Finally completed the painting of the Chidambaram gopuram. It has taken well over 6-7 months, stealing an hour in the evening on weekdays and more over the weekends. The medium is oil on canvas, about 3ft by 2 ft- in line with the temple themes I've painted lately.
The inspiration is of course the legendary temple artist "Silpi" who has rendered exquisite pen-and-ink drawings of most Indian temples. My father has also done over a hundred pen-and-ink drawings of temples and continues to churn out more.
Wanted to use the backdrop of this painting to write a few facts about Chidambaram.
1. Dance of Nataraja:
Chidambaram is synonymous with Lord Shiva as Nataraja, the Lord of Dance. This is one of the few temples where Lord Shiva is represented in an "anthropomorphic" (pratimaa) form, i.e. with human features. Typically, in all Shiva temples, He is worshipped as a "prateeka" (abstract symbol), as a Shiva linga. Of course, even in normal Shiva temples, Shiva as Nataraja and Dakshinaamurti can be found in the prakaara (corridor), but rarely as the principal deity. This is a special feature about Chidambaram.
Two facts are worth remembering about Nataraja:
1. Symbol of pancha-kritya (five-fold action)- The stylish stance of Nataraja symbolizes the five-fold function of the Lord- as the creator, protector, destroyer, "binder" and "releaser". The damaru held in one hand depicts him as the creator, for creation begins with "creation of space". The damaru is a percussion instrument with a unique sound and denotes "space" (because sound is supposed to be a special attribute of space).
The fire held in the other hand indicates the Lord as the destroyer.
The abhaya-hasta mudra points to the Lord as the protector.
The right leg which holds the demon down represents the Lord as the "binder"; the one who ensures that mortals are bound to the material world and subject to the cycle of repeated birth and death.
The uplifted left-leg represents Shiva as the great "releaser", the one whose grace can bestow moksha and free a person from the cycle of samsara.
Of these, the first three functions are well known. He alone is the binder (tiro-daana-karta). He alone is the moksha-kartaa too. These two functions are not so popular but need to be included whenever we talk about God as the creator, protector and destroyer.
2. Two special spectators:
The sculpture of Nataraja typically shows two figures (at the base) who watch Lord Shiva's dance: Vyaghrapada and Patanjali.
Vyaghrapada has the feet of a tiger and Patanjali's lower body is like a serpent.
Adi Sesha, the thousand-headed serpent on whom Lord Vishnu rests expressed a special wish to watch Lord Nataraja's dance at Chidambaram. His wish was fulfilled when he was born as Patanjali. He went on to write a treatise on Sanskrit grammar which will be elaborated in one of the following sections.
2. Pancha-bhuta sthala:
Lord is the creator and also appears as the very creation. This concept is one of the striking features of Hinduism. To impress this fact on the devotee, Lord Shiva is worshipped as the five-elements (pancha-bhutas): He is space, He is fire, He is air, He is water and He is the earth. Everything in the creation (bhautika-prapancha) is a combination of these 5 elements (bhutas). Thus, in one stroke, the scripture breaks the divide between the sacred and the secular and proclaims that the universe is not a "matter bundle" to be treated casually, but should be seen with reverence, for it is the very manifestation of the Lord.
At Chidambaram, Lord Shiva is worshipped as space.
At Tiruvannamalai, He is invoked as fire.
At Jambukeshwaram (near Trichy), He is seen as water.
At Kalahasti (near Tirupati), He is appreciated as air.
At Kanchipuram, He is praised as the very earth.
3. Chidambara rahasyam:
Even in common parlance (especially in Tamil), we hear the expression, "Is it some chidambara rahasyam that you cannot reveal the secret!?" Chidambaram is well known for the Chidambara rahasyam (secret).
The temple has a special enclosure covered with a curtain. The priest parts the curtain so that we can have a glimpse inside the enclosure. It is completely empty though some people claim that we can see "golden bilva leaves" on the wall.
Opinions differ on what the great secret is.
We can interpret it in two ways:
1. A simple interpretation is that He is exists as the very space and hence as everything in the universe.
We are prone to keep God safely in the heavens and the secret revealed here enables us to break this concept and embrace him as everything around us.
2. There is a vedantic interpretation as well. Scripture uses expressions like "raaja-guhyam" (greatest secret) (Geeta Chp 9) and "aashcharyavat pashyati kashchit yenam" (people look upon this as the greatest wonder) in Geeta Chp 2 to emphasize that ultimately, the Lord exists as the very subject, I, the consciousness, the observer, the life-breath....in each of us. What can be a greater secret than to know that He is closer than the closest ?
Chidambaram can be broken into "chit" and "ambaram". Chit is consciousness, awareness, due to which I claim, "I am aware of a pot, aware of a tree etc."
Ambaram is space. Space is, time is, mountain is. He exists as the very "is-ness", "existence" in everything.
When the curtain is parted by the priest and we express our disappointment and announce "there is nothing".... nothing "is"! And more importantly, the subject exists to be aware and claim that there is nothing!
Hence, outside, he exists as the very "is-ness" in everything ("sat" in Sanskrit) and inside, he exists as the very "subject", the onlooker ("chit"). (Scripture often uses the expression "sat-chit-ananda" to define the Lord.)
There is nothing other than Him! This is the greatest unbelievable secret.
4. Confluence of vaishnavite and shaivite shrines:
108 shrines are famous for Vishnu bhaktas- 105 in India, one in Nepal and two in other worlds! One of them is the Govindaraaja-perumaal temple which exists inside the premises of the Chidambaram temple.
Shaivites (Shiva devotees) and Vaishnavites (Vishnu devotees) may quarrel over the superiority of their respective Gods, but at Chidambaram, Vishnu and Shiva co-exist happily. As per tradition, Vishnu officiated as the umpire for a dance competition between Nataraja and Parvati at Chidambaram! No prizes for guessing the winner- of course Shiva, but he won just by a whisker!
5. Moksha linga:
Adi Shankara is one of India's greatest saints. We don't exactly know when he lived- there are dates ranging from 500 BC to 700 AD. But his accomplishments as a saint, philosopher and poet are unparalleled. He visited Mt Kailas and brought back five crystal Shiva lingas. These were installed at different places in the country.
He installed the "moksha linga" at Chidambaram,
the "mukti linga" at Kedarnath (Uttarakhand),
the "yoga linga" at Kanchipuram,
the "bhoga linga" at Sringeri and
the "vara-linga" in Nepal.
6. Centre of Learning:
As per tradition, from the sound of Nataraja's footwork, the "Maaheshwara sutras" were born. Panini wrote his treatise on Sanskrit grammar based on these sutras. Panini's work was too subtle and required elaboration. Patanjali (referenced earlier) expounded Panini's sutras in his Mahabhashya. He taught the Mahabhashya at Chidambaram. People from all over India came to learn the Mahabhashya at Chidambaram.
The story told in "Patanjali Charita" mentions Gaudapada, who came from Gauda desha (Bengal) to Chidambaram to study the Mahabhashya.
Later in the story, we learn that Chandra Sharma from Ujjain (in other versions from Kashmir) was on his way to Chidambaram when he met Gaudapada midway.
Gaudapada and Chandra Sharma (later known as Govinda bhagavadpada) lived around the time of Adi Shankara and were his teachers. Thus, Chidambaram must have been a well known centre of learning during that time.
7. References in carnatic music:
Carnatic music abounds with compositions on the Lord of Chidambaram.
Some examples:
1. The Tamil pallavi "Tillai ishanai kaana yenna... punyam seideno ?" (what punya-act did I perform to get the opportunity to see the Lord (isha) of Chidambaram (tillai) ?) set to raaga Kambhoji is my favourite. It has a dramatic opening and continues to give goosebumps each time I listen to it, especially the way "TVS saar" sings it! Unfortunately, I cannot get a link to it over the internet. Kambhoji is supposedly Lord Shiva's favourite raaga and mine. One fact is non-verifiable, but my love-affair with Kambhoji began with this pallavi more than two decades ago and has never been contested!
2. Gopalakrishna Bharati's Tamil composition "Sabhapati" in the raaga Abhogi is often rendered in concerts with neraval centred on the line- "Oru daram Shiva Chidambaram...." (It is enough to say 'Shiva-Chidambaram' even once!)
Here is Aruna Sairam's stirring version.
3. Dikshitar has the Sanskrit composition "Chidambara nataraajam ashraye" set to the raaga Kedaaram (aptly).
4. Another work in the same raaga, by the same composer is Ananda Natana Prakaasham.
Dikshitar's forte is to pack his composition with all relevant details regarding the deity and the place. Most points discussed above can be gleaned from a close study of his works.
5. Papanasam Sivan's popular composition "Maa ramanan Umaa ramanan" is intertwined with Chidambaram in a special way. "Maa" refers to the Goddess Lakshmi. "Umaa" refers to Parvati. "Ramanan" is beloved. Hence, "maa ramanan" refers to Lakshmi's beloved i.e. Lord Vishnu and "umaa ramanan" refers to Parvati's beloved, i.e. Lord Shiva. As we saw earlier, Chidambaram is special for both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu.
Appayya Dikshitar, one of the well known erstwhile saints, used this rhyming epithet when he visited Chidambaram, which has been nicely borrowed by Sivan in his composition.
Sivan indulges in one more word play in the song: "Maara janakan" (refers to Lord Vishnu who is Maara, i.e. Manmatha's father) and "Kumaara janakan" (Lord Shiva, who is Kumaara i.e. Kartikeya's father).
A pleasant rendition by Unnikrishnan in the raaga Hindolam.
6. Would like to end this write-up with Papanasam Sivan's Tamil composition "kaanavendaamo" set to the raaga Sriranjani. It's a moving number where the poet questions "kaanavendaamo ?" (shouldn't we make time to see ?) the Chidambaram gopuram while we are still hale and hearty ?
Here is Sanjay Subramaniam's version:
There were several evenings when I would play this piece in the background and just paint away.
Carnatic music is an acquired taste. I have no idea why it works for some of us... like nothing else does!!
It is an excellent blend of art, music, philosophy and useful & interesting data. chidambaram is a living monument of Kaivalya Upanishad vaakyam, "Sa brahma sa siva sendro soksharaparmaswarat. sa eva vishnu sa praana sa kaalaagni sa chadramaa" It is a reminder that to all that finally it is neither Siva nor Vishnu, but it is all pervading Brahman in satchitaananda swaroopam, which is I. appa
ReplyDeleteVery informative article. I always wanted to know the what the Chidambara rahasya was..You have explained it very well..
ReplyDeleteMost songs on Shiva really touch your soul...its probably the property of Raaga Khamboji that you have mentioned here.
I'll visit the links & listen to the songs at leisure.
Thanks,
Sowmya ShivajiRao.
a very scholarly article about Chidambaram. May I share an interesting mythological story. It is said that whenever Patanjali taught his lesons on Vedanta to very many students in Chidambaram, he would take the form of 1000 headed adi sesha, so that he could give individual attention to each student. But strictly separated behind a curtain, to avoid harm to his students. Curious to see the teacher, the taught pulled the curtain, only to be vanished under the aakrosha agni of aadhi sesha.. Patanjali felt unhappy that all the taught students have gone and was worried about who would take the great messages in his teachings to the next generation. Luckily that day one student alone did not attend the class and was safe. This student ( whose original name is not known) hailed from the present Bengal region. It was called gauda. Hence he referred to as 'Gaudpatha' .
ReplyDeleteGaudapatha, as a student , was not all that bright. But yet he is the only safe and existing student left. Hence Patanjali transferred all that he would want to teach him as a boon. But since gaudapatha absented himself from the classes, he was also given a bane that he would turn as a 'brahmaraakshasaa' and that his bane would melt out if he finds a suitable student and transfer the knowledge he has acquired.
Since then Gaudapatha, now turned into a brahma raakshasaa, left Chidambaram and stationed at Vindya mountains. He would catch hold of any body crosiing the mountain from north travelling to Chidambaram down south in pursuit of vedantic knowledge. He would post a grammatical question, ( the actual question is described by Pujya sri Kanchi mahaaswamigal Sri Chandrasekarendra saraswathi in his Deivathin Kural ). several years passed and gaudapatha could not find a suitable student. Patanjali,, in an effort to help gaudapatha to get free of his bane & also to ensure the continuity of the great lessons, took the form of Chandra Sarma from Ujjain. Chandr Sarma answered Gaudapatha"s question and thus became his student, herein referred to as Govindabagavath pathar, the immediate teacher of Great Adi Sankara. This means patanjali & govindabagavathpadhar are two forms of the same Adi sesha.
Having got relief from his bane, Gaudapathar went to Sukha muni's ashram and obtained formal sanyaasaa. Gaudapathar wrote the commentaries (or 'Kaarika" in sanskrt) for maandukya Upanishad and that work is called maandukya Kaarika, which is an authority book in advaitha, of pre adi sankaraa's period.
Since gaudapathar took Sayaasa ashramaa from suka and not from patanjali, Patanjali muni does not find a place in the Guru lineage who are invoked by sankaracharyas on the guru poornima day ( Both Kanchi & Sringeri).
Gaudapatha's maadukya kaarika has four chapters, the third of which is titled 'Advaita'. The famous AKAASA- GATA AKAASA- theory is found in this chapter.
If you consider all these stories, it is extremely clear that CHIDAMBARAM undoubtedly is the very centre of hindiusm, atleast of advaitic order.
Thankyou so much for such a detailed and wonderful explanation!! Really appreciate it!
DeleteRam Ram. Never knew this and is a revelation. Pranams.
Deletethanks a lot! Ram ram!
Delete