Small Chola Bronze Statue Of Shiva As Nataraja
This beautiful sculpture is yet another bronze piece that depicts the graceful form of the King of Dancers - Nataraja. <br> <br>Nataraja - The Cosmic Dancer - is probably the only form of Shiva that has made it's way within the literary, intellectual and artistic circles both within India and abroad. <br> <br>So much so that Indian art has come to be represented by the icon of Nataraja. <br> <br>This beautiful sculpture is yet another bronze piece that depicts the graceful form of the King of Dancers - Nataraja. <br> <br>It would be hard to find another Nataraja statue of this small a size crafted with such graceful limbs and intricacy. <br> <br>Nataraja is shown with free flowing hair seemingly charged with energy. Ganga is shown entangled in the strands and the crown is adorned with human skull with a snake around. On the right of the crown is a Datura flower and a crescent moon on the left. There is an arch of stork feathers on top. <br> <br>His ears sport two different earrings - one male and the other female - indicating his completeness. <br> <br>In his two upper hands, Shiva holds a drum (Damaru) - the origin of Sound and a flame of universal destruction. <br> <br>One of his lower hands is raised in assurance (Abhaya Mudra) and the other is pointing towards his raised foot. He is assuring men of protection and urging them to take refuge in him. With his other foot he is crushing a dwarf which is the personification of all that is evil indicating that he can never be overcome by ignorance. <br> <br>The spread out snake and the flowing garment on either side of the main figure are indicative of energy, speed and abandon with which Nataraja performs the Tandava dance of which this pose is a part. <br> <br>The pose is encircled in a fiery ring which represents the dynamic wheel of world within which the dance of duality and life is performed. <br> <br>The sculpture rests on a beautiful double pedestal, one round and the other rectangular. This product is crafted using <a href="https://www.cottage9.com/art-technique/madhuchishtavidhana/">Madhuchistavidhana</a>.
