This brass statue of Shiva as Natesh, the king of dancers, is a rare image-type as in the optimum images representing Shiva performing the dance of dissolution Tandava of Ananda Tandava, he is seen lifting his left leg and not the right one, as here.
In most cases, the image of Nataraj is contained inside a fire-arch, which has great symbolic significance in Nataraj iconography. This Nataraja statue does not have such fire-arch. This form of Shiva with right leg raised was more popular with the Madurai artists in Tamilnadu and is hence sometimes identified as Madurai type image of Nataraj.
The best known Nataraj image with the right leg lifted, is from the early eleventh century, that is, the period of Early Pandyas. It was reported from Poruppumettupatti in Madurai district and is now in the collection of Government Museum, Madras.
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