Nataraja Temple, Hindu temple in Chidambaram, India.

Nataraja Temple is a Hindu temple in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. Its stone tower rises in receding tiers covered with small sculpted figures, painted grey-blue and pale beige, and topped by a rounded ribbed cap. Smaller tiered shrines flank the base, and a columned wall and stepped tank of green water stand in front.

A Shiva shrine existed at Thillai before the 7th-century Thevaram hymns, and the temple was renovated into its current form in the 10th century, when Chidambaram was a Chola capital. Parantaka Chola I built the golden roof of the shrine in the 9th century, as recorded in the Thiruvalangadu copper plates. Most of the surviving plan and structure dates from the late 12th and early 13th centuries.

The name Nataraja means Lord of Dance and refers to Shiva in his form as cosmic dancer. Devotees come here to worship this particular manifestation while priests conduct several ritual ceremonies each day.

The complex covers 16 hectares inside a nearly square double wall with gardens, entered through gateways on all four sides. It lies about 5 km north of the Kollidam River and 15 km west of the Bay of Bengal; the nearest major airport is in Pondicherry, roughly 60 km north. Side roads follow the east–west and north–south axes, so the four entrances are easy to locate.

The Chit Sabha is a hall inside covered with golden tiles whose number is said to correspond to daily human breaths. Here the cosmic dance performance of the deity is believed to take place even though it remains invisible to the human eye.