Of the three gods of the Hindu trinity - Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer and Restorer - Shiva was especially popular and widely worshiped in southern India. This figure has an opening in its base that allowed it to be borne in religious processions, typically ornamented and draped. In India the art of dance is not only regarded as a form of yoga but is associated with the very act of creation. As lord of yoga, Shiva is also the source of the cosmic dance that created the universe in endless rhythmic cycles. The Tamil sculptors of the Chola dynasty (mid-ninth to early fourteenth centuries) realized Shiva the Dancer in his most complete and graphic form (Nataraja), one which has become symbolic of Indian civilization. Shiva dances in an aureole of flame that rises from a lotus pedestal, symbol of primordial being and creation. The arched aureole and its three-tongued flames represent the universe and its ultimate destruction by fire. In his upper right hand Shiva holds the drum representing the primordial sound at the creation of the universe; the second right hand makes a gesture of reassurance. His upper left hand holds the flame of destruction. The lower one points to his left foot, refuge of the soul, and shows the path of salvation through Shiva's trampling of the demon that personifies ignorance. Shiva's body seems to rise and expand with his aureole. The force of his broad shoulders and proud countenance are echoed by the rhythmic explosion of his locks; among them the small figure of Ganges (left) represents the god's intimate connections with water, the force of life. Perfectly poised, this work manifests Shiva's divine unity with compelling grace and majesty.

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