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TEMPLE DOCTRINE
In the Chidambaram temple the
Dancing Shiva is the Presiding Deity, and all rituals are
conducted on the basis of the Vedic doctrine. These are the
two features which distinguish the Shiva Nataraja temple
from all other temples in India.
Shiva Nataraja’s dance is seen as
the visualization of the processes of cosmos. In his murti
or physical image we can see his five activities.
Creation: Visualized in the
small, hourglass-shaped drum, called damaru, which he holds
in his upper right hand. It represents the vibration of the
Big Bang, which is the sacred sound OM.
Preservation: Is seen in his
lower right hand. It signals protection; fear not. Nataraja
faces south and thus dispels the fear of death for the
humanity.
Dissolution: Is symbolized
by the flame in his upper left hand. At the end of the
lifetime of the universe everything will be dissolved in
fire.
Illusion: Is in his stable
right leg, which dances on the dwarf, pressing him down.
This symbolizes his conquest of Maya, Illusion.
His lower left hand points the
attention of the devotee towards his raised, dancing left
foot. Here in his dance one can realize the Salvation
he offers to the humanity.
His dance also makes the five
Elements out of which the universe is formed, become
visible. The damaru represents the Element Air. The air
inside it makes the sound, the vibration, possible. The
flame in his left hand represents the Element Fire. The
goddess Ganga, in his matted hair, from which flows the
sacred river Ganges, represents the Element Water. The
Element Earth is the dwarf on whom he dances. The fifth
Element, Akasha or Ether, is invisible to us. It is the
empty space, the Void, between his stable
right leg and his lifted foot.
Chidambaram is also known as the
Akasha Kshetra. In southern India there are five Shiva
temples especially dedicated to each one of the five
Elements. At Kalahasti we find the temple dedicated to Air.
At Tiruvanamalai exists the temple dedicated to the Element
Fire. At Tiruvanaikaval the temple is dedicated to Water. At
Kanchipuram the great Shiva temple is dedicated to the
Element Earth. The Chidambaram temple is dedicated to Akasha
or Ether.
In the Sabha with the golden roof,
to the proper right hand side of the Dancing Lord, is
situated the Chidambaram Rahasyam, the Mystery of
Chidambaram. Behind the black and red curtain is an empty
space, marked on the physical plane only by a few strings of
golden vilva leaves, hanging down before what seems to the
human eye only empty space. Here is invoked by mantras or
sacred found formulas, on a formless yantra, the Akasha
Linga, the Linga of Ether.
The Vedic doctrine teaches that the
primary forms of matter are the five Elements, Akasha, Wind,
Fire, Water and Earth. Whereas Western pre-Christian
doctrine was based on the existence of only four primary
Elements. Akasha or Ether is described as a ‘subtle and
ethereal fluid, filling and pervading the universe and known
to be the peculiar vehicle of life and sound’, and of divine
consciousness.
The Akasha yantra is Shiva as
Formless. The Crystal Linga is Shiva as Formless-Form. And
the Shiva Nataraja Murti is Shiva as Form. These are the
three manifestations of the divines on the material plane of
our physical universe. These three are all represented in
the Cit Sabha or Hall of Wisdom establishing a complete
presence of the divine with in the one complex.
The Chidambaram temple is also one
of only a very few temples in India which follow the Vedic
rituals, where most other temples follow the Agamic
doctrine, as expressed in texts called Agamas.The Vedic
doctrine centers on the performance of the Yagna
(Yajña) or fire sacrifice. This doctrine has been preserved
by the Deekshithars community of hereditary priests in an
unbroken oral tradition.
The fire sacrifice is performed in
a fire pit which has the shape of an inverted step pyramid.
The procedure and effect of the ritual are based on the
presence of an energy point in every pyramid. The subtle
energy of the sacrificial substances together
with the sound energy of the mantras, the energy of the fire
itself, and the spiritual energy of the performer towards
the ritual, all together constitute the transformation and
transportation of the essence of the sacrifice to the plane
of the divine.
Every morning a fire sacrifice is
performed in the Kanaka Sabha (the hall in front of the Cit
Sabha) between eight and nine o’clock as part of the puja
ritual. At the time of the Chariot Festival every morning
and evening fire sacrifices are performed in the Yaga Sala,
situated in the North-Eastern corner of the third prakara or
courtyard, before the procession is taken out. These rituals
may be witnessed from outside by the visitors. |
