Oṃ Namaḥ Śivāya.Valențele cosmologice, coregrafice și estetice ale ipostazierii zeului hindus Śiva ca Naṭarāja sau Domn al Dansului

Andrei-Călin Zamfirescu

doi:10.46522/S.2025.01.16

Authors

Andrei-Călin Zamfirescu University of Arts Târgu-Mureș, Theatrical and Multimedia Research Institute

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46522/S.2025.01.16

Keywords:

Śiva Naṭarāja, Hinduism, sacred dance, Tāṇḍava, Bharatanātyam

Abstract

Oṃ Namaḥ Śivāya. Intersections of Cosmology, Choreography and Aesthetics in the Iconographical Representation of the Hindu Deity Shiva as Naṭarāja or Lord of the Dance
When one considers the total spectrum of cosmological attributes which have been ascribed to the myriad forms of the Hindu deity Shiva over the course of several millennia, the methodological risks that necessarily preclude any scholarly attempt at an exhaustive, yet concise foray into the historical process of his emergence become all too apparent. Nevertheless, the present study aims to prove that such endeavours can yet yield a bountiful harvest, by way of initiating a comparative inquiry bent on highlighting the manifold spiritual traditions which have shaped one of Shiva’s most recognizable iconographic depictions – namely, that of Naṭarāja or Lord of the Dance. It is in this redoubtable icon, ostensibly as old as Indian civilization itself, that a plethora of metaphysical attributes pertaining to mythology, soteriology, aesthetics and choreography will harmonize with one another, giving shape to one of the symbolic paragons of Hindu thought and culture.

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