Sculpture: Nataraja

Nataraja

1.  
• The rise of a global icon
•  Two pages of poetry (atleast it feels like it to me) in the books "The tell-tale brain: a neuroscientist's quest for what makes us human" by Vilayanur S Ramchandran
• "Although Ramachandran’s nine laws are intended to explain why artists create and why people enjoy viewing it, I enjoyed section on metaphor mainly because of his enthusiastic description of the Nataraja, a 12^th century Indian sculpture of the cosmic dance of Shiva. Ramachandran writes:

  But the sculpture is much more than that; it is a metaphor of the dance of the Universe itself, of the movement and energy of the cosmos. The artist depicts this sensation through the skillful use of many devices. For example, the centrifugal motion of Shiva’s arms and legs flailing in different directions and the wavy tresses flying off his head symbolize the agitation and the frenzy of the cosmos. Yet right in the midst of all this turbulence – this fitful fever of life – is the calm spirit of Shiva himself. He gazes at his own creation with supreme tranquility and poise. How skillfully the artist has combined these seemingly antithetical elements of movement and energy. . . ." -- http://thefprorg.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/karereview-of-ramachandrans-the-tell-tale-brain-a-neuroscientists-quest-for-what-makes-us-human/

2.  
• Nataraj: The Dancing Shiva
• An Explanation of the Shiva Nataraja, or Dancing Shiva