Noble work inside chidambaram temple

NOBLE WORK BRINGS TOGETHER PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENCES

V. Shanmuganathan

Temples are sacred religious symbols of Bharat and of great cultural
significance. Immense sacrifices have been made to save and protect
these holy symbols and sacred places.

Whenever we hear the name "Golden Temple", we tend to think of the
beautiful Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. There is another Golden Temple
in South India, the great =93Nataraja Temple=94 at Chidambaram in Tamil
Nadu that is associated with the cosmic dance of Bhagwan Nataraja.

Chidambaram Nataraja temple complex is spread over 40 acres of land in
the heart of the city. It is an ancient and historic temple dedicated
to Bhagwan Shiva, who gives darshan to his devotees in the form of
Nataraja. As the temple has a separate Sannidhi for Bhagwan
Govindaraja Perumal, it stands as a testimony for the oneness of Shiva
and Vishnu. It is one of the very few temples where both the Saivite
and Vaishnavite forms of The Almighty are enshrined in one place.

The Archagas (Priests) of the temple are called "Dhikshitars". They
have been taking care of this temple since it came into existence.
They are called as =93Thillai Moovaayiranaar=94 (3000 families of priests
of Thillai) and =93Thillai vaazh Anthanar=94. Thillai is another name for
Chidambaram -=A0 Dikshithars are respected by the devotees as Bhagwan
Shiva himself. Dhikshidars are well versed not only in the recitation
of Vedas and Sanskrit Slokas but also masters of Tamil Hymns such as
Thevaram and Thiruvachakam, etc. There are thousands of Tamil
Thevarams, sung by Nayanmars and other saints. The Dikshithars recite
Thevaram and Thiruvachakam also as part of the daily rituals.

Unfortunately atheistic and alien forces conspired against the
Dikshidars and created a controversy as though the Dikshithars were
not singing Tamil Hymns and that they were also not allowing other
devotees to sing them inside the temple.
Actually Tamil Thevarams and Vedas are not different. Nayanmar Trio of
Appar, Sundarar and Sambandar have sung thousands of hymns called
Thevaram and Saint Manickavachakar had composed Thiruvachakam. The
Nayanmars have depicted the beautiful Sanskrit and Tamil languages as
the manifestation of Bhagwan Shiva himself. They take the bhaktas to a
higher level of consciousness and wisdom by showering great spiritual
thoughts through these languages. Tamil hymns Worship Shiva, as the
lord of Vedas. But some mischievous people were blowing the difference
beyond the limits.

Naturally the devotees of Bhagwan Nataraja were worried. The temple is
considered as center of unity. It has brought different sections of
society through various functions and festivals. How to bring solace,
unity and amity was the main question before all devotees.

At that time, shri.Sudhakar, Organising Secretary of Hindu Temple
protection committee, approached all groups of people and requested
them to come to the temple on a particular holiday. Hundreds of
devottees, mainly youths, women and students of Annamalai University
came in large number and gathered in the temple premises around 7 am.

Shri Sabesan, Secretary of RSS, explained the significance of the
Temple. =93Chidambaram is one of the Panchabhoota Sthalas signifying the
5 elements of Air, Water, Fire, Earth and Space. The famous Tamil
saints like Sambandar, Appar, Sundarar and Manickkavachakar have sung
verses in praise of Bhagwan Natarajar. Main significance of
Chidambaram Nataraja is Ananda Thandava, (Dance of Bliss), in the
Golden Hall as Sabhapathy. Nataraja is the manifestation of Shiva. His
body represents the Space. His three eyes symbolise the sun, moon and
the eight directions. His =91damaru=92 is the creation of sound. This
temple is center of unity. So we have to develop co-operation and
cohesion.=94

Shri Ranganathan alias Pattu, treasurer of the Temple Protection
Committee spoke about the Philosophy behind the Temple.

=93The world is the embodiment of the Virat Purusha, the colossal human
form. Chidambaram is the centre of this form, the place of the heart,
where Shiva performs the cosmic dance. Many scholars and thinkers have
written about the unique specialities of the Temple. Ananda K.
Coomaraswamy, who was originally from Srilanka and later settled in
America, wrote famous articles about the significance of the
Chidamaram. He has narrated rhythm, beauty, power and grace of
Nataraja. It is the clearest image of the activity of God which any
art or religion can boast of.

Dr. Fritsof Capra, the author of the Tao of Physics, had explained in
his book that the metaphor of the cosmic dance unifies ancient
mythology, religious art and modern physics.

The importance of this temple is seen, appreciated and realized by the
whole world. Today we are here mainly to clean the complete temple
with five prakaras or circuits. When we work, let us think about
unity. We are all devotees of Ananda Nataraja. The power of God exists
in every one of us. Let us forget our differences. Let us work
together.=94
Then all the devotees started cleaning the temple. When the noon time
came, Dhikshidars brought food for them and served them with
affection. In the evening the municipal Chairman came with 2 tractors
and took all the dirt, plants, stones and other wastes out of the
temple. The whole town was happy when they saw the temple completely
clean and neat. They were happier when they saw all the worshippers
jointly working together, taking food together forgetting their
differences.

(The writer can be contacted by email id..vsnathan7666@gmail.com)