{"id":131813,"date":"2026-11-03T15:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T09:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=131813"},"modified":"2026-11-03T15:07:04","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T09:37:04","slug":"chidambaram-sabanayagar-temple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/chidambaram-sabanayagar-temple\/","title":{"rendered":"Chidambaram Sabanayagar Temple: Madras HC Forms 5-Member Management Board"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Chidambaram Sabanayagar Temple Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Madras High Court recently appointed a five-member Board of Management to take charge of the Chidambaram Sabanayagar Temple, citing alleged \u201cmaladministration\u201d by the Podhu Dikshitars, a hereditary community of priests who had been entrusted with the temple&#8217;s administration by the Supreme Court in 2014. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Chidambaram Sabanayagar Temple<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Great Chidambaram Temple, also known as the <\/span><b>Thillai Nataraja Temple<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or Sri Sabanayagar Temple, is a Hindu temple located in the temple town of Chidambaram in the Cuddalore district of <\/span><b>Tamil Nadu.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is <\/span><b>dedicated <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to <\/span><b>Nataraja<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the <\/span><b>cosmic dance form of Lord Shiva.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Chidambaram Sabanayagar Temple History<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Historical evidence suggests a Shiva shrine existed at the site well before the 7th century AD, when the town was referred to as Thillai.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/chola-dynasty\/\" target=\"_blank\">Chola dynasty<\/a>,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> who<\/span><b> revered Nataraja as their family deity,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> significantly <\/span><b>contributed <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to the temple&#8217;s construction and enhancement during the <\/span><b>10th century.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was during this period that the <\/span><b>Chola king, Parantaka I, established <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the <\/span><b>temple&#8217;s golden roof.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Notable rulers such as Rajaraja Chola I, Kulothunga Chola I, Kundavai II, the daughter of Rajaraja Chola, and Vikrama Chola made considerable offerings to the shrine during its flourishing era.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Following the 10th century,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the temple underwent various <\/span><b>phases of damage, repair, renovation, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and expansion throughout the 2nd millennium.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The majority of the <\/span><b>temple&#8217;s existing layout, architectural features<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and structural elements <\/span><b>date <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">back to the <\/span><b>late 12th and early 13th centuries,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with subsequent additions made in a similar architectural style.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the years, numerous kingdoms, including the <\/span><b>Viyanagara Rulers, Madurai Nayakas, Maharaja of Pudukkottai, Sethupathy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><b>even the British<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, have made donations to the temple.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Podhu Dikshidars,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a <\/span><b>hereditary community of priests,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have been <\/span><b>managing the temple for centuries<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, unlike most of the other famous and historic temples.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Chidambaram Sabanayagar Temple <\/b><b>Architecture<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Covering an expansive area of 40 acres, the temple stands as a remarkable testament to the brilliance of <\/span><b>Chola architecture.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This site holds considerable scientific significance, as it is <\/span><b>positioned at the world&#8217;s Magnetic Equator.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The temple complex is embedded inside <\/span><b>four prakarams (courtyards),<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> each <\/span><b>surrounded by walls.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are <\/span><b>nine prominent gopurams<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that <\/span><b>link the various courtyards.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>innermost structures<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, including the sanctum and the shrines, are <\/span><b>designed with square layouts, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and the <\/span><b>roof of the sanctum sanctorum <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is <\/span><b>adorned with gold plates.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The temple&#8217;s wall <\/span><b>carvings <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">depict all <\/span><b>108 karanas from the Natya Shastra, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">authored by<\/span><b> Bharata Muni<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which serve as the <\/span><b>foundational postures for Bharatanatyam, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a classical Indian dance form.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The temple comprises five principal Halls or Sabhas: the Kanaka Sabha, the Chit Sabha, the Nritta Sabha, the Deva Sabha, and the Raja Sabha.\u00a0 <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deccanherald.com\/amp\/story\/india\/tamil-nadu\/madras-high-court-appoints-board-of-management-to-run-chidambaram-temple-4201493\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>DH<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Madras High Court has constituted a five-member Board of Management for Chidambaram Sabanayagar Temple in Tamil Nadu after finding administrative irregularities under its hereditary priests. The court also upheld devotees&#8217; access to the Kanagasabai platform for worship while recognising customary religious practices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":131791,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11327],"class_list":["post-131813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","tag-chidambaram-sabanayagar-temple","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131813"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131876,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131813\/revisions\/131876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}