[Leica] The Cosmic Dance

[montoid at earthlink.net (Montie)]

+1...and an excellent explanation/story as well!

Montie


>>Hi Jayanand,

That is a beautiful bronze, and a remarkable image.  Thanks for sharing.

Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jayanand Govindaraj" <jayanand at gmail.com>
To: "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org>
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 11:41 PM
Subject: [Leica] The Cosmic Dance


> In October I had gone to the Government Museum here in Chennai, which
> arguably has one of the best collection of South Indian Bronzes in the
> world. One of my favourite subjects for these bronzes is Siva dancing the
> cosmic dance in his avatar as Nataraja or Natesa - this depiction is IMHO
> one the most dynamic subjects in Art - the Museum has dozens of these, and
> this particular piece is the featured one. It is believed that when Siva
> (The Destroyer) finishes the dance it signifies the end of the weary
> universe, and setting the stage for Brahma (The Creator) to create the 
> next
> one. This sculpture is from the Pallava period around the 7th Century AD,
> which is when this depiction originated. They are all made by the lost wax
> method, and that has not changed even to this day. We generally do not 
> keep
> a large bronze of this subject at home, believing that mere humans cannot
> stand the cosmic energy released on an ongoing basis. I remember my
> grandfather getting one as a gift, which he promptly gave to a nearby
> temple, where it is still standing. Anyway, here is the photograph - the
> equipment used was the Nikon D700 with the AFS Nikkor 16-35 f4G lens,
> without flash:
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/album254/20111008_017MuseumC.jpg.html
>
>
> There are a lot of allusions in these bronzes, and those who are 
> interested
> can have a quick look:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nataraja
>
> Comments and Criticism, as ever, welcome.
>
> Cheers
> Jayanand