The Naṭarāja Icon : Sources and Descriptions
There are around a dozen traditional source texts bearing on the iconography of Naṭarāja. Colambur Sivaramamurti lists the following Sanskrit texts:
Aṁśumad-bhedāgama,
Kūrma-purāṇa,
Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi,
Devatā-mūrti-prakaraṇa,
Matsya-purāṇa,
Viṣṇu-dharmottara-purāṇa,
Śilpa-ratna,
Śrī-tattva-nidhi, and
Sakalādhikāra
(See his Nataraja in Indian Art, Thought, and Literature, p.150).
The Cidambara-māhātmya offers a fairly detailed and charming description of Naṭarāja. The gist of the verses of this book may thus be stated:
Naṭarāja has firmly stamped one foot of His. The other, the "bent one," (kuñcita-pāda) has a charming anklet. The left hand is also "a little bent" (kiñcid-ākuñcita). The No-Fear hand (abhaya-kara) has a serpentine bangle. The moving drum and blazing fire adorn the other two hands. He has the masculine and feminine ear-ornaments adorning the right and the left ears. A not too conspicuous smile beautifies his face. The Ganges, the serpent, and the "young digit" of the Moon bedeck his tawny, matted hair. The whirling matted hair has tinged the various directions with its hue. In the midst of all this, He looks like a thousand Suns arisen together.
To cite – Cidambara-māhātmya 17.4.43–50:
43 sthāpitaika-padāmbhojaṁ niścalaṁ vag-agocaram |
ṭiryak-kuñcita-vāmāṅghri-lasan-māṇikya-nūpuram ||
44 kiñcid-ākuñcitodbhāsi-vāma-pāṇi-saroruham |
dattā'bhaya-karā''baddha-phaṇi-kaṅkaṇa-bhūṣitam ||
45 calaḍ-ḍamaru-dīptāgni-bhūṣitānya-bhuja-dvayam |
46 tāṭaṅka-śaṅkha-bhūṣābhyāṁ vilasat-karṇapāśakam |
anatisphuṭa-sambhūta-manda-smita-śuci-prabham ||
48 gaṅgā-pannaga-mugdhendu-yuta-piṅga-jaṭādharam |
50 calat-piṅga-jaṭā-bhāra-piśaṅgīkṛta-diṅmukham |
madhye sahasra-bhānūnāṁ bhānu-bimbam ivoditam ||
४३ स्थापितैक-पदाम्भोजं निश्चलं वग्-अगोचरम् |
टिर्यक्-कुञ्चित-वामाङ्घ्रि-लसन्-माणिक्य-नूपुरम् ||
४४ किञ्चिद्-आकुञ्चितोद्भासि-वाम-पाणि-सरोरुहम् |
दत्ताऽभय-कराऽऽबद्ध-फणि-कङ्कण-भूषितम् ||
४५ चलड्-डमरु-दीप्ताग्नि-भूषितान्य-भुज-द्वयम् |
४६ ताटङ्क-शङ्ख-भूषाभ्यां विलसत्-कर्णपाशकम् |
अनतिस्फुट-सम्भूत-मन्द-स्मित-शुचि-प्रभम् ||
४८ गङ्गा-पन्नग-मुग्धेन्दु-युत-पिङ्ग-जटाधरम् |
५० चलत्-पिङ्ग-जटा-भार-पिशङ्गीकृत-दिङ्मुखम् |
मध्ये सहस्र-भानूनां भानु-बिम्बम् इवोदितम् ||