Tandava
divine dance performed by the Hindu god Shiva
Tandavam (also spelled as Tāṇḍava), also known as Tāṇḍava Natyam, is a divine dance performed by Hindu god Shiva. Shiva is depicted as dancing the Tandava in his form of Nataraja.
The Natya Shastra, a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts, describes various aspects of the Tandava.
Description
Tandava refers both to Shiva's dance, the source of the cosmic cycle of creation, preservation, and dissolution, and the style of classical Indian dance-drama modeled upon it, characterized by vigorous, brisk movements.
The dance takes different names depending on the mood expressed or the specific activity of Shiva it portrays. For example, the Ananda Tandava expresses grace and symbolizes the five-fold cosmic cycle (pancakritya), from creation through dissolution to liberation, while Raudra Tandava is the posture Shiva assumes specifically during cosmic annihilation. Other types of Tandava found in Hindu texts include Tripura Tandava, Sandhya Tandava, Samhara Tandava, Kali (Kalika) Tandava, Uma Tandava, Shiva Tandava, Krishna Tandava, and Gauri Tandava.
In Shaiva Siddhanta tradition, Shiva as Nataraja (lit. "King of dance") is considered to be supreme lord of dance. In the non-dual Shaivite and Tantric traditions, Shiva's dance is interpreted both as a cosmic rhythm and as a "free and spontaneous mystical dance [that] takes place in the human heart."
Tandava takes its name from Tandu (taṇḍu), the attendant of Shiva, who instructed Bharata (author of the Natya Shastra) in the use of Angaharas and Karanas modes of the Tandava at Shiva's order.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tandava” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.