Whatever is best and highly esteemed has been offered to the gods and given divine origin by the Indian wisdom. The divine origin of dance can be regarded as the highest possible homage ever paid to the art. The Gods and goddesses not only take great delight in dancing, drama and mime, but many of them are great dancers themselves. Right from Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna, Kali and through Indra, Ashvins to Apsaras and men can be traced the long tradition of this spontaneous and rhythmic force dance. Man has been dancing since times immemorial, both in tragedy and ecstasy, before his gods and goddesses as an act of worship, devotion, homage and offering. The concept of rhythmic body movements as an all-powerful symbol has always given Indian mind and imagination as incomparable flight and height. For instance, by performing Tandava, Shiva accomplished the dissolution of the world Tandava as a cosmic dance represents symbolically the destruction of the illusory world of maya of nescience.
Dances of Shiva
Shiva or Mahadeva, the third god of the Hindu Trinity represents the destructive aspects and the third guna, the tamas. The other two gods of the Triad are Brahma and Vishnu. Shiva is Mahadeva and Ishvara in his creative aspect. His supreme powers are enshrined in the form of lingam or phallus. Of all the divine expression, lingam is the most representative of the power regeneration and procreation. The Lingam coupled with Yoni, the symbol of female life force or the female organ, is offered worship everywhere in India Regeneration and dissolution are two sides of the same coin.
One presupposes the other. As Nataraja, he is the Supreme Lord of dance and drama. Tandava reflects Shiva’s violent nature as a stern judge and upholder of justice and righteousness. He dances both in joy and sorrow as the god of rhythm and movement. But he performing his dance in the cleansed of ego and illusion by means of fire of knowledge, enlightenment and severe austerities.
Shiva is shown dancing either alone or with his consort Parvati or Devi. He goes to Himavat’s house to seek his daughter Parvati’s hand in marriage disguised as a dancer for fun. He approaches Mena, Parvati’s mother clothed in red rags, carrying a horn in his left hand and a drum in the right and dances merrily in courtyard. All the people of the town collected there at once to see him dance so beautifully. They all get infatuated with his enchanting dance and sweet melodies. Mena, delighted beyond measures, shower on him precious gifts, but he is not satisfied until Parvati is bestowed upon him in alms.
One of Shiva’s most remembered dances were performed at Tillai, now known as Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu. There lived in the forest of Taragam ten thousand heretic rishis who did not believe in the existence of God and propagated that performance of work alone was sufficient to attain salvation. With the view to convert them to faith, Shiva went there disguised as a yogi and accompanied by Vishnu disguised as his beautiful wife, and the great Serpent Shesha. When they reached there the heretic rishis got infatuated with the yogi’s beautiful wife. The rishi’s wives were seized with a passionate desire for the Yogi, and it caused chaos. The rishis suspected some foul play and sensing the danger they prepared a sacrificial fire, and from it created a fierce tiger which sprang upon Shiva to devour him. But without much effort he killed the tiger with his little finger, pulled off its skin and threw it around his waist as a mantle. Then the rishis created a huge serpent, which Shiva wore round his, neck for a garland with a smile and began his famous dance. The rishis continued with their invocations and incantations and created a malignant dwarf Muyalagam with a huge club. Shiva crushed the hideous creature under one of his dancing feet and reduced it to a writhing pulp. He continued his victory dance on the back of the vanquished dwarf and all the gods and goddesses appeared there to witness the bewitching performance. The rishis overawed by shiva’s dance, and Shiva’s true identity being revealed to them, they threw themselves at his feet and became his ardent devotees.
