Kalamkari Painting of Dancing Shiva Mahadeva

The beautiful Kalamkari painting depicts the Lord Shiva in His tandava mode of dancing. The dance performed by Lord Shiva is known as Tandava. It is a vigorous dance that is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution. Tandava depicts his violent nature as the destroyer of the universe.
Characteristics of the Tandava Dance have been described in the fourth chapter of Bharat Muni’s Nata Shastra, which is referred to as fifth Veda and an ex-pression of Lord Shiva’s eternal dance - Tandava. It says that Shiva’s Tandava is embellished with 108 karanas and the 32 anghaharas - the composite parts of the dance. Bharat Muni further says that Lord Shiva conceived the dance, as he was very much fond of dancing every evening. Shiva further mentioned that 108 karnas included in tandava could be employed in the course of dance, fight, and personal combats and in other special movements like strolling.
Shiva’s tandava dance symbolizes the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction, as well as the daily rhythm of birth and death. The dance is a pictorial allegory of the five principle manifestations of eternal energy - creation, destruction, preservation, salvation, and illusion.