Arudra Darshan / Thiruvathira

The Margazhi full-moon night with the Thiruvathirai star, the year's longest night: at Chidambaram a ten-day festival ending with a great pre-dawn bath of Nataraja recalls the dance of bliss; in Kerala women fast and dance the Thiruvathirakali in a circle around a lamp for Parvati's union with Shiva.