Decoding Nataraja by Swapnil Saundarya ezine

   

      SWAPNIL SAUNDARYA e-zine  

Vol- 10, Year - 2023

 

Decoding 

Nataraja

Published by 

Aten Publishing House

'The Bold Brigade’, a collective to celebrate the Inclusive Power of Arts.

....

Shiva has pre-Vedic roots, and the figure of Shiva evolved as an amalgamation of various older non-Vedic and Vedic deities, including the Rigvedic storm god Rudra who may also have non-Vedic origins, into a single major deity. Shiva is a pan-Hindu deity, revered widely by Hindus in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia (especially in Java and Bali).

The depiction of Shiva as Nataraja is a form of Shiva (literally, “Lord of Dance”). The names Nartaka (“dancer”) and Nityanarta (“eternal dancer”) appear in the Shiva Sahasranama. His association with dance and also with music is prominent in the Puranic period. In addition to the specific iconographic form known as Nataraja, various other types of dancing forms (Sanskrit: nrtyamurti) are found in all parts of India, with many well-defined varieties in Tamil Nadu in particular. The two most common forms of the dance are the Tandava, which later came to denote the powerful and masculine dance as Kala-Mahakala associated with the destruction of the world. When it requires the world or universe to be destroyed, Shiva does it by the Tandava, and Lasya, which is graceful and delicate and expresses emotions on a gentle level and is considered the feminine dance attributed to the goddess Parvati. Lasya is regarded as the female counterpart of Tandava. The Tandava-Lasya dances are associated with the destruction-creation of the world.

Holder of Trident, drinker of poison,

Master of Yogis, ruler in the Sun,

Dweller in Kailas, rider of Nandi

Destroyer of Cupid, Lord of Siddhi,

The three-eyed Lord, the five-faced God,

The blue-necked God, the God of gods,

Sivaya Nama Om Sivaya Namah,

Sivaya Nama Om Namah Sivaya.

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