tries to leap over the ocean to Lanka, the
capital of the demon-king Ravana, to
search for his abducted mistress, Sita.
Chayagrahi grabs him and drags him
down, but he quickly kills her and con-
tinues on his way.
Chera Dynasty
Hindu dynasty that ruled much of the
modern state of Keralafrom the second
century B.C.E. to the eighth century C.E.
The Cheras were in continual conflict
with the Pandyasand the Cholas, the
two other dynasties in the deep south,
and were eventually absorbed when the
Cholas gained control in the ninth cen-
tury C.E. See also Chola dynasty.
Chidambaram
(“clothed in thought”) Temple town in
the South Arcot district of the state of
Tamil Nadu, about 125 miles south of
Madras. The town of Chidambaram is
famous for the temple of the same
name, dedicated to the god Shivain his
form as Nataraja, the lord of the dance.
This temple is also renowned as con-
taining the subtlest of the five elemental
lingas (bhutalingas), the linga made
from space. The temple is built in the
classical Dravidastyle, with temple tow-
ers (gopurams) rising in each of the car-
dinal directions, and the walls enclosing
the temple between them. The present
temple was erected in the tenth century
C.E., when Chidambaram was the capital
of the Chola dynasty, and is reputed to
be one of the oldest temples in southern
India. As lord of the dance, Nataraja
symbolizes the connection between
religion and the arts. Nataraja is the pri-
mal dancer whose dance encompasses
creation, destruction, and all things in
between. Human dancers imitate him
literally, by performing the dance posi-
tions he codified, and figuratively, by
participating in a creative activity. The
temple’s eastern wall has relief carvings
of the 108 basic dance positions
(karanas) that are still central to classi-
cal Indian dance, particularly to the
Bharatanatyamschool, which is the
major dance form in Tamil Nadu.
Nataraja also has a group of hereditary
servants, the Dikshitars. According
to their tradition, the Dikshitars
were members of Shiva’s heavenly host
(gana) and accompanied him down
from heavenwhen he took up residence
in Chidambaram.Chidvilasananda
(b. Malti Shetty, 1955) Modern Hindu
teacher and successor to Swami
Muktananda. Muktananda taught a
type of spiritual discipline called siddha
yoga, the “discipline of the adepts,”
which stresses chanting, meditation,
learning, and above all, devotion to
one’s spiritual master. Chidvilasananda
is the current leader and preceptor of
SYDA(Siddha Yoga Dham America), the
organization founded by her teacher.
During her childhood, her parents and
other members of her family were
Muktananda’s disciples, and she spent
much of her life in his service, eventual-
ly serving as his translator during his vis-
its to America. She and her brother,
Subhash (who later took the name
Nityananda), were both designated
by Muktananda as his successors, but
her brother left the organization a
few years after Muktananda’s death.
Chidvilasananda continues to travel
between an ashramin Ganeshpuri, near
Bombay, and ashrams and centers
around the world.Childhood Rites
A collective name for the samskarasof
early childhood, as specified in the
Dharma Shastras, or treatises on reli-
gious duty (dharma). These rites include
the jatakarma (birth ceremonies),
namakarana(naming), nishkramana
(first outing), annaprashana(first feed-
ing), chudakarana(tonsure), and kar-
navedha(piercing the ears). Virtually
all Hindu communities have cere-
monies for ritually marking births and
childhood, but few people performChildhood Rites