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India: Shiva Nataraja or 'Dancing Shiva'. Bronze statuette from Tamil Nadu, Chola Dynasty, c. 11th century. Nataraja or Nataraj ('The Lord (or King) of Dance'; Tamil: Kooththan) is a depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the cosmic dancer Koothan who performs his divine dance to destroy a weary universe and make preparations for god Brahma to start the process of creation. A Tamil concept, Shiva was first depicted as Nataraja in the famous Chola bronzes and sculptures of Chidambaram.
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Photo credit: © Pictures From History / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: 11th, art, arts, asia, asian, bronze, century, chidambaram, chola, dancer, dancing, deity, destruction, dynasty, god, hindu, hinduism, historical, history, image, images, india, indian, koothan, kooththan, lasya, nadu, nataraja, pictures, religion, sabesan, sculpture, shiva, siva, south, statue, statuette, tamil, tandava