A heritage trip to Tamil Nadu is not complete without a visit to the Sabha Nayakar Temple in Chidambaram, commonly known as the Sri Nataraja Temple. Here, the most common form of Shiva - Nataraja, the cosmic dancer - is worshiped with special reverence. The city chosen to host the coronation of the Chola royal kings, Chidambaram's geographical location - at the central entrance to Chola - makes it all the more significant. The temple has undergone major changes in form, space, identity and ritual and there are several gaps in the timeline that need to be filled. While literary evidence of sacred Thevaram shows that the city was highly revered and brimming with activity, information about the temple's later shape and form is scarce in these writings. In fact, almost no inscriptions before the 11th century survive today.

After the 10th century C.E., the temple underwent considerable expansion under Kulothunga Chola I. An interesting inscription from his time speaks of a gem that was worn by the rulers of Cambodia at the time. it was given as a souvenir and how the king gave it. to the temple, which is fixed to the ceiling of the hall opposite the main sanctuary. Her two sisters, Kundavai and Madurantaki, are also active in temple affairs. The former gives a golden bowl to offer water to the deity and the latter donates land to maintain a garden and feed the devotees.

In his 46th year of kingship, a certain Kandan Madhavan built the temple of a god identified as Sonnavaaru Arivar to the northeast of the main temple and a mandapa to conduct sessions on Siva Puranas.

Of all the Chola kings, the contribution of Kulothunga II (12th century) to the temple of Chidambaram stands out. He raised four gopuram towers and adorned them with beautiful images of various gods and goddesses. Although today the southern, western and northern gopurams belong to Kopperumchinga, Sundara Pandya and Krishna Devaraya respectively, this is probably due to the repair work carried out afterwards. The identical nature of the four gopurams and the presence of 108 karana postures represented in the reliefs in each of them give us a clue as to their origin.

After the kings and emperors, this famous name through the Chidambaram temple inscriptions is Naraloka Veera Kalingaraya. He served as an army commander under Kulothunga I and Vikrama Chola. As a seasoned commander, he brought back vast fortunes from several successful expeditions and offered them to the god. He covered Thiru Gnanasambandhar with gold, repaired and gilded parts of the temple. He also offered many golden bowls, spittoons, plates and lamps. Kalingaraya built several mandapam inside and outside the temple and widened the streets around it. Inscriptions indicate that he ensured that the streets were well lit at night and decorated during processions. Kalingaraya is credited for building the temple of Goddess Sivakamasundari and repairing the Sivagangai chariot. The most commendable service of this devotee is having the sacred songs of Thevaram engraved on copper plates and kept in the temple. It is extremely unfortunate that these copper plates are not currently traceable.

As for the festivals here, the Ani Thirumanjanam festival held from mid-June to mid-July is mentioned in the inscriptions of Rajendra I. Interestingly, in the 24th year of the king, Anukki Nakkan Pavai donated land to cover the costs of a large procession, food offerings and food for 1,000 devotees during the festival. Her love for the sacred texts of Thevaram is evident in her ability to sing specific songs during the Masi festival (mid-February - mid-March).

       Thank youu✨