On Monday, January 25, the Museum geared up for one very special delivery: the newest addition to the Red Mountain Garden Club Memorial Sculpture Garden.
The sculpture, Shiva Nataraja (Lord of Dance), is a contemporary Indian piece donated to the Museum through funds given by Dora and Sanjay Singh. Shiva, the Auspicious One, is shown here as the Lord of Dance, a form he takes to bring the universe to an end so that it may be purified and recreated anew.
The ring of flames around the figure is the cosmic fire of destruction. He dances upon a figure that represents ignorance, suggesting that worship of Shiva dispels the ignorance that obscures the truth. This iconography originated in southern India over one thousand years ago. Caste in 2013 at Sri Rajan Industries, a foundry in Tamilnadu, India, the sculpture is a continuation of this sacred tradition.
Visit the sculpture garden soon to view this beautiful new piece! Scroll through the slideshow below to see how the sculpture was lifted up and over the Museum walls into its new home in the garden.
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