Shiva Nataraja - Washington, DC
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Metro2
N 38° 53.305 W 077° 01.640
18S E 324166 N 4306347
Located in the Freer Gallery in Washington, DC
Waymark Code: WMRYQB
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 08/23/2016
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The Freer Gallery is free to visit and is part of the Smithsonian Institution and open daily 10:30 to 5.
The Gallery's website for the sculpture (
visit link) indicates that this sculpture of the Hindu Lord of the Dance is from the end of the 10th century in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The bronze figure "...dance the world into existence as he holds the cosmic flames of its cyclic destruction."
Wikipedia (
visit link) adds:
"Nataraja ...The King of Dance) is a depiction of the Hindu God Shiva as the cosmic dancer who performs his divine dance (called Tandavam) to destroy a weary universe and prepare for its renewal, by the god Brahma who starts the process of creation...
The dance of Shiva in Tillai, the traditional name for Chidambaram, forms the motif for all the depictions of Shiva as Nataraja. He is also known as "Sabesan" which splits as "Sabayil aadum eesan" in Tamil which means "The Lord who dances on the dais". The form is present in most Shiva temples in South India, and is the prime deity in the famous Thillai Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram.
The sculpture is usually made in bronze, with Shiva dancing in an aureole of flames, lifting his left leg (or in rare cases, the right leg) and balancing over a demon or dwarf (Muyalaka) who symbolizes ignorance. It is a well known sculptural symbol in India and popularly used as a symbol of Indian culture. Basically it represents the form of angry Lord Shiva that danced furiously after death of Sati, his other half.
The two most common forms of Shiva's dance are the Lasya (the gentle form of dance), associated with the creation of the world, and the Tandava (the violent and dangerous dance), associated with the destruction of weary worldviews – weary perspectives and lifestyles. In essence, the Lasya and the Tandava are just two aspects of Shiva's nature; for he destroys in order to create, tearing down to build again."