Pancha Sabhai

The Pancha Sabhai Sthalangal (

The presiding deities are revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the nayanars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam. The four temples in Tamil Nadu are maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Description

The five halls within the Chidambaram temple are called Chitra Sabhai (the sanctum), Por Sabhai (hall preceding the sanctum), Nirutha Sabhai (the chariot shaped hall), Deva Sabhai (the hall where all the festival deities are housed) and Raja Sabhai (the thousand pillared hall) in Tamil.^[3]

As per the sage

A few temples in Tamil Nadu are closely associated with Nataraja and have their own myths of dance along with the halls specific to their version of dance.^[5]

In the above classification of Shiva's dance, as mentioned in puranic literature the temples are found within the geographical and cultural limit of

Ratna Sabha

Kanaka Sabha

Rajata Sabha

Tamra Sabha

Chitra Sabha

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Temple locations

Category	Temple	Location	Element	Tandava	Image	Details
Ratna Sabha (Rathinachabai)	Vada Aaranyeswarar Temple	Thiruvalangadu 13°07′48″N 79°46′30″E / 13.13000°N 79.77500°E / 13.13000; 79.77500	Emerald	Kali Tandava		At Sage Munjikesa Karkodaka's request, Shiva reached this temple's site. Kali challenged Shiva to a dance and said that she would give her right in the place to the deity if he won. The dance began. Shiva dropped his earring on the ground, picked it by the toe of his left leg and fixed it back on his ear in the dance. Kali accepted her defeat and said she could not do such a marvellous dance. Shiva said that he alone was equal to her and said further that those coming to worship him here, should worship her first to reap the full benefit of the worship. Since then, Kali has her own temple to grace the devotees.
Kanaka Sabha (Porchabai)	Natarajar Temple	Chidambaram 11°23′58″N 79°41′36″E / 11.39944°N 79.69333°E / 11.39944; 79.69333	Gold	Ananda Tandava		Chidambaram, the name of the city and the temple literally means "atmosphere of wisdom" or "clothed in thought", the temple architecture symbolizes the connection between the arts and spirituality, creative activity and the divine. Ananda Tandava ("Dance of Delight") in the golden hall of the shrine Pon Ambalam.[13]
Rajata Sabha (Vellichabai)	Meenakshi Amman Temple	Madurai 9°55′22″N 78°7′12″E / 9.92278°N 78.12000°E / 9.92278; 78.12000	Silver	Sandhya Tandava		The temple is a historic Hindu temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River[14] in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, a form of Parvati, and her consort, Sundareshvarar, a form of Shiva.[15] The temple is at the center of the ancient temple city of Madurai mentioned in the Tamil Sangam literature, with the goddess temple mentioned in 6th-century-CE texts.[16]
Tamra Sabha (Thamirachabai)	Nellaiappar Temple	Tirunelveli 8°43′43″N 77°41′17″E / 8.72861°N 77.68806°E / 8.72861; 77.68806	Copper	Muni Tandava		During Puranic times, the place was called Venuvana, a forest of bamboos. The deity in the current temple was believed have appeared inside the bamboo forest. Parvati at this place. There is an image of Vishnu with a metallic gindi, a vessel with a spout, in the temple depicting the legend.[17] Shiva is worshipped as Nellaiappar (also called Venuvananathar) represented by the lingam and his consort Parvati is depicted as Kanthimathi Amman.[17]
Chitra Sabha (Chithirachabai)	Kutralanathar Temple	Courtallam 8°55′45″N 77°16′9″E / 8.92917°N 77.26917°E / 8.92917; 77.26917	Art	Tripura Tandava		The sage Himalayas, to wait for a glimpse of the divine couple. There he is said to have created the Shivalingam here by shrinking an image of Vishnu, hence the name Kutralam. Architecturally the Chitrasabha resembles that of the other Nataraja Sabhas elsewhere in Tamil Nadu, and its interior is decked with hundreds of murals, depicting images from the Indian epics. Nataraja is brought here during festivals from the Kurumpalaveesar temple. The temple tree is called the Kurum Pala and the temple tank is called Chitranadhi. Nataraja is depicted with the Nritya Tandava posture.[18]

Notes