NATARAJA- THE LORD OF COSMIC DANCE

LORD SHIVA holds a special place in my life, I always see him as a father figure to me and I feel connected to him through Yoga, when in the morning I perform I really do co personally. Despite not being a Hindu I do love him and have faith in him.

A week ago I was going through Nitin Singhania’s “INDIAN ART AND CULTURE” and there one topic catches my eyes instantly, and the topic was features of NATARAJA. So I decided to write my next blog on NATARAJA THE LORD OF COSMIC DANCER and I am sure that this blog will catch your eyes to… LET’S START-

The NATARAJA symbol is not about an individual dancing across the cosmos. We say the cosmos is in a dance and the dance is guided by a certain intelligence. Since we are individuals and we understand everything as separate life forms, we individualize it as Nataraja for our own perception. The word “Shiva” literally means “that which is not” or “that which is nothing.” It is nothing, it is empty space, but it is dancing. Because it is dancing, everything is happening.

• THE UPPER RIGHT-HAND HOLDS THE DRUM, WHICH SIGNIFIES THE SOUND OF CREATION.
• THE UPPER LEFT-HAND HOLDS THE ETERNAL FIRE, WHICH REPRESENTS DESTRUCTION, DESTRUCTION IS THE PRECURSOR AND AN INEVITABLE COUNTERPART OF CREATION.
• THE LOWER RIGHT HAND IS RAISED IN THE GESTURE OF ABHAYA MUDRA SIGNIFYING BENEDICTION AND REASSURING THE DEVOTEE NOT TO BE AFRAID.
• THE LOWER LEFT-HAND POINTS TOWARDS THE UPRAISED FOOT AND INDICATES THE PATH OF SALVATION.
• SHIVA IS DANCING ON THE FIGURE OF A SMALL DWARF, THE DWARF SYMBOLISES IGNORANCE AND THE EGO OF AN INDIVIDUAL.
• THE MATTED AND FLOWING LOCKS OF LORD SHIVA REPRESENT THE FLOW OF RIVER GANGA.
• IN ORNAMENTATION, ONE EAR OF LORD SHIVA HAS AMALE EARRING WHILE THE OTHER HAS A FEMALE EARRING, THIS REPRESENT THE FUSION OF MALE AND FEMALE AND IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS ARDHANARISHWAR.
• A SNAKE IS TWISTED AROUND THE ARM OF LORD SHIVA, THE SNAKE SYMBOLISES THE KUNDALINI POWER, WHICH RESIDES IN THE HUMAN SPINE IN DORMANT STAGE, IF AROUSED ONE CAN ATTAIN TRUE CONSCIOUSNESS.
• THE NATARAJA IS SORRUNDED BY A NIMBUS OF GLOWING LIGHTS WHICH SYMBOLISES THE VAST UNENDING CYCLES OF TIME.

HISTORY OF NATARAJA SCULPTURE

He originated near the town of Chidambaram at the confluence of two rivers, Vellar and Cooleron. In this region, lot of Sages have kept penance because this area is a thick forest. A group of sages were engaged in dark rituals like black magic because they believed that God can be controlled by magic wands, rituals and mantras. Thus, they have became harmful for mankind and were troubling everybody.

Lord Shiva wanted to put this to an end So he became a beggar known as Bikshadana. The appearance of Bikshadana was awesome. He was beautiful and soothing to eyes despite being naked. Lord Vishnu taken the form of Mohini, a beautiful lady and followed him. This beauty of Bikshadana also caused the wives of the sages to follow Bikshadana. This became a problem for these sages and they started to use their magical powers on Bikshadana to no avail. Because Lord Shiva was there and the supreme God cannot be controlled by these things. The sages intensified their attack on Bikshadana and released dreadful serpents on the Lord. The wore them as ornaments. They also sent fierce tiger with magical powers. Lord Shiva tore the skin of the beast with ease and used it as his loincloth. An elephant later came out of the sacrificial fires and charged the Lord but was ripped to death by Bikshadana.

Then the sages became highly concerned of the developments and submitted all their powers and gave birth to a demon named Apasmara. He was a symbol of arrogance and ignorance. But Lord effortlessly stepped on the demon’s back and started dancing beautifully.

This dance is known as Tandava or the ecstatic dance of Lord Shiva. The realization dawned on the sages. The divine vision removed their arrogance and made them understand that it was none else then Lord Shiva and they had been resorting to bad ways so far.

This miracle happened at the famous temple of Chidambaram. With the help of several rulers and dynasties, the temple was developed in a grand manner. The temple has been one of the most popularly visited places for the devotees of Lord Shiva and was also visited and sung by many Shivite saints. Lord Nataraja thus dances ecstatically in order to remove the ignorance and bondage of humans.

Hope you guys will like my this blog, THANK YOU