**rudraroopa** – an introduction From Shiva to Bharata, the knowledge of the dance of the destroyer It is said that Bharata, also referred to often as Bharata Muni, was the author of the Natya shastra, the treatise on drama, dance and performance. The shastra, supposed to have actually been written down in its present form between 400 BC and 200 BC, was handed down to Bharata by Tandu, one of Shiva’s attendants. With its genesis on formalising the Taandava nritya of the rudraroopa of Shiva, and extending it to create the framework for the genre of the various schools of dance in ancient India, the natya shastra of Bharata is more closely known to the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam. Bharata conveys through his Natya shastra and from the knowledge received from Tandu that the performance of the Taandava nritya takes the performer into a trance and helps experience the ecstasy of the divine. The dance of the greatest of all yogis, Shiva, in his rudraroopa, with all his fiery emotions and in an uncontrolled manner, is the ultimate pinnacle of dance through which the dancer can invoke God and experience godliness. Bharata’s Natya shastra also instructs about the art of depicting a stage-play or dance along with music and dance. It is said that the Natya shastra was derived from the Natya veda, supposed to be the fifth veda, and contained nearly 36,000 verses or shlokas. The Natya shastra as we now know it, contains 6,000 shlokas attributed to Bharata’s rendition and understanding of the Natya veda and the knowledge received from Shiva’s attendant, Tandu. It is said that Shiva had himself blessed the sage with the name, Bharata, signifying – bha for bhava (mood), ra for raaga (melody) and ta for taala (rhythm). Bharata is supposed to have written the Natya shastra in response to other munis or sages asking him about the Natya veda, and is depicted in a dialogue form. The rendition also informs that Bharata accepts that his knowledge is due to the blessings of Brahma and that his own hundred sons would carry forward the knowledge of the Taandava Nritya, the dance of the destroyer, the depiction of the anger of Shiva, in his rudraroopa. The Taandava nritya, the dance of the destroyer, by Rudra is meant to be a dance-form to depict the five manifestations of energy, namely, Shrishti (creation), Sthithi (preservation), Samhara (destruction), Tirobhava (illusion) and Anugraha (benevolence or grace). There are supposed to be seven well-known and nine lesser-known forms of the Taandava nritya. The well-known forms include the Ananda Taandava, Tripura Taandava, Sandhya Taandava, Sambara Taandava, Kalika Taandava, Uma Taandava and the Gauri Taandava. The dance performed by Shiva in his grief over losing Sati in Daksha’s yagna was the Rudra Taandava. It is said in the Shivapradosha Stotra, that Brahma, Vishnu, Saraswati, Laxmi and Indra play musical instruments and sing in praise of Shiva, when he dances the Sandhya Taandava for Parvati. The Gauri Taandava and the Uma Taandava are said to be the most fearsome, when Shiva dances at a cremation ground and assumes the form of Bhairava and is accompanied by Parvati.