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Shineva,
The Goddess of Nature
"Shineva
likes to dance to make the sun come out and then the rain to fall on flowering
plants. She helps create the cycle of nature and keeps things growing.
She stands on the ground to represent the earth and roots. In her hand
she holds seeds to represent the beginning of plants. Her headdress symbolizes
the full growth of a plant were new seeds and born."
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Thankful
"Being
thankful for what people give you is nice."
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Shiva
as Lord of the Dance (Shiva Nataraja)
 India,
Tamil Nadu; Chola period, about 970
Copper alloy
1979.20
Above Shiva's right
hand is a small image of Ganga, the personification of the Ganges River,
with her hands in the gesture of prayer (anjalimudra). This figure refers
to the story of how the Ganges River, which originally flowed in the heavens,
came to flow on earth. When the gods permitted it to come down, in answer
to the prayers of a yogi, Shiva agreed to break the crushing fall of its
descent to earth by catching it in his hair.
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