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

Andrei-Călin Zamfirescu

Symbolon December 11, 2025 DOI: 10.46522/s.2025.01.16 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Keywords Hinduism Civilization Metaphysics Syncretism linguistics Manifold fluid mechanics Period music Aesthetics Epistemology
Key points Argues that the Naṭarāja icon of Shiva harmonizes a plethora of metaphysical attributes from mythology, soteriology, aesthetics, and choreography, making it a symbolic paragon of Hindu thought and culture.

Abstract

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.