NATARAJ SHIVA O NATUA NACH/ নটরাজ শিব ও নাটুয়া নাচ

Abstract

SHIVA-On the one hand he is the God of Gods and Nataraj. Again in secular tradition he is the father and God of agriculture. Just like on the one side agriculture began through his hand, he also the inventor of dance. We found his love for dancing in different puranas. We saw various types of pictures of dancing Shiva in the wall of temple. Stone idols of Nataraj were found in Harappa.

           Basically, his dances are of two types. The first one is Tandava dance and the second is Mangala dance. Though we are more familiar with the first one. There is not only destruction in this Tandava of Nataraj Shiva, but is a combination of creation - stability - destruction.

          Natua is a very ancient folk dance in western border region of Bengal. It is believed that Shiva has a role as the creator of the dance. Many people think that Natua was born from Tandava dance of Shiva in Daksha Yajna. However, most of the artists and researchers   are of the opinion that this dance was created by Nandi and Bhringi during Shiva's marriage journey and it was on the instructions of Shiva himself. Many also said that Lord Shiva created Natua dance at the request of Devraj Indra by watching the dance of a small bird named Kshama. I have tried to show how Shiva's attachment is connected with this dance.