naTarAjar - 25 forms of Lord Shiva

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Om Shree Ganeshaya Namah..

Om Namah Shivaya..

Om Sai Ram...

naTarAjar

shlokam:

A face with four shoulders, three eyes, to the left destructive fire (in the

hand), moon and leaves on the head, hand stretching downwards, the raised foot

pointing down, to the right swastika earring, Damarukam (drum), ga.nga (in the

head), and protection posture, salutations to that God of ceaseless dance whose

matted hair is flowing, standing on the unconscious body (hyapasmAra dEham)

purANa of the deity :

naTa rAjar : king of dance (yOga mUrti) Lord Shiva dances during the creation,

protection and destruction of the worlds, though the kind of His dance varies

with respect to the action. (san^dhyA tAnDava, Urdhva tANDava, rudra tANDava,

samhAra tANDava etc.). The dance of the Lord takes place in every minute

particle, for all of us to exist and act. That is the source of all the energy.

His movement is shakti. Yogis hear and see the dance of the Lord by invoking the

kuNDalinI shakti.

 

 

Lord Shiva danced in the five ambalams during various occasions. Out of them

chithambaram is very much renowned. Lord danced here to fulfill the worship of

patanjali and vyAghra pAda mahaR^ishis.

 

These are places where Lord Shiva danced in different occasions.

Chithambaram - Golden hall (ponnambalam - kanaka sabha)

Madurai - Silver hall (veLLiyambalam - rajata sabha)

ThiruvAlaN^kAdu - Gem hall (iraththinasabai - ratna sabha)

ThirunelvEli - Copper hall (thAmira sabai - tAmra sabha)

KutRAlam - Picture hall (chiththira sabai - chitra sabha)

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chithambaram

 

Chitambaram also called ponnambalam (Golden hall), is the famous temple for

Shiva devotees in Tamil Nadu. Before and at the end of recitation of hymns its

name is referred as "thiruchchiRRambalam" even today. This temple has been sung

in a lot of thEvAram and thiruvAchakam hymns.The temple is built of granite on

39 acres of land in the heart of the city. It is surrounded by massive walls

with four big tall gopurams in four directions and a big tank called Sivagangal

tank measuring 175x100 feet towards the North. The North & South gopurams are

160feet high. The 108 dance postures as seen in the Natya Sastra are sculpted

in these towers. It has five principal sabhas known as Kanakasabha, Chit

sabha, Nritya sabha, Deva sabha and Raja sabha. In the Kanaka sabha (golden

hall) lying adjacent to the Chit Sabha, poojas are offered. The ceiling of

these two sabhas are gold plated.

The idol of Nataraja is enshrined in the Chit sabha. Behind this idol, is a

black screen, which is considered to cover the Akasa Lingam. There is no

Lingam, but we are made to believe that there is an invisible Lingam, with

golden vilva garlands, i.e stressing the belief that there is everything in

nothing. There are five silver plated steps to reach the Chit Sabha,

representing the Panchakshara mantram - Na ma si va ya. The embossed images of

the saints Vyagrapada and Patanjali, are to be seen on the doors. Both these

saints had been blessed witht the sight of the cosmic dance of Shiva. Lord

Vishnu also is said to have witnesses this scene.

Once the great serpent Adhi sEsha felt that mahA vishNu was heavy that time. He

asked mahA vishNu the reason. He told him that he remembered the dance, that

Lord did once in the presence of all dhEvAs. Due to the pleasure of

reminiscence mahA vishNu was heavy. Inspired by this Adhi sEsha wanted to see

the dance of the Lord. He came to chitambaram and worshipped the Lord as

pathanychali. vyAghra pAdar, a sage, was also worshipping the Lord to see His

dance. vyAghra pAdar got as a boon the legs and eyes of the tiger to claim the

trees and see in the dark, so that he can get flowers, fresh, untouched by even

bees, before the dawn for the worship. They worshipped the Lord for a long time.

To fulfill their desire the Lord appeared on the thiruvAdhirai and danced in the

golden hall. kALi competed against the Lord , but lost. king chimmavarman put

golden roof over the ambalam

(naTarAjar Sanctum) in fifth century ACE(AD). The naTarAjar in the temple is

called chitsabhEshar. This place represents the thakarAkAsham - the sky inside

us. In this temple Lord Shiva is worshipped in all the three forms, namely,

arUpa - which is called chitambara rahasyam, arUparUpa - shiva li.ngam and rUpa

- naTarAja. There is a Sanctum Sactorum for vishNu next to naTarAja, in the

lying posture, and called gOvin^dha rAjap perumAL.

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Madurai - Silver hall (veLLiyambalam - rajata sabha)

Madurai is revered as one of the five Cosmic Dance Halls of Shiva. The Natarajar

shrine in the Sundareswarar temple in Madurai is referred to as the Velli Sabhai

or the Rajata Sabha – the Hall of Silver.

The Mahakumbhabhishekam of the Velliambala Natarajar Sannadhi, which has been

covered with silver plates at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. More than 1,500 kg of

silver had been used to cover the entire stretch of the Sannadhi including the

roof with eight panels containing images of Lord Siva.

 

The Natarajar Sannadhi situated in front of Sri Sundareswarar Sannadhi at the

famous Sri Meenakshi Amman temple is unique as the deity''s left leg is rooted

to the ground unlike in all other temples where the right leg is rooted.

Legend has it that Shiva performed the Aananda Natanam or the Dance of Bliss

here. It is said that Patanjali and Vyagrapadar the supreme devotees of

Nataraja, upon being requested to dine – on the occasion of Meenakshi’s wedding

with Shiva at Madurai – expressed their desire to leave for Chidambaram to

perform their daily ritual of witnessing Shiva’s dance of bliss there. Shiva is

said to have requested the munis to stay on at Madurai, and to have danced the

Aananda Natanam dance of Bliss at Madurai in the silver hall or the Rajata

Sabha.

Also according to another legend, a devout Pandya King by name Rajasekhara,

meditated upon Shiva to request him to dance with his right foot raised – in

apparent concern for the pain that might afflict the Cosmic Dancer’s

permanently grounded right foot (and raised left foot). Shiva is said to have

responded to the King’s pleas and changed his posture. (Nataraja is always

depicted dancing with his left foot raised; however in the Madurai temple

alone, he is depicted with his right foot raised).

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Gem Hall - thiruvAlaN^kAdu

In thiruvAlaN^kAdu Lord Shiva danced for the great devotee, kAraikkAl ammaiyAr,

who is one among the 63 nAyanmAr. She wanted to see the dance of the Lord. The

Lord asked her to worship Him in thiruvAlaN^kAdu. She worshipped the Lord in

thiruvAlaN^kAdu. The Lord danced for her delight, and asked what boons she

wanted. She asked boon for not taking any more births and not forgetting Him.

She also asked the boon of sitting under His ornated dancing feet. She sang a

lot of hymns in raise of the Lord in thiruvAlaN^kAdu.

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ThirunelvEli - Copper hall (thAmira sabai - tAmra sabha)

Tirunelveli is located on the banks of the river Taamraparni and was once the

capital of the Pandya kings. Rama, after killing the demon Mareechais said to

have worshipped Shiva here.

Covering a sprawling 14 acres area, this temple complex is rich

in architectural splendour with a thousand-pillared hall. Stone pillars in the

Mani Mandapam emit different musical notes when struck. The Sangili Mandapam,

the Somavara Mandapam and the thousand pillared hall where the marriage of the

Lord takes place adorn this temple. A large Chariot Festival is held in

June/July.

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KutRAlam - Picture hall (chiththira sabai - chitra sabha)

The Chitra Sabhai or the hall of pictures is located in a picturesque locale

(see image above) away from the main temple. Architecturally the Chitrasabha

resembles that of the other Nataraja Sabhas elsewhere in Tamilnadu, and its

interior is decked with hundreds of murals, depicting images from the Indian

epics. Natarajar is brought here during festivals from the Kurumpalaveesar

temple.

Legends: Agastyar who at Shiva's request, proceded southward to stabilize the

balance of the earth, and relieve it from the instability resulting from the

presence of a multitude of entities at Shiva's and Parvati's wedding in the

Himalayas, to wait for a glimpse of the divine couple, is said to have created

the Shivalingam here by shrinking an image of Vishnu, hence the name Kutralam.

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May Lord Shiva's blessings always be with all of us..

Om Namah Shivaya..

Deepa H

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