PART-7- CHIDAMBARAM

7

Chidambaram
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One of the most popular and celebrated Siva kShEtras in the country, Chidambaram is the confluence of the varied and significant streams of religion, philosophy and art. Nowhere else do we see such a congregation of yOgIs, philosophers, musicians, dancers, poets, composers and of course the simply devout, offering homage to the Supreme Being through the medium of their calling, as at Chidambaram. For, Lord Nataraja symbolises for all of them the ultimate in their chosen mode of worship. No other place is closely connected with the performing arts as Chidambaram, which for Shaivites is simply 'kOyil'. The Lord Himself is a dancer, a consummate Artiste as represented in the beautiful icon that adorns the citsabhA. Nataraja is variously referred to as sabhAnAyakan (the Lord of the hall of Consciousness), ADalvallAn (the dancing God), naTEshan (the Lord of Dance) or simply sabEshan and by hundreds of other names. The esoteric significance of Nataraja is however nameless and formless; it is just Pure Consciousness, the substratum of all creation and is represented by His divine dance.
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Lord Nataraja's dance encompasses the five acts, the panchakrityas: creation, protection, destruction, causing ignorance and granting of salvation. The Lord creates the world out of His own Shakti and at the end of creation, He withdraws Shakti unto Himself. The entire universe is dissolved and He alone shines in all His Glory. The screen in the citsabha when pulled aside reveals empty space. Behind the veil shines the Supreme Truth. This is the Chidambara rahasya and the significance of Akasa Tattva and Nataraja's dance.

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Muttuswami Dikshitar must naturally have been thrilled when he arrived at Chidambaram. He had sung of numerous deities, all various forms of the Supreme Being. Nevertheless, here, at Chidambaram, the Supreme Being Himself was an Artiste and this fact was special. Being a panchabhUta kShEtra, Dikshitar decided to compose a kriti which would bring out the glory of both the kShEtra as well as of the Lord of Dance. 

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kEdArA is a rAgA that seemingly possesses very little scope. But not so for Dikshitar. It becomes quite obvious while contemplating on 

Ananda naTana prakAsham, 

that there is very little repetition in music throughout. Each line, each phrase, is fresh, full of the lilting beauty of kEdAram. The deep and powerful sAhitya is energised and fortified by the exquisite music, so that we have a work that, more than any other, portrays the joyous Ananda tAnDavA of Nataraja as much as it reflects the sublime truth that His dance signifies.

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Dikshitar says that the Lord is present as AkAsha (space) in the Heart of devotees and grants them happiness in worldly life and Liberation too (bhukti mukti prada daharAkAsham). The Lord granted Patanjali and Vyaghrapada the vision of His raised foot (divya patanjali vyAghrapAda darshita kunjitAbja caraNam). Alluding to Chidambaram as the premier shrine for Siva, Dikshitar describes Him as being Lord of all kshetras beginning from Kedara, in the process introducing the rAga mudrA too (shrI kEdArAdi kShEtrAdAram). The composer makes special mention of the priests of the shrine, the 3000 podu dIkshitars who are said to have descended from the Lord Himself (bhUsura trisahasra munIshwaram). Dikshitar says that the Lord is the embodiment of the highest truth of the Vedas, and that He can be truly described and comprehended only in the purest advaitic terms. His Ananda Tandava performed to the accompaniment of music and instruments, expounds the profoundest of truths, that of the Supreme Self. 

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As a special feature, this kriti has solkattu swarams, dance jatIs interspersed with swarAs. Listening to this classic, what more could the Lord of Dance ask for from Muttuswami Dikshitar? Yet, there was more to come. 

Dikshitar composed the song 

shivakAmEshwarIm in the rAga kalyANI. A short but lilting song, this composition is noteworthy for its description of the actual significance of Goddess Sivakamasundari. The caraNa begins as 'shAnta kalyANa guNAshAlini'. shAnta kalyANI is the name of the 65th mELakartA according to the kaTapayAdi formula followed by Venkatamakhi. In introducing the name of the rAgA in this song along with its kaTapayAdi prefix, Dikshitar, by a stroke of genius has alluded to the sthala purANA also.

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 The Lord and Goddess Kali were engaged in a dance competition to determine who was the greater of the two. The Lord assumed the urdhva tAnDavA posture (i.e., with His right leg the Lord touched His right ear). On account of feminine modesty, Kali was not able to assume that pose. The Lord was therefore the victor. The Goddess's pride was quelled and She reverted to Her original self. As Kali She was asked to proceed to the outskirts of Thillai and reside there. As Sivakamasundari She joined Her Lord and is depicted as silently witnessing Nataraja's dance getting ready to merge with Him. She is therefore shAnta swarUpiNI, the very form of peace. This is alluded to by Dikshitar in the phrases 'shAnta kalyANa guNAshAlini' and 'shAntyAtIta kalA svarUpiNi'. The greatest art is being established in the Self which is beyond peace itself (shAntI atIta). The Goddess, says Dikshitar, is of the form of the art of being in that state that transcends stillness and peace. This describes the true state of Goddess Sivakamasundari and is just one of the numerous, amazing examples testifying to Dikshitar's vast erudition and his original, creative genius.

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 chidambara naTarAja in kEdAram

again and 

cidambarEshvaram in the rAgA bhinnaShaDjA,

 chidambara naTarAjam, a kriti in tanukIrti (here again, the significance of the formless Supreme is indicated as atanukIrtim, bringing the raga name and the core theme together), 

kanakasabhApatim in mALavashrI and a nOTTusvara piece(cintayEham sada) were his other offerings to Nataraja.

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Dikshitar worshipped at the shrine of Govindaraja Perumal which is inside the Nataraja shrine and composed on Him too. Vishnu as Govindaraja, is seen to be reclining, which is neither sleep nor the state of waking. This signifies the state of turiya, the transcendence of the three states of existence, which manifests on the removal of mAya. Siva and Vishnu both exemplify the Supreme Truth of Chidambaram under the same roof.

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 gOvindarAjam in mukhAri(which has the sthala purANa for this VaiShNava divya dEsha), 

gOvindarAjAya in suraTTi and 

gOvindarAjENa in mEca bauLI were the pieces Dikshitar wrote in praise of Vishnu here. The mukhAri and suraTTi have a veiled reference to the coexistence of the Vaishnavite and Shaivite shrines. In both kritis, Lord Govindaraja is described as a friend of Nataraja! The mEca bauLi kriti is perhaps the only one available in that rAgA.

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In the first part of this series we had quoted the purANic truth:

jananAt kamalAlayE, darshanAt aprasadasi, smaraNAd aruNAchalam, kAshi tu maraNAn muktih that is, Birth at Tiruvarur, darshan of Chidambaram, thinking of Arunachala and death at Kashi result in liberation.
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Dikshitar was born in Tiruvarur; through rigorous spiritual practice, his ego had perished in the Light of Consciousness that was Kashi; Arunachala as the Supreme Truth was ever manifest in his heart; and he had had darshan of Chidambaram, the true darshan of Cosmic Consciousness.

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continued  in part-8

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