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"Because
You love the Burning -ground, I have made a Burning-ground of my heart -
That You, Dark One, hunter of the Burning-ground, May dance Your eternal
dance."
~ Bengali Hymn~
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The significance of the
Nataraja (Nataraj)
sculpture is said to be that
Shiva is shown as the source of all movement within the
cosmos, represented by the arch of flames. The purpose of the
dance is to release men from illusion of the idea of the "self"
and of the physical world. The cosmic dance was performed in
Chidambaram in South India, called the center of the universe by
some Hindus. The gestures of the dance represent
Shiva's five activities, creation (symbolized by the drum),
protection (by the "fear not" hand gesture), destruction (by the
fire), embodiment (by the foot planted on the ground), and
release (by the foot held aloft).
As
Nataraja (Sanskrit:
Lord of Dance)
Shiva represents apocalypse and creation as he dances away
the illusory world of Maya transforming it into power and
enlightenment.
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Click here to see
all Lotus Sculpture's Statues of Lord Nataraja
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The symbolism
of
Siva
Nataraja is religion, art and science merged as one. In
God's endless dance of creation, preservation, destruction and
paired graces is hidden a deep understanding of our universe.
Aum Namah Sivaya. Bhashya
Nataraja, the King of Dance, has four arms. The upper right
hand holds the drum from which creation issues forth. The lower
right hand is raised in blessing, betokening preservation. The
upper left hand holds a flame, which is destruction, the
dissolution of form. The right leg, representing obscuring
grace, stands upon Apasmarapurusha, a soul temporarily
earth-bound by its own sloth, confusion and forgetfulness. The
uplifted left leg is revealing grace, which releases the mature
soul from bondage. The lower left hand gestures toward that
holy foot in assurance that
Siva's grace is the refuge for everyone, the way to
liberation. The circle of fire represents the cosmos and
especially consciousness. The all-devouring form looming above
is Mahakala, "Great Time." The cobra around
Nataraja's waist is kundalini shakti, the soul-impelling
cosmic power resident within all.
Nataraja's dance is not just a symbol. It is taking place
within each of us, at the atomic level, this very moment. The
Agamas proclaim, "The birth of the world, its maintenance, its
destruction, the soul's obscuration and liberation are the five
acts of His dance." Aum Namah Sivaya. |
The Symbolism of the Nataraja Pose
"O
my Lord, Thy hand holding the sacred drum has made and ordered the
heavens and earth and other worlds and innumerable souls. Thy lifted
hand protects both the conscious and unconscious order of thy creation.
All these worlds are transformed by Thy hand bearing fire. Thy sacred
foot, planted on the ground, gives an abode to the tired soul struggling
in the toils of causality.
It is Thy lifted foot that grants eternal bliss to
those that approach Thee. These
Five-Actions are indeed Thy Handiwork.."
~ Chidambara
Mummani Kovai~
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The
Nataraja dances within the universe of illusion. The locks
of his hair stand out in many strands as he whirls around in his
dancing frenzy. His locks are decked with a crescent moon, a
skull, and are interspersed with the sacred river Ganges.
Shiva's unkempt hair, a symbol of a rejection of society,
shows him to be an ascetic. This contrasts with his role as a
grhastha, or householder, with his wife and family.
Click here to see
all Lotus Sculpture's
Statues of Lord Nataraja |
| The fiery ring
surrounding
Shiva, prahabhamandala, represents the universe with all its
illusion, suffering and pain. The outer edge is fire the inner edge the
waters of the oceans. Many
Nataraja statues have multiple levels of fire and water. |
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The goddess of the
Ganges is here shown nesting in
Shiva's dreadlocks. The river Ganges that flows in
Nataraja's hair originally flowed in heaven. When the
heavenly Ganges was needed on earth, she was unwilling to fall
to earth because she realized that her fall from heaven would be
too much for the earth to withstand.
Shiva as
Nataraja agreed to break the violent power of the sacred
Ganga's fall by catching her in his tangled hair, breaking the
fall with his hair on its way to the Himalayas and Northern
India. |
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The crescent moon in his matted hair keeps Kama, the god of
nightly love, alive. Through the waxing and the waning of the
moon
Shiva creates different seasons and rejuvenates life.
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Nataraja wears a snake coiled around his upper arms and neck
symbolizing the power he has over the most deadly of creatures.
Snakes are also used to symbolize the Hindu dogma of
reincarnation. Their natural process of molting or shedding
their skin is symbolic of the human souls transmigration of
bodies from one life to another. |
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In
the back right hand Shiva often holds an hour glass shaped drum
or damaru. The drum represents the rhythmic sound to
which
Nataraja dances and ceaselessly recreates the universe.
The front right hand is in the abhaya-mudra (the "fear not"
gesture, made by holding the palm outward with fingers pointing
up).
Click here to see
all Lotus Sculpture's
Statues of Lord Nataraja |
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The back left hand carries agni (fire) in a vessel or in his
hand. The flames represent the destructive energy with which
Nataraja dances at the end of each cosmic age, cleansing
sins and removing illusion. |
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His uplifted left foot, grants eternal bliss to those who
approach him. The other foot treads firmly upon the dwarf of
ignorance, allowing the birth of knowledge. |
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Nataraja dances above the body of the demon, Apasmara, whom
he has killed; in this role he is called Natesa. Apasmara, the
dwarf demon, represents the ignorance of teaching that all
opposites (for example good and evil) are false. |
Click here to see
all Lotus Sculpture's Statues of Lord Nataraja
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