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Shiva is one of the Hindu gods. Indeed, Shiva is one of the most important Hindu gods. In the trinity of Hindu gods, there is Brahman, Shiva, and Vishnu. Typically, Brahman represents the creation of the universe, Vishnu represents the preservation of the universe, and Shiva represents the destruction of the universe. As the BBC puts it, "Shiva's role is to destroy the universe in order to re-create it."[footnoteRef:1] Shiva is therefore the "source of both good and evil."[footnoteRef:2] However, these distinctions are not absolute in Hinduism. As the Metropolitan Museum of Art points out in its description of the statue "Shiva Lord of Dance," Shiva is sometimes representing all three aspects of the Hindu god as "creator, preserver, and destroyer of the universe."[footnoteRef:3] When the god Shiva is shown to be dancing, the image is called "Shiva Nataraj." This statue has formal and contextual elements that show how the dancing Shiva is complex, creative, and energetic. [1: BBC. "Who is Shiva?" Retrieved online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/deities/shiva.shtml] [2: BBC. "Who is Shiva?"] [3: Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Shiva as Lord of Dance." Retrieved online: http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/60006319] Harmony is shown both in the fact that Shiva cannot dance without music, and in the fact that Shiva is shown to be in harmony with the universe by dancing with it. [4: Das, Subhamoy. "Nataraj: The Dancing Shiva." About.com. Retrieved online: http://hinduism.about.com/od/lordshiva/p/nataraj.htm] [5: Das, Subhamoy. "Nataraj: The Dancing Shiva." About.com. Retrieved online: http://hinduism.about.com/od/lordshiva/p/nataraj.htm]
There is more to the statue "Shiva Lord of Dance" than just its content, though. The formalism is symbolic too. Shiva is shown with his left foot raised in the air. The foot that is on the ground is stepping on a mythical figure. This figure is "the personification of illusion and ignorance over whom Shiva triumphs."[footnoteRef:6] In the statue, it is hard to make out the figure, but it looks dead. Yet from this dead figure rises a ring of many flames. The Metropolitan…
References
BBC. "Who is Shiva?" Retrieved online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/deities/shiva.shtml
Das, Subhamoy. "Nataraj: The Dancing Shiva." About.com. Retrieved online: http://hinduism.about.com/od/lordshiva/p/nataraj.htm
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Shiva as Lord of Dance." Retrieved online: http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/60006319
Indian Art In terms of iconography, it is quite obvious that the works of art known as Shiva Nataraja, which is displayed on the Smithsonian's website, and Siva as Lord of Dance, which is displayed on the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston's web site, are depictions of the Hindu god Shiva. One of the most eminent ways in which this information is conveyed, of course, is via the titles of
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