Pancha Sabhai



The Pancha Sabhai Sthalangal (பஞ்ச சபை ஸ்தலங்கள்) refers to the temples of Nataraja, a form of the Hindu god Shiva where he is regarded to have performed the cosmic dance called the Tandava. All these temples are located in Tamil Nadu, India. The five dance performances were the Kali Tandava at Ratna Sabha in Vada Aaranyeswarar Temple, Ananda Tandava at the Kanaka Sabha in Natarajar Temple, Sandhya Tandava at the Rajata Sabha in Meenakshi Amman Temple, Muni Tandava at the Tamra Sabha at Nellaiappar Temple, and Tripura Tandava at the Chitra Sabha in Kutralanathar Temple.

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.

As per the sage Bharata, Shiva is the originator of dance, and he allowed Nandi to witness his performance. Tandava, the dance form, is derived from Tanda, the other name of Nandi. Shiva Tandava is classified into seven types, namely, Kali Tandava, Sandhya Tandava, Tripura Tandava, Ananda Tandava, Uma Tandava, Samhara Tandava, and Urdhva Tandava.

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.

In the above classification of Shiva's dance, as mentioned in puranic literature the temples are found within the geographical and cultural limit of Tamil Nadu. Of the seven dances, the seventh dance, Ananda Tandava is representative and symbolic of the themes inherent in all other dances. The seventh is a composite ideal of the main tenets of Shaiva Siddhanta Philosophy. According to Anand and Parmeshwaranand, the dance itself is a source of supreme aesthetic enjoyment of the beauty and bliss of god.