(Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja), 11th century, Copper alloy, Chola period,(The Metropolitan Museum of Art).
The great Hindu god Shiva is portrayed in many different aspects or forms, and he appears as "Natarája", the Lord of the dance, in the photo above. This artwork was created during the 11th century from copper alloy. Pieces similar to this were usually made of metal, stone, copper, or bronze and placed in temples. This statue of Shiva Natarája stands as a symbol to the Hindu culture of never-ending time. Shiva has multiple meanings, other than representing the never-ending cycle of time, he also represents benevolence, and serves as the destroyer and creator of all things. In the Hindu culture it is believed that the universe will regenerate every 2,160,000,000 years in cycles, so the universe is destroyed by Shiva every time the cycle ends to produce a new creation. The Shiva has four arms altogether, and he is in a ring with flames protruding from the edge while he is balancing on one leg. Shiva acts with goodness and encourages restraining from all forms of pleasure and fulfillment and rather focusing on meditation as a way to find complete and perfect happiness. There are multiple sculptures made like this one, big enough to be transferred easily, and usually carried in religious events and festivals to represent the god. Priests would follow the statues chanting prayers and giving blessings to people gathered for this purpose. They would use bamboo poles and put them through the holes on the bottom of the Shiva statues so that they could be carried through the events and they were typically transported on a cart. This sculpture is very important in the Hindu culture because it represents what their culture believes in and it represents this clocklike structure for the Hindu people. The way they think of it is when Shiva is dancing the universe is moving and when he stops dancing, the universe ends, until it is recreated again as he begins to dance again. Shiva symbolizes many things to the Hindu culture and the visual elements have meaning as well. The flame held in his left hand is representing the destruction he can bring to the universe and his left leg lifted shows the motion of dance, meaning the universe is in motion.
Farisa Khalid, "Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja)," Smarthistory, August 9, 2015 https://smarthistory.org/shiva-as-lord-of-the-dance-nataraja/.
Frederick M. Asher, "Shiva Nataraja," in The Arts of India, South East Asia, and the Himalayas, Anne R. Bromberg (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013), 75-76 https://collections.dma.org/essay/DnAOle7Y.
New Haven. Yale University Art Gallery. "The Cosmic Dancer: Shiva Nataraja," February 7, 1993–April 11, 1993 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/39328
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI liked how you explained the shape of the statue. The large circular shape seems to have more purpose than simply holding the figure, but would represent the cycle of destruction and rebirth, which Shiva would be known for. It would be interesting to see what similarities and differences would be seen when compared to buddhist art, and what the beliefs of the buddhists would be on this piece, as this piece is looks rather similar to statues shown of the Buddha.