Elements of Hindu Iconography v2.c16.s7.35

v2.c16.s7.35

The second well-known dance of Śiva is called the Tāṇḍava, and belongs to His tamasic aspect as Bhairava or Vīrabhadra. It is performed in cemeteries and burning grounds, where Śiva, usually in ten-armed form, dances wildly with Dēvī, accompanied by troops of capering imps. Representations of this dance are common amongst ancient sculptures, as at Ellora, Elephanta, and also at Bhuvanēśvara. This tāṇḍava dance is in origin that of a pre-aryan divinity, half-god, half-demon, who holds his midnight revels in the burning ground. In later times, this dance in the cremation ground, sometimes of Śiva, sometimes of Dēvī, is interpreted in Śaiva and Śākta literature in a most touching and profound sense.