A 27-foot Nataraja sculpture installed outside the Bharat Mandapam ahead of the G20 Summit weighs around 20 tonnes and took around 3.25-lakh man hours to take shape.
Key points
- This is the tallest statue of Lord Shiva’s dancing form in the world.
- The sculpture has been crafted using eight metals or ‘ashta dhatu’ (copper, zinc, lead, tin, silver, gold, mercury and iron), and has been created in the style of Chola tradition, which was prevalent in the southern part of India, 9th century onwards.
- The Nataraja, or the Lord of Dance, symbolises the omnipresent and the infinite.
- This form of Lord Shiva is a synthesis of religion, philosophy, art, craft and science.
- Nataraja’s idol also has two invisible triangles interlocked representing both Shiva and Shakti.
- The sculpture of Nataraja belongs to the medieval era and originated in South India under the patronage of the Chola Dynasty in 12th century CE.
- Archeometric, iconographic and literary evidence shows that the bronze representations of Shiva’s Ananda Tandava first appeared in the Pallava period between 7th century CE and mid 9th century CE.
- Pallava productions of the Nataraja in bronze were borrowed heavily from the Nataraja wooden sculptures.
- Nataraja is regarded as the ‘Lord of Dance’ and his dance is a manifestation of his panchkrityas or the five activities of Shiva that are creation, preservation, destruction, veiling and grace.
