Oṃ Namaḥ Śivāya.Valențele cosmologice, coregrafice și estetice ale ipostazierii zeului hindus Śiva ca Naṭarāja sau Domn al Dansului
Symbolon December 11, 2025 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.46522/s.2025.01.16 via OpenAlex
Summary
The Hindu deity Shiva has been ascribed a vast range of cosmological attributes over millennia, making a concise historical account of his emergence methodologically challenging. This study undertakes a comparative inquiry into the spiritual traditions that shaped the iconic depiction of Shiva as Naṭarāja, or Lord of the Dance. This ancient icon harmonizes metaphysical attributes from mythology, soteriology, aesthetics, and choreography, and stands as a symbolic paragon of Hindu thought and culture.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | The icon of Naṭarāja harmonizes metaphysical attributes from mythology, soteriology, aesthetics, and choreography, representing a symbolic paragon of Hindu thought and culture. |
Abstract
When one considers the total spectrum of cosmological attributes which have been ascribed to the myriad forms of the Hindu deity Shiva over the course of several millennia, the methodological risks that necessarily preclude any scholarly attempt at an exhaustive, yet concise foray into the historical process of his emergence become all too apparent. Nevertheless, the present study aims to prove that such endeavours can yet yield a bountiful harvest, by way of initiating a comparative inquiry bent on highlighting the manifold spiritual traditions which have shaped one of Shiva’s most recognizable iconographic depictions – namely, that of Naṭarāja or Lord of the Dance. It is in this redoubtable icon, ostensibly as old as Indian civilization itself, that a plethora of metaphysical attributes pertaining to mythology, soteriology, aesthetics and choreography will harmonize with one another, giving shape to one of the symbolic paragons of Hindu thought and culture.