Chidambaram

Being rainy season, it was relatively cool. The saga with the driver continued. We had to stop many times to get directions. Nirmala was (actually Rao and I also were) irritated that the driver had problem not only with the knowledge of the roads but also with the language and in following the instructions. But he was a good driver in the sense that he was calm in spite of our comments.
For this trip, we did not make advance reservations of any hotel accommodations. As we approached Chidamabaram, we started looking for one. I don't remember the name of the hotel. Throughout Tamil Nadu, we had no problem in most of the hotels that we stayed either for food or for other services. Nirmala and Rao spoke to the people at the front desk in their own Tamil. Their vocabulary inTamil was much better than their Hindi. Also, in the Southern part of India all business people can communicate in English.

Now about this Temple: This was a Shiva Temple. But Shiva in the form of Nataraja, the Cosmic dancer. The name of the town Chidambaram in Samsrit probably is Chit + ambaram, meaning sky of consciousness, representing the natural element, space.
The town is close (less than 60 kms) to Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu, . For the Shiva worshippers, this Temple is one of the five holiest temples. The other four temples in this category are, Thiruvanaikaval Jambukeswara (water), Kanchi Ekambareswara (earth),Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleswara (fire) and Kalahasti Nathar (wind). I am happy to say that we visited all of them.

The architecture was superb!! Very intricate and colorful. Most of these temples do not allow photography inside the shrine area. With the security being strict I stopped carrying the camera altogether. I did take some photos which I will load soon.

We waited for pooja (worship) and darsan for a long time. But it was well worth it. We had great darsan, not a big crowd. No pushing or shoving. Very peaceful. Then, we were asked to wait longer to witness the famous Chidambara Rahasyam (secret). There was curtain drawn and that room was to the left of Shiva's Shrine. Finally, the priest came and opened the curtain and we were asked to take a quick peak through the railing. A few around us said they saw it. I saw nothing. I looked around and Nagalaksmi was all in smiles. I wondered why I could not see? In our families, we use the word 'chidambara rayasyam'. I thought about that and then it dawned on me - we used it when there was really no secret. That means it is the 'nothingness'!!! So, we have to go beyond all these forms and rituals and see God in or as that 'nothingness'. I was happy at my conclusion!!