What is a Temple?

"A building devoted for worship..." The definition remains the same irrespective of the language or the religion.

 With hundreds of worship places around me , I thought to add something to this definition.. Not just a building devoted for worship,, but a place where my heart feels at peace.

But I have to force to rethink at the definition of this word as I stand in front of the elegant Natrajah Temple in the silent city of Chidambaram.

Chidambaram a small town in Tamil Nadu houses one of the panchbhoot lingam (ether the symbolism of Akash), one of the 108 devadarshanam, and the house of the golden Natraj.

When I first step foot in the holy city, I felt I have arrived to a different world. There was no fear or tension or any negative thought of standing in an unknown city at 4 in the morning with not even a single person on the road. Half of the street lights werent working as well. I wasnt even feeling tired as I stepped forward away from my bus. As my bus, the only lively element there vanished in the dark I turned and saw the magnificant gate of the Natrajah Temple.

I decided to go to the temple in the morning, took a room next to the gate of the temple.

I remember the scroching loudspeakers chanting bhajans in my home town, and here next to a huge temple my eyes opened with the beautiful singing of the birds. I hurried fast to the temple.

The gate I saw a couple of hours back was the main gate, but the gopuram was further inside. I strolled inside the temple. There were devotees but no rush. Every one seemed satisfied. The main gopuram was carved with the tiny dancers with 108 Bhratnatyam mudras, surely it is the temple of the Lord of Dances. The emotions are so clear that I wonder is this temples thousands of years old?? Being a science student, I cant stop wondering at the level of artistic intellegence used hundered of centuries back. For a moment I forgot I am in a temple....

But this was just the begining, As I entered in the main temple, my eyes were wide with shock. With pandits chanting vedic shlokas in the Varenda (no loudspeakers) and devotees were lining up for the darshanam I stood there watching the dome of the Garb grah, not because it was made of gold,, but because every single rivet in the dome meant something as is the architecture of the temple.

Here are the words copied from wiki

"The temple located is the center point of world's magnetic equator.

Three of the five Panchaboothasthala temples, those at Kalahasti Kanchipuram and Chidambaram all stand on a straight line exactly at 79 degree 41 minutes.East longitude - truly an engineering, astrological and geographical wonder. Of the other two temples, Tiruvanaikkaval is located at around 3 degrees to the south and exactly 1 degree to the west of the northern tip of this divine axis, while Tiruvannamalai is around midway (1.5 degree to the south and 0.5 degree to the west).

The 9 gateways signify the 9 orifices in the human body.

The Chitsabai or Ponnambalam, the sanctum sanctorum represents the heart which is reached by a flight of 5 stairs called the Panchaatchara padi - pancha meaning 5, achhara – indestructible syllables – "SI VA YA NA MA", from a raised anterior dias - the Kanakasabai. The access to the Sabhai is through the sides of the stage (and not from the front as in most temples). The Chit sabha roof is supported by four pillars symbolic of the four Vedas.

The Ponnambalam or the Sanctum sanctorum is held by 28 pillars – representing the 28 agamas or set methodologies for the worship of Shiva. The roof is held by a set of 64 beams representing the 64 forms of art and is held by several cross-beams representing the innumerable blood vessels. The roof has been laid by 21,600 golden tiles with the word SIVAYANAMA inscribed on them representing 21600 breaths. The golden tiles are fixed using 72,000 golden nails which represents the no. of nadis exists in human body. The roof is topped by a set of 9 sacred pots or kalasas, representing the 9 forms of energy. The artha mandapa(sanctum) has six pillars denoting the six shastras (holy texts).
The hall next to the artha mantapa has eighteen pillars symbolizing the eighteen Puranas."
But this wasnt enough,, there was more to go. As I bow down in front of the Golden Natrajah,, I was again thrilled by what I was observing.. The priest didnt just  rotated the arti around the Natrajah sclupture,, but took it behind.Behind the glass at the back of the God....
The god is worshiped here in three forms,,
the evident Lord of Dances,, the eternal source of cosmic energy Natrajah,,
the semi form , the crytal lingam, the resemblance of one of the panchbhoot Akash
the formless,, the empty space..
 
As the priest took the arti at the back of the glass, the whole place was lighted up. Even the empty space has a significance in this temple. I smiled to myself as I just stumbled upon the very foundation of spirituality.
I looked upon the beautiful Natraj figure and cant stop smiling remembering the explanation of itself. I took the liberty to include it also here,, from wiki...

"The Ānanda-tāṇḍava posture of Nataraja represents pancikritya functions of the godhead believed to have created the dynamic force to create the world.

• The demon under Nataraja's feet signifies that ignorance is under his feet.
• The fire in this hand (power of destruction) means he is the destroyer of evil.
• The raised hand (Abhaya or Pataka mudra) signifies that he is the savior of all life forms.
• The arc of fire called Thiruvashi or Prabhavati signifies the cosmos and the perpetual motion of the earth.
• The drum in his hand signifies the origin of life forms.
• The lotus pedestal signifies Om, the sound of the universe.
• His right eye, left eye and third eye signify the sun, moon and fire/knowledge, respectively.
• His right earring (makara kundalam) and left earring (sthri kundalam) signify the union of man and woman (right is man, left is woman).
• The crescent moon in his hair signifies benevolence and beauty.
• The flowing of river Ganges through his matted hair signifies eternity of life.
• The sreading of his hair and drape signify the force of his dance.
• 

Another notable point of this posture is that it is based on the six point star. Nataraja's head forms the topmost point of the star, while his spreading hair and right hand form the upper side points. His drape and raised left leg form the lower points, and his right leg that rests on the demon Myalagga forms the lowest point. Surrounding this is the arc of fire."

As I went over to admire the rest of the temple, my mind was racing to the depth of the details the architectures have gone at that time,, with no GPS to tell them the center of the Earths magnetic equator. How they optimised the no of beams, pillars,tiles and nails,,, to match the human body and create a structure that lasted for thousands of years. A living document proof of the subjects like Architecture, Spirituality, Astronomy , Medical Science, Language, Dance, and varous art forms.. and many others...

If I havent read these things about the temple.. I would have considered it just an art,, but now I know its not only a building for worship, but a magnificant prototype of the knowledge that existed once, an extraordinary technique to document the knowledge and reserve for the coming generations.

Hats off to the thinking of our fore fathers,,

This visit is something that change my outlook to see things. What ever our eyes see has a meaning,, the Visit to Natarajah temple made me rethink,, A Temple was not just built to devote a building to worship but to conserve the knowledge of the era for future generations....

I recommend every one to visit this temple,, because we can read about it, we can write about it,, but we cannot feel unless we experience it...