"The Chidambaram tableau: Śiva dances the ananda tandava, the eternal dance of creation and destruction.
Śiva, dressed in a tiger skin, dances the ananda tandava, the eternal dance of creation and destruction. His figure set off by a blue background is surrounded by a prabhavali. The right foot of the god is firmly planted on the spine of the wriggling and dwarfish Apasmara purusha, who represents ignorance. In his right upper hand the god carries the damaru, in his left upper hand, the fire. His lower right hand is in abhaya mudra and his lower left points at his raised foot. The Ganga peeps out of his crown of matted hair and in the whirling of the dance, some dreadlocks have become loose and fly around his person. A wreath of severed heads hangs from his neck. The crescent moon rests on his forehead above the tripundra marks. (In all these Śiva images of this album the third eye is never emphasized but rather suggested between the eyebrows). The Apasmara purusha carries in his hands sword and buckler. Fangs protrude from his mouth and on his forehead is a conspicuous tripundra. To the left of Nataraja is his consort the green-complexioned Shivakamasundari, robed in a red sari and bedecked with jewels. In her right hand she carries a lotus flower. To the right of the dancing god stand his two foremost devotees, the tiger-footed Vyaghrapada and Patanjali, with the lower body and hood of a snake. Both have hands in anjali mudra. Gandharvas fly above the tableau carrying baskets of flowers and scatter petals on the dancing god."
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