Nataraja

A 10th century Chola dynasty bronze sculpture of Shiva, the Lord of the Dance at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Nataraja (Tamil: "நடராசர்" or Kooththan கூத்தன், The King of Dance), is a depiction of the Hindu God Shiva as the cosmic dancer who performs his divine dance (called Tandavam) to destroy a weary universe and prepare for its renewal, by the god Brahma who starts the process of creation.

Depiction

Stone image of Natarja on the walls of Swetha Vinayagar Temple, Tamil Nadu

The dance of Shiva in Tillai, the traditional name for Chidambaram, forms the motif for all the depictions of Shiva as Nataraja. He is also known as "Sabesan" which splits as "Sabayil aadum eesan" in Tamil which means "The Lord who dances on the dais". The form is present in most Shiva temples in South India, and is the prime deity in the famous Thillai Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram.^[1]

The sculpture is usually made in bronze, with Shiva dancing in an aureole of flames, lifting his left leg (or in rare cases, the right leg) and balancing over a demon or dwarf (Muyalaka) who symbolizes ignorance. It is a well known sculptural symbol in India and popularly used as a symbol of Indian culture.^[2] Basically it represents the form of angry Lord Shiva that danced furiously after death of Sati, his other half.^[3]

The two most common forms of Shiva's dance are the Lasya (the gentle form of dance), associated with the creation of the world, and the Tandava (the violent and dangerous dance), associated with the destruction of weary worldviews – weary perspectives and lifestyles. In essence, the Lasya and the Tandava are just two aspects of Shiva's nature; for he destroys in order to create, tearing down to build again.^[4]

Etymology

The word Naṭarāja is variously translated as Lord of dance or King of dancers.^[5][6]

Koothan is derived from the Tamil word Koothu, which means dance or performance. A male dancer is termed Koothan. Also known as Natarajan in Tamil, meaning "Naatiyathin" (of dance) "Raajan" (king). Naatiyam is another word for dance in Tamil.

Characteristics

• A cobra uncoils from his lower right forearm, and the crescent moon and a skull are on his crest. He dances within an arch of flames. This dance is called the Dance of Bliss, (Tamil: ஆனந்த தாண்டவம்) aananda taandavam.
• The upper right hand holds a small drum shaped like an hourglass that is called a ḍamaru in Sanskrit.^[7][8][9] A specific hand gesture (mudra) called ḍamaru-hasta (Sanskrit for "ḍamaru-hand") is used to hold the drum.^[10] It symbolizes sound originating creation or the beat of the drum as the passage of time.
• The upper left hand contains Agni or fire, which signifies destruction. The opposing concepts in the upper hands show the counterpoise of creation and destruction or the fire of life.
• The second right hand shows the Abhaya mudra (meaning fearlessness in Sanskrit), bestowing protection from both evil and ignorance to those who follow the righteousness of dharma.
• The second left hand points towards the raised foot which signifies upliftment and liberation. It also points to the left foot with the sign of the elephant which leads the way through the jungle of ignorance.
• The dwarf on which Nataraja dances is the demon Apasmara (Muyalaka, as known in Tamil), which symbolises Shiva's victory over ignorance. It also represents the passage of spirit from the divine into material.
• As the Lord of Dance, Nataraja, Shiva performs the tandava, the dance in which the universe is created, maintained, and dissolved. Shiva's long, matted tresses, usually piled up in a knot, loosen during the dance and crash into the heavenly bodies, knocking them off course or destroying them utterly.
• The surrounding flames represent the manifest Universe.
• The snake swirling around his waist is kundalini, the Shakti or divine force thought to reside within everything. This also parallels the cords of life worn by the Brahmins to represent the second rebirth.
• The stoic face of Shiva represents his neutrality, thus being in balance.

Significance

Nataraja The Lord of Dance from Thanjavur Palace

An essential significance of Shiva's dance at Tillai, the traditional name of Chidambaram, can be explained as:^[1]

• First, it is seen as the image of his rhythmic play which is the source of all movement within the universe. This is represented by the circular or elliptical frame surrounding the Lord.
• Secondly, the purpose of his dance is to release the souls of all men from the snare of illusion.
• Lastly, the place of the dance, Chidambaram, which is portrayed as the center of the universe, is actually within the heart.

Dancing is seen as an art in which the artist and the art s/he creates are one and the same, thought to evoke the oneness of God and creation.

In the compact spiritual texts of divine knowledge, the holy Geeta, there are three basic Guṇa: Satvic, Tamsic and Rajsic. These combine with each other, and the life forms are created as a result of this divine activity. These life forms remain devoid of prana (life-force), until the Divine entity infuses them with life. The Geeta says the division of the Divine entity is ninefold, of which eight can be known by humans, but the ninth is eternally unexplainable and hidden and secret. These eight divisions are the elements, Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Akash, Mana, Buddhi, Ahamkara.

Nataraja is a visual interpretation of Brahman and a dance posture of Lord Shiva. It is the representation of reality at the time of cosmic destruction. We being life forms, cosmic destruction would mean the disappearance of all life. The half moon shown in the head of Nataraja is a symbol only. The fall of the moon would result in cosmic destruction.

History

A statue of Shiva engaging in the Nataraja dance at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland

The Nataraja sect originated in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. The trajectory of the dancing Shiva is traced from the processional worship of metal icons outside the sanctum^[11] to the cultic elevation of the Nataraja bronze into the sanctum at Chidambaram.

Archaeo metallurgical studies made on South Indian bronzes by anupama prasana combined with iconographic and literary evidence showed that the Nataraja bronze was a Pallava innovation (7th to mid-9th century), rather than 10th-century Chola as widely believed. That the depiction was informed of cosmic or metaphysical connotations is also argued on the basis of the testimony of the hymns of Tamil saints.^[12]

Significant images

The largest Nataraja statue is in Neyveli, in Tamil Nadu.

The image of "the Lord as the Cosmic Dancer" is shown at the Chidambaram temple, an unusual fact as Shiva is depicted in an anthropomorphic form rather than in the usual non-anthropomorphic form of the lingam.

In 2004, a 2m statue of the dancing Shiva was unveiled at CERN, the European Center for Research in Particle Physics in Geneva. The statue, symbolizing Shiva's cosmic dance of creation and destruction, was given to CERN by the Indian government to celebrate the research center's long association with India. A special plaque next to the Shiva statue explains the significance of the metaphor of Shiva's cosmic dance with quotations from Fritjof Capra:

Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics.

Gallery

• 

  Nataraja, Bronze, Chola Dynasty, Tamil Nadu, Government Museum Madras, India

• 

  One of the earliest sculptures of Shiva Nataraja, Mid-10th Century AD, British Museum^[1]
• 

  Shiva-Nataraja in the Thousand-Pillar-Hall of the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India

• 

  A Nataraja stone relief, Kailash Temple, Ellora Caves

• 

  In the Shiva temple of Melakadambur is a rare Pala image that shows the ten-armed Nataraja dancing on his bull.

• 

  Nataraja The Lord of Dance.

1. ^ British Museum Collection

References

1. Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, The Dance of Śiva: Fourteen Indian Essays New York, The Sun wise Turn (1918), p. 58. Internet Archive.
2. Nitin Kumar. "Shiva as Nataraja – Dance and Destruction In Indian Art".
3. "Top 10 Lord Shiva statues that would make you realize about his supremacy".
4. Carmel Berkson, Wendy Doniger, George Michell, Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983). ISBN 0691040095
5. Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. (2013). The dance of Shiva. Rupa. p. 56. ISBN 9788129120908.
6. Stromer, Richard. "Shiva Nataraja: A Study in Myth, Iconography, and the Meaning of a Sacred Symbol" (PDF). Retrieved 10 March 2016.
7. Michaels, page 218.
8. For definition and shape, see: Apte, page 461.
9. For the damaru drum as one of the attributes of Shiva in his dancing representation see: Jansen, page 44.
10. Jansen, page 25.
11. A sacred or holy place (Origin: 1570–80; n. use of neut. of Latin sānctus; see Sanctus)
12. Sharada Srinivasan, "Shiva as 'cosmic dancer': on Pallava origins for the Nataraja bronze", World Archaeology (2004) 36(3), pages 432–450.

Further reading

• Apte, Vaman Shivram (1965). The Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 81-208-0567-4. (Fourth revised and enlarged edition).
• Jansen, Eva Rudy (1993). The Book of Hindu Imagery. Havelte, Holland: Binkey Kok Publications BV. ISBN 90-74597-07-6.
• Michaels, Axel (2004). Hinduism: Past and Present. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-08953-1.

External links

• Home of God Natarajar
• home of Chidambareswarar (Natarajar) Temple
• Ambalakoothar temple Map
• Nataraja Image Archive