Lord of Dance (Nataraja), As a symbol, Nataraja is an ingenious discovery. It combines in a single image Shiva's characters as creator, preserver, and destroyer of the universe and carries the Indian idea of the endless cycle of time.
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He dances inside a circular or cyclically closed arch of flames (Prabha mandala), which symbolically depict the universal fire that in Hindu cosmology builds everything and utilises everything, in cyclic existence or cycle of life.
His legs are bowed, which proposes an energetic dance.
