CityDekho
Chidambaram (Nataraja Temple)

Chidambaram (Nataraja Temple)

pilgrimage site · Tamil Nadu

Chidambaram is an ancient pilgrimage town near the coastal plains of Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu, and the reason to come is the Thillai Nataraja Temple.

State
Tamil Nadu
Type
Pilgrimage Site
Best season
Winter
Things to do
2+

Chidambaram is an ancient pilgrimage town near the coastal plains of Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu, and the reason to come is the Thillai Nataraja Temple. It covers several acres and is dedicated to Lord Shiva in his distinctive cosmic dance posture — Nataraja, the Lord of Dance. Four massive gopuram gateways, every inch of them covered in sculpture, mark the entrances; inside are a grand sacred tank and the Kanaka Sabha, the central inner sanctum, roofed in pure gold plate fixed down with exactly 72,000 copper nails. The temple is run by the Dikshitars, a closed hereditary community of married priests.

When to go

November to February, when the winter is comfortably cool.

Why visit

The secret here is that there is nothing to see — behind the curtain beside the Nataraja is an empty space, worshipped as ether, one of the five element temples. Ask when the curtain is drawn back. The Natyanjali dance festival runs at Mahashivaratri.

Cultural notes

In scripture this is the Akasha, the element of ether, among the Pancha Bhoota Sthalams of Shiva. Classical Bharatanatyam grew up around this temple, and 108 of its dance postures are carved with great mastery into the eastern gopuram.

How to reach

The closest airport is Tiruchirappalli International Airport, 160 km away, or Chennai Airport (230 km). Chidambaram has its own railway station with links to Chennai and Thanjavur, and regular state transport buses and taxis run along the coastal highways daily.

Chidambaram (Nataraja Temple) guide & itineraries

Popular attractions

The places in Chidambaram (Nataraja Temple) most people come for.

Kanaka Sabha Sanctum

Kanaka Sabha Sanctum

Attraction

Raja Sabha Hall

Raja Sabha Hall

Attraction

See all attractions

Been to Chidambaram (Nataraja Temple)?

Write what you would tell a friend — where you stayed, what you would skip, the thing you wish somebody had mentioned before you went. We read every submission before it goes up.

Share your story

People also explored

Travellers viewing Chidambaram (Nataraja Temple) also loved these

Tamil Nadu

Dindigul Fort

Dindigul Fort is a hilltop fortress rising about 900 feet above Dindigul town in Tamil Nadu, with a fortification circumference of about 2.75 km enclosing 48…

Tamil Nadu

Palani Murugan Temple

Palani's Dhandayuthapani Swamy — Murugan as the renunciate boy with staff and loincloth — watches from his hill shrine over one of Tamil Nadu's greatest…

More heritage & forts

More places you'll love

Karnataka

Daria Daulat Bagh (Srirangapatna)

Daria Daulat Bagh is the elegant summer palace of Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, set in a garden on the river-island of Srirangapatna near Mysuru.

Tripura

Unakoti

Unakoti, in the forested hills of northern Tripura, is an ancient Shaiva pilgrimage and archaeological site famous for its colossal rock-cut carvings and…

Tripura

Neermahal

Neermahal is a striking water palace rising from the middle of Rudrasagar Lake near Melaghar in Tripura, built by the Manikya king in the 1930s as a royal…

Assam

Sivasagar

Sivasagar, once the capital of the mighty Ahom kingdom that ruled Assam for six centuries, is a town rich in monuments around its great tank.

Delhi

Safdarjung's Tomb (Delhi)

Safdarjung's Tomb is a garden-tomb built around 1754 for Safdarjung, the powerful Nawab of Awadh and a prime minister of the Mughal empire.

Delhi

Lotus Temple (Delhi)

The Lotus Temple is a Baha'i House of Worship and one of Delhi's most photographed modern landmarks, shaped like a half-open lotus with 27 marble-clad petals…

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Cellular Jail (Port Blair)

The Cellular Jail in Port Blair, known as Kala Pani, is a colonial-era prison built by the British between 1896 and 1906 to hold Indian freedom fighters in…

Rajasthan

Kumbhalgarh Fort

Kumbhalgarh, a UNESCO-listed Mewar fort in the Aravalli Hills, is famed for its immense perimeter wall, which stretches roughly 36 km and is often called the…

Maharashtra

Daulatabad Fort

Daulatabad Fort (historically Devagiri) stands atop a steep 200-metre conical hill roughly 15-16 km northwest of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad)…

Maharashtra

Bibi Ka Maqbara (Aurangabad)

Bibi Ka Maqbara in Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) is a grand Mughal mausoleum built in the 1660s to 1670s for Dilras Banu Begum, the wife of Emperor…

Karnataka

Gol Gumbaz (Vijayapura)

Gol Gumbaz in Vijayapura (Bijapur) is the mausoleum of Sultan Mohammed Adil Shah, completed in 1656.

Delhi

India Gate (Delhi)

India Gate is a 42-metre war memorial arch on the ceremonial Kartavya Path, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and completed in 1931.

Trending in Tamil Nadu

Madurai (Meenakshi Amman Temple)

Madurai (Meenakshi Amman Temple)

The Meenakshi Amman Temple stands at the heart of Madurai, an ancient city on the banks of the Vaigai River, and it is the great Dravidian temple complex of South India. It is dedicated to the Goddess Meenakshi, a powerful form of Parvati, and her consort Sundareswarar, a form of Shiva. Massive high stone walls enclose it, and 14 towering gopurams rise above them, each one carpeted with thousands of brightly painted stone sculptures of deities, demons and celestial beings. Inside are the grand columned assembly halls, the legendary Hall of a Thousand Pillars among them, and the sacred golden lotus pond, where millions of devotees perform their rituals each year.

Ooty (Udhagamandalam)

Ooty (Udhagamandalam)

Ooty sits at 2,240 metres and was built by the British as a hot-weather escape, which is still exactly what it is used for — and why April and May are the months to avoid, when the plains empty into it. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is the best thing in the district. It climbs from Mettupalayam on a rack-and-pinion section, takes about five hours, and is UNESCO-listed. Book ahead in season or take the ordinary carriage, which is fine. Doddabetta, the highest point in the Nilgiris, is ten kilometres out and usually inside cloud by afternoon. The Botanical Garden dates from 1848 and has a fossil trunk around twenty million years old in it. The lake is man-made and rented out by the hour. Tea here is grown for volume rather than for named estates, and the roadside shops sell a great deal of flavoured dust. Buy from an estate if you care about it. September to November, and January to March.

Rameshwaram (Ramanathaswamy Temple)

Rameshwaram (Ramanathaswamy Temple)

Rameshwaram sits at the very tip of a slender island connected to the Tamil Nadu mainland by the Pamban Bridge, looking out across the Palk Strait toward Sri Lanka. At its heart is the Ramanathaswamy Temple, famous for the longest corridor of any temple in India — a nearly 1,200-metre passage of sculpted pillars that seems to stretch to the horizon. As one of the twelve Jyotirlingas and one of the four Char Dham, it draws pilgrims from every corner of the country, many of whom arrive after Varanasi, believing a visit to Rameshwaram completes the pilgrimage circuit.

Chettinad (Karaikudi)

Chettinad (Karaikudi)

Chettinad, centred on Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu, is a region famous for the grand mansions of the Nattukottai Chettiar merchant community and for one of India's most celebrated cuisines. The palatial 19th and early 20th-century homes, built with Burmese teak, imported marble and Athangudi tiles, reflect the community's global trade, while Chettinad food is prized for its bold, aromatic spices.

Where next?

More like Chidambaram (Nataraja Temple)

Spiritual & PilgrimageHeritage

Or a different kind of trip

Hill StationsBeachesAdventure

Everything in Tamil NaduBrowse all destinations