|
|
Go to Hindu mythology
home page
Nataraja
The Hindu god Shiva in his form because the cosmic dancer, represented in metal
or stone in most Shaiv temples of South India.In the most typical sort of picture, Shiva is proven with 4 arms and flying
locks dancing on the figure of a dwarf, Apasmara (a symbol of human ignorance;
apasmara means “forgetfulness,” or “heedlessness”). Shiva's back proper hand
holds the Damaru (hourglass-shaped drum); the entrance proper hand is within the
abhaya mudra (the “concern-not” gesture, made by holding the palm outward with
fingers pointing up); the again left hand carries Agni (fire) in a vessel or in
the palm of the hand; and the entrance left hand is held across his chest within
the gajahasta (elephant-trunk) pose, with wrist limp and fingers pointed
downward towards the uplifted left foot. The locks of Shiva's hair stand out in
a number of strands interspersed with the figures of Ganga (the Ganges River
personified as a goddess), flowers, a skull, and the crescent moon. His
determine is encircled by a hoop of flames, the prabhamandala. In traditional
Sanskrit treatises on dance, this manner, the most common representation of
Nataraja, known as the bhujamgatrasa (“trembling of the snake”).
In the Nataraja sculpture, Shiva is shown as the source of all movement
throughout the cosmos, represented by the arch of flames. The purpose of the
dance is to release people from phantasm, and the place the place it is
mentioned to have been carried out, Chidambaram (an important Shaiva centre in
South India), known as the centre of the universe, is in reality throughout the
heart. The gestures of the dance represent Shiva's five activities (pancakritya):
creation (symbolized by the drum), safety (by the “concern-not” pose of the
hand), destruction (by the fireplace), embodiment (by the foot planted on the
ground), and launch (by the foot held aloft).
Other dances of Shiva seen in sculpture and painting are the wild tandava, which
he performs on cremation grounds within the firm of his consort Devi, and the
night dance performed on Mount Kailasa earlier than the meeting of gods, a few
of whom accompany him on numerous instruments.
|
|
