Siva-line sketch (digital illustration)

Shiva as Lord of Dance (Nataraja) ca. As a symbol, Shiva Nataraja is a brilliant invention. It combines in a single image Shiva's roles as creator, preserver, and destroyer of the universe and conveys the Indian conception of the never-ending cycle of time.Nataraja, states James Lochtefeld, symbolizes "the connection between religion and the arts", and it represents Shiva as the lord of dance, encompassing all "creation, destruction and all things in between". ... It is one of the widely studied and supreme illustrations of Hindu art from the medieval era.