 Natyanjali at Chidambaram
1983
 The only temple of Nataraja, the Lord of Dance is in Chidambaram. Here, Shiva is worshipped not as a ‘linga’ but in the dancing form of
Nataraja.
The universe is supposed to be the outcome of the dance of the creator in which everything is dynamic and changing as the dance of Shiva. The concept of Nataraja has inspired such books as the `Tao of Physics’ by Capra and the `Dancing Wuli Masters’ by Gary Zukhav, to name a few.
The dance of Shiva is called ‘Tandava’. Tandavas are of various types. Some of them are destructive while others are happy, like the Ananda Tandava. Hindus believe that the eventual destruction of the universe will take place when Shiva dances his final destructive
tandava.
 Apart from the philosophical and legendary aspect, Nataraja has inspired dancers from time immemorial. The tradition of dance in Chidambaram dates back to antiquity. Artists through the ages came and performed before the cosmic dancer. The existence of a sabha (music association) is noted in ancient texts. It was ‘Patanjali Vyagrapada Sabha’ set-up by the priests of the temple which conducted regular concerts.
Temple staff included Devdasis who danced as part of the temple rituals and festivals. However, there has been no dance in the temple from 1935, since the Anti-Devdasi Act was passed by the British Government.
In 1983, when I became the Dist. Collector of South Arcot District and visited Chidambaram, my heart ached to see one of the most ancient and glorious shrines of India in a fair amount of neglect. The temple income had dropped to the lowest. With the cult of Muruga becoming more dominant the worship of Shiva had dwindled in Tamil Nadu. Apart from that, no income was coming from the thousands of acres of land originally set apart by the Chola Kings for the temple. The temple staff and the priests hardly had any income and were in considerable financial distress.
There was no dance in the temple or in the town. It was heartrending to know that not even one dance teacher could be found in Chidambaram. The Department of Dance which used to exist in the neighbouring Annamalai University once, had also been closed. The only saving grace was that the temple had a very sincere and dedicated Chairman of the Renovation Committee called Mr. Vagisam
Pillai.
Mr. Pillai was one of the old time benevolent landlords. He was very soft spoken and had earlier served for a long time as the MLA of the area. He was one of those Gandhian workers whom public adored. Best of all he was entirely and truly devoted to Lord
Nataraja.
I was very fortunate to come across him and continued to be his close associate till he passed away a few years ago. I respected him like a father and he returned my affections. With his help an urgent meeting was organised with the important citizens of the town to discuss the situation of the temple. There were three issues on my mind.
The temple is so magnificent architecturally and ritualistically yet so few Indians and foreigners visit it.
how to improve the income of the temple so that it is better maintained and the staff and priests have a better income
 How to bring dance back to the temple
Instinctively, I felt that if dance came back to the temple, the other two problems would also be solved, so my personal emphasis was on bringing the dance back. During the meeting it was revealed that Dr. Nagaswamy the then Director of Archeology in Tamil Nadu, had arranged a two-day festival with support from Dr. Kapila Vatsayana in 1981, under the banner of Natyanjali. This effort had come under sharp criticism from some quarters so no attempt was made in this direction in 1982, and we were already in 1983.
We decided to make a fresh beginning. A non-official non-political committee of the citizens was formed with Vagisam Pillai as its President for life. We pulled Dr. Nagaswamy from Madras to come and help. He has remained an ardent organizing secretary since then. After obtaining the permission of the Dikshitars (temple priests) and fixing a convenient date we organised a two-day dance festival. The Sub-Collector of Chidambaram, Machendranathan IAS, did a considerable amount of organisational and resource mobilisation work.
Part
II
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