Siva
tandavam is a vigorous and graceful dance that is the source of the
cycle of creation,preservation and dissolution. While the Rudra Tandavam
depicts his aggressive nature, first as the creator and later as the
destroyer of the universe, even of death itself; the Ananda Tandava
depicts him as enjoying. Siva as Natarajais considered the supreme lord
of dance.
Sri Bhagavat Gita saysthat basically there are three gunas Satva,Rajasa, and Thamasa… These Gunas making a joint effort to undertake a specificduty or carry out definite connections with each other, and the life forms are created of divine activity. Further the Gita says the division of the Divine entity is nine fold, of which eight can be known by humans, but the ninth is eternally unexplained and hidden and secret. These eight divisions are the elements, Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Akasam, Mana, Buddhi, Ahamkaram.
There is an interesting legend behind the formation of Siva as Nataraja:
There were a large number of unorthodox sages were living in a forest. In the past there were aggressive dispute among them, all of sudden it became cruelly anger turn on against Lord Siva. The result of that they frustrated so much so started doing occult homam with hymn chants to destroy the Lord. They created a very ferocious tiger, and hurried upon him; but, the Lord gently smiling seized it and, stripped off its skin, with his little finger, and wrapped it as his dress. The sages felt very disappointed by their failure;hence the sages more aggressively chant additional powerful hymns and produced a terrific poisonous serpent, sent upon to the Lord however he caught it and garlanded it in his neck. Then The Lord began to Thandavam (dance); but the sages could not stand their failure then at last they pronounced hymn with extra all their power and rushed a cruel monster in the shape of an evil dwarf upon him;the Lord pressed the tip of his foot, and broke the creature’s back, so it twisted on the ground; and so dwarf’s face down on the ground, Siva continued the dance on the dwarf. The sages committed a sin so the Lord opened his third eye all they burnt by agni. Anyone gives wrongdoing to Lord or his devotee, which is a crime and punishable and hurl into the ditch …
Lord Siva dance is a symbolof the five principal manifestations of eternal energy:
'Srishti' - creation,evolution. 'Sthiti' - preservation,support. 'Samharam' - destruction, evolution. 'Tirobhava' – illusion. 'Anugraham'- release, liberation, grace
Thus Siva Tandavam symbolizes the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction, as well as the daily rhythm of birth and death.
A cobra uncoils from his lower right forearm, and the crescent moon and a skull are on his crest. He dances within an arch of flames. This dance is called the Dance of Bliss, AnandaTandavam.
The upper right hand holds a small drum that is called a ḍamaru in Sanskrit. A specific hand gesture (mudra) called ḍamaru-hasta(Sanskrit for "ḍamaru-hand") is holding the drum. It symbolizes sound is creating the beat of the drum is the passage of time.
The upper left hand contains Agni (fire,) which signifies destruction. The concepts in the right upper hand show of creation and destruction of life.
The second right hand shows the Abhaya mudra signifies bestowing protection from both evil and ignorance to those who follow the righteousness of dharma.
The second left hand points towards the raised foot which signifies up lift and liberation. It also points to the left foot with the sign of the elephant which leads the way through the jungle of ignorance.
The dwarf on which Nataraja dances is the demon Apasmara (Muyalaka, as known in Tamil), which symbolizes Siva's victory over ignorance. It also represents the passage of spirit from the divine into material.
As the Lord of Dance,Nataraja, Siva performs the dance in which the universe is created, maintained,and dissolved. Siva's long, matted locks, usually piled up in a knot, loosen during the dance and crash into the heavenly bodies, knocking them off course or destroying them utterly.
The surrounding flames represent the manifest Universe.
The snake swirling around his waist is kundalini, the Shakti or divine force thought to reside within everything. This also parallels the cords of life worn to represent the second rebirth. The cosmic knowledge associated with its awakening. More intellectual and invisible divine energy centers, called Chakras, are associated with its Rise.
The patience face of Siva represents his neutrality, thus being in balance.
Nataraja is a visual interpretation of Brahman and a dance posture of Lord Siva. It is the representation of reality at the time of cosmic destruction. We being life forms, cosmic destruction would mean the withdrawal of all life. The crescent moon shown in the head of Nataraja is a symbol only.The fall of the moon would result in cosmic destruction.
The concept of Nataraja we have to understand the idea of dance itself. Like yoga, dance induces trance, delight and the experience of the divine. Not only in India worldwide. Thus, dance has flourished side by side with the great austerities of the meditation grove(fasting, absolute self-absorption etc.). Siva, therefore, the arch-yogi of the gods, and also the King of the dance.
Lord Siva is Kala,meaning time, but he is also Maha Kala, meaning “Great Time” or eternity. As Nataraja, King of dancers, his gestures, wild and full of grace, hurried the cosmic illusion; his flying arms and legs and the swaying of his chest produce the continuous creation-destruction of the universe, death exactly balancing birth. The entirety of this cosmic dance is miraculously rendered. The cyclic rhythm, flowing on and on in the indescribable, permanent round of the Mahayugas, is marked by the beating and stepping of the divine heels. But the face remains, in ascendant calm.
Above classifications of Siva’s dance, as mentioned in puranic literature are found within the geographical and cultural limit of the seven dances, the seventh dance, AnandaThandavam is symbolic of the themes characteristic in all other dances. The dance itself is a source of supreme artistic enjoyment of the beauty and bliss of Lord Nataraja.
The Five Temples
1….Kali Thandavam Rathina Saba Vada aaranyeswarar Temple Thiruvalangadu,
2….Ananda Thandavam Kanaga saba NatarajarTemple Chidambaram
3….Sandhya Thandavam Velli saba MeenakshiAmman Temple Madurai
4….Muni Thandavam Thambira saba Nellaiappar Temple Tirunelveli
5….Tirupura Thandavam Chithira saba KutralanatharTemple Courtallam
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Sri Bhagavat Gita saysthat basically there are three gunas Satva,Rajasa, and Thamasa… These Gunas making a joint effort to undertake a specificduty or carry out definite connections with each other, and the life forms are created of divine activity. Further the Gita says the division of the Divine entity is nine fold, of which eight can be known by humans, but the ninth is eternally unexplained and hidden and secret. These eight divisions are the elements, Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Akasam, Mana, Buddhi, Ahamkaram.
There is an interesting legend behind the formation of Siva as Nataraja:
There were a large number of unorthodox sages were living in a forest. In the past there were aggressive dispute among them, all of sudden it became cruelly anger turn on against Lord Siva. The result of that they frustrated so much so started doing occult homam with hymn chants to destroy the Lord. They created a very ferocious tiger, and hurried upon him; but, the Lord gently smiling seized it and, stripped off its skin, with his little finger, and wrapped it as his dress. The sages felt very disappointed by their failure;hence the sages more aggressively chant additional powerful hymns and produced a terrific poisonous serpent, sent upon to the Lord however he caught it and garlanded it in his neck. Then The Lord began to Thandavam (dance); but the sages could not stand their failure then at last they pronounced hymn with extra all their power and rushed a cruel monster in the shape of an evil dwarf upon him;the Lord pressed the tip of his foot, and broke the creature’s back, so it twisted on the ground; and so dwarf’s face down on the ground, Siva continued the dance on the dwarf. The sages committed a sin so the Lord opened his third eye all they burnt by agni. Anyone gives wrongdoing to Lord or his devotee, which is a crime and punishable and hurl into the ditch …
Lord Siva dance is a symbolof the five principal manifestations of eternal energy:
'Srishti' - creation,evolution. 'Sthiti' - preservation,support. 'Samharam' - destruction, evolution. 'Tirobhava' – illusion. 'Anugraham'- release, liberation, grace
Thus Siva Tandavam symbolizes the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction, as well as the daily rhythm of birth and death.
A cobra uncoils from his lower right forearm, and the crescent moon and a skull are on his crest. He dances within an arch of flames. This dance is called the Dance of Bliss, AnandaTandavam.
The upper right hand holds a small drum that is called a ḍamaru in Sanskrit. A specific hand gesture (mudra) called ḍamaru-hasta(Sanskrit for "ḍamaru-hand") is holding the drum. It symbolizes sound is creating the beat of the drum is the passage of time.
The upper left hand contains Agni (fire,) which signifies destruction. The concepts in the right upper hand show of creation and destruction of life.
The second right hand shows the Abhaya mudra signifies bestowing protection from both evil and ignorance to those who follow the righteousness of dharma.
The second left hand points towards the raised foot which signifies up lift and liberation. It also points to the left foot with the sign of the elephant which leads the way through the jungle of ignorance.
The dwarf on which Nataraja dances is the demon Apasmara (Muyalaka, as known in Tamil), which symbolizes Siva's victory over ignorance. It also represents the passage of spirit from the divine into material.
As the Lord of Dance,Nataraja, Siva performs the dance in which the universe is created, maintained,and dissolved. Siva's long, matted locks, usually piled up in a knot, loosen during the dance and crash into the heavenly bodies, knocking them off course or destroying them utterly.
The surrounding flames represent the manifest Universe.
The snake swirling around his waist is kundalini, the Shakti or divine force thought to reside within everything. This also parallels the cords of life worn to represent the second rebirth. The cosmic knowledge associated with its awakening. More intellectual and invisible divine energy centers, called Chakras, are associated with its Rise.
The patience face of Siva represents his neutrality, thus being in balance.
Nataraja is a visual interpretation of Brahman and a dance posture of Lord Siva. It is the representation of reality at the time of cosmic destruction. We being life forms, cosmic destruction would mean the withdrawal of all life. The crescent moon shown in the head of Nataraja is a symbol only.The fall of the moon would result in cosmic destruction.
The concept of Nataraja we have to understand the idea of dance itself. Like yoga, dance induces trance, delight and the experience of the divine. Not only in India worldwide. Thus, dance has flourished side by side with the great austerities of the meditation grove(fasting, absolute self-absorption etc.). Siva, therefore, the arch-yogi of the gods, and also the King of the dance.
Lord Siva is Kala,meaning time, but he is also Maha Kala, meaning “Great Time” or eternity. As Nataraja, King of dancers, his gestures, wild and full of grace, hurried the cosmic illusion; his flying arms and legs and the swaying of his chest produce the continuous creation-destruction of the universe, death exactly balancing birth. The entirety of this cosmic dance is miraculously rendered. The cyclic rhythm, flowing on and on in the indescribable, permanent round of the Mahayugas, is marked by the beating and stepping of the divine heels. But the face remains, in ascendant calm.
Above classifications of Siva’s dance, as mentioned in puranic literature are found within the geographical and cultural limit of the seven dances, the seventh dance, AnandaThandavam is symbolic of the themes characteristic in all other dances. The dance itself is a source of supreme artistic enjoyment of the beauty and bliss of Lord Nataraja.
The Five Temples
Thandavam(Dance) Hall Temple Location
1….Kali Thandavam Rathina Saba Vada aaranyeswarar Temple Thiruvalangadu,
2….Ananda Thandavam Kanaga saba NatarajarTemple Chidambaram
3….Sandhya Thandavam Velli saba MeenakshiAmman Temple Madurai
4….Muni Thandavam Thambira saba Nellaiappar Temple Tirunelveli
5….Tirupura Thandavam Chithira saba KutralanatharTemple Courtallam
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