Panchasabha of Sri Nataraja moorti

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!! Sri Rama Jayam !!

 

Among the many Shiva temples on earth, the five temples - Chidhambaram, Madurai,

Thiruvilankadu, Tirunelveli and Kutralam, a group of five are very revered and

are known as the five sabhas. Lord Shiva is said to have danced at these five

places as - the dancing form of Shiva to benefit different devotees.

The legend of 'Chidambaram' being known to us now from previous posting, wish to

share something more on other 4 temples.

 

1 - Madurai :

Sri Meenakshi-Sundareshwara temple of Madurai is well known to all. There is a

Silver hall (Rajathasabha or Velliyambalam) facing south in front of

Sundareshwarar sanctum. Legends go like - Lord Shiva came as Raja Sundara

Pandiyan to marry Meenakshi, daughter of King Malayadhvajan. Pathanychalai and

Vyagrapadha also came for attending the marriage. They were to take food only

after having the dharshan of the Lord's dance in Chithambaram and the Lord Shiva

danced in the Silver Hall in Madurai fulfilling the determination of the two

great saints.

Unlike in other temples, here Lord Natarajar stands on His left leg with the

right foot raised. On this the legend says - The Pandya king Rajashekaran who

ruled from Madurai, was a great devotee of Shiva and was learned in 63 out of 64

great arts and left the art of dancing due to his devotion on the dancing Lord

Nataraja. But on realising that it might go as a black mark for the country he

started learning it. When he was trying to do the posture of Lord Natarajar, he

found it very difficult and thought how painful it would be for Nataraja to

stand in that posture for centuries. He went to the Silver Hall, and prayed the

Lord to change His feet to ease His pain. But the Lord didn't and the dejected

Rajashekaran took his sword and tried to commit suicide by cutting off his head.

Appreciating the devotion the Lord obliged and changed His leg in the dancing

posture to left foot. Only here Nataraja is depicted in standing on his left

leg.

 

2 - Thiruvangadu:

Thiruvangadu is situated on the southern banks of the river Cauvery, to the

north-east of Thiruvavaduthurai on the Mayiladuthurai - Kumbhakonam (Chennai -

Kanchipuram) road. The temple is known for its Ruby hall (Rathnamandapam). The

Sanskritised name for the village Thiruvangadu is VataAranyeshwaram. The place

was once full of banyan trees and hence the name. Banyan is the sthalavriksham

of the temple.

There is yet another image of Nataraja, housed within the sanctum of

Vadaranyeswarar. To save the earth from the rage of Kali, born out of her

vanquishing the demons Sumban and Nisumban, at the request of Naradar, Lord

Shiva agreed to a dance duel and defeated Kali by raising his left foot, to

adorn his ear with an earring that had slipped away during the duel - a posture

that Kali could not repeat and admitted defeat.

 

3 - Tirunelveli:

This shrine has both Shiva and Parvathi & well know for the Copper hall

(Thamirasabha). There is a shrine for Vishnu near the sanctum, signifying the

legend that Nellai Govindan (Vishnu) officiated the divine marriage of Shiva and

Kantimathi. The musical pillars in the and Mani Mandapam (7th century AD by

Nindrasir Nedumaran or Koon Pandyan) produce various musical notes sound when

gently struck.

 

4 - Kutralam:

The Kutraleswar temple at Kutralam (Courtallam) dedicated to Sri

Tirukutralanathar Tirukootachalapathi and Kuzhalvoimozhi Amman (Devi whose voice

is as sweet as the music of the flute) has the Chitirasabha- Picture hall (in

which a number of mural painting of rural deities and stories from epics are

depicted). The Chitra Sabhai or the hall of pictures is located in a scenic

locale away from the main temple. This Sabha is one of the five Sabas where Lord

Nataraja performed the Cosmic-dance. The Chitrasabha resembles that of the other

Nataraja Sabhas in Tamilnadu, and its interior is decked with hundreds of

murals.

 

Hare Krishna

Hare Rama