A Day Trip To The Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram:

Mar 24, 2023Chidambaram Natarajar, Temples0 comments

My first visit to a Shiva temple was during my pursuit of an M.Sc degree in chemistry at Annamalai University. Later, I began visiting the famous Thillai Nataraja temple almost every Sunday. The Thillai/Chidambaram Nataraja Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to God Natarajar, the form of Shiva as the lord of dance. Even after graduation, I continued to visit this temple whenever I sought help from my professor to apply to Wright State University for admission. By God’s grace, I came to the USA to pursue my higher education. However, due to the busy schedule of studies and work, I never thought about visiting this temple.

One fine day in 2014, I booked a pilgrimage trip to India to visit the Nataraja temple in Chidambaram and other Shiva temples. Here, I am sharing my trip to the Chidambaram Nataraja temple along with a picture gallery.

I took a night train from Chennai Egmore to Chidambaram and arrived early in the morning. However, I would not recommend this train for new travelers as it was challenging to find the station due to the limited lights and signs. Since it was early morning, we could have missed the station if we overslept due to tiredness. However, I managed to get off at Chidambaram and then took an autorickshaw to my hotel. I do not recall the hotel’s name, but it was a small one as I wanted to save money. It was within walking distance to the temple, but I would not stay there again.

The Temple has four tall and colorful Gopurams, which are visible from afar, serving as a symbolic and convenient landmark for pilgrims. No shoes are allowed inside the temple, and photography is allowed to take pictures of the architecture, but not inside the sanctum. Please check with the officials for the current rules and regulations. I only took pictures outside of the temple. Furthermore, the gopuram renovations were also in progress and I could not take pictures of all the gopurams.

Dharshan Time: Morning 6.00.a.m to 12.00 noon Evening 5.00.p.m. to 10.00 night

I visited the temple in the morning, and there were many vendors at the entrance selling flowers, coconuts, and bananas. Usually, I do not buy anything to offer to the gods and prefer to worship them without offering anything. I spent around three hours visiting and praying to all the deities in the temple and taking pictures. It was nice to visit the temple again after a long time. I should visit the temple again and spend more time clicking important architectures.