More Than an Aestehtic Appreciaton of Lord Nataraja Statue and Calendar Art Images

 

A Non-aesthete’s Appreciation of Lord Nataraja – In Statue and in Calendar Art

This post, coming from an atheist and a non-aesthete about an image of a god might surprise you. So be it.

In the temples of Lord Shiva in Tamil Nadu, one would be worshipping a Linga and a metal (usually bronze, brass, or an alloy of five metals) of the Cosmic Dancer Lord Nataraja. The idols are shown below.

As beautiful and majestic these statues are (I have seen the statues up close in temples and art emporiums, and have stood mesmerized), I appreciate them for their aesthetic balance that conveys a sense of peace (the smile and the closed eyes) in the vigorously dynamic pose–the wild matted hair, the rhythmically beating drums on the right hand, the flaming fire on the left, the left arm crossing over to the other side across the torso, the snake writhing and hissing away, Lord Shiva standing on one leg crushing a demon with it, and the other leg crossing over it. The whole frame is filled with action but the central face is serene. Such contrast! I am no aesthete, yet I believe an professional aesthete would endorse my view: the whole is more serene even when all the components are dynamic, even chaotic.

But, taking a keen look to compare the first statue and the second, we see no difference in the overall schema between the two. Yet, there is a major difference.

The second statue must have been conceptualized by a Tamil Brahmin (TamBrahm), planning in accordance with the sacerdotal calendar. Per the single detail, the statue specifies the day – third day in the waxing phase of the moon. In the TamBrahm’s calendar, this day holds a special significance (myth based). The moon stays up in the sky for a very brief period in the sky after sunset on this day. The brilliance of the Sun still permeates the western sky. It is within the overall bright sky, one should look for the sliver of the moon. And, if you can see the crescent, mythically on the head of Lord Nataraja stitched into his matted hair, not only you have done a good karma, you also found out that your long distance vision is OK. So, once every month you could assess how good your eye sight is, without optometry! You could track its deterioration. And, if you have taken to wearing glasses, you can check whether the prescription was correct.

Not only the above, the next evening, the slightly thicker crescent of the moon cannot be missed. As per another myth, if you saw the fourth day crescent, you would suffer like a street dog! The zero-sum game is played to the full! What the Lord giveth on the third day, he taketh away on the fourth.

Now, I would take you through the calendar art pictures of Lord Shiva, most showing him sitting in a meditative state. In my search for appropriate images for this post, I came across pictures with Shiva and family, and some that had the Lord seated side-saddle on his mount and on and on. Yet, I wanted pictures of meditation and chose the following two images with contrasting depictions; one with the crescent and the other without it. After all, this difference is what defines the post.

 Obviously, the last but one picturewas drawn on the day of the third phase in the waxing duration, and the last, on any day of any of the two phases..

I just went through a session on critical thinking, receiving lessons from an unexpected quarter for this atheist-cum-non-aesthete.

Raghuram Ekambaram

P, S.

Disclaimer: The images are from the Net and I have no claim on any of them.