numbering three. They are related to one another, and their forebears have participated in the religious rites of the temple over successive generations. They assist in hōmas that take place at the temple and also serve as the domestic priests or purohitas for the Dīkṣitars, performing their rites of passage, ranging from pregnancy and childbirth to marriage and death, as well as services for their ancestors. They are therefore, referred to with reverence as ‘venerable master’ (vāttiyār) by the Dīkṣitars.

There are also some non-brahmin employees, such as a clerk/administrative assistant (called a podumanitan who manages the roster of the priests), florists, temple bell-ringers, watchmen, charwomen, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, washermen, chanters (of the Tevāram), tavil and nādaswara players, etc. belonging to various castes.

Administrative Functioning

The Naṭarāja Temple is administered in accordance with a document detailing temple law, known as the Śrī Sabhānāyagar Koil Saṭṭam, which is said to be elaborately thorough and reasonable. The main executive or administrative organ in charge of the temple is called the ‘podu Dīkṣitar’ and composed of all the married male Dīkṣitars. A periodic meeting is held at Devasabhā or Kalyāṇamaṇḍapa every twenty days to discuss various matters of concern. At the start of the meeting, the podumaṇiṭaṇ brings a lamp from the inner sanctuary of the Cit Sabhā to the meeting place. This signifies that Śiva too is participating in the meeting, and the podumaṇiṭaṇ suggests topics for discussion. The podu Dīkṣitar has a supervisory organ in the form of a committee made up of nine members. Their term of office is from 1 April until 31 March of the following year. The committee chairman assumes in particular the role of representative of the Dīkṣitars when dealing with the outside world, but he is neither leader nor head of the Dīkṣitar community, for the Dīkṣitars maintain that their leader is Śiva himself. This committee is directly concerned with the administration and maintenance of the temple. If, for example, a priest on duty has not been discharging his duties properly, the committee will hold a hearing and may impose a fine.

The rich traditions of the Chidambara temple spanning millennia stands as a testament to the rich heritage of Tamil Śaivism. Administered by the dedicated Dīkṣitars, it continues to uphold its sacred traditions and rituals, bridging the past with the present in its spiritual journey.

Part 2 of this series can be accessed here.

References

1. Peterson, Indira Viswanathan. Poems to Śiva: The Hymns of the Tamil Saints. India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1991.
2. Much of this non-exhaustive historical account is based on Natarajan, B.., Venkataraman, Balasubrahmanyam., Ramachandran, Balasubrahmanyan. Tillai and Nataraja. India: Mudgala Trust, 1994, and Tanaka, Masakazu. “Why are Brahman Temple Priests Highest in the Caste Hierarchy?: A Case of Chidambaram Natarāja Temple, South India.” Senri ethnological studies 36 (1993): 85-123.
3. Tanaka, Masakazu. “Why are Brahman Temple Priests Highest in the Caste Hierarchy?: A Case of Chidambaram Natarāja Temple, South India.” Senri ethnological studies 36 (1993): 85-123.

Authored by Sai Priya Chodavarapu. Published by Brhat.