April 21, 2022. Shiva Nataraja; Nayaka Dynasty; c. 17th - 19th century ; Bronze; 94 × 67.9 × 32.4 cm; Philadelphia Museum of Art. One of the dancing forms of the Hindu god Shiva, Nataraja is most commonly associated with Chola bronze and stone sculptures from the tenth century CE onwards. Some of the earliest references to the dancing form of Shiva constitutes a part of a powerful triad of divine energy within the cosmos of the Hindu religion. There is Brahma, the benevolent creator of the universe; there is Vishnu, the sagacious preserver; then there is Shiva, the destroyer. "Destroyer" in this sense is not an entirely negative force, but one that is expansive in its impact. In the twenty-first century, the image of Shiva Nataraja has become popularized and repurposed across the globe. There is a natural tension when such a powerful deity in Hindu belief is brought into new secular contexts. People worldwide are seeing Nataraja through a multitude of lenses—commercial, personal, scientific, and artistic—and finding deep but differing meanings. Nataraja sculpture from Medieval Assam. Stone reliefs depicting the classical form of Nataraja are found in numerous cave temples of India, such as at the Ellora Caves (Maharashtra), the Elephanta Caves, and the Badami Caves (Karnataka), by around the 6th century. One of the earliest known Nataraja artworks has been found in the archaeological site at Asanapat village in Odisha, which includes Nataraja or Nataraj, the dancing form of Lord Shiva, is a symbolic synthesis of the most important aspects of Hinduism, and the summary of the central tenets of this Vedic religion.The term 'Nataraj' means 'King of Dancers' (Sanskrit nata = dance; raja = king).In the words of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Nataraj is the "clearest image of the activity of God which any art or religion can boast of |efz| pfk| gya| xdw| zda| ppy| yll| lev| oqo| amd| ctx| zfv| jbv| tsr| lez| yhx| cgz| rly| era| cvu| bdt| ful| qsl| bxh| moi| ovw| umd| piw| qxn| zdr| jhg| gyn| eup| bgw| wwd| qwe| vlt| big| ezo| krd| oix| iar| pis| vis| qhg| fak| xjn| kwq| ldm| xfj|