Chola period / Siva Nataraja / late 10th century

Chola period
Siva Nataraja
late 10th century
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Creator Name: Chola period
Creator Nationality: Asian; Indian Sub-Continent; Indian
Creator Role: Sculptor
Creator Name-CRT: Chola period
Title: Siva Nataraja
View: front
Creation Start Date: 966
Creation End Date: 999
Creation Date: late 10th century
Object Type: Sculpture
Classification Term: Bronze
Materials and Techniques: bronze
Dimensions: H.28 in.
AMICA Contributor: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Owner Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
ID Number: 29.2
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. E. C. Gale
Rights: http://www.artsmia.org/restrictions.html
Context:

Shiva, in his form of Nataraja or Lord of the Dance, was adopted by the imperial Cholas as their family deity. For this reason, images of Shiva performing his cosmic dance became widely popular in South India where the Cholas ruled from the early tenth century. The dance symbolizes the five activities of Shiva as the cosmic deity: creator, preserver, destroyer, remover of illusion and dispenser of grace. The great god tramples the prostrate dwarf Apasmarapurusa, the demon of ignorance. Found in a temple near Pondicherry; the frenzied, destructive force of the cosmic cycle, Shiva's perpetual motion and the sense of unearthly power is fully expressed in this archetypal sculpture.

AMICA ID: MIA_.29.2
Component Measured: height only
Measurement Unit: in
AMICA Library Year: 2000
Media Metadata Rights: ?The Minneapolis Institute of Arts

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