Uttara Chidambaram Nataraj Temple, Satara

This Nataraja temple in Satara, known as Uttara Chidambaram, is a copy of the famous Chidambaram temple of Tamil Nadu. It stands beside National Highway 4 and was founded in 1985, built in the Dravidian style by the noted sculptor M. S. Ganapathi Sthapathi. The main deity is Sri Nataraj, Shiva as the cosmic dancer, and the temple draws large numbers of pilgrims.

Though modest in size, it has four towers named after Andhra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, and 180 sculptures on its walls show the poses of Bharatanatyam. The complex also holds shrines to Adi Shankaracharya, Ayyappa, Hanuman, Radha-Krishna, the Navagrahas and Ganapati, a Shiva linga shrine and a Veda pathashala. The temple committee stages music, dance and drama programmes.