Dancing Diety
For a long time I have had a vast interest in a small sculpture located in my parent's entryway. This sculpture is a figure with four arms, stands on one leg atop what appears to be a baby, and wears a funny looking headdress of some sort. For years I've wondered why this little man had four arms, stood in such an uncomfortable-looking fashion, and what meaning he has. Finally, my wonder has turned to insight, as a course I took in college, Art History, has suddenly shown me the light. The first real picture that I saw of this funny little guy, Nataraja, was in our textbook where I learned he is a god adopted by the ancient Indian imperial Cholas. We were then assigned a visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts where I had my first look at an original sculpture of the dancing god. The piece is named Shiva Nataraja (Lord of the Dance). It is an archetypal sculpture made in the late tenth century by an unknown artist and was found in a temple near Pondicherry, India. The sculpture my parents have is a cast metal one with a very dull gray luster, about six inches high. You can tell with close examination that this was most likely one of many made from the same cast and sold as a souvenir type item. The one at the mus
There are flowers at the end of the locks, and a small lizard-like animal perched on the right side. He has two right arms and two left arms. Jade Douglas BishopShiva Nataraja, Lord of the DanceMinneapolis Institute of ArtsBibliography Minneapolis Institute of arts. The other is extending out to the right and then to his front as if he is attempting to give a "high five". At first glance of this graceful dancing deity, my first reaction was one of awe. All in all, the Chola Nataraja presents a characteristically Indian synthesis of the godly, and the human. What I thought was hair locks is actually emblematic of fire as well, often shown as a circle of fire ringing the god. Finally, and oddly, he is balanced atop a small crawling figure looking upward with a very expressionless face. The other is extending to his right, across his body, with his hand pointed downward toward his left foot. I wanted to take it home, for my entryway. I may have looked funny standing there mimicking his stance, but the invitational gesture was too hard to resist. One of his right arms is bent, extended outward to his right and holds a small object which looks like a drinking cup, (it's actually a drum). The beginning of what will hopefully someday become a large collection of the ancient graceful dancing Indian deity artwork. The fire in his left hand symbolizes the destruction of Samsara and the physical universe as well as the destruction of Maya and our ego-centered concepts. My collection consists so far only of one piece, a small sculpture that once resided at my parent's house.
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