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

The Hindu deity Shiva has accumulated a vast range of cosmological attributes over millennia, making a concise historical account of his emergence methodologically challenging. This study argues that such an inquiry can be fruitful by focusing on the icon of Naṭarāja, the Lord of the Dance, one of Shiva's most recognizable depictions. This icon integrates metaphysical attributes from mythology, soteriology, aesthetics, and choreography, symbolizing key aspects of Hindu thought and culture. The analysis highlights the manifold spiritual traditions that shaped this image, which is presented as a paragon of Hindu symbolism.

Study at a glance

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.