LTV Cultural Event, Pondicherry – December 2019

LTV Cultural Event, Pondicherry – December 2019

On 16th December 2019, FSL-India, Pondicherry’s coordinator organised a Cultural Event (CE) for our regular LTV volunteers. Every month, we organise a cultural event for our regular volunteers and we take them to any cultural and historical places which are located in and around Pondicherry. This month, the Cultural Event was focused on Religion, the Nataraja temple and Thillai Kaali, at Chidambaram.

The Nataraja Temple, also referred to as the Chidambaram Nataraja temple or Thillai Nataraja temple, is a Hindu temple dedicated to Nataraja – Shiva, as the lord of dance – in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. The temple has mythical roots and a Shiva shrine existed at the site when the town was known as Thillai.

Chidambaram, the name of the city and the temple literally means “atmosphere of wisdom” or “clothed in thought”, the temple architecture symbolises the connection between the arts and spirituality, creative activity and the divine. The temple wall carvings display all the 108 karanas from the Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni, and these postures form the foundation of Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance.

Thillai Kali Temple, Chidambaram is on the outskirts of the city of Chidambaram. Legend says that Goddess Kaali Devi moved here after losing to Lord Siva in the celestial dance contest. It was an argument about who is superior, either ‘Sivam’ (Lord Siva) or Shakthi (Parvathi). In order to resolve this, they performed a dance program at Chidambaram in front of Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma and other deities. While they were dancing, Lord Siva was about to be defeated. Then, Siva assumed a dance posture which could not be played by women, due to which he won the contest.

In the morning, FSL-India’s coordinator and the volunteers started their travel from the meeting point to the place of the cultural event.  In the beginning, the Coordinator explained about the activities. Then, she took the 3 volunteers to Nataraja Temple and Thillai Kaali. FSL-India’s Coordinator explained to them about each place to the volunteer. After the visit, FSL India’s coordinator and our volunteers had lunch and discussed about their experiences in the host families and projects.

Some feedback:

  • The cultural event was very interesting, we had a good time in Chidambaram
  • Lord Shiva worshipped as Natraja, King of Dance  and many pillared halls are attractive
  • The amazing part is inside the temple, where people are praying and real life
  • The famous Cosmic Dancer and historical temple in Nataraja temple in Tamil Nadu. Very good pilgrimage temple
  • I felt really refreshed during this cultural event
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