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the 13th centuries, during Chola period, bronzes as large as two metres high of Națarāja dancing his cosmic dance or Kļşņa dancing the tandava on the hood of hundred-headed serpent Kāliya, were favourite subjects for the artists. At a number of great temples of south India — the Bșhadiśvara temple at Tanjore, the Siva temple at Kanchipuram, the Națarăja temple at Chidambaram, the Meenakshi Sundaram temple at Madurai - one sees bronzes of Siva as Națarāja. There are also many such bronzes in several museums in India.
In some ways there is hardly any material - wood, ivory, terracotta, clay, sandalwood – which the Indian artist has not explored to create works of subtle and classic beauty; in all these materials, more than anything else, the dance and the dancing figures have been the most abiding and endearing theme of artistic creation.
Even in textile, specially in the states of Rajasthan, Andhra, Assam and Bengal, colourful and elaborate prints depicting folk dances, and the dances of Krşņa with gopis are popular motifs.
The impulse to adore and decorate the pratimā, idols of devis and devatās as a form of worship and bhakti is very deep rooted in the Indian psyche. This impulse has found profuse expression in the Indian sculpture, specifically as part of temple architecture. But also in frescoes and paintings. There, though always highly disciplined and modulated, this impulse has gone wild. Subtle and strong colours - in garments and jewellery, in flowers and birds, amongst lotuses and peacocks - add new and captivating dimensions to the dancing figures, expressing an all-pervading sense of joy, ananda.
An outstanding dance theme is to be seen in a 7th century fresco painting in Cave 1 at Ajanta. The story is from Mahajanaka
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