Been always fascinated by the life and tribulations of Nandanar so beautifully captured in the compositions of Gopalakrishna Bharathi. Every time I listen to these songs, tears well up in my eyes. And that was the experience when myself and Ahalya stood in front of the Lord at Chitsabhai. There wasn't much of a crowd that morning and Papanasam Sivan’s words ‘kaaNa vaeNDaamo irukaNNirukkumboadhu viNNuyar gopuram kaaNa vaeNDaamo’ were echoing in my mind as we stood there in soulful silence for more than an hour. It was an amazing peak experience and there are just no words to describe it any further..
The temple is also a repository of karnas, a unit of the dance movement which is the cornerstone of Bharata Natyam. It refers to a combined movement of the body and limbs and there are 108 of them. All rhythmic movements of dance originate from them. A single karna is rarely used and a combination of four or five them give rise to Anghahara which forms the patterns in dance. All 108 karnas are beautifully sculptured in the east and west gopurams in Chidambaram and it is sight to behold.