Page 37 - Stone and Bronze, Indian art of the Chola Dynasty, Metropolitan Museum, NYC

her on the mandorla at our left. The flaming mandorla
(prabhavali), oval in shape, has been repaired, the
lower part with the makara heads being substitute
a
for the original.
The energy of the swinging arm seems to flow into
the elegant fingers that point at the tensely arched foot.
The bent and the raised leg are at precisely the ideal
is
angle. The composition perfectly balanced. The di-
vine dancer seems to be, for a timeless moment, sus-
pended in the air, in a magically arrested movement
full of rhythm and grace.
The Amsterdam Nataraja (Figures 37, 38) represents
a somewhat later stage.80 The mandorla, almost circu-
lar, issues from makara mouths and carries numerous
five-pronged flames; a strut connects it with the head-
dress. This type of mandorla does not seem to appear
before the late eleventh century.81 The feathers or
leaves of the headdress, arranged fanwise in two tiers
as at Tanjavur, here have a triangular shape. The god
wears a small bell on his right shin-a feature that ap-
pears on the east gopura at Chidambaram (begun be-
tween 1178 and I2 8).82 The first sector of the lateral
locks is solid; those falling over the neck are bounded
by a necklace.83 The flying, flower-braided locks have
been formalized into a kind of trellis, which now carries
Ganga as well. The sash over the shoulder has lost its
movement; the one around the waist has vanished. Arms
and legs move gracefully and are well balanced, but the
swinging hand and foot are more relaxed.
Torso and head are somewhat inclined to the right,
and the head slightly more turned to the left; this de-

FIGURE 38
Detail of Figure 37 80. Sivaramamurti, Bronzes, pl. 69 b: "twelfth century"; P. R.
Srinivasan, Bronzes, p. 232: "circa I250"; J. Irwin, "The Amster-
dam Nataraja," Marg 4, no. 2 (1950-1951) p. 32: "before 1300."
8 . Compare the Nataraja from Syali (Sivaramamurti, Bronzes,
cessions-that the unique potential of the Nataraja pl. 27 a), whose lateral locks are still more formalized.
motif was realized in all its extraordinary beauty. The 82. Harle, Temple Gateways, figs. 107, 113, I20, 129, 132, p. 63.
83. We can further compare a Nataraja in the National Mu-
great Nataraja in the Rajarajesvara temple (c. ioio) seum, New Delhi (twelfth century?), C. Sivaramamurti, "Some
at Tanjavur (Figure 36) is, both aesthetically and tech- recent sculptural acquisitions in the National Museum," Lalit Kala
a
nically, superb example of Chola bronze-casting. The 1-2 (1954-1955) pp. 113 ff., pl. XL, fig. 8; the ornate openwork
flying locks, interlaced with garlands of flowers and mandorla looks later than the New York image, but the lateral
locks have, on both sides, a solid and decorated first sector. The
ribbons, could not have been carved in stone; nor could Nataraja in the Dharmapuram Adinam at Tanjavur (late twelfth
the fluttering ends of the god's sash. The Dwarf, half century?), P. R. Srinivasan, Bronzes, fig. 234, has a circular
turned, glances up in awe. The goddess of the river prabha, which is connected with the triangular, two-tiered feather
headdress by an extension of the latter, as on the New York icon.
Ganges, tiny mermaid, has become entangled in the The position of the front left hand and the shape of the pedestal
a
lord's tresses and joins her hands in worship; we see are very similar as well.
65