Hinduism~ why is Lord Shiva called Nataraja .....??

Question

Nataraja - the king of dancers

Thanks vishal-- very deep thinking

Coyotewoman: I know Natraja is your favorite name... i remembered you when i wrote this question

Rakeshas : thanks..change yr name ..LOL u r not a rakshas

Nani: u never fail to bring smile to my face...thanks my child

Answer 1

Shiva is an exponent and proponent of art forms, especially dance. His dance Tandava is well known and the pose of his standing on his right foot with the left foot across in air, with his hands in beautiful mudras is synonymous with India. This explicit pose of poise and grandeure is what Nataraaj is depicted as.

Shiva as the Supreme manifests in everything from the minutest of elements to mightest of forces inthe universe. Its His dance that is reflected in the energy patterns, the sync of breathe the grace of wind, the flow of water, the lapping of the sea, the still grandeur of mountains, the beating of hearts, and everything.

Shiva is the creator (as Bramha manifestation) by being the creator of the naad roopa and the sound svaras. Shiva is the sustainer (as Vishnu manifestation) by maintaining the rythm of the universe and balancing it. Shiva is the destroyer (as Shankara manifestation) by his force of destruction giving birth yet again to new. Thus sustaining the cycle of life.

If we look closely everything around us vibrates in Shiva's tandem.

He is the Supreme One with celestial Dance wherein Shiva and Shakti unite, manifest and exult.

Clearly Shiva is Nataraaj.

Answer 2

The Hindu god Shiva in his form as the cosmic dancer. The most common images show him with four arms and flying locks, dancing on a dwarf (a symbol of human ignorance) and encircled by a ring of flames. The Nataraja sculpture shows Shiva as the source of all movement within the cosmos, represented by the loop of flames. The dance's purpose is to release humans from illusion; the place where the god performs the dance is believed to lie both at the center of the universe and within the human heart.

Answer 3

Nataraja (The King of Dance) is the dancing posture of the Hindu god Shiva, who performs his divine dance as a part of his divine duties of creation and destruction. Nataraja is most often depicted through a statue. The sculpture is usually made in bronze, with Shiva dancing in a circle of flames, lifting his left leg (and in rare cases, the right leg) and balancing over a demon or dwarf (Apasmara) who symbolizes ignorance. It is a well known scultptural symbol in India and popularly used as a symbol of Indian culture.

The process of destruction and regenerescence has been an ongoing process throughout ages and Lord Shiva will come in every age to destroy evil in order to enable new creation of Brahma.

Answer 4

Chithambaram, Nataraja's abode is the Akasha Kshetra of the five elements.
One can imagine this as the Cosmic Dance, the beat of the universe. Who other than Shiva can define that beat?

Shiva is not called Nataraja. That is just one aspect of the Nirakhara Tatvam.

Answer 5

Because Shiva joins in the cosmic dance and is the dancer that is in control of dissolution. Without dissolution, creation cannot occur. Creation, Preservation, Dissolution, Creation. If you think of a volcano, the fiery lava destroys all the life it comes in contact with, but the very same lava solidifies and becomes soil that life re-emerges from. In the cosmic dance Shiva plays the vital role of destroyer...dissolver....and thereby at the same time it is Shiva that leaves the "soil" behind for creation to begin again. And even more symbolically...Shiva dissolves away the ego and leaves behind the "soil" that is planted with the seeds of enlightenment thus helping us ever closer towards the ultimate goal of moksha. :)

Answer 6

Shiva in the form of Natarajah is syvbolic of one of the aspect of God , Ahnnihilation or Dissolution. the Dance itself is known as Ruddra Thandavam You are one person. at childhood , yu are the son of your parents .As an adolescent , you are a friend to somebody.then yu become the husband of a woman and thereafter the father of some child .when all these people are thre , y are simultaneoudly the sone , the friend , the husband and the father .Meanwhie if you are employed somewhere as an officer,say, a police Oficer or a judge , yoiu are a a Police officer or a Judge too.You assume different roles at different occasions and with different people .So are the aspects of God are sybolised by the Hindus .Shiva is one of the three important ,major qualities of Nature, the totality of God That is dissolution.Nature being the life force , is dynamic and continues to change from one to another in a cyclic fashion and this is proved by scientific dicoveries.
Now coming to the point , The Hindus consider the creative aspect of God as reperesented by Brahmma ( creation ), the sustaining aspect as Vishnu Maintenance ) and the Destructive aspect as Shiva ( the annihilation_- this is not total eradication into nothing ; but a change of the current shape ,just preparing for a recycling process in a furnace ). So this important aspect is symbolised by a Ruddra Thandavam - (the Cosmic Dance ) and the all the paraphernalia of Natarajha, in this posture represent the phenomena of the process as conceived by the Hindu sainta .
The fire on one hand of shiva is symbolic of the dissolutuion of the planets , when they fall into the star in the formation of the supernova and undergo a nuclear reactiuon as balck hole ,the double sided drm represents the rumblings associated with the fallig of th eplanets falling in to the star and burning .Since the planets and the stars are made of matter , they produce unconceivable enormous amount of sound and but they do not travel through the space as such .shiva is supposed to dance to the tunes of this rublings of cosmic destruction for new creation.So Shiva is the most important of the three aspect as his annihilation connects to creation and makes the cycle continuous and complete.
Since this dance is the vital one of creation and dissolution , the dancer is named as the king of Dance and he is symbolic of the beginning of creation too.The cosmic Dance being the divine dance that poreceeds even creation ,shiv is known as the King of Dance , NATA RAJAH. This very representationof the three aspect of God as s
brahmma , Vishnu and Shiva is perfectly in tune with the concept of the cosmos being held as the toitality of God , the "VISWA ROOPA" of God as exposed to Arjuna by Sri.Krishna during his Avatar in the Dhwapara Yuga . The Avataar of Sri.Kraihna is very important as it is in that Yuga God revealed to man what HE is in reality and in totality , how HE can be seen by man ,how the processes Creation , Sustenance and Annihil;ation are happening and how he can be seen in everything and what the purpose of life is .

Answer 7

According Vedhic Rk Brahmam is Niraakaaram =non-active.sri.Vedha Vyasa also has expressed the same view in his Brahma Sutram.Adwaithis agree with this view.Visista Adwaithis,Suddha Dwaithis though agree with sri.Vedha Vyaasa feel that Brahmam may assume Saakaara Roopam as per necessity.Kashmir Pandits( accredited as one of the "Super Scholars" in Vedham and sri.Sankaracharya has admitted this in his works) differ from sri.Vedha Vyaasa. According to their Doctrine is Brahmam is "SPANDHAM"(Sanskrit) =(meaning in sanskrit)"Eeshad Chalanam"=Oscillations are inside"=Brahmam has activity inside. There is a Kasmiree treatise called "Spandha Kaarika" which was brought out by sri Jai Deva Singh of Banares(Motilal Banarasi Das Publication).sri.Kshemaraja is another Expert in Spandha Karika -I do not know whether he was before or after sri.Jaya Deva.A number of German,British American Authors have worked on this subject for their Ph.Ds. An Exactly similar concept was independently developed by "Saiva Siddhantis" in South Pandyas Kingdom(Madurai/Tirunelveli Districts) of Tamil Nadu and Tamils of Yazhpaanam(Sri.Lanka). Kashmeeri(Northern most end) and Paandya(Southern most end) of Bharat's(India)"Saiva Siddhantham" are exactly Similar(it is another proof that Bharat is ONE country/ culture ).According to this Philosophy Brahmam(Hiranya Garpam) has two "Sakthis"(Energy) in side--One is "Unmesa" (Ecstasy) and another is "Nimesa" (Optimal)--Does it not sound like "Modern Physics' "Matter and Energy"?Siva is activated by the Superior Mother "Shakthi".When Siva is in "Unmesa" He dances the "Cosmic' Dance-that time He is called "Nata Raja"--the first copper alloy "Nataraja" statue was made only in a place called "Chapparai" in Tirunelveli Dist and later the same model by the same sculpturist (Sthapathi) was consecrated in Chidhambaram in 11 th century A.D.by Cholas.

Answer 8

At a very basic level, this question can be answered by saying that in India there are an estimated 32,000,000 gods, all having names. Most of them are different manifestations of the Hindu Trinity, and highlight various characteristics of the deities, or ideas connected with them... Lord Shiva has many names, and many aspects.

Answer 9

Nataraja - Nata - an actor or dancer. Raja - King of those.
Bhagavan Shiva is the best actor and dancer. His pleasant dance is creation of the universe and His tandava-nritya is summation of the universe. Like an actor, He manifests Himself in any or all forms one by one or simultaneously and all forms belong to Him.

Answer 10

Shiva was static in the beginning, when he started to move the cosmos came into being & he was called Nataraja.