Bliss dance

In this Tamil month of Marghazhi (December-January) falls the festival dear to Shiva called Arudra or Ardra Darshanam. During the nightlong ceremonies, the Lord Nataraja receives elaborate abhisheka and is beseeched for yogic union, prosperity and matrimonial success. The Shaivite festival primarily celebrates the cosmic dance of Shiva Nataraja, the Lord of Dance. Devotees bow before the Lord, who is described in the Chidambaram Rahasyaas being ‘well-versed in the Secret Knowledge’.

He holds a drum in his hand; the moon shines over his head; for he is the Lord who removes the difficulties of those who worship him. In the Little Hall of the Tillai grove, the Lord of Dance dances with fire, “creating and destroying, this heaven and earth and all else”, says a celebrated verse of 9th century sage Manikkavachakar. “The Lord of the Little Chamber is filled with honey,” the saint-poet goes on to sing, “And he will fill me with the sky (nilavu) and make me be.”

Shiva-Nataraja’s dance of creation and destruction has been interpreted as the dance of bliss or anandatandava. It destroys the seeker’s I-sense and leads to liberation by submergence into the cosmic sea of bliss. So, Shiva is identified as supreme consciousness with whom the devotee longs for mystical union.

In another oft-quoted verse, Manikkavachakar hails the Lord as “Unique consciousness (unarve), which is realised (unarvatu) as standing firm, transcending words and earthly consciousness (unarvu)”. The poet begs for a way to tell of the God who lies beyond adjectives.