Description In the Nataraja sculpture, Shiva is shown as the source of all movement within the cosmos and as the god whose doomsday dance, represented by the arch of flames, accompanies the dissolution of the universe at the end an eon. His dance of creation is said to have been performed in Chidambaram (an important Shaiva center in South India), a place that is identified with both the center of the universe and the human heart. The gestures of the dance represent Shiva’s five activities
