During the pinnacle night of awakened awareness, Shiva, the lord of time, performs the Ananda Tandava, also known as the dance of ecstasy.
Shiva, who is he? Who is the divine dancer in control of space and time? He was there before time even existed. He will still remain when everything has been destroyed and time, space, and matter have all vanished into oblivion.
In The Tao of Physics, Fritjof Capra highlighted the similarity between Shiva’s Tandava and the dance of subatomic particles. “The Dance of Shiva symbolises the basis of all existence,” he wrote. The whole existence of matter, according to quantum field theory, is based on the dance of creation and destruction—a throbbing process of creation and annihilation. Shiva’s dance, then, is the dance of modern physics.
During the pinnacle night of awakened awareness, Shiva, the lord of time, performs the Ananda Tandava, also known as the dance of ecstasy.
Shiva, who is he? Who is the divine dancer in control of space and time? He was there before time even existed. He will still remain when everything has been destroyed and time, space, and matter have all vanished into oblivion.
In The Tao of Physics, Fritjof Capra highlighted the similarity between Shiva’s Tandava and the dance of subatomic particles. “The Dance of Shiva symbolises the basis of all existence,” he wrote. The whole existence of matter, according to quantum field theory, is based on the dance of creation and destruction—a throbbing process of creation and annihilation. Shiva’s dance, then, is the dance of modern physics.
Lord Shiva performed Ananda Tandava or Sada Tandava, his ecstatic dance, to show the sages who he really was. He is shown here dancing atop the ignorance-representing apasmara. The five expressions of eternal energy—Srishti (creation), Sthiti (preservation), Samhara (destruction), Tirobhava (illusion), and Anugraha—are best exemplified by the Tandava (emancipation). This is how the god is shown at the Chidambaram temple.
Shiva and Kali performed the Kali or Shakti Tandava. It represents creation’s divine essence. Shiva’s cosmic awareness serves to unify, preserve, and destroy space-time and matter-energy, which are different manifestations of Shakti. This leads to the universe’s creation, continuation, and destruction. Shiva, who has the sole ability to create, and Shakti are inextricably linked.
Tripura Tandava is the fabulous dance performed by Shiva after killing the three rakshasas, Tarakaksha, Kamalaksha and Vidyunmali. He fought the rakshasas driving the earth as his chariot, Meru as the bow, Sun and Moon as the wheels, Adishesha as the rope, Lord Vishnu as the arrows, four vedas as horses and Lord Brahma as the charioteer.
By destroying these rakshasas he freed the three worlds from evil. Sati Shiva Tandava was performed by Shiva and Sati. It represents the eternal dance of Man and Woman, depicting the unity of Purush and Prakriti which also integrates both the Tandava and the Lasya. Ardhanari Tandava expresses the unity between Nature and God. Shiva took Parvati as a part of himself and assumed the form of Ardhanareeswara – one half man the other half woman in this beautiful dance.
