Nataraja as a theme represents life force itself. The ancients visualised Nataraja as a manifestation of the cosmic energy symbolising the three aspects of creation, preservation and destruction. The dance of Nataraja has always been synony- mously viewed with truth and beauty, force and rhythm, movement and change, realisation and dissolution. Nataraja has been visualised in a variety of forms by seers, poets and artists-chiselled, painted, described and sung about in many parts of India and countries in the neighbourhood since long. This itself is a testimony to the twin aspects of time and timelessness of Nataraja, both as a per- sonality and as a theme. This book highlights Nataraja as the pre- siding deity of fine arts whether it be music, dance, painting, sculpture or epig- raphy. The Vedic roots of the cosmic dancer and the blend of tradition and modernity is woven as a thread through- out the book describing vividly the ex- ploits of the great dancer on world stage. It also contains interesting infor- mation on famous spots of the Nataraja theme and the concept of Nataraja be- yond Indian frontiers.
Dr Sivaramamurthy has been one of the most acclaimed art historians of this coun- try. He had devoted an entire life time to iconography, especially to the Nataraja theme. This book is an outcome of his research as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship awarded to him in 1968. Some of the other books of the author include South Indian Paintings, Some Aspects of Indian Culture, Indian Sculpture and San- skrit Literature and Art.
Towards the end of 1968, I was very kindly offered a Fellowship by the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund. Nothing could have made me happier than to associate myself in a dedicated work with the name of the greatest beacon of light in India in our times. This in itself I considered an augury indeed of accomplishment of the best in research on any chosen theme. I can neither forget the encouraging exhortation of Miss. Padmaja Naidu to do my very best on a chosen theme, nor the delightful choice of theme so kindly suggested by Dr. Karan Singh, both of which constituted the initial blessing for godspeed as I started on my subject of research. Nataraja has always been a favourite theme of mine. As long ago as when I was a research student in the Madras University I had my own peculiar musings on Nataraja. "How would have Nataraja been depicted in the time of Bhaqavan Patanjali?" would be my query, and I would fancy him dancing with a single pair of arms (bahubhyam uta te nemeh). wearing his locks in ushnisha fashion (namah) kapardine, UShniShine) in the dance hall of the universe (namas sabhabhyas sabhapatibhyascha) holding the snakes (ehimscha sarvan jambhayan), himself lit up with a glow (tvisbimate), sounding the drum (namo dundubhyaya chahananyaya cha). I would then wonder how wonderful he would have looked in the hey day of South Indian art, during the time of the Pallavas with the peculiar make up of his jatas, the yajnopavita flowing over his right arm, all his four arms in natyahastas or carrying attributes, a host of carvings from the Rajasimhesvara temple in Kanchipuram fleeting before my minds's eye. I would pause and sketch the pictures of my fancy in the appropriate style of the period, the second century B.C. and the eight century A.D. respectively. My fancy would next imagine my favourite sivatandavastotra to which I was always attracted by its remarkable alliteration, resonance and dance rhythm, not precluding its possible composition by a genius not inferior to Havana to whom it is traditionally attributed, and wonder how it would have been written by a scribe of Patanjali's time or by a contemporary of the Pallavas. I would then scribble it out with all the fervour and enthusiasm of a youngster fervently studying Indian palaeography. The result is in the two sketches on p. ix and the first three verses transcribed in Brahmi of the second century B.C. and in Pallava Grantha of the eighth century A.D.
Nataraja has always been a favourite theme of mine. I had discussed some aspects of Nataraja. the Lord of Dance, in appropriate context in several of my books but I could never imagine, until I took up this theme as a complete unit in itself for elaborate study, how vast was its scope. The material that I have collected is no doubt vast, but as I worked I realised that the theme is inexhaustible. Nataraja was no longer just in the golden hall at Chidambaram. His dance halls appeared all over our vast country. Nataraja ceased to be a theme mainly for sculptures in stone and metal in South India, and became manifest as a great concept spread allover the country-to the south, west, north and east. It did not stop at that. A magnificent theme like this, the very symbol of Indian art, thought and culture, undoubtedly cannot be confined to a limited sphere and I rightly found it everywhere, beyond the Indian frontiers, nearly allover Asia.
Finally, when I recall how Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the scholar, statesman, with a heart as wide as the ocean for appreciation of all that was good and worthy of encouragement, called for my tiny little book, the first to see the light of day, and showered his blessings on a young and unknown scholar, I feel that this great honour conferred on me, almost towards the end of my career, is indeed a supreme satisfaction for me as an author. This call asking me to conduct research on a noble theme with a fellowship instituted in the name of the noblest son of India, so that I could have his blessings again, is almost a fulfilment of all the writing in which I have been engaged all these years. I have done my best in preparing this volume on Nataraia. for which I have gathered material both literary and artistic from all over India, nay Asia and the rest of the world. My satisfaction would be complete if this book could be, as I hope, an adequate offering to the memory of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in whose name, this fellowship has held out for me an almost impossible ideal to accomplish.
On the third of January 1969, I bowed to the Dancing Lord at Chidambaram after witnessing his sandal bath in cold mid-winter on the sacred day of the constellation of Ardra, just as did, on the selfsame day, my ancestor of the seventeenth remote, in the sixteenth century, and composed a significant verse (given on page vi) and I commenced my study of this theme, and again on the same occasion on January 10, 1971 I completed it with the satisfaction that it has been possible to elucidate to an extent the import of the Lord's dance.
I am thankful to the Ministry of Education for permission accorded to me to take up this fellowship from the day I went on leave preparatory to relinquishing charge of the Directorship of the National Museum. It is my great pleasure to thank my colleagues in the Archaeological Survey of India and from the different Museums allover India, the Archaeological Departments in different States in India, and colleagues from Museums in Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Pakistan and Ceylon. In addition to help that I have received from all these colleagues, other individuals and institutions have also extended their hand of cooperation and help. I must thank here Monsieur J. Daridan, the former French Ambassador in India, the Academy of the American Institute of Indian Studies, Banaras, and the French Academy at Pondicherry for very kindly supplying me a number of photographs as an encouraging gift for helping me in this work.
For personally acquainting myself with the famous Polonnaruva bronzes, studied in the early years of this century by Dr. Coomaraswamy and Sir P. Ramanathan, as also the ones discovered just a decade ago and discussed by Dr. Godakumbura, I had requested help from Dr. D. H. P. H. de Silva, Director of the National Museum, Colombo, who very readily responded. I cannot be adequately thankful to him and to his colleagues and to Dr. R. H. de Silva, Commissioner of the Archaeological Department in Ceylon, for all the help that was accorded to me when I was there. I was specially taken to Anuradhapura at short notice, where I could study the bronzes from Polonnaruva unearthed in 1960. Mr. Haque, the Director of the Dacca Museum very kindly provided me with photographs of the dancing Siva, described by Dr. N. K. Bhattasali, and two additional ones he had collected recently for the Museum.
The very first photograph to start my study of Nataraja was kindly supplied by Mrs. Pupul Jayakar who has one of the earliest and the most magnificent of Nataraja sculptures in her own collection, a Gupta one from Nachna. I am most grateful to her for this aid.
Recently, when Mr. Khandalavala visited the Cleveland Museum of Art in the United States of America, he noticed a dancing figure of Siva of the Basohli school and thoughtfully arranged for a photograph of it to help me in my study. To him and to Mrs. Margaret Marcus of the Cleveland Museum I am most grateful for helping me with the photograph.
Photographs most difficult to obtain were those required from Vietnam. These were very kindly procured and sent by Professor M. Jean Filliozat to whom I am most beholden.
Dr. Grace Morley, Head of the ICOM Regional Agency in Asia, has not only with infinite patience gone through this large volume of text and offered many valuable suggestions, but also, whenever out touring in South East Asia, had always my 'Nataraja' in mind to obtain, if possible, rare photographs that I might require. She thus procured some photos from Vietnam and Indonesia through the kindness of her friends Mr. Carl Heffley and Mr. Lee Fickle from Vietnam and Indonesia respectively. To both of them I offer my thanks, but I know not how to adequately thank Dr. Morley for all this kindness that she has bestowed on me.
A photograph of the most beautiful Gurjara Pratihara image of Ardhanarisvara was kindly made available by Rajamata Gayatri Devi of Jaipur to whom I am most grateful.
The doyen among Indian Sanskritists and art historians, C. Sivaramamurti, has contributed a monumental work on the subject (Nataraja in Art, Thought and Literature, New Delhi, 1974), which commands the status of a Bible for like- minded scholars in the field. Many of his ideas stand questioned now (scholars may look into a small ‘book by A. Meeneshwari and V. Latha, Ituva Varalaru [Is It History] in Tamil, Thanjavur 1997). However, the major shortcoming of the book is the total neglect of regional sources that may be found in other classical languages like Tamil. To cover the lacuna, I have published a number of articles in the East and West from Rome, Acta Orientalia from Copenhagen and JRAS: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (of Great Britain and Ireland), now published by the Cambridge University Press. Most other scholars, listed by J. Soundararajan in the introductory chapters of his work, down to David Smith (he has nothing to say about the Dance of Vi1? DU, a bold theme in connection with Citamparam, sees JRAS infra), do not consider Tamil as a viable source at all. C. Sivaramamurti has cited few hymns from the Teuaram. which is a chip from huge block? Scholars know it very well that it is in the Cola temples and their bronzes that Nataraja, the so-called anandaidnduuam, was a vibrant theme. The Tamil artistes much better do Bharatanatvam as a performing art in any part of the world today. In the art of Tamilnadu since the Pallava-Pandya to Vijayanagara-Nayaka, the dance theme, irrespective of the performer (Siva, Vi1? DU, Devi, Canapati or a deuadasi) is a dynamic theme. Is it not the bounden duty of an art historian to look into what the Tamil sources since the days of the Cilappatikaram (5th century AD) have to say on the subject? The hymns of Karaikkalammaiyar (elaborated by R.K.K. Rajarajan), Tevaram, Tiruoacakam, Tirukkovaiyar (see my articles in the Bibliography), Koyil Tiruppal1l1iyar Viruttam (elaborated by J. Soundararajan in the present book), Tirumantiram and a number of other works in Tamil throw a flash of new light and add to the illuminating personality of Nataraja who dances on the Himalayas, the mythical Darukavana or a crematorium. Tirumular's vision is that he dances at the acme of the pivot of the Milkyway.
The need to study the Tamil sources is not only indispensable but also compelling. To my knowledge, no body has done this job satisfactorily, save the pioneer A.K. Coomaraswamy, followed by Kamil V. Zvelebil. Even Tamil knowing scholars had a reluctance to look into Tamil sources as though it is an untouchable material. C. Sivaramamurti himself, K.V. Soundarajan, R. Nagaswamy and several others know Tamil but a novice, J. Soundararajan, has successfully responded a challenge unmanned/unrecorded by these doyens in the field. I am very happy at the bold adventure by J. Soundararajan in his not merely an investigation but experience of Nataraja. Now the day has come, that to look at Indian art one needs two classical eyes, Sanskrit and Tamil, an idea aired by me in 1997 at the Sudasien Institute of the Heidelberg University (subsequently published in JRAS infra). The proposition has gained momentum in the west (are we north or south? east or west?), The Canadian scholar, Ellen Goldberg has done her recent research on Ardhanarisvara with reference to the Teodrum hymns (The Lord who is Half Woman: Ardhanarisoara in Indian and Feminist Perspective, Albany 2002). I am emphatic at my point because without a grasp of the Tamil sources one cannot have a thorough understanding of the spirit of Indian art, north or south or both. I make a bold proposition: read the Nalayirativ viyapirapantilm of the Alvars, relook at the Rajasthani miniature paintings (Kangra, Basholi and so on) and compare the data forthcoming from the Bhagawata Purana and Gitagovinda. You will be sailing on a new boat. You will be able to see 'where the original ideas for these miniatures are. If anyone needs a first-hand voyage in to Tamil sources, he may refer to JRAS 3.9.2, 1999, pp.223-50.
Earlier I did my M.Phil. on a subject dealing with modern Indian history in the Bharathidasan University. I switched over to art history under the inspiration of my Guide. A course of study in Archaeology with the State Department of Archaeology, Chennai, was very helpful in visualizing an archaeological subject for my doctoral study. It in a way shaped my future career also as I got selected for the post of Assistant Archaeologist in the Archaeological Survey of India. My teacher earlier at the University and College levels, especially Dr. L.K. Sivanesan of the Periyar E.Y.R. College, Tiruchirappalli, were of encouragement in the present venture. My colleagues at the Department of Sculpture (especially Dr. R. K. K. Rajarajan who got the prestigious Humboldt post-doctoral fellowship and Dr. P. Chandramohan) including A. Anbalakan were of great help to me in several respects. Dr. Rajarajan permitted me to consult his doctoral thesis and papers still awaiting publication. He also helped me very much to photograph data from published books (e.g. the drawings, appearing in the annexure) and the temples which he surveyed for his study of the Nayaka art.
Mr. R.K. Parthiban of the Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirappalli, did much of photographic work in the Keladi-Ikkeri Nayaka sphere of art. I am deeply obliged to all of them for their kind help during the past two years. During the past several years, scholars from various Universities visited our Department in connection with seminars, board meetings and endowments lectures. Noted among them is Prof. S. Manickam of the Madurai Kamaraj University, Prof. A. Suryakumari of the Mother Teresa Womens University Kodaikanal, Prof. S. Rajesekhara of the Karnataka University, Dharwad and others. Contacts with these eminent scholars, discussion with them regarding my subject for research and their kind help when I visited their places for field work are highly esteemed. I am thankful to these of my gurus in the successful completion of the work.
The Vice Chancellors (the present: Prof. K.V. Mahadevan), Registrars (present: Dr. K. Iayaraman) and other officers of the University had rendered unforgettable helps for securing temporary appointments under projects as assistant and the official conduct of the thesis. I am indebted to them. Our Director of Library, Dr. Padmanabhan and other officers helped me to make use of the University collections. Mr. N. Sethuraman of Kumbhakonam gave me an interview and helped to locate the Pandyan inscription talking of Nataraja. Dr. A. Veluswamy Suthanthiran (now Head of the Department) was also of some help. I am thankful to one and all.
The member of our Syndicate, Prof. A. Subramanian, and others were of great help for contact .with institutions and individuals in distant places. My fellow research scholars in other departments assisted me at the time of checking final proofs of the thesis and pasting the figures in plates. Above all, I am indebted to my father 1. [ayara] and mother J. Jeyamani who gave me my "life and education". My sister Gunasundary Ramaswamy and brothers J. Devanesan, P. Samuvel and uncles, M. Appavu, M. Krishnaswamy, R. Ramaswamy, are thanked for the help in time of financial stress and strain.
Officers of the Archaeological Survey of India in the various southern states were kind enough to allow me photograph the monuments. I am deeply obliged to all those whom I could have missed my memory.
After taking my Ph.D. I joined the Archaeological Survey of India as Assistant Archaeologist and was posted to Aihole, an abode of early Calukyan art and architecture, cherished by art historians. My service with the ASI was highly rewarding for the task I am dedicated, i.e. research in art history.
For all the encouragements that I receive from this reputed institution, I am highly obliged to the Director General of the ASI, the Director of the Institute of Archaeology of the ASI, Superintending Archaeologist of the Dharwad Circle (Sri S.V. Venkabeshaiah), Deputy Superintending Archaeologist (Dr. Varaparasadh Rao), Dr. Dayalan S.A. of ASI (Agra) and all my colleagues at Aihole and Badami, especially Sri Subas Bomble.
The common epithets, used by art historians to denote the dancing form of Siva are Nataraja and Natesa.' The silpasastras use the common denominator, tandaoamurti.' The epithet, Nataraja, fails to appear in the canonical texts. The astoitara and sahasranamavalis of Siva also fail to talk of Nataraja. So before the 13th century A.D. the name, Nataraja (search. II), fails to appear.
Few of the Cola inscriptions refer to Atavallan, earlier noted in the Teoaram. R. Nagaswamy treats Atavalla J. As an equal Nataraja but it is not so (search. Il). Dance is deep-rooted in Tamil tradition. The earliest stratum of Tamil Literature of the Cankam age (down to A.D. 250) has ample data to bear on the dance theme and the dancers, both male and female. By and large the common word to mean dance was kuttu.4 It denoted both the dance and drama, perhaps both clubbed.' Two types of kiwis are found, called tacit and markkam; may be local and imported. Interestingly two types called Tamil and Ariyam are noted." This might suggest that there was a local folk art and one which came with the migrating Aryans. The dancers were known as kuttaniyar, 7 a term of the common denominator, may refer to both men and women. Atarkuttiyara or kuttiyamatantaia) were the dancing women, may be courtesans. To denote the professional male .dancer. the word kuttaccakkaiya1J.10 was used.
These terminologies give clue to the fact that dance was known as kiutu and tital. Another important dance mode was kuraoai." Much celebrated in the post- Cankam Tamil epic, Cilappatikaram, it appears in the earlier Cankarn classics also. It is a kind of dance, presented by a group of performers, involving seven or nine who danced with clasped hands. When the hunters danced this mode, it was called kunmkkumuai,'? The dance of cowherds was known as Aycayarkurnvai.14 The Tamil-Visnu, called Tirumal and Tirumakal (Skt. Sridevi) are supposed to have presented this recital Thus the dance of cowherds which is later celebrated in the Sanskrit puranas and the Gttagovinda of Jayadeva (12th century A.D.) find their origin in the Tamil tradition around the 5th century and earlier. The Carurpatikarant has an exclusive book under the head, Aycayarkuravai, which the aycayar (Skt. gopis) at suburban Maturai perform to solicit the blessings of Kodaly. (Skt. Krsna, Prakrit Kanha).
Another important dimension of the dance theme in the Tamil epic is that several of the gods are said to have performed dances, characteristic of them. These may be summed up as follows:
Kotukotti: by Imayavan (Siva) who performed the recital at the panatiarankam (burial ground), supposed to be urdhauarandauani," Pantarankam : by Parati (Siva) who enacted the dance at the time of Tripuradahana, to be witnessed by Brahma, the charioteer." Alliyam : a group dance (d. kuraoai, supra) performed by Kodaly. at the time of the rendition of Karnsa, King of Mathura.
Book's Contents and Sample Pages
The book Nataraja Images of Bengal was first conceived by the late Kalyan Kumar Dasgupta, Rani Bagiswari Chair Professor, Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta. He could not complete the book due to his sudden demise in 1996. The present book brings to fruition Professor Dasgupta's unfinished project through a collection of essays by Professor Dasgupta and other scholars-dealing with the iconography of Siva-Nataraja images that have been found from different parts of undivided Bengal, i.e. West Bengal and Bangladesh. Bengal produced a special type of Siva-Nataraja image that is very different from the Siva-Nataraja images abundantly seen in South India. The book begins with an 'Introduction' on the subject followed by a chapter offering an exhaustive typological analysis of the Nataraja images of the Bengal School. The next three chapters - 'Some Nataraja Images from Orissa and Assam: A Trail of Bengal Style', 'Inscribed Nataraja Images of Bengal', and `Nataraja Images from Tripura, Bihar, Nepal, and Vietnam' - offers various perspectives on the subject. The fifth and final chapter titled, 'Dancing Deities on Stone Medallions: Controversy over Identity' deals with an issue that has long been the subject of debate among art historians. The book contains a good number of illustrations.
Nataraja Images of Bengal brings together a collection of essays on the Siva-Nataraja images of Bengal. Bengal Siva-Nataraja images was a subject that deeply fascinated the late Kalyan Kumar Dasgupta, Rani Bagiswari Chair Professor, Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta and also a distinguished alumnus of the same. He even wanted to publish a full-length book on the subject someday, but his sudden demise in 1996 left this dream unfulfilled. Finally, after over two decades of his demise, we have been able to bring out this collection of essays under the aegis of the University of Calcutta For me personally as well as the other contributors to this anthology being associated with this project was a matter of great joy and honour.
Quite some time back Professor Dasgupta's sister, Dr. Gayatri Sen Majumdar handed me a typewritten manuscript of what was supposedly the book on Siva-Nataraja images of Bengal that Professor Dasgupta wanted to publish. Dr. Gayatri Sen Majumdar requested me to edit the manuscript and make it ready for publication. I gladly accepted the offer because it gave me an opportunity to express my gratitude to Professor Dasgupta, who was my teacher and later my Ph.D. Supervisor. Besides, as a present teacher of the department of AIHC it was also a great opportunity for me to express my gratitude to a former distinguished teacher of the department in its centenary year.
The task of editing the manuscript, however, turned out to be a more difficult job than I thought it would be. The central part of the manuscript was missing and some portions of it had already been published in two volumes of Kalyan Bharati, a Journal of Ancient Indian History, dedicated to the memory of Professor Dasgupta. Kalyan Bharati has been appearing annually under the Managing Editorship of Dr. Gayatri Sen Majumdar since its inception. In the circumstances, the only option that I had was to extract materials from the manuscript and recast them as independent articles. Taking into account the various important researches that have taken place in the field in the last twenty years, I also had to update much of the information in the manuscript. I could finally extract materials that could be recast into three independent articles. To update the book with insights offered by new researches in the field, I and my researcher friends and students had to contribute four articles. The book, in its present form, thus embodies the reflections and researches of three generations of scholars.
I am thankful to many people who helped me in various ways in bringing out this book. I am especially grateful to Professor Enamul Hague, Chairman, International Centre for Study of Bengal Art, Dhaka, Bangladesh for allowing me to reproduce of some photographs from his book Bengal Sculptures: Hindu Iconography up to 1250 A.D. and to my friend Professor Mokammal H. Bhuiyan of Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh for giving me the permission to reproduce some photographs of Bengal Siva-Nataraja images from his edited volume Studies in South Asian Heritage for publication in this book. Professor Sukla Das, formerly of Jadavpur University, constantly encouraged me in this gurupranam task and regularly inquired about the book's progress. My sincere thanks to her.
The publication of this book would not have been possible without the help and cooperation of the authorities of the University of Calcutta. I wish to express my sincere thanks to the Honourable Vice Chancellor, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Business Affairs & Finance), the Registrar for providing the necessary permission and financial assistance. I also wish to thank the Superintendent, Calcutta University Press and his efficient team for their help and technical assistance.
I am thankful to all the museums that offered me ready access to their collection for information and data verification. Among them, I specially thank Asutosh Museum of Indian Art, University of Calcutta; Dakshin Dinajpur District Museum, Balurghat; Vishnupur Sahitya Parishad Museum, Vishnupur; Bidisha Museum, Purba Medinipur; Indian Museum, Kolkata; Assam State Museum, Guwahati, Assam; and Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka, Bangladesh. I am also thankful to the staff of the libraries of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute
of Culture, Golpark; the Alipur Campus Library of the University of Calcutta; the Indian Museum Library; and the library of the Asiatic Society, Kolkata for providing me with the necessary books at short notice.
I also wish to thank Dr. Gayatri Sen Majumdar, the Managing Editor of Kalyan Bharati for providing the necessary permission to reproduce photographs from different volumes of the Journal. Amrita Chakraborty, my Ph.D. scholar, helped me in various ways in preparing the final press copy. Souvik Mondal, my post-graduate student at the Department also helped me in various ways and Rahul Nag, my M. Phil. student and presently a trainee at the Institute of Archaeology under the Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi provided me the photograph. My thanks to all of them.
I am also grateful to my friend Sri Abhik Das, Sub Divisional Officer, Kandi Sub Division of the District of Murshidabad, West Bengal for providing me the photograph of a rare image of Siva-Nataraja.
Last but not least, I wish to thank my family members, Ms. Kairi Oraon, my daughter Ms. Sattwika Ray, and my husband Dr. Swarup Ray without whose support and encouragement the completion of the book would not have been possible.
On June 18, 2004, a 2 metre tall statue of Siva-Nataraja was unveiled at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva. The Government of India presented the statue to CERN in recognition of the research centre's long association with India. In choosing the image of Siva-Nataraja, the Indian government acknowledged the profound significance of the metaphor of Siva's dance for expressing the dynamic nature of subatomic matter. The parallel between Siva's dance and the dance of subatomic particles was first broached by the physicist Fritjof Capra in an article, "The Dance of Shiva: The Hindu View of Matter in the Light of Modern Physics" (1972). He later made Siva's cosmic dance the central metaphor of his book, The Tao of Physics (1975). The plaque instated near the statue at CERN quotes the following passage from Capra's book :
Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. ...The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics.'
The bronze sculptures of Siva-Nataraja have captivated not only physicists like Capra, but scores of Indophiles all over the world for more than a century. Though images of dancing Siva are common all over India, and are known by various names like Natambara, Natabhairava, Natarudra, Nattesvara, Narttesvara, etc., none has drawn as much attention as the south Indian Siva-Nataraja form. One reason for the popularity of this image is of course Ananda K. Coomaraswamy's influential analysis of the image in his famous essay "The Dance of Siva" (1912). Coomaraswamy draws upon Saiva Siddhanta agamas in the essay to explain the symbolism of the ananda tandava dance of Siva-Nataraja: the fire in one of Nataraja's hands signifies cosmic destruction while the drum in the opposite hand signifies the rhythm of creation; the open palm is suggestive of protection and the opposite drooping hand pointing toward the raised foot signifies release from illusion; and the corpulent dwarf that he crushes under his foot personifies ignorance. This is in line with Saiva Siddhanta theology which emphasizes the five-fold action or pancakrtya of Siva -srsti (creation), sthiti (preservation), samhara (destruction), tirobhava (veiling), and anugraha (grace). Thanks to Coomaraswamy's influential analysis of the symbolism of the Siva-Nataraja image, a purely regional image soon acquired a pan-Indian status.
Interestingly, the term `Nataraja', which has now become a kind of shorthand for images of dancing Siva in general, appeared for the first time in the Tamil region only in the thirteenth century CE in an inscription of the Pandyan period. The inscription was discovered in a Siva temple at Tiruvekampattu, near Tondi on the east coast. The inscription mentions that a temple for Natarajesvaramutaiyar was built by one Somanathadeva. The record is dated as during the reign of Cataiyavarman Vikrama Pandya, in A.D. 1241. As far as literary evidence is concerned, Umapati Sivacarya uses the epithet `Nataraja' in the Cekkilar Puranam, dated as A.D. 1300. None of the Sanskrit texts on Chidambaram, down to the thirteenth century, use the term `Nataraja'. It is only after the fifteenth century A.D. that `Nataraja' came to be associated exclusively with Siva as dancer.'
The collection of essays in this book is aimed at shifting this focus from the dancing image of Siva-Nataraja specific to the Tamil region to other images of dancing Siva, particularly those found in the eastern region, viz., West Bengal, Bangladesh, and adjoining areas. These images dating from c. 10th to 12th century CE have remained largely neglected. Though mention of these images can be found in Nalini Kanta Bhattasali's influential early work Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in the Dacca Museum and in several articles and monographs by later art historians like Mukhlesur Rahman, A. K. M. Shamsul Alam, Pratapaditya Pal, Gauriswar Bhattacharya, Enamul Haque, Kalyan Kumar Dasgupta, and Susan L. Huntington, attempts to systematically catalogue and study them were undertaken only recently. In this the pioneering efforts of Anna Slaczka deserve special mention.
The Bengal images can be broadly classified into two groups - those with ten arms and those with twelve, though some stray eight-armed images have also been found. Except minor variations, the hand-gestures and attributes in both the ten-armed and twelve-armed varieties generally follow a common pattern. In the ten-armed images, Siva is usually seen with one of his main arms in the gajahasta (elephant-trunk) gesture while the second one is raised. There is a sword (khadga) on the right and a shield (khetaka) on the left in the uppermost pair of arms, and one of the lower left hands holds a skull-bowl (kapala). In the remaining right hands Siva holds a trident (triSula), staff (danda), and spear (Sakti), and on the left there is a skull-staff (khatvanga) and a snake-noose (nagapasa). In the twelve-armed images, the uppermost pair of arms is generally depicted as raised with the hands clasped above the head, the second pair holds a giant snake, and the principal pair holds a vina. However, the two distinctive features that make the Bengal images really unique are the depiction of Siva as ithyphallic and dancing on his vehicle, the bull.'
The iconography of dancing gods and goddesses is discussed in various technical treatises dealing with architecture (vastusastra) and sculpture (silpasastra). While some texts like Sakaladhikara, Sritattvanidhi, Silparatna, Amsumadbhedagama, Mayamata, Manasara, etc. are popular in South India, some like Visnudharmottara, Matsyapurana, Brhatsamhita, Devatamurtipraharana, Silpaprakasa, etc. are popular at the pan-Indian level. Early studies on Hindu iconography like T. A. Gopinath Rao's Elements of Hindu Iconography, Stella Kramrisch's The Hindu Temple, and Jitendra Nath Banerjea's The Development of Hindu Iconography mainly drew upon South Indian Saiva agamas and agama-influenced iconography texts for understanding and interpreting Saiva art. These South Indian texts were frequently deployed to interpret Saiva art of other regions, though such art often predated South Indian Saiva art.
In the case of the Bengal images, however, Matsyapurana, was commonly used as the textual source because the attributes depicted in the ten-armed Bengal images broadly agree with those described in Chapter 259 of the Matsyapurana. It says that Siva should be depicted holding a shield (khetaka), skull-bowl (kapala), snake (naga), and skull-staff (khatvanga) in the left hands, and in the right a sword (khadga), spear (sakti), staff (danda), and trident (trisula). The remaining two hands should show the boon-granting gesture (varadamudra) and a rosary-like rudraksa bracelet (aksavalaya). But the Matsyapurana does not say that Siva should be depicted ithyphallic or dancing on a bull, the two distinctive iconographic features of the Bengal sculptures. All that the Matsyapurana (259.10-11) says is that when Siva is depicted as imitating a dancing posture (nrtyabhinayasamsthitah), he should be made ten-armed and shown wearing the hide of an elephant.
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One of the most significant contributions of India to world culture is its conceptualization of the Universe, which incorporates the physical, social and spiritual aspects of reality. This paper Nataraja: The Divine Dance of the Cosmos explores the symbolism of the great iconic God of the Hindu Pantheon from the point of view of various traditions of Indian thought, its underlying philosophy and symbolism, including the theory of dance, architecture and sculpture. Covering among others the great Nataraja temple in Chidambaram to the most recent temple in Samabula Shiv Mandir, Suva, Fiji, Yogaville USA and one near Pondicherry on the seashore based on Literary typographical and empirical evidence. And the recent discovery of Fouth Century BC, Prakrit Ashokanbrahmin script with reference to Lord Adinath at Varanasi. Nataraja dynamic presence coalesces myth and movement. The movement is from outer to the inner. It ranges over the very core of Indian understanding of the relationship of the spirit and the senses. The Divine Dance epitomizes the ceaseless cycles of creation and destruction, without beginning of end. The dance of Shiva as Nataraja the Lord of the Cosmic Dance is eternal and timeless, moving in space and beyond space.
Dr. Kamal Kishor Mishra is the Director of Indian Cultural Centre, High Commission of India since March 2009. He is also a Faculty, Post Graduate Department of Sanskrit, University of Calcutta (on lien). Dr. Mishra is a scholar of Oriental epigraphy, Manuscriptology and Art. He is an awardee of the Jawaharlal Nehru Scholarship for PhD at University of Delhi, Junior Research fellow at Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA), Ministry of Culture, Government of India and Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR) Post-Doctoral Fellow at Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Dr. Mishra has also served as a Joint Director at Shree Ranbir Sanskrit Research Institute, Jammu. Before joining University of Calcutta, Dr. Mishra also served as a Consultant for Academic and Research in Sangeet Natak Akademi, National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
His work includes Indianness of Cambodian Sanskrit Inscriptions, Changing Scenario of Indian Economy up to 8th Century AD on the evidence of Sanskrit Inscription and Self in Indian Narrative Tradition: Socio- Psycho analysis with Special reference to Mahabharata. He is the author of Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts, Vol-IV [2005, Shree Ranbir Sanskrit Research Institute, Jammu). Nataraja: Brahmand ka Divya Nartan [2007, Shubhi] and Shree Raghunath Mandir, Jammu [2010, Shubhi].
Shovana Narayan is the most celebrated and outstanding Kathak danseuse of India, whose phenomenal achievements in the world of dance have earned her several coveted laurels and titles. She has been conferred the most prestigious distinction of Padmashri as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi awards by the President of India. She has bestowed Kathak with dignity and enriched it with a deeper and wider canvas of expression and dimensions. Shovana's palette contains other media, including films and operas as well as being a dedicated guru.
Shovana Narayan is a classical example of a true Kathak, multi-faceted and dynamic, and presents a challenge to today's spectator. Her life and her works have made her a role model and peer for millions of girls of the younger generation of today.
She is also a senior serving civil servant belonging to the Indian Audits and Accounts Service (1976 batch). Married to Dr.Herbert Traxl, Austrian Ambassador, the two have a son, Erwin Ishan Traxl. Her younger sister, Ranjana Narayan, is a lawyer and a classical singer.
What is life? Perhaps a combination of being able to respond to changes in environment. potential of expansion and reduction, and rhythm Together the give rise to emotions, 'rasa that become key factors of life and which are associated with Shiva Devotion to Shiva that is omnipresent in the Indian subcontinent can be traced back to the very early stages of history. There are predominantly six doctrines Shaiva Siddhanta, Pashupata Shaivism, Kashmiri Shaiva Sampraday, Veer Shaiva, Siddha Siddhanta and Shiva Advaita, Pashupata Shaivism that finds mention in the Mahabharata as Rudra Pashupata and as Pashupata Vrat was practiced by ascetics. Shaivism blossomed in various forms in diffent parts of the sub- continent from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, amongst which Kashmiri Shaivism of the Jangam Sampraday founded in Kashmir that believes in monasticism was most popular in the north The 62 Nayanars (devotional saint poets) were popular in southern India. Several volumes throw light on principles of Shaivism, man, mystery of the temples and Siddha Yoga such as the Pratyabhigna Darshan of Kashmir, Advaita Sharva Darshan, Maheshwara Mat. Pashupata Darshan, Siddhantagama, Shaiva Vishishtadvaita and Nakuleesh Pashupata Darshan.
Devadideva and Mahadeva emerge tall among the deities whose benevolent portals are open to all irrespective of position, birth and creed. He is atmosphere-clad' ie 'clothed in the quarters of the sky' and yet is adorned with the drapery of Shakti. He is selfless and benevolent. He is Dakshinamoorty. He is 'pashupati' (protector of all beings), He is omnipresent and omniscent. The 108 names reflect his multi-layered, sometimes contradictory personality and attributes. He belongs to one and all and yet to no one. The Ashtadhyayi' of Panini and the fifth Veda, the Natyashastra, draw stimulation from Shiva's awe-inspiring personality and attributes. Therein, his attribute of Nataraja symbolising comes to the fore that sees a merger of religion, science and arts merge, and the centrality of movement in the endless dance of creation, preservation and destruction. The 'lasya' and 'tandava' are just two aspects of Shiva's nature; for he destroys in order to create, tearing down to build again. As Nataraja, he represents his rhythmic play which is the source of all movement within the universe.
The glory of Hinduism lies in its acceptance of multiple paths to the divine One can choose a formless approach or a divine with form, and in the latter there is a whole galaxy of extraordinary images including Gods and Goddesses, zoomorphic deities and symbolic objects such as the Shivalinga. Over the centuries the Hindu civilization has produced remarkable images for every deity in a variety of media, including bronze, and of all these, the most powerful and evocative is surely the image of Nataraja, Lord of Cosmic Dance It represents a kinetic universe constantly in motion. Wheter it is the stately waltz of the galaxies, or the frenetic rock and roll of sub-atomic particles, every single thing in the cosmos is constantly in motion. Hence the definition of the word as 'samsara' that which constantly changes. The Nataraja image captures the movement and presents it in a most evocative form.
Of all the manifestations of Almighty, I find the Nataraja form the most imposing and inspiring I myself have delved into the worship of Lord Shiva since 1985, and the form of Nataraja has been a source of incessant inspiration for me. My private sanctum sanctorum adorns this form as the main deity In addition, the first temple of Nataraja was established by us in the precincts of our family temple Sri Raghunath Temple complex in Jammu with an astounding Shivalinga of transparent lead crystal fabricated in Germany I also sent a large and very attractive bronze sculpture of Nataraja to the Yogaville Ashram of Swami Sachidanada located in the salubrious environs to Virginia in the United States, which has been installed in a specially designed glass temple The statue of the Lord has been installed on a revolving pedestal, making it the only temple in the world that enables the devotees to see the dynamic dancing postures of Lord Shiva.
In his right hand Shiva holds the small duble-faced drum, the damaru, which represents the logos, the shabda brahma the creative word from which the universe springs. In his left hand holds the davágni the cosmic fire through which ultimately all creation moves in the eternal cycles of time. Had there been only these two arms then there would have been no space for us.
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