Notes on ‘Space of Consciousness (Chidambaram, Early Morning)’

Abstract

The small city of Chidambaram, Tamilnadu, is home to an ancient and massive temple complex, at the center of which is the famous site where Śiva, as Naṭarāja, the Lord of the Dance, performs the Cosmic Dance of Bliss, the ānanda tāṇḍava, in the Hall of Consciousness. The temple is specifically associated with ākāśa (aether, space, or sky), the fifth of the five elements which is known as the medium of sound, and Śiva Naṭarāja is celebrated here with sonorous practices that include the ringing of two large temple bells. The sound piece published here, ‘Space of consciousness (Chidambaram, early morning)’, represents the situatedness of the temple complex within the city, the main shrine at the center of the temple, and finally the immersive sonic and semiotic resonances of the large bells. The accompanying text describes a network of embodied meanings implicated experientially in sound.