“Tiru Citrambalam” is a traditional Tamil Saivite invocation used to petition Lord Siva's grace at the beginning of all Saiva offerings and important endeavours. ‘Tiru' is an auspicious prefix and ‘Citrambalam' is a compound word consisting of ‘Cit' (Consciousness) + ‘Ambalam' (Space) and is a synonym for ‘Chidambaram'. The word Chidambaram does not merely denote a temple or a location but is a metaphysical pointer to the truth of existence as envisioned by the ancient Rishis of India.Like many holy sites in India the antiquity of Chidambaram is difficult to decipher. References to Chidambaram are found in the ‘Skanda Purana' and ‘Tiru Mandiram' both of which are dated at least 1500 to 2000 years ago. Chidamabaram is also closely connected with Sages Patanjali and Vyagarapada who belong to the same era of the Buddha, if not earlier, indicating its existence for several millennia.