Thillai Nataraja Temple: #ThillaiNatarajatemple is dedicated to Lord #Shiva located in the heart of the temple town of #Chidambaram, #Tamil Nadu. Here Lord Shiva is seen in the pose of Lord #Nataraja performing #AnandhaThandavam, the dance of delight with saints Patanjali and Vyagrapathar worshipping him. The other deities also worshipped in this temple are Lord #Ganesha, Lord #Murugan and Lord #Vishnu is worshipped as #Govindaraja Perumal. In Thillai Nataraja temple we can see Lord Shiva in three forms: Nataraja dancing posture of Lord Shiva is called as #Sakala- thirumeni. Crystal Lingam of Chandramaulishvara is called as Sakala-nishkala-thirumeni. And empty space which is known as Chidambara Ragasiyam is called as Nishkala-thirumeni. Chidambaram is one of the five holiest #Shivatemples, each representing one of the five natural elements; Chidambaram represents akasha (aether). The other four temples in this category are: Thiruvanaikaval Jambukeswara, Trichy (water), Kanchi Ekambareswara (earth) Kanchipuram, Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleswara (fire), Thiruvanna malai and Kalahasti Nathar (wind),Kalahasti The sculptures of this temple are inspired from the various dance style of #BharathaNatyam and the dancers offer their prayers to Lord Nataraja during the Natyanjali festival celebrated in this temple every year. The temple contains nine gateways which represents the nine #apertures in the #human body. The roof of the temple is made of golden tiles of 72000 spikes which represents the number of Nadis that exist in our body. The sanctum of the temple contains 28 pillars which represents the 28 ethics or methods of worshiping Lord Shiva.