Nataraja-The Image and the Meaning
Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of Lord Shiva, and in particular, marks the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance. There is a Shivaratri in every lunisolar month of the Hindu calendar, on the month’s 13th night/14th day, but once a year in late winter (February/March, or phalgun) and before the arrival of Summer, marks Maha Shivaratri which means “the Great Night of Shiva”.
It is a major festival in Hinduism, and this festival is solemn and marks a remembrance of “overcoming darkness and ignorance” in life and the world. It is observed by remembering Shiva and chanting prayers, fasting, and meditating on ethics and virtues such as honesty, non-injury to others, charity, forgiveness, and the discovery of Shiva. The ardent devotees keep awake all night. Others visit one of the Shiva temples or go on a pilgrimage to Jyotirlingams. This is an ancient Hindu festival whose origin date is unknown.
In Kashmir Shaivism, the festival is called Har-ratri or phonetically simpler Haerath or Herath by Shiva faithful of the Kashmir region. Cannabis is also smoked to mark this festival, especially in countries like Nepal and India.
Unlike most Hindu festivals which are celebrated during the day, the Maha Shivaratri is celebrated at night. Furthermore, unlike most Hindu festivals which include expression of cultural revelry, the Maha Shivaratri is a solemn event notable for its introspective focus, fasting, meditation on Shiva, self-study, social harmony and an all-night vigil at Shiva temples.
The celebration includes maintaining a “jaagaran”, an all-night vigil and prayers, because Shaiva Hindus mark this night as “overcoming darkness and ignorance” in one’s life and the world through Shiva. Offerings of fruits, leaves, sweets and milk to Shiva are made, some perform all-day fasting with vedic or tantric worship of Shiva, and some perform meditative Yoga. In Shiva temples, “Om Namah Shivaya”, the sacred mantra of Shiva, is chanted throughout the day.
Maha Shivaratri is celebrated over three or ten days based on the Hindu lunisolar calendar. Every lunar month, there is a Shivaratri (12 per year). The main festival is called Maha Shivaratri, or great Shivaratri, which is held on the 13th night (waning moon) and 14th day of the month Phalguna. In the Gregorian calendar, the day falls in either February or March.
The Maha Shivaratri is mentioned in several Puranas, particularly the Skanda Purana, Linga Purana and Padma Purana. These medieval-era Shaiva texts present different versions associated with this festival, & mention fasting, and reverence for icons of Shiva such as the Lingam.[ According to one legend in the Shaivism tradition, this is the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance of creation, preservation and destruction. According to another legend, this is the night when Shiva and Parvati got married. Another legend states that the offering to Shiva icons such as the linga is an annual occasion to get over past sins if any, to restart on a virtuous path and thereby reach Mount Kailasha and liberation.
Maha Shivaratri has served as a historic confluence of artists for annual dance festivals at major Hindu temples such as at Konark, Khajuraho, Pattadakal, Modhera and Chidambaram. This event is called Natyanjali, literally “worship through dance”, at the Chidambaram temple which is famous for its sculpture depicting all dance mudras in the ancient Hindu text of performance arts called Natya Shastra.
Meaning of Nataraja
At The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, in Geneva stands a beautiful Nataraja, a gift from the Indian government in 2004. The plaque beneath it states that the “dance” of subatomic particles that physicists observe has parallels in Indian philosophy, where the creation, movement, and dissolution of everything in the universe is considered the dance of Shiva. The dancing god, always moving, is a representation of the eternal movement of everything in the universe. A statue, the epitome of permanence, represents impermanence.
A little demon is seen crushed under Nataraja’s foot. A short, chubby figure with a coarse face, like a baby with a man’s head. His name is Apasmara. He is the focus of the Nataraja statue.
Apasmara is generally translated as “ignorance” in English descriptions of the Nataraja statue. The Sanskrit roots “apa”, meaning negation, and “smara”, meaning memory or recollection (as in Smarana and Smriti).“Apasmara” translates better as “loss of recollection”.Apasmara is also the Sanskrit term for epilepsy, the medical term for “fits” or seizures.
The most striking feature of a seizing patient is how they suddenly disengage from the world – they forget who and where they are. When the seizure is over, they usually have no recollection of what just happened.
Apasmara was one of the eight mahagada, or dreadful diseases, in Ayurveda, for good reason. The reason a seizure is so striking is that for its duration, you see the animal that hides behind the human. A healthy brain maintains a neat, manicured appearance. In a seizing patient, though, the pretence breaks down, and for a brief interlude, you see the raw power of the brain.
The early Greeks too considered epilepsy “sacred”, and, in fact, one of the best-known texts of the Hippocratic corpus of works is titled On the Sacred Disease. It is sacred because of its link with memory.
The link between epilepsy and memory goes beyond the mere fact that many people do not recollect having a seizure. The most common form of epilepsy in adults is called temporal lobe epilepsy, so named because it originates in the temporal lobes of the brain, which lie near the ears. Swati Thirunal the King musician, had this disease. The temporal lobes are also the seat of memory. This suggests that the primary meaning of the Nataraja statue is that Shiva is the deity who helped one not forget.
The philosophical tradition named Kashmiri Shaivism has a concept of Pratyabhijna. Pratyabhijna means recognition. As in re-cognition – remembering something which one already knew but had temporarily forgotten. And what you have forgotten, according to Kashmiri Shaivism, is the knowledge of the self. In their philosophy, your inner consciousness or self is of the nature of Shiva. Their concept of divinity was the conscious self within each of us, which was identical to the universe as it existed.
Nataraja is telling us that most “unawakened” people are living their entire lives as though in a continuous seizure. Ever forgetful, caught up in the machinations and worries and ruminations of everyday life.
The Chidambaram temple in Tamil Nadu was built by the Chola emperors, who considered Nataraja their kula devata.
The Chidambaram deity is also known as “Sabesan” – a shortened version of the phrase “sabayil aadum eesan”. This is a Tamil phrase, but Sanskrit-heavy. Sabayil – in the sabha; aadum – who dances; eesan – ishwara/deity.
Sabha usually refers to a dais, stage, or hall. What’s interesting about the Chidambaram Nataraja temple is that the sanctum sanctorum is referred to as “Chit Sabha”. Chit means consciousness or awareness. So the Chidambaram Nataraja is the deity who dances in the hall of consciousness.
The Chidambaram temple has nine gateways, possibly meant to represent the nine gateways of the human body – one mouth, two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, anus, and genitals. One writer claims that the Chit Sabha has five pillars, to represent the five senses and that the number of tiles on the roof of the sabha is supposed to correspond to the number of breaths a person takes in a day.
It does seem likely, then, that the Chidambaram Nataraja temple is intended as a representation of the human body – a representation of ‘you’.
Nataraja stands within you, in the hall of your consciousness, holding down Apasmara, the embodiment of your forgetfulness. Nataraja’s grace is meant to save you from forgetting your true nature, so you may come out of the seizure-like condition that is the fate of most people’s daily lives.
(Thanks to Anand Venkataraman who works at the Neurology Department at Harvard University)
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