CHIDAMBARAM TEMPLE
In India there are five temples each built corresponding to the five elements ....All of these five temples are located in south India in the Deccan plateau ....
- THIRUVANAMALAI - FIRE
- THIRUVANAIKAVAL - WATER
- KALAHASTHEESHWARA TEMPLE - AIR
- CHIDAMBARAM TEMPLE -SPACE
- EKAMBARAESHWRAR TEMPLE - EARTH
The Chidambaram temple is an incredible space. The newer part of the temple is around a thousand years old but no one knows how old the older part of the temple is. People say it is 3,500 years or more. This is how INDIAN CULTURE has been. Even in ancient times, just look at the kind of temples they built. Whether you see the Rameshwaram temple, the Chidambaram Temple, or the Madurai Temple, these are all colossal establishments and they were created a thousand years ago. At that time, almost every human being except the king lived in shacks. There was no machinery, trucks or cranes, but they worked for a couple of generations on these temples with a single-minded purpose. These people dedicated their whole life, they lived and died to create these temples because it meant so much to them.
One thing about Chidambaram is the Nataraja, but the main deity is an empty space. This temple was consecrated by Patanjali himself. Patanjali is known as the “Father of Modern Yoga.” He did not invent yoga. Yoga was already there in various forms which he assimilated into a system. The Yoga Sutras were written by him. If you look at Patanjali, as an enlighten being he can’t be more enlightened than someone else. There is no such thing. Realization is realization. But Patanjali as a man and above all as an intellect, the breadth of his understanding of life is so big that you cannot believe that this is possible in one human being. He is absolutely incredible and almost “not human.”
Patanjali consecrated this temple with a certain science behind the whole thing because he is not a devotee, he is a scientist and he set up proper ways of how to conduct the temple. He prepared a group of people who have to maintain a certain level of sadhana and discipline and a method of daily ritual in the temple. Those families multiplied and they continued to keep the temple. Even today, they are generally maintaining the codes and the ritual part that he set forth as to how the temple should be maintained
When Patanjali built the temple, he didn’t build things for fancy. He only did what is absolutely needed, and it is an incredible space. That space needs to be protected and nurtured and made available to the whole of humanity. It is our bound duty and vital responsibility to conserve this temple to ensure the well being of the Indian culture..it not only speaks about culture but is a sacred abode of knowledge for the spiritual seekers...
OM NAMA SHIVAYA.....
