WASHINGTON DC — The bronze sculpture "Shiva as Lord of Dance (Nataraja)" at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art represents one of Hinduism's most iconic images. Created in Tamil Nadu, India during the Chola dynasty around 990 CE, this masterpiece depicts the god Shiva dancing within a ring of fire, symbolizing the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction. The bronze figure balances on one leg atop a dwarf representing ignorance, with hands displaying symbolic gestures including the "fear not" mudra and holding a drum that beats the universe into existence.

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