Pancha Sabhai Sthalangal refers to the temples of

Nataraja Nataraja () also known as Adalvallaan () is a depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the divine cosmic dancer. His dance is called Tandava.''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2015) The pose and artwork are described in many Hindu texts such as the ''T ...

, a form of the Hindu god

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...

where he performed the Cosmic Dance

Tandava Tandava (also spelled as ) also known as , is a divine dance performed by Hindu god Shiva. Shiva is depicted as dancing the Tandava in his form of Nataraja. The '' Natya Shastra'', a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts describes various ...

. ''Pancha'' indicates Five, ''Sabhai'' means hall and ''Stala'' means place. All these temples are located in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. The five dance performances were Kali Tandava at Rathinachabai in Vada Aaranyeswarar Temple, Ananda Tandava at Porchabai in Natarajar Temple, Sandhya Tandava at Vellichabai in

Meenakshi Amman Temple Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundaraswarar Temple is a historic Hindu temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, a form of Parvati, and her consort, ...

, Muni Tandava at Thamirachabai at Nellaiappar Temple and Tripura Tandava at Chithirachabai in Kutralanathar Temple. The presiding deities are revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the ''

Tevaram The ''Thevaram'' ( ta, தேவாரம், ), also spelled ''Tevaram'', denotes the first seven volumes of the twelve-volume collection ''Tirumurai'', a Śaiva narrative of epic and puranic heroes, as well as a hagiographic account of early ...

'', written by Tamil saint poets known as the

nayanars The Nayanars (or Nayanmars; ta, நாயன்மார், translit=Nāyaṉmār, translit-std=ISO, lit=hounds of Siva, and later 'teachers of Shiva ) were a group of 63 Tamil Hindu saints living during the 6th to 8th centuries CE who were d ...

and classified as ''

Paadal Petra Sthalam The Paadal Petra Sthalam, also known as Thevara Sthalam, are 276 temples that are revered in the verses of Saiva Nayanars in the 6th-9th century CE and are amongst the greatest Shiva temples of the continent. The Divya Desams by comparison ar ...

''. The four temples in

are maintained and administered by the

Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu manages and controls the temple administration within the state. The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act XXII of 1959 controls 36,425 ...

of the

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature ...

Nataraja

The five places where Shiva performed cosmic dance are called Pancha sabhai Thalangal. There are five Sabhas within Chidambaram temple itself. Those are called Chitra sabhai (the sanctum), Porsabhai (hall preceding the sanctum), Nirutha Sabhai (the chariot shaped hall), Deva Sabhai (the hall where all the festival deities are housed) and Rajasabhai (the thousand pillared hall). As per

Bharata Muni Bharata Muni (Hindi: भरत मुनि) was an ancient sage who the musical treatise '' Natya Shastra'' is traditionally attributed to. The work covers ancient Indian dramaturgy and histrionics, especially Sanskrit theatre. Bharata is co ...

, Shiva is the originator of dance and he allowed

Nandi Nandi may refer to: People * Nandy (surname), Indian surname * Nandi (mother of Shaka) (1760–1827), daughter of Bhebe of the Langeni tribe * Onandi Lowe (born 1974), Jamaican footballer nicknamed Nandi * Nandi Bushell (born 2010), South Afric ...

to witness his performance.

, the dance form, is derived from ''Tanda'', the other name of Nandi. Shiva Tandava is classified into seven types, namely, Kali Tandava, Sandhya Tandava, Tripura Tandava, Anandha Tandava, Uma Tandava, Samhara Tandavaand Urdhwa Tandava. A few temples in

are closely associated with

and have their own myths of dance along with the halls specific to their version of dance. The seven dances of Shiva can be recognised as the varied facts of single theme viz. the Beauty and Bliss of the Absolute. Herein lies the aesthetic fact of the dance. In the above classification of Shiva's dance, as mentioned in puranic literature the temples are found within the geographical and cultural limit of

. Of the seven dances, the seventh dance, ''Ananda Thandava'' is representative and symbolic of the themes inherent in all other dances. The seventh is a composite ideal of the main tenets of ''

Saiva Siddhanta Shaiva Siddhanta () (Tamil: சைவ சித்தாந்தம் "Caiva cittāntam") is a form of Shaivism that propounds a dualistic philosophy where the ultimate and ideal goal of a being is to become an enlightened soul through Shiv ...

'' Philosophy. The dance itself is a source of supreme aesthetic enjoyment of the beauty and bliss of god''Encyclopaedia of the Śaivism ''. P 212 by Swami P. Anand, Swami Parmeshwaranand.

Nataraja

The Five Temples

Notes

Reference

External