PAPER 5 DANCE, POETS AND POETRY, RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY AND INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE MODULE 4 NATARAJA IN DANCE आंगगकम भुवनम यस्य वागिकं सवव वाङ्ग्मयम| आहायं िन्द्रतारागध तंनुम्सात्ववकं शिवम ्|| Who embodies the entire Universe, Whose speech is the language of the Universe Whose ornaments are the moon and the stars, we pray to the pure (serene) Lord Shiva! Every dancer begins with this shloka as a prayer to Lord Shiva, as Nataraja, before starting the class and before a performance on the stage. That shloka lists the four aspects of abhinaya / अशभनय Angikam / अंगीकम, Vachikam / वागिकं , Aharyam / आहायव, and Satvikam / सत्ववकम, which every dancer masters and expresses it on the stage. Nataraja, literally the King of Dance, plays an important spectator and a judge of a dancer’s capabilities. It is no wonder that he is part of the stage during every Bharatanatyam performance seen in India. Visiting any Shiva temple, one cannot miss the Ananda tandava / आनंद तांडव pose. Either be it as the main deity (as in Chidambaram Temple), the procession deity, as part of a pillar (as in the Madurai Meenakshi Temple), or on the ceiling panels (as in the Benaras Vishwanath Temple). Lord Shiva has many forms and there are 1 interesting anecdotes attached to each one of them, and there is also a famous mythology of how Nataraja came to be. While, Lord Shiva has a pan-Indian and pan-Asian spread, the form of Nataraja as we know today is a quintessentially a South Indian creation. Before the image of Nataraja was chiseled in stone and sculpted in metal, poets and saints such as Tirumoolar / तत셁मूऱर and Appar / अप्ऩर and others have painted an image using only words that was significant in influencing ancient artists. Inspired by these, the Pallava king Mahendravarman in honor of his father Simhavishnu executed the Shiva temple called Avanibhajana Pallaveshvaram / अवनीभजन ऩ쥍ऱवेश्वरम in the village of Seeyamangalam, Tiruvannamalai district of Tamilnadu. 1 In this rock-cut cave temple, there is a bas-relief of Shiva as Nataraja. According to archeologists and historians this is probably the first instance of a Nataraja tobe carved in stone based on the descriptions given in Saivate literature and songs. This Nataraja is different from the Chola bronze image we see today. The main differences of this Nataraja with the image we know today are: the left arm is in dola hasta and not brought to the right side; the absence of apsmara / अऩस्मार or muyalahan / मुयाऱाहन; presence of two shiva ganas, where one is beating an upright drum and the other is praying to Shiva. 1 The most common Nataraja pose, in Nataysastra terms, is part of the 108 Karanas as mentioned in Natyasastra. Based on the position of the arms and legs, it is the Bhujanga trasitam karana. Bhujanga / भुजंग means snake, and this pose is of a man, who after noticing a 2 snake lifts his leg in haste with fear and throws his hands outward to ward off the snake. The positions of the hands are also significant. While he has his right hand in Abhaya hasta / अभय हस्त (dancers use the pataka hasta or ardha chandra hasta), the left is in dola hasta and points towards the lifted left leg. The left foot is in Kunchita stance and hence the toe is pointing to the ground and thus known as kuncita padam / कंु गित ऩा दम.् Due to this, the small garland decorating the deity in Chidambaram is also referred as Sri Kuncitapadam.2 The Nataraja in Avanibhajana Pallaveshvaram as mentioned earlier does not have the serpents as ornaments; however there is a snake at the feet of Nataraja. The sculptor felt the need to include this most likely as this form of Shiva adheres to the Bhujanga trasitam karana as mentioned in Natyasastra. Origins of Nataraja According to the legends of Chidambaram temple, the temple for Shaivites, Lord Shiva came to a community of rishis to teach them that without the grace of the divine, their knowledge and their power amounts to nothing. Shiva in the form of a mendicant came to them and had made the rishis’ wives fall in love with him. While, Vishnu took the form of Mohini / मोहहनी and made the rishis lose their senses to her charms. When some of the rishis saw these illusionary traps, they set forth a magical fire, from which came a ferocious tiger. With ease, Shiva killed it and wore the tiger’s skin as a loin cloth. Next, the rishis sent poisonous snakes, which Shiva wore as ornaments after subduing them. Feeling defeated, they sent a dwarf demon to attack Shiva, which he used it as a pedestal and stood upon the dwarf. Finally, the rishis sent the fire itself, which 3 Shiva played with his left hand. Thus, he started to dance the cosmic dance as Nataraja or the Ananda Tandava. The power of his dance made the rishis to realize their folly and surrender to him and realized the importance of enlightenment.1 Indian Classical dancers do not tire by enacting this story even today. Not only is the story’s message powerful, the execution gives ample space for imagination in the dancer. The ultimate tandava dance includes jumps, pirouettes and statuesque poses that make the audience sit on the edge of their seats. Almost invariably, the dancer finishes it with the Nataraja pose, as to signify the connection. The American dancer Ted Shawn was quite captivated by the Nataraja image that he commissioned a foundry in Calcutta to sculpt a life size Tiruvasi or the ring of fire weighing about 400kg with a pedestal so that he can dance as Lord Nataraja in America! 2 Symbolism of Nataraja in Ananda Tandava / आनंद तांडव The pose called as the Ananda Tandava or the Dance of Bliss was Shiva’s intention to show the rishis the Bliss of supreme. It symbolizes the cycle of creation and destruction. If we look deeper into the details of the Nataraja bronze sculpture, famously perfected by the Chola Empire, one realizes that the verses of Tirumanthiram by Tirumoolar are depicted in action. In layman terms as explained by Ananda Coomaraswamy: “The dance of Shiva represents his five activities: 'Shrishti / श्रीत्टि' (creation, evolution); 'Sthiti / त्स्थतत' (preservation, support); 'Samhara / संहार' (destruction, evolution); 'Tirobhava / ततरोभाव' (illusion); and 'Anugraha / अनुग्रह' (release, emancipation, grace).” 4 Ananda Coomaraswamy further describes Nataraja as 4 “In his upper right hand Shiva holds a small hourglass-shaped drum to symbolize the primal sound of creation; the upper left bears a tongue of flame, the element of destruction. The way the two hands are balanced points to the dynamic balance of creation and destruction in the world, underlined by the Dancer’s clam and detached face in the centre of the two hands. It is the face of one who has dissolved and transcended the polarity of creation. The lower right hand is raised in the Abhaya mudra / अभय मुरा, the sign that denotes “do not fear”, symbolizing maintenance, protection and peace while the lower left hand points down to the uplifted foot, symbolic of the release from the spell of maya / माया.” The image is a paradox, in a sense that there is so much activity happening with the use of Shiva’s arms and legs, the coiling of snakes, the obeisance of Ganga who is being flung away from his hair locks and so on; yet Shiva’s face reflects the inner tranquility of attaining the bliss or Ananda.5 Apart these outer symbolic representations, the Ananda Tandava has subtle yet deeper interpretations that are significant for a dancer’s knowledge. For example, the damaru / डम셂 emanate sounds or vibrations that conceived the primal force from which all the music and the language of the universe arose from. The frayed dread locks of Nataraja are sprinkled with stars, which are symbolic of the rhythm of the entire universe or cosmos. While, the sun and the moon are the two eyes of Nataraja, the crescent moon adorning his headgear indicates the mind control. The praying Ganga who is usually locked in his dread locks is also seen to be in movement with Nataraja’s locks. She is seen in praying pose and admiring the Lord’s divine dance. Ganga is symbolic of the nectar of immortality. The 5 snakes which Nataraja wears as ornaments are also part of his dynamic movement, where they similar to Ganga are awed and looking in vismaya / ववस्मय bhava with their turned heads, indicating the diverse energies of mankind subdued and under control. Finally, the apasmara / अऩस्मार or the muyalahan / मुयाऱहन signify the evil and ignorance of the world, which has been defeated. 6 It is interesting to note that the other accessories Nataraja wears has been skillfully depicted in the Chola bronze images. In Mahabharata, Shiva came in the form of a Kirata / ककरात or a hunter in front of Arjuna / अजुनव and fought with him before giving the weapons Arjuna was praying for. According to the mystical aspects, the colour white is a favorite of Shiva. Thus, he likes white flowers, milk, rice, ash, and offerings that are predominantly white. Combining these two, the ancient sculptor has depicted the white feathers of the crane and is frequently mentioned as a Kirata or the hunter in saivaite poems and literature. These feathers are often mistaken as from peacock. 7, 8 In her book “Laghu Bharatam / ऱघु भरतम” the bharatnatyam dancer Sudharani Raghupathy has an interesting take on the symbolism of Nataraja.