Natyanjali Festival: Chidambaram Nataraja Temple Dance Festival

4to40.com January 30, 2024 Indian Festivals 3,881 Views

Natyanjali Dance Festival — The ancient Nataraja temple of Chidambaram pays special tribute to Lord Nataraja – the dancing Shiva. The temple has carved pillars depicting Lord Nataraja in 108 poses of Bharatanatyam classical dance in the eastern tower. The Natyanjali festival dedicated to Lord Shiva is celebrated every year for five days in the temple premises. It begins on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri. During this time leading dancers from all parts of India congregate and dance in the temple as an offering to Nataraja. Natyanjali festival is jointly organised by The Department of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu, The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and The Natyanjali Trust, Chidambaram. It is designed to promote a universal message of ‘Unity in Diversity’ conveyed in the universal language of music and dance.

Natyanjali Dance Festival

The Natyanjali festival dedicated to the Cosmic Dancer (Lord Shiva) is celebrated every year during February-March. Lord Nataraja, according to Hindu mythology is the cosmic dancer. He is also called “The Lord of Dances”.

Natyanjali festival opens on the auspicious occasion of the Maha Shivaratri day and of course in the right kind of venue – the ‘Prakara’ of the Chidambaram temple. The magnificent temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, built a thousand years ago, provides a beautiful backdrop for the event. The setting is truly divine-Chidambaram’s gold-roofed temple, with pillars depicting Lord Nataraja in 108 poses from Bharatanatyam – Tamil Nadu’s classical dance.

Natyanjali is an annual dance festival commemorating Hindu deity Shiva. It originated around 1981, and started off as a relatively obscure event. It is currently organized by collaborative efforts of the Department of Tourism of Tamil Nadu and the Natyanjali Trust. Although celebrations are most prominent at its original venue, the 12th-century Chidambaram temple, they also occur in a wider spectrum across Tamil Nadu and Murugan temples. Mumbai also organize their own versions of the festival under the same banner. The current version lasts around 13 days, and various classical dance forms of all styles offer their art up to the god Nataraja. Senior gurus have been performing on Shivaratri night year after year.