CHIDAMBARAM, or CHEDUMBRUM  , a. town of British India, in the South Arcot district of Madras, 7 M. from the coast and 151 m . S. of Madras by rail . Pop . (1901) 19,909 . The pagodas at Chidambaram are the oldest in the south of India, and portions of them are gems of art . Here is supposed to have been the northern frontier of the ancient Chola kingdom, the successive capitals of which were Uriyur on the Cauvery, Combaconum and Tanjore . The principal temple is sacred to Siva, and is said to have been rebuilt or enlarged by a leper emperor, who came south on a pilgrimage and was cured by bathing in the temple tank; upwards of 6o,000 pilgrims visit the temple every December . It contains a " hall of a thousand pillars," one of numerous such halls in India, the exact number of pillars in this case being 984; each is a block of solid granite, and the roof of the principal temple is of copper-gilt . Three hundred of the highest-caste Brahmins live with their families within the temple enclosure .