The first place we were taken by our guide was a museum that was specifically for the bronze statues of the Hindu gods. There are two camps (as there always seems to be) among Hindus as to which god comes first. Shiva appears to have the edge over Vishnu simply by seniority. Shiva and his consort Parvati are mentioned in earlier texts than Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi. It also looks like this might also have aspects of a northy-southy thingy. Northy favoring Vishnu and southy favoring Shiva, but that is only from an estimate of volume of temples. We’ll talk about the temples in Mamallapuram where everybody is represented in temples that were constructed over a two hundred year period from the 6th to 8th centuries.
Now Shiva and Parvati are an interesting set of deities. They both have bad tempers. And we found out from our guide that when you see the gods with four arms, that is to set them apart from us mere mortals. All of the sculptures and bronzes of Parvati suggest that India was one of the first places where surgeons and/or shaman performed breast implants. As Deb suggests, any woman whose breasts are that large and defy gravity ain't natural. When you see the gods with more than four arms, they’re pissed about something. Shiva got pissed at Parvati's first son who refused to allow him into Parvati’s house so Shiva, in a rage, cut off his head. Overcome with remorse (most abusers seem to have that same trait), he looks to find a replacement but only finds an elephant’s head which he puts on the body. Being a god, the boy doesn’t need anti-rejection meds, so the head stays and Hindus have Ganesh. Once again, Shiva decides that the elephant head was probably not his best choice, so he blesses Ganesh and says that Ganesh will always be the first god Hindis turn to for help. Parvati also has a hot temper and many images of her have many, many arms. Don’t cross Parvati. Been there. Strange as it may seem, the origins of Hindu culture had an equality of men and women, at lease with the gods.
There are depictions of Shiva and Parvati merged into one – half male, half female, but not like what you see in Greenwich Village on Halloween.
But Shiva dances. Of all his faults, Shiva brings some fundamental principles to Hinduism. He even has a different name when he dances. Many professional entertainers do this, so having a stage name of Nataraj is really very avant-garde since these Vedas were written in the 9th and 10th centuries AD. And, Nata is Sanskrit for dance and raj, of course, is king, so eat your heart out John Travolta.
Shiva dances to the rhythm and harmony of life all the time balanced on a demon that represents illusion and ignorance. In a more modern expression “ Grace dances on your face”. Somehow we in the west have lost our ability to translate the tangible expressions of belief into abstractions of such beauty and eloquence. Yo, like what da f__k you talkin’ about? But India has gained, lost, and regained the temple dancing that represented Nataraj's dances that told stories, some didactic, but all very deliberate. Our guide took us to an elite school for the fine arts that keeps the dances alive.
Chennai celebrates a dance festival every December. The school has been around just over 100 years. It was started and endowed by a woman of Indian descent who wanted to revive the dance traditions. The school is a blend of old school and new age. The surroundings are pastoral and the instructors are demanding of the students who come to learn the dance. Note that there is a westerner to the right of the picture. We noted quite a few. It has to be pretty difficult (1) learning the Tamil language, and (2) learning the dance. But telling your friends what you did for the summer: priceless and terribly hip. I took a short video of a practice, but as you will see, I turned the camera to to a vertical orientation, but my camera is not smart enough to turn the image. Of course, neither am I. But I've added some additional pictures below from the school because it was an experience.
The first place we were taken by our guide was a museum that was specifically for the bronze statues of the Hindu gods. There are two camps (as there always seems to be) among Hindus as to which god comes first. Shiva appears to have the edge over Vishnu simply by seniority. Shiva and his consort Parvati are mentioned in earlier texts than Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi. It also looks like this might also have aspects of a northy-southy thingy. Northy favoring Vishnu and southy favoring Shiva, but that is only from an estimate of volume of temples. We’ll talk about the temples in Mamallapuram where everybody is represented in temples that were constructed over a two hundred year period from the 6th to 8th centuries. 
Now Shiva and Parvati are an interesting set of deities. They both have bad tempers. And we found out from our guide that when you see the gods with four arms, that is to set them apart from us mere mortals. All of the sculptures and bronzes of Parvati suggest that India was one of the first places where surgeons and/or shaman performed breast implants. As Deb suggests, any woman whose breasts are that large and defy gravity ain't natural. When you see the gods with more than four arms, they’re pissed about something. Shiva got pissed at Parvati's first son who refused to allow him into Parvati’s house so Shiva, in a rage, cut off his head. Overcome with remorse (most abusers seem to have that same trait), he looks to find a replacement but only finds an elephant’s head which he puts on the body. Being a god, the boy doesn’t need anti-rejection meds, so the head stays and Hindus have Ganesh. Once again, Shiva decides that the elephant head was probably not his best choice, so he blesses Ganesh and says that Ganesh will always be the first god Hindis turn to for help. Parvati also has a hot temper and many images of her have many, many arms. Don’t cross Parvati. Been there. Strange as it may seem, the origins of Hindu culture had an equality of men and women, at lease with the gods. 
There are depictions of Shiva and Parvati merged into one – half male, half female, but not like what you see in Greenwich Village on Halloween.
But Shiva dances. Of all his faults, Shiva brings some fundamental principles to Hinduism. He even has a different name when he dances. Many professional entertainers do this, so having a stage name of Nataraj is really very avant-garde since these Vedas were written in the 9th and 10th centuries AD. And, Nata is Sanskrit for dance and raj, of course, is king, so eat your heart out John Travolta.
Shiva dances to the rhythm and harmony of life all the time balanced on a demon that represents illusion and ignorance. In a more modern expression “ Grace dances on your face”. Somehow we in the west have lost our ability to translate the tangible expressions of belief into abstractions of such beauty and eloquence. Yo, like what da f__k you talkin’ about? But India has gained, lost, and regained the temple dancing that represented Nataraj's dances that told stories, some didactic, but all very deliberate. Our guide took us to an elite school for the fine arts that keeps the dances alive.
Chennai celebrates a dance festival every December. The school has been around just over 100 years. It was started and endowed by a woman of Indian descent who wanted to revive the dance traditions. The school is a blend of old school and new age. The surroundings are pastoral and the instructors are demanding of the students who come to learn the dance. Note that there is a westerner to the right of the picture. We noted quite a few. It has to be pretty difficult (1) learning the Tamil language, and (2) learning the dance. But telling your friends what you did for the summer: priceless and terribly hip. I took a short video of a practice, but as you will see, I turned the camera to to a vertical orientation, but my camera is not smart enough to turn the image. Of course, neither am I. But I've added some additional pictures below from the school because it was an experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment