Nataraja.

Nataraja.

On the TOI column, ‘Speaking Tree’ of 7.4.1999 carried a feature on the spiritual significance ‘Nataraja Shiva of Chidambaram’. It is an old pastime of ardent believers to ignore all history and concentrate on spirit only. Incidentally the article listed the temples where the deity Shiva is supposed to manifest in five forms of elements i.e. earth, water, fire, air, and void (sky). The temples are respectively:

1. Earth – Pridhvi: Kanchi

2. Water – Ap: Jambukeswar

3. Fire – Agni: Thiruvannamalai

4. Air – Vayu: Kalahasti

5. Void – Sky-Akash: Chidambaram.

In Tamil Nadu both Shiva and his son Murugan are important deities; but in North Murugan is not a deity in any important temples. How this difference is to be explained and what historical reasons? The early Tamil literature is full of shaivism that is much less in norther Sanskrit literatures. Similar is the Vaishnava cult spreading in south. Grant structures are built to house these deities like in Srirangam, Tanjavur, Rameswaram,etc. However, the north is mainly Krishna, Devi, Shiva, etc. and they are not comparable with all the southern ones. There might be studies why the difference in emphasis between the two regions. Kerala seems something completely different from other parts. It has its own temple architecture much different from the grand structures built in other parts of India. All these must have some historical roots and it will be fascinating to more details about them. Unfortunately, I did not have any book on this subject among my collections.

K.N.Krishnan.

April, 1999.