Lord Shiva as Nataraja : Aesthetics of Dance and Destruction

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Hello,

 

Here's the recent piece put toether by me. Hope it is enjoyed.

 

================================================

Lord Shiva as Nataraja : Aesthetics of Dance and Destruction

================================================

 

Shiva the Hindu god of destruction is also known as Nataraja, the

Lord of Dancers (In Sanskrit Nata means dance and raja means

Lord). The visual image of Nataraja achieved canonical form in

the bronzes cast under the Chola dynasty in the tenth century AD,

and then continued to be reproduced in metal, stone and other

substances right up to the present times. The Chola Nataraja is

often said to be the supreme statement of Hindu art.

 

There is an interesting legend behind the conception of Shiva as

Nataraja: In a dense forest in South India, there dwelt

multitudes of heretical sages. Thither proceeded Shiva to confute

them, accompanied by Vishnu disguised as a beautiful woman. The

sages were at first led to violent dispute amongst themselves,

but their anger was soon directed against Shiva, and they

endeavored to destroy him by means of incantations. A fierce

tiger was created in sacrificial fires, and rushed upon him; but

smiling gently, he seized it and, with the nail of his little

finger, stripped off its skin, and wrapped it about himself like

a silken cloth. Undiscouraged by failure, the sages renewed their

offerings, and produced a monstrous serpent, which however Shiva

seized and wreathed about his neck like a garland. Then he began

to dance; but there rushed upon him a last monster in the shape

of a malignant dwarf. Upon him the god pressed the tip of his

foot, and broke the creature's back,so that it writhed upon the

ground; and so, his last foe prostrate, Shiva resumed the dance.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh13.jpg (Size

73 kb)

 

To understand the concept of Nataraja we have to understand the

idea of dance itself. Like yoga, dance induces trance, ecstasy

and the experience of the divine. In India consequently, dance

has flourished side by side with the terrific austerities of the

meditation grove (fasting, absolute introversion etc.). Shiva,

therefore, the arch-yogi of the gods, is necessarily also the

master of the dance.

 

Shiva Nataraja was first represented thus in a beautiful series

of South Indian bronzes dating from the tenth and twelfth

centuries A.D. In these images, Nataraja dances with his right

foot supported by a crouching figure and his left foot elegantly

raised. 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

(anandatandava).

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh70.jpg (Size

108 kb)

 

These iconographic details of Nataraja are to be read, according

to the Hindu tradition, in terms of a complex pictorial allegory:

 

The most common figures depict a four-armed Shiva. These multiple

arms represent the four cardinal directions. Each hand either

holds an object or makes a specific mudra (gesture).

 

The upper right hand holds a hour-glass drum which is a symbol of

creation. It is beating the pulse of the universe. The drum also

provides the music that accompanies Shiva's dance. It represents

sound as the first element in an unfolding universe, for sound is

the first and most pervasive of the elements. The story goes that

when Shiva granted the boon of wisdom to the ignorant Panini (the

great Sanskrit grammarian), the sound of the drum encapsulated

the whole of Sanskrit grammar. The first verse of Panini's

grammar is in fact called Shiva sutra.

 

The hour-glass drum also represents the male and female vital

principles; two triangles penetrate each other to form a hexagon.

When they part, the universe also dissolves.

 

The opposite hand, the upper left, bears on its palm a tongue of

flames. Fire is the element of destruction of the world.

According to Hindu mythology at the end of the world, it will be

fire that will be the instrument of annihilation. Thus in the

balance of these two hands is illustrated a counterpoise of

creation and destruction. Sound against flames, ceaselessness of

production against an insatiate appetite of extermination.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh12.jpg (Size

56 kb)

 

The second right hand is held in the abhaya pose (literally

without fear) and so a gesture of protection, as an open palm is

most likely to be interpreted. It depicts the god as a protector.

 

The left leg is raised towards the right leg and reaches across

it; the lower left hand is stretched across the body and points

to the upraised left foot which represents release from the cycle

of birth and death. Interestingly, the hand pointing to the

uplifted foot is held in a pose imitative of the outstretched

trunk of an elephant. In Sanskrit this is known as the

'gaja-hasta-mudra' (the posture of the elephant trunk), and is

symbolic of Ganesha, Shiva's son, the Remover of obstacles.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh77.jpg (Size

91 kb)

 

Shiva dances on the body of a dwarf apasmara-purusha (the man of

forgetfulness) who embodies indifference, ignorance and laziness.

Creation, indeed all creative energy is possible only when the

weight of inertia (the tamasic darkness of the universe) is

overcome and suppressed. The Nataraja image thus addresses each

individual to overcome complacency and get his or her own act

together.

 

The ring of fire and light, which circumscribes the entire image,

identifies the field of the dance with the entire universe. The

lotus pedestal on which the image rests locates this universe in

the heart or consciousness of each person.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/batik/bb71.jpg (Size

79 kb)

 

The Nataraja image is also eloquent of the paradox of Eternity

and Time. It shows us that the reposeful ocean and the racing

stream are not finally distinct. This wonderful lesson can be

read in the significant contrast of the incessant, triumphant

motion of the swaying limbs to the balance of the and the

immobility of the mask-like countenance. Shiva is Kala, meaning

time, but he is also Maha Kala, meaning "Great Time" or eternity.

As Nataraja, King of dancers, his gestures, wild and full of

grace, precipitate the cosmic illusion; his flying arms and legs

and the swaying of his torso produce the continuous

creation-destruction of the universe, death exactly balancing

birth. The choreography is the whirligig of time. History and its

ruins, the explosion of suns, are flashes from the tireless

swinging sequence of the gestures. In the beautiful cast metal

figurines, not merely a single phase or movement, but the

entirety of this cosmic dance is miraculously rendered. The

cyclic

rhythm, flowing on and on in the unstayable, irreversible round

of the Mahayugas, or Great Eons, is marked by the beating and

stamping of the Master's heels. But the face remains, meanwhile

in sovereign calm.

 

Steeped in quietude, the enigmatic mask resides above the whirl

of the four resilient arms and cares nothing for the superb legs

as they beat out the tempo of the world ages. Aloof, in sovereign

silence, the mask of god's eternal essence remains unaffected by

the tremendous display of his own energy, the world and its

progress, the flow and the changes of time. This head, this face,

this mask, abides in transcendental isolation, as a spectator

unconcerned. Its smile, bent inward, filled with the bliss of

self-absorption, subtly refutes, with a scarcely hidden irony,

the meaningful gestures of the feet and hands. A tension exists

between the marvel of the dance and the serene tranquillity of

this expressively inexpressive countenance, the tension, that is

to say, of Eternity and Time. The two, invisible and visible, are

quintessentially the same. Man with all the fibers of his native

personality clings to the duality; nevertheless, actually and

finally, there is no duality.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh11.jpg (Size

77 kb)

 

Another aspect of Nataraja rich in a similar symbolism is his

lengthy and sensuous hair. The long tresses of his matted hair,

usually piled up in a kind of pyramid, loosen during the

triumphant, violent frenzy of his untiring dance. Expanding, they

form two wings, to the right and left, a kind of halo,

broadcasting, as it were, on their magic waves, the exuberance

and sanctity of vegetative, sensuous life.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh28.jpg (Size

58 kb)

 

Supra-normal life-energy, amounting to the power of magic,

resides in such a wildness of hair untouched by the scissors. The

conceptualization here is similar to the legend of Samson who

with naked hands tore asunder the jaws of a lion. His strength

was said to reside in his hair.

 

Also central to understanding the symbolism behind Nataraja's

hair is the realization that much of womanly charm, the sensual

appeal of the Eternal Feminine, is in the fragrance, the flow and

luster of beautiful hair. On the other hand, anyone renouncing

the generative forces of the vegetable-animal realm, revolting

against the procreative principle of life, sex, earth, and

nature, and entering upon the spiritual path of absolute

asceticism, has first to be shaved. He must simulate the

sterility of an old man whose hairs have fallen and who no longer

constitutes a link in the chain of generation. He must coldly

sacrifice the foliage of the head.

 

The tonsure of the Christian priest and monk is a sign of this

renunciation of the flesh. (Clergymen of denominations in which

marriage is not considered incompatible with the saintly office

do not wear a tonsure.) These "Worthy Ones", representing the

victory of yoga-spirituality, have overcome all seduction by

their taking of the monastic vows and following of the ascetic

formula. With their voluntary baldness they have broken through

to the peace beyond the seasons of growth and change.

 

Thus by donning long, luxurious hair, Shiva dispels the notion of

the conventional ascetic and reiterates that the image of

Nataraja assimilates and harmonizes within itself apparently

contradictory and conflicting aspects.

 

Shiva is thus two opposite things: archetypal ascetic and

archetypal dancer. On the one hand he is total

tranquillity-inward calm absorbed in itself, absorbed in the void

of the Absolute, where all distinctions merge and dissolve, and

all tensions are at rest. But on the other hand he is total

activity- life's energy, frantic, aimless and playful.

 

The Nataraja image represents not simply some event in the mythic

life of a local deity but a universal view in which the forces of

nature and the aspirations and limitation of man confront each

other and are blended together. The curator of the Indian

collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art has rightly written

that: " If one had to select a single icon to represent the

extraordinarily rich and complex cultural heritage of India, the

Shiva Nataraja might well be the most remunerative candidate."

 

( This article was sent as a newsletter from the website

http://www.exoticindiaart.com )

 

Nitin G.

[Guest guest]

Namaste Nitin,

 

I just wanted to write and tell you that I very much enjoyed your

article on Nataraja - one of my favorite subjects!! It is very well

written. I agree with the statement, 'The Chola Nataraja is

often said to be the supreme statement of Hindu art'. I am extremely

fond of the one we have here in the Art Museum and would steal it in

a heart-beat, if I thought I could But it's kind of big to put

under my coat. I also liked the part about the placidity of his

expression, contrasted with the dynamics and fire of the dance. I

liked it because that was always something that I did not understand

about the statue and the significance of it. That is, I know why he

looks the way he does, but the expression always seemed to not go

with the rest of the 'feeling' of the statue. Now I understand -

thanks to you.

 

Are you writing a book, or is this just an article?

 

Aum Namah Shivayah!

Dragon

 

 

, sanjulag wrote:

> Hello,

>

> Here's the recent piece put toether by me. Hope it is enjoyed.

>

> ================================================

> Lord Shiva as Nataraja : Aesthetics of Dance and Destruction

> ================================================

>

> Shiva the Hindu god of destruction is also known as Nataraja, the

> Lord of Dancers (In Sanskrit Nata means dance and raja means

> Lord). The visual image of Nataraja achieved canonical form in

> the bronzes cast under the Chola dynasty in the tenth century AD,

> and then continued to be reproduced in metal, stone and other

> substances right up to the present times. The Chola Nataraja is

> often said to be the supreme statement of Hindu art.

>

> There is an interesting legend behind the conception of Shiva as

> Nataraja: In a dense forest in South India, there dwelt

> multitudes of heretical sages. Thither proceeded Shiva to confute

> them, accompanied by Vishnu disguised as a beautiful woman. The

> sages were at first led to violent dispute amongst themselves,

> but their anger was soon directed against Shiva, and they

> endeavored to destroy him by means of incantations. A fierce

> tiger was created in sacrificial fires, and rushed upon him; but

> smiling gently, he seized it and, with the nail of his little

> finger, stripped off its skin, and wrapped it about himself like

> a silken cloth. Undiscouraged by failure, the sages renewed their

> offerings, and produced a monstrous serpent, which however Shiva

> seized and wreathed about his neck like a garland. Then he began

> to dance; but there rushed upon him a last monster in the shape

> of a malignant dwarf. Upon him the god pressed the tip of his

> foot, and broke the creature's back,so that it writhed upon the

> ground; and so, his last foe prostrate, Shiva resumed the dance.

>

> Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh13.jpg (Size

> 73 kb)

>

> To understand the concept of Nataraja we have to understand the

> idea of dance itself. Like yoga, dance induces trance, ecstasy

> and the experience of the divine. In India consequently, dance

> has flourished side by side with the terrific austerities of the

> meditation grove (fasting, absolute introversion etc.). Shiva,

> therefore, the arch-yogi of the gods, is necessarily also the

> master of the dance.

>

> Shiva Nataraja was first represented thus in a beautiful series

> of South Indian bronzes dating from the tenth and twelfth

> centuries A.D. In these images, Nataraja dances with his right

> foot supported by a crouching figure and his left foot elegantly

> raised. 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

> (anandatandava).

>

> Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh70.jpg (Size

> 108 kb)

>

> These iconographic details of Nataraja are to be read, according

> to the Hindu tradition, in terms of a complex pictorial allegory:

>

> The most common figures depict a four-armed Shiva. These multiple

> arms represent the four cardinal directions. Each hand either

> holds an object or makes a specific mudra (gesture).

>

> The upper right hand holds a hour-glass drum which is a symbol of

> creation. It is beating the pulse of the universe. The drum also

> provides the music that accompanies Shiva's dance. It represents

> sound as the first element in an unfolding universe, for sound is

> the first and most pervasive of the elements. The story goes that

> when Shiva granted the boon of wisdom to the ignorant Panini (the

> great Sanskrit grammarian), the sound of the drum encapsulated

> the whole of Sanskrit grammar. The first verse of Panini's

> grammar is in fact called Shiva sutra.

>

> The hour-glass drum also represents the male and female vital

> principles; two triangles penetrate each other to form a hexagon.

> When they part, the universe also dissolves.

>

> The opposite hand, the upper left, bears on its palm a tongue of

> flames. Fire is the element of destruction of the world.

> According to Hindu mythology at the end of the world, it will be

> fire that will be the instrument of annihilation. Thus in the

> balance of these two hands is illustrated a counterpoise of

> creation and destruction. Sound against flames, ceaselessness of

> production against an insatiate appetite of extermination.

>

> Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh12.jpg (Size

> 56 kb)

>

> The second right hand is held in the abhaya pose (literally

> without fear) and so a gesture of protection, as an open palm is

> most likely to be interpreted. It depicts the god as a protector.

>

> The left leg is raised towards the right leg and reaches across

> it; the lower left hand is stretched across the body and points

> to the upraised left foot which represents release from the cycle

> of birth and death. Interestingly, the hand pointing to the

> uplifted foot is held in a pose imitative of the outstretched

> trunk of an elephant. In Sanskrit this is known as the

> 'gaja-hasta-mudra' (the posture of the elephant trunk), and is

> symbolic of Ganesha, Shiva's son, the Remover of obstacles.

>

> Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh77.jpg (Size

> 91 kb)

>

> Shiva dances on the body of a dwarf apasmara-purusha (the man of

> forgetfulness) who embodies indifference, ignorance and laziness.

> Creation, indeed all creative energy is possible only when the

> weight of inertia (the tamasic darkness of the universe) is

> overcome and suppressed. The Nataraja image thus addresses each

> individual to overcome complacency and get his or her own act

> together.

>

> The ring of fire and light, which circumscribes the entire image,

> identifies the field of the dance with the entire universe. The

> lotus pedestal on which the image rests locates this universe in

> the heart or consciousness of each person.

>

> Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/batik/bb71.jpg (Size

> 79 kb)

>

> The Nataraja image is also eloquent of the paradox of Eternity

> and Time. It shows us that the reposeful ocean and the racing

> stream are not finally distinct. This wonderful lesson can be

> read in the significant contrast of the incessant, triumphant

> motion of the swaying limbs to the balance of the and the

> immobility of the mask-like countenance. Shiva is Kala, meaning

> time, but he is also Maha Kala, meaning "Great Time" or eternity.

> As Nataraja, King of dancers, his gestures, wild and full of

> grace, precipitate the cosmic illusion; his flying arms and legs

> and the swaying of his torso produce the continuous

> creation-destruction of the universe, death exactly balancing

> birth. The choreography is the whirligig of time. History and its

> ruins, the explosion of suns, are flashes from the tireless

> swinging sequence of the gestures. In the beautiful cast metal

> figurines, not merely a single phase or movement, but the

> entirety of this cosmic dance is miraculously rendered. The

> cyclic

> rhythm, flowing on and on in the unstayable, irreversible round

> of the Mahayugas, or Great Eons, is marked by the beating and

> stamping of the Master's heels. But the face remains, meanwhile

> in sovereign calm.

>

> Steeped in quietude, the enigmatic mask resides above the whirl

> of the four resilient arms and cares nothing for the superb legs

> as they beat out the tempo of the world ages. Aloof, in sovereign

> silence, the mask of god's eternal essence remains unaffected by

> the tremendous display of his own energy, the world and its

> progress, the flow and the changes of time. This head, this face,

> this mask, abides in transcendental isolation, as a spectator

> unconcerned. Its smile, bent inward, filled with the bliss of

> self-absorption, subtly refutes, with a scarcely hidden irony,

> the meaningful gestures of the feet and hands. A tension exists

> between the marvel of the dance and the serene tranquillity of

> this expressively inexpressive countenance, the tension, that is

> to say, of Eternity and Time. The two, invisible and visible, are

> quintessentially the same. Man with all the fibers of his native

> personality clings to the duality; nevertheless, actually and

> finally, there is no duality.

>

> Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh11.jpg (Size

> 77 kb)

>

> Another aspect of Nataraja rich in a similar symbolism is his

> lengthy and sensuous hair. The long tresses of his matted hair,

> usually piled up in a kind of pyramid, loosen during the

> triumphant, violent frenzy of his untiring dance. Expanding, they

> form two wings, to the right and left, a kind of halo,

> broadcasting, as it were, on their magic waves, the exuberance

> and sanctity of vegetative, sensuous life.

>

> Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh28.jpg (Size

> 58 kb)

>

> Supra-normal life-energy, amounting to the power of magic,

> resides in such a wildness of hair untouched by the scissors. The

> conceptualization here is similar to the legend of Samson who

> with naked hands tore asunder the jaws of a lion. His strength

> was said to reside in his hair.

>

> Also central to understanding the symbolism behind Nataraja's

> hair is the realization that much of womanly charm, the sensual

> appeal of the Eternal Feminine, is in the fragrance, the flow and

> luster of beautiful hair. On the other hand, anyone renouncing

> the generative forces of the vegetable-animal realm, revolting

> against the procreative principle of life, sex, earth, and

> nature, and entering upon the spiritual path of absolute

> asceticism, has first to be shaved. He must simulate the

> sterility of an old man whose hairs have fallen and who no longer

> constitutes a link in the chain of generation. He must coldly

> sacrifice the foliage of the head.

>

> The tonsure of the Christian priest and monk is a sign of this

> renunciation of the flesh. (Clergymen of denominations in which

> marriage is not considered incompatible with the saintly office

> do not wear a tonsure.) These "Worthy Ones", representing the

> victory of yoga-spirituality, have overcome all seduction by

> their taking of the monastic vows and following of the ascetic

> formula. With their voluntary baldness they have broken through

> to the peace beyond the seasons of growth and change.

>

> Thus by donning long, luxurious hair, Shiva dispels the notion of

> the conventional ascetic and reiterates that the image of

> Nataraja assimilates and harmonizes within itself apparently

> contradictory and conflicting aspects.

>

> Shiva is thus two opposite things: archetypal ascetic and

> archetypal dancer. On the one hand he is total

> tranquillity-inward calm absorbed in itself, absorbed in the void

> of the Absolute, where all distinctions merge and dissolve, and

> all tensions are at rest. But on the other hand he is total

> activity- life's energy, frantic, aimless and playful.

>

> The Nataraja image represents not simply some event in the mythic

> life of a local deity but a universal view in which the forces of

> nature and the aspirations and limitation of man confront each

> other and are blended together. The curator of the Indian

> collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art has rightly written

> that: " If one had to select a single icon to represent the

> extraordinarily rich and complex cultural heritage of India, the

> Shiva Nataraja might well be the most remunerative candidate."

>

> ( This article was sent as a newsletter from the website

> http://www.exoticindiaart.com )

>

> Nitin G.

[Guest guest]

Hello Dragon,

 

Glad you found it of interest.

 

I put together articles for a website. You can find my

previous related articles (incl. one on Ganesha) at

the following URL:

 

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/.php3

 

 

Warmly,

 

Nitin G.

 

--- Dragon <shakti wrote:

> Namaste Nitin,

>

> I just wanted to write and tell you that I very much

> enjoyed your

> article on Nataraja - one of my favorite subjects!!

> It is very well

> written. I agree with the statement, 'The Chola

> Nataraja is

> often said to be the supreme statement of Hindu

> art'. I am extremely

> fond of the one we have here in the Art Museum and

> would steal it in

> a heart-beat, if I thought I could But it's kind

> of big to put

> under my coat. I also liked the part about the

> placidity of his

> expression, contrasted with the dynamics and fire of

> the dance. I

> liked it because that was always something that I

> did not understand

> about the statue and the significance of it. That

> is, I know why he

> looks the way he does, but the expression always

> seemed to not go

> with the rest of the 'feeling' of the statue. Now I

> understand -

> thanks to you.

>

> Are you writing a book, or is this just an article?

>

> Aum Namah Shivayah!

> Dragon

>

>

> , sanjulag wrote:

> > Hello,

> >

> > Here's the recent piece put toether by me. Hope it

> is enjoyed.

> >

> > ================================================

> > Lord Shiva as Nataraja : Aesthetics of Dance and

> Destruction

> > ================================================

> >

> > Shiva the Hindu god of destruction is also known

> as Nataraja, the

> > Lord of Dancers (In Sanskrit Nata means dance and

> raja means

> > Lord). The visual image of Nataraja achieved

> canonical form in

> > the bronzes cast under the Chola dynasty in the

> tenth century AD,

> > and then continued to be reproduced in metal,

> stone and other

> > substances right up to the present times. The

> Chola Nataraja is

> > often said to be the supreme statement of Hindu

> art.

> >

> > There is an interesting legend behind the

> conception of Shiva as

> > Nataraja: In a dense forest in South India, there

> dwelt

> > multitudes of heretical sages. Thither proceeded

> Shiva to confute

> > them, accompanied by Vishnu disguised as a

> beautiful woman. The

> > sages were at first led to violent dispute amongst

> themselves,

> > but their anger was soon directed against Shiva,

> and they

> > endeavored to destroy him by means of

> incantations. A fierce

> > tiger was created in sacrificial fires, and rushed

> upon him; but

> > smiling gently, he seized it and, with the nail of

> his little

> > finger, stripped off its skin, and wrapped it

> about himself like

> > a silken cloth. Undiscouraged by failure, the

> sages renewed their

> > offerings, and produced a monstrous serpent, which

> however Shiva

> > seized and wreathed about his neck like a garland.

> Then he began

> > to dance; but there rushed upon him a last monster

> in the shape

> > of a malignant dwarf. Upon him the god pressed the

> tip of his

> > foot, and broke the creature's back,so that it

> writhed upon the

> > ground; and so, his last foe prostrate, Shiva

> resumed the dance.

> >

> > Illustration :

> http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh13.jpg (Size

> > 73 kb)

> >

> > To understand the concept of Nataraja we have to

> understand the

> > idea of dance itself. Like yoga, dance induces

> trance, ecstasy

> > and the experience of the divine. In India

> consequently, dance

> > has flourished side by side with the terrific

> austerities of the

> > meditation grove (fasting, absolute introversion

> etc.). Shiva,

> > therefore, the arch-yogi of the gods, is

> necessarily also the

> > master of the dance.

> >

> > Shiva Nataraja was first represented thus in a

> beautiful series

> > of South Indian bronzes dating from the tenth and

> twelfth

> > centuries A.D. In these images, Nataraja dances

> with his right

> > foot supported by a crouching figure and his left

> foot elegantly

> > raised. 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

> > (anandatandava).

> >

> > Illustration :

> http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh70.jpg (Size

> > 108 kb)

> >

> > These iconographic details of Nataraja are to be

> read, according

> > to the Hindu tradition, in terms of a complex

> pictorial allegory:

> >

> > The most common figures depict a four-armed Shiva.

> These multiple

> > arms represent the four cardinal directions. Each

> hand either

> > holds an object or makes a specific mudra

> (gesture).

> >

> > The upper right hand holds a hour-glass drum which

> is a symbol of

> > creation. It is beating the pulse of the universe.

> The drum also

> > provides the music that accompanies Shiva's dance.

> It represents

> > sound as the first element in an unfolding

> universe, for sound is

> > the first and most pervasive of the elements. The

> story goes that

> > when Shiva granted the boon of wisdom to the

> ignorant Panini (the

> > great Sanskrit grammarian), the sound of the drum

> encapsulated

> > the whole of Sanskrit grammar. The first verse of

> Panini's

> > grammar is in fact called Shiva sutra.

> >

> > The hour-glass drum also represents the male and

> female vital

> > principles; two triangles penetrate each other to

> form a hexagon.

> > When they part, the universe also dissolves.

> >

> > The opposite hand, the upper left, bears on its

> palm a tongue of

> > flames. Fire is the element of destruction of the

> world.

> > According to Hindu mythology at the end of the

> world, it will be

> > fire that will be the instrument of annihilation.

> Thus in the

> > balance of these two hands is illustrated a

> counterpoise of

> > creation and destruction. Sound against flames,

> ceaselessness of

> > production against an insatiate appetite of

> extermination.

> >

> > Illustration :

> http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh12.jpg (Size

> > 56 kb)

> >

> > The second right hand is held in the abhaya pose

> (literally

> > without fear) and so a gesture of protection, as

> an open palm is

> > most likely to be interpreted. It depicts the god

> as a protector.

> >

> > The left leg is raised towards the right leg and

> reaches across

> > it; the lower left hand is stretched across the

> body and points

> > to the upraised left foot which represents release

> from the cycle

>

=== message truncated ===

 

 

 

 

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I was looking through the statues on the exoticindiaart.com site

mentioned below. Lots of variations I have not seen before. I find myself

drawn to Naga Ganesha. Anyone have any thoughts on its symbolism?

 

Alobar

-

G Sanjula

 

Friday, February 16, 2001 12:03 AM

Re: Re: Lord Shiva as Nataraja : Aesthetics of Dance and Destruction

Hello Dragon,Glad you found it of interest.I put together articles for a

website. You can find myprevious related articles (incl. one on Ganesha) atthe

following URL:http://www.exoticindiaart.com/.php3Warmly,Nitin G.---

Dragon <shakti (AT) tantrawitch (DOT) com> wrote:> Namaste Nitin,> > I just wanted to

write and tell you that I very much> enjoyed your > article on Nataraja - one

of my favorite subjects!! > It is very well > written. I agree with the

statement, 'The Chola> Nataraja is> often said to be the supreme statement of

Hindu> art'. I am extremely > fond of the one we have here in the Art Museum

and> would steal it in > a heart-beat, if I thought I could But it's kind>

of big to put > under my coat. I also liked the part about the> placidity of

his > expression, contrasted with the dynamics and fire of> the dance. I >

liked it because that was always something that I> did not understand > about

the statue and the significance of it. That> is, I know why he > looks the way

he does, but the expression always> seemed to not go > with the rest of the

'feeling' of the statue. Now I> understand - > thanks to you.> > Are you

writing a book, or is this just an article?> > Aum Namah Shivayah!> Dragon > >

> , sanjulag wrote:> > Hello, > > > > Here's the

recent piece put toether by me. Hope it> is enjoyed.> > > >

================================================> > Lord Shiva as Nataraja :

Aesthetics of Dance and> Destruction> >

================================================> > > > Shiva the Hindu god of

destruction is also known> as Nataraja, the> > Lord of Dancers (In Sanskrit

Nata means dance and> raja means> > Lord). The visual image of Nataraja

achieved> canonical form in> > the bronzes cast under the Chola dynasty in the>

tenth century AD,> > and then continued to be reproduced in metal,> stone and

other> > substances right up to the present times. The> Chola Nataraja is> >

often said to be the supreme statement of Hindu> art.> > > > There is an

interesting legend behind the> conception of Shiva as> > Nataraja: In a dense

forest in South India, there> dwelt> > multitudes of heretical sages. Thither

proceeded> Shiva to confute> > them, accompanied by Vishnu disguised as a>

beautiful woman. The> > sages were at first led to violent dispute amongst>

themselves,> > but their anger was soon directed against Shiva,> and they> >

endeavored to destroy him by means of> incantations. A fierce> > tiger was

created in sacrificial fires, and rushed> upon him; but> > smiling gently, he

seized it and, with the nail of> his little> > finger, stripped off its skin,

and wrapped it> about himself like> > a silken cloth. Undiscouraged by failure,

the> sages renewed their> > offerings, and produced a monstrous serpent, which>

however Shiva> > seized and wreathed about his neck like a garland.> Then he

began> > to dance; but there rushed upon him a last monster> in the shape> > of

a malignant dwarf. Upon him the god pressed the> tip of his> > foot, and broke

the creature's back,so that it> writhed upon the > > ground; and so, his last

foe prostrate, Shiva> resumed the dance.> > > > Illustration :>

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh13.jpg (Size> > 73 kb)> > > > To

understand the concept of Nataraja we have to> understand the> > idea of dance

itself. Like yoga, dance induces> trance, ecstasy> > and the experience of the

divine. In India> consequently, dance> > has flourished side by side with the

terrific> austerities of the> > meditation grove (fasting, absolute

introversion> etc.). Shiva,> > therefore, the arch-yogi of the gods, is>

necessarily also the> > master of the dance.> > > > Shiva Nataraja was first

represented thus in a> beautiful series> > of South Indian bronzes dating from

the tenth and> twelfth> > centuries A.D. In these images, Nataraja dances> with

his right> > foot supported by a crouching figure and his left> foot elegantly>

> raised. 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> > (anandatandava).> > > > Illustration :>

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh70.jpg (Size> > 108 kb)> > > > These

iconographic details of Nataraja are to be> read, according> > to the Hindu

tradition, in terms of a complex> pictorial allegory:> > > > The most common

figures depict a four-armed Shiva.> These multiple> > arms represent the four

cardinal directions. Each> hand either> > holds an object or makes a specific

mudra> (gesture).> > > > The upper right hand holds a hour-glass drum which> is

a symbol of> > creation. It is beating the pulse of the universe.> The drum

also> > provides the music that accompanies Shiva's dance.> It represents> >

sound as the first element in an unfolding> universe, for sound is> > the first

and most pervasive of the elements. The> story goes that> > when Shiva granted

the boon of wisdom to the> ignorant Panini (the> > great Sanskrit grammarian),

the sound of the drum> encapsulated> > the whole of Sanskrit grammar. The first

verse of> Panini's> > grammar is in fact called Shiva sutra.> > > > The

hour-glass drum also represents the male and> female vital> > principles; two

triangles penetrate each other to> form a hexagon.> > When they part, the

universe also dissolves.> > > > The opposite hand, the upper left, bears on

its> palm a tongue of> > flames. Fire is the element of destruction of the>

world.> > According to Hindu mythology at the end of the> world, it will be> >

fire that will be the instrument of annihilation.> Thus in the> > balance of

these two hands is illustrated a> counterpoise of> > creation and destruction.

Sound against flames,> ceaselessness of> > production against an insatiate

appetite of> extermination.> > > > Illustration :>

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/brass/zh12.jpg (Size> > 56 kb)> > > > The second

right hand is held in the abhaya pose> (literally> > without fear) and so a

gesture of protection, as> an open palm is> > most likely to be interpreted. It

depicts the god> as a protector.> > > > The left leg is raised towards the right

leg and> reaches across> > it; the lower left hand is stretched across the> body

and points> > to the upraised left foot which represents release> from the

cycle> === message truncated

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