Natarāja Shiva
Remastered and restored vintage art. Giclée print on high-quality archival paper.

8 x 10 inches

Read about our archival printing process

The Lord of time, Natarāja, is dancing as the yogishwara, the Lord among the yogins or Lord of the yogis. His dance stance is known as ānanda-tāndava, as he is depicting the mood of blissful dissolution. The Natarāja form is hailed as the Lord of yoga-vinyāsa mastering the movements of yoga postures that are led by the breath. In this form, he is the ultimate guide on how the sequences of yoga postures are superimposed on the deep internal breath and synchronized with the prānāyāma breathwork. Natarāja is the dancing Lord linking the poise of yoga-vinyāsa movements with classical dance. This particular print is recreated as a rare vintage art and reproduced on velvet fine art paper at a size of 8 x 10 inches suitable for worship or meditation altars.

Lord Shiva as the Lord of time is presented as Natarāja in ardhanārīshwara form with half feminine and half masculine aspects. The image represents a kumkum-darshan of the Lord wherein the divine mother shakti is felt as the red hue of the vermillion. This feminine aspect is often separately represented as Shivakāmasundari. The prabhāvali arch around the Lord beholding 33 fire jets also symbolize the 33 unique consonant sounds of Sanskrit which are partitions of the primordial sound Om. The matted hair locks are not fanning out, instead they are concealed and whirl around majestically synchronized with each dance step symbolizing the grace of linked and yet discrete yoga-vinyāsa movements.

In the Natarāja depiction, the raised right hand holds the damaru or the drum symbolizing creation. The 14 sutra (literally, tightly wound thread) that emanate from the sound of this drum define the extent of the grammatical use of the 64 sound partitions of Sanskrit. The drum sounds define the seven notes of music and the 22 swara (microtones). The right front palm displays a gesture of protection symbolizing sthiti or sustenance. The upper left hand holds the fire in a pot, symbolizing samhāra or dissolution. The left arm extends majestically across the chest pointing to the tip of the bent left leg, symbolizing anugraha or bestowal of grace. This bent left leg represents an invitation to the devotee to apavarga or the path to the supreme reality of ultimate knowledge bringing about liberation. The right leg is shown trampling the apasmāra, the monster of ignorance, thus symbolizing the concealment of māyā-shakti and destruction of avidyā or the root of monstrous ignorance. The four arms and the right leg trampling the monster represent the pañchakritya or five-fold actions of the cosmic dancer that lead one to the path of salvation gracefully shown as kuñchitapāda (bent left leg), which is holding the overall balance of this superb pose.