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Hindu God Shiva depicted as Lord of the Dance

Nataraja ( ), also known as Adalvallan , is a depiction of Shiva, one of the main deities in Hinduism, as the divine cosmic dancer. His dance is called the tandava. The pose and artwork are described in many Hindu texts such as the Tevaram and Thiruvasagam in Tamil and the Amshumadagama and Uttarakamika agama in Sanskrit and the Grantha texts. The dance murti featured in all major Hindu temples of Shaivism, as one of the finest illustrations of Hindu art. This form is also referred to as Kuththan , Sabesan , and Ambalavanan in various Tamil texts. The sculpture is symbolic of Shiva as the lord of dance and dramatic arts, with its style and proportions made according to Hindu texts on arts. Tamil devotional texts such as the Tirumurai (The twelve books of Southern Shaivism) state that Nataraja is the form of Shiva in which he performs his functions of creation, destruction, preservation, and is also attributed with maya and the act of blessing his devotees. Thus, Nataraja is considered one of the highest forms of Shiva in Tamil Nadu, and the sculpture or the bronze idol of Nataraja is worshipped in almost all Shiva temples across Tamil Nadu. trampling upon a demon shown as a dwarf (Apasmara or Muyalaka

The classical form of the depiction appears in a pillar of rock cut temple at Seeyamangalam – Avanibhajana Pallaveshwaram Temple constructed by a Pallava King Mahendravarman I in 6th century CE, which is known by Archeological Survey of India and Archeological Survey of Tamil Nadu as the oldest known Nataraja sculpture in India. The stone reliefs at the Ellora Caves and the Badami Caves, by around the 6th century, are also among the oldest Nataraja sculptures in India. Ancient Tamil songs during the Bhakti movement written by the four Shaivite saints of Sambandar, Appar, Manikkavacakar, and Sundarar, popularly known as "Nalvar" (The four) extol Nataraja and describes the Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram as the home of Nataraja as the main deity, dating Nataraja worship way before the 7th century CE. Around the 8th to 10th century, statues emerged in Tamil Nadu in its mature and best known expression in Chola bronzes, of various heights typically less than four feet,

The word Nataraja is a Sanskrit term, from नट Nata meaning "act, drama, dance" and राज Raja meaning "king, lord"; it can be roughly translated as Lord of the dance or King of the dance. According to Ananda Coomaraswamy, the name is related to Shiva's fame as the "Lord of Dancers" or "King of Actors".) or Nṛityeśvara in North India, with all three terms meaning "Lord of the dance". Narteśvara stems from Nṛtta same as Nata which means "act, drama, dance" and Ishvara meaning "lord". Natesa (IAST: Naṭeśa) is another alternate equivalent term for Nataraja found in 1st millennium sculptures and archeological sites across the Indian subcontinent. In Tamil, he is also known as “Sabesan” which splits as “Sabayil adum eesan” which means “The Lord who dances on the dais”. This form is present in most Shiva temples, and is the prime deity in the Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram (Tillai).

Coomaraswamy summarizes the significance of Shiva's entire dance as an image of his rhythmic or musical play which is the source of all movement within the universe, represented by the arch surrounding Shiva. Secondly, the purpose of his dance is to release the souls of all men from illusion. And third, the place of the dance, Chidambaram, which is portrayed as the center of the universe, is actually within the heart. The Nataraja iconography incorporates contrasting elements, a fearless celebration of the joys of dance while being surrounded by fire, untouched by forces of ignorance and evil, signifying a spirituality that transcends all duality. Furthermore, Carole and Pasquale note that the deity showcases the eternal cycle of life (Jiva) from death to rebirth, and how a human being should conquer spiritual ignorance and attain self realization. Srinivasan notes that Nataraja is described as Satcitananda or "Being, Consciousness and Bliss" in the Shaiva Siddhanta text Kunchitangrim Bhaje, resembling the Advaita doctrine, or "abstract monism," of Adi Shankara, "which holds the individual Self (Jīvātman) and supreme Self (Paramātmā) to be one," while "an earlier hymn to Nataraja by Manikkavachakar identifies him with the unitary supreme consciousness, by using Tamil word Or Unarve, rather than Sanskrit Chit." This may point to an "osmosis" of ideas in medieval India. According to Ian Crawford, professor of planetary science at University of London, the cosmic dance of Shiva as Nataraja represents particle physics, entropy and the dissolution of the universe.

Stone reliefs depicting the classical form of Nataraja are found in numerous cave temples of India, such as at the Ellora Caves (Maharashtra), the Elephanta Caves, and the Badami Caves (Karnataka), by around the 6th century. The Asanapat inscription also mentions a Shiva temple in the Saivacaryas kingdom. Literary evidences shows that the bronze representation of Shiva's ananda tandava appeared first in the Pallava period between 7th century and mid 9th centuries CE. Nataraja was worshipped at Chidambaram during the Pallava period with underlying philosophical concepts of cosmic cycles of creation and destruction, which is also found in Tamil saint Manikkavacakar's Thiruvasagam. Archaeological discoveries have yielded a red Nataraja sandstone statue, from 9th to 10th century from Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, now held at the Gwalior Archaeological Museum. Similarly, Nataraja artwork has been found in archaeological sites in the Himalayan region such as Kashmir, albeit in with somewhat different dance pose and iconography, such as just two arms or with eight arms. Around the 10th century, it emerged in Tamil Nadu in its mature and best known expression in Chola bronzes, of various heights typically less than four feet. The depiction was informed of cosmic or metaphysical connotations is also argued on the basis of the testimony of the hymns of Tamil saints. In medieval era artworks and texts on dancing Shiva found in Nepal, Assam and Bengal, he is sometimes shown as dancing on his vahana (animal vehicle) Nandi, the bull; further, he is regionally known as Narteshvara. Nataraja artwork have also been discovered in Gujarat, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. In the contemporary Hindu culture of Bali in Indonesia, Siwa (Shiva) Nataraja is the god who created dance. Siwa and his dance as Nataraja was also celebrated in the art of Java Indonesia when Hinduism thrived there, while in Cambodia he was referred to as Nrittesvara. In 2004, a 2 meter statue of the dancing Shiva was unveiled at CERN, the European Center for Research in Particle Physics in Geneva. The statue, symbolizing Shiva's cosmic dance of creation and destruction, was given to CERN by the Indian government to celebrate the research center's long association with India. A special plaque next to the Shiva statue explains the metaphor of Shiva's cosmic dance with quotations from physicist Fritjof Capra:
Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics. Though named "Nataraja bronzes" in Western literature, the Chola Nataraja artworks are mostly in copper, and a few are in brass, typically cast by the cire perdue (lost wax casting) process.

In modern yoga as exercise, Natarajasana is a posture resembling Nataraja and named for him in the 20th century. A similar pose appears in the classical Indian dance form Bharatanatyam.