Tandava takes its name from Tandu ( taṇḍu), the attendant of Shiva, who instructed Bharata (author of the Natya Shastra) in the use of Angaharas and Karanas modes of the Tandava at Shiva's order. 'King of dance' ) is considered to be supreme lord of dance. In Shaiva Siddhanta tradition, Shiva as Nataraja (lit. While the Rudra Tandava depicts his violent nature, first as the creator and later as the destroyer of the universe, even of death itself, the Ananda Tandava depicts him as joyful. Shiva Tandava is described as a vigorous dance that is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution.

Mudras and postures of sculptures in ancient Indian temples are a mere depiction of spirituality (invoked spirit, the kundalini), which actually is supposed to occur in the person as a fruit of his practices. Tandava mudras and postures occur within the person by itself without volition, if his Kundalini (shakti within) is invoked. The types of Tandava found in the Hindu texts are: Ananda Tandava, Tripura Tandava, Sandhya Tandava, Samhara Tandava, Kali (Kalika) Tandava, Uma Tandava, Shiva Tandava, Krishna Tandava and Gauri Tandava. Performed in a violent mood, the dance is called Raudra or Rudra Tandava. Performed with joy, the dance is called Ananda Tandava. Tandava, as performed in the sacred dance-drama of India, has vigorous, brisk movements. The Natya Shastra, a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts, describes various aspects of the Tandava. Shiva is depicted as dancing the Tandava in his form of Nataraja.

Tandava (also spelled as Tāṇḍavam), also known as Tāṇḍava natyam, is a divine dance performed by Hindu god Shiva. A Shiva Nataraja idol in Tamil Nadu, India For the 2021 TV series, see Tandav (web series). For the 1984 Telugu film, see Tandava Krishnudu.

Shiva tandava stotram singham movie