Tandava

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Nataraja ; As a cosmic dancer, Lord Shiva shows the rhythmic movement of the whole cosmos.

Tandava ( Sanskrit ताण्डव tāṇḍava ) is a dance performed by the Hindu god Shiva . According to Hindu mythology, Shivas tandava is a wild dance, and this dance is the source of the cycle of creation, maintenance and dissolution.

While the Rudra Tandava shows its violent nature first as the creator, then as the destroyer of the universe, even death itself, the Ananda Tandava is Shiva as the one who delights in his creation - the universe. In Hindu mythology, Shiva is referred to as Nataraja , "Lord of the Dance".

The name Tandava comes from Tandu ( Sanskrit तण्डु taṇḍu ), Shiva's companion who taught Bharata Muni (author of Natyashastra ) the Angahara and Karana of the Tandava dance. Some scholars think that Tandu himself must have been the author of an earlier work on the dramaturgy that was built into the Natya shastra . Indeed, the classical arts of dance, music, and song could be derived from the mudras and rituals of Shaivism .

Some of the 108 karanas at the Kadavul Hindu Temple on Kauai, Hawaii. It is one of the few complete collections that have survived , donated by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami in the 1980s. Each sculpture is approximately 30 cm high. In Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram also a complete collection to be located.

The 32 Angahara and 108 Karana are discussed by Bharata in Chapter 4 of the Natya Shastra, Tandava Lakshanam . Karana is the combination of hand and foot movements that form a dance figure. Angahara is composed of seven or more karanas. The 108 Karanas in Tandava could be used for dancing, fighting and self-defense as well as other special movements.

The dance is a figurative allegory of the five principal manifestations of eternal energy:

  • Shrishti - creation, evolution
  • Sthiti - preservation, support
  • Samhara - destruction, evolution
  • Tirobhava - illusion
  • Anugraha - solution, emancipation, grace

In this way tandava symbolizes the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction as well as the daily rhythm of birth and death.

Rudra Tandava : A dancer shows stepping on the god of death Yama .

The tandava, as performed in the sacred dance drama of South India, has energetic, brisk movements. Performed with joy, the dance is called Ananda Tandava . Performed violently, the dance is called Rudra Tandava . At least seven types of Tandava are listed in the Hindu texts: Ananda Tandava, Tripura Tandava, Sandhya Tandava, Samhara Tandava, Kali (Kalika) Tandava, Uma Tandava and Gauri Tandava. However, some believe there are as many as 16 styles or types.

"How many different dances of Shiva are known to his followers, I cannot say. Undoubtedly the basic idea behind all these dances is more or less one and the same, namely the manifestation of primary rhythmic energy. Whatever the origins of Shiva's dance, it became the clearest picture of divine activity occurring in any art or religion. " ( Ananda Coomaraswamy )

The dance that the goddess Parvati performs in response to Shiva's Tandava is called Lasya. Here the movements are gentle, graceful and sometimes erotic. Some scholars say Lasya is the feminine version of Tandava. Lasya is of two types: Jarita Lasya and Yauvaka Lasya .

The Hindu scriptures tell of various occasions when Shiva or other gods danced the tandava. When Sati (Shiva's first wife, who was reborn as Parvati) jumped into the sacrificial fire ( Agni Kunda ) in Daksha's yagna and thus gave up her life, Shiva is said to have danced the Rudra Tandava to express his grief and anger. The Shivapradosha stotra says that when Shiva dances the Sandhya Tandava , the other gods such as Brahma , Vishnu , Sarasvati , Lakshmi and Indra play musical instruments and sing the praises of Shiva.

Ganesha , Shiva's son, is depicted in statues in the temples as Ashtabhuja tandavsa nritya murtis (eight-armed form of Ganesha dancing Tandava '). The Bhagavatapurana tells how Krishna dances his Tandava on the head of the serpent Kaliya . As reported in the Jain tradition, Indra is said to have danced the tandava in honor of Rishaba when he was born.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Nataraja", Manas, UCLA
  2. ^ Quarterly Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society, part III, pp. 25-26, as cited in Manohar Laxman Varadpande: History of Indian Theater. Abhinav Publications, Delhi 1987, p. 154, ISBN 8170172217
  3. ^ Ragini Devi: Dance Dialects of India . Motilal Banarsidass, 1990, p. 29f, ISBN 8120806743
  4. ↑ a b c Manohar Laxman Varadpande: History of Indian Theater. Abhinav Publications, Delhi 1987, p. 154, ISBN 8170172217
  5. ^ Ananda Coomaraswamy, cited at www.mahashivratri.org
  6. ^ Ananda K. Coomaraswamy: The Dance of Shiva . In: The Dance of Shiva: Fourteen Indian Essays. Noonday Press, New York, 1957, ISBN 8121501539 , in: Nataraja, UCLA
  7. ↑ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrine/3155/bnatyam.html "Origin of Bharatanatyam", Annapoorna Anand ( Memento from December 5, 1999 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ Manohar Laxman Varadpande, History of Indian Theater. Abhinav Publications, Delhi 1992, p. 5
  9. ↑ Manohar Laxman Varadpande: History of Indian Theater, 1987, p 98
  10. ↑ Manohar Laxman Varadpande, History of Indian Theater, 1987, p 146