WEBZINE ACC

Nataraja, another name for the dancing Shiva

Humans have always wondered about the ultimate truths: What the world is made of and what the universe looks like. In Hinduism, the universe was considered a large circle with six elephants supporting the land, a turtle standing below the elephants, and a snake below the turtle. Among the Hindu gods, there is Lord Shiva, the god of destruction, who is associated with the annihilation of the universe. Shiva is also a dancing god. Another name for the dancing Shiva is Nataraja (king of dance), which reflects this cosmological view.

In the center of the ACC Asia Culture Museum’s Special Exhibition Room 2 is Nataraja, an avatar of Shiva, from the collection of the Museum of Literature and Indian Art. Nataraja has four hands: a drum in his right hand (symbolizing creation) and a flame in his left (symbolizing destruction). With one hand, he gestures not to be afraid, and with the other, he gestures to surrender. The circle surrounding Nataraja symbolizes the universe, and the dwarf he is stepping on is said to symbolize ignorance and oblivion. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva’s dance is thought to be the means through which the universe cycles. Shiva’s dance is the very energy of creation and becomes a grand metaphor for order and disorder and peace and war in the universe.

A statue of Nataraja stands at the entrance to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the world’s largest particle physics laboratory on the border between Geneva, Switzerland, and France. The Large Hadron Collider, whose circumference reaches 27 kilometers in length, conducts impressive experiments in particle collisions in the hope of discovering the Higgs boson, also known as the “God particle.” This resembles the furious circular dance of Lord Shiva, the god of destruction.

Nātya Śāstra, a treasure trove of Ancient Indian literature

A red mole on the forehead, red lips, red palms, fingers, and toes dyed red; deep black eyeliner on the eyebrows and around the eyes; hair adorned with white flowers, jewelry wrapped around the head like a headband, unique wrist bracelets and anklets filled with bells. What’s more, the dancer’s every move is extraordinary. Yoga-like poses and finger movements that resemble sign language, and the unique facial expressions that seem to express a thousand emotions at once.

These words describe Keum Beena’s dance, the first Korean teacher of the Indian traditional dance Odissi. Keum’s works are based on “Nātya Śāstra,” a treasure trove of Ancient Indian literary culture. “Nātya Śāstra” is an encyclopedic scripture describing the dances and theater that the sage Bharata is said to have learned directly from Lord Brahma before teaching them to his hundred sons. In Hinduism, theater, especially dance, is seen as the creation of Lord Brahma and his gift to humans, making them the highest offering humans can make to the gods. It is also the reason why the essence of Indian dance lies in expressive dance. Because it tells the stories of the gods rather than ordinary everyday life, it conveys various emotions and facial expressions through body movements resembling that of theater. In this exhibition, visitors can see a demonstration of “Mudra,” a language of gestures delivering the nine emotions, facial expressions, and hand gestures, courtesy of Keum Beena.

The Sanctum of South Asian Dance: Liminal Space

Located at the entrance to the exhibition hall, the theme of part 1 is “Sanctuary of Dance: Sites of Dancing in Hindu Temples.” I wondered why the temples of Virupaksha, Vitthala, and Ramachandra, whose photographs adorn the exhibition, have decorations such as reliefs of dancing Krishna, dancing figures, and musical instrument columns in dancing halls. I learned that the symbol of the dancing god Shiva Nataraja and the ceremonial teachings of the “Nātya Śāstra” convey important meanings in the Hindu worldview. I realized that rasa, which means the ultimate union with God, ecstasy, freedom, and liberation, achieved through dance, must have been the most important means of salvation for the Indian people.

This turns the sanctum of South Asian dance into a liminal space, a space marking the boundary in times of spatial and temporal change. Thus, “within the sanctum of dance, humans cross the boundary between the human and the divine, and through the body of the dancer, the human, and the divine cross.”

Nietzsche once said something like this:

This exhibition, The Sanctum of South Asian Dance, reminds us that Nietzsche’s dancing Zarathustra is not unlike the dancing Shiva. In addition to the religious and ritualistic nature of dance in anthropological history, we can also see that dance has always been a genre through which humans could achieve tangible transcendence and solace beyond thought.