Home > articles > Nama Dwaar Nibbles

Nama Dwaar Nibbles

Facts and Figures about Sanatana Dharma, Saints and Sages…

Category: Kanchi Paramacharya

Next Page»Kanchi
• Categories
Mahaswami and the cosmic secret
• Art and Archi
The only ancient temple where Lord Nataraja is the presiding deity is located in ◦ Sculptu
Chidambaram and the unique feature of that temple is the famous “Chidambara • Astrology (1)
rahasyam” (Cosmic secret) that is written in the Bilwa leaves kept in the sanctum sanctorum. • Cities and Tem
Nobody knows the details of the inscriptions. By the directive of Kanchi Mahaswami Sri ◦ Badrina
Chandrasekarendra Saraswati Swamigal, a replica of this temple was built in Satara in ◦ Chenna
Maharashtra called “Uttara Chidambaram”. ◦ Chidam
◦ Kanchip
Great care was taken to ensure that every bit of it looks similar to the original and then came ◦ Madura
the most important step. How to replicate the Chidamabara rahasyam? After all, nobody ◦ Namakk
knows the details! Except of course, the all-knowing Almighty! ◦ Oothuk
(1)
Mahaswami came to the rescue. He dictated the entire rahasyam to a Panditji who wrote it on ◦ Puri
the Bilwa leaves and the moment the job was done, Mahaswami said “ May you forget the ◦ Sabarim
Rahasyam right now!” and lo! The Pandit forgot the whole thing. Clearly, it is God who gives ◦ Sembak
us remembrance and removes it too. ◦ Thirupp
◦ Thiruva
Category: Kanchi Paramacharya, Chidambaram ◦ Thiruva
◦ Thiruvo
All about Chidambaram ◦ Tiruvan
◦ Uttaram
• Faiths & Philo
The temple of Lord Nataraja in the Holy city of Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu has a variety of
◦ Advaita
special features and architectural marvels:
◦ Buddhis
• In Chidambaram, it was GovindarAja PerumAL sannidhi that was the foremost (’Adi • Guru (7)
sannidhi’). NatarAja sannidhi came later. This conversion occurred during the rule of a • Hindu Deiti
 king who was a Siva bhakta. ◦ Anjaney
◦ Brahma
• All the four Raja gopurams of this temple are equal in height ◦ Ganapa
◦ Karthik
• The ‘South Car Street’ houses a Ganapathi Temple. The speciality of this temple is that ◦ Navagra
the Ganesha does not have an elephant face! The Ganesha has a human face! This is ◦ Shiva
a very rare idol of Ganesha, known as ‘Nara Mukha Ganapathy’. ◦ Vishnu
• India (1)
• The ‘Bhoomi’ (Earth) is considered as a ‘Purusha’ and some ‘sthanas’ have been • Literature (1)
described for ‘Bhoomi’. The Chidambara Kshetra denotes the ‘hrudaya • Mathematics
pradesa’ (heart) of ‘Bhoomi’ and that is the reason that Lord Nataraja (the Lord of • Notations from
Chidambaram) is ever dancing (the heart is ever pulsating). lectures (10)
◦ Srimad
• The entrance of the main deity of Nataraja has five steps which denote the ‘pancha • Psychology
bhUta’ or the 5 elements. ◦ Ego (1)
◦ Happine
• The Gold cladded Nine kalasas in the Gopuram indicate the nine openings of the human ◦ Life
body. (In Srimad Bhagavatam, the human body is referred as ‘navadwaarapuri’ for the ◦ Mind
same reason.) • Realization
◦ Bhakti
• In the Nataraja temple Utsav, there is a custom of the Lord taking on the act of a beggar ◦ Jnana
(‘BhikshAndAn’). He comes to the gates as a ‘BhikshAndAn’ on one of the Utsav ◦ Nama
evenings. Divine
◦ Raja
• This is the only exclusive Nataraja temple in the the whole of Tamil Nadu ◦ Surrend
• Sadhana (9)
• Sri Maha Periyava of Kanchi ordained the construction of a similar temple in Satara • Saints and Sad
near Kohlapur in Maharashtra. ◦ Adi San
◦ Arunag
Side note: ◦ Chidam
◦ Gnanan
There are lots of ‘pramAna’ (proof) in the view that Chidambaram NatarAja has come from ◦ Jesus
Kerala desa. The Dikshitars of Chidambaram keep ‘poorva shika’ (the tuft worn on the ◦ Kabirda
forehead). This is a Kerala tradition. ◦ Kanchi
◦ Mira
ParasurAma established this Kshetra (Holy place on the west coast) and shifted some ◦ Pamban
Brahmins, from what is now known as Tamizh Nadu, to this region. Here, it rains almost all ◦ Papa
through the year. It is not very easy to live under such a condition. The difference in climatic ◦ Ramakr
conditions was not found suitable for their living. ParasurAma, however, made them wear (6)
‘poorva shika’. Abasthamba rishi says, ‘One should never change his ’shika’ (tuft), ◦ Ramana
‘pundram’ (religious mark on the forehead) and ’sutram’. This is smriti ‘vAkya’ (the words of ◦ Swami
the Smriti). Dharma forbids a person belonging to one class of sutra taking up the ◦ Swami
performance of another sutra. ◦ Vedanta
◦ Yogiram
Amongst these Brahmins who were shifted to the west coast by ParasurAma, some returned to • Sanskrit Etym
Tamizh Nadu region while some stayed back. These people with ‘poorva shika’ are called • Science (17)
’sozhiyAL’. Some parts of Tamizh Nadu are filled with these Brahmins. Since NatarAja has ◦ Astrono
come from Kerala, the NatarAja Dishitars keep ‘poorva shika’. The words, ‘Ponnambalam’, ◦ Chemis
‘Chitrambalam’ are words from the region of Kerala. ‘Ambalam’ is a word from this region. ◦ Medicin
The dish ‘KaLi’ is from this region. This dish is prepared for ‘ThiruvAdirai’ festival. Lots of ◦ Physics
Kerala ’sampradaya’ (tradition) can be found here. ◦ Plants
• Scriptures (38
Category: Kanchi Paramacharya, Hindu Deities, Chidambaram, Art and Architecture
◦ Mahabh
◦ Padma
◦ Ramaya
◦ Srimad
◦ Upan
 ◦ Vedas
• Traditions and
The Betel Leaf • Way of life
Once a well educated botanist approached Kanchi Maha Periyava and out of ignorance, asked
‘Why is betel leaf called ‘Vettrilai’ in Tamizh.

Maha Periyava non-challantly replied, ‘The betel vine does not have flowers, nor does it bear
fruits. It has merely leaves (’verum ilai’) and so is the name ‘vettrilai’ !

The botanist hung his head in shame as he did not even realize this simple fact!

Category: Kanchi Paramacharya, Plants and Animals

Next Page »
RSS 2.0
Guest book

Pronunciation | Copyright Notice | Privacy Policy

© Nama Dwaar. 2006 – 2008. All rights reserved.
Nama Dwaar Nibbles powered by WordPress