What is the story of Nataraja (the dancing god) in Hinduism?

 Mourning the death of Sati, Shiva roamed about the world with no sense of the outer world. He was Digambara, and many people were disgusted at the sight of Him, although His Bhaktas realised His power, and fell at His feet. He did not care though and continued strolling. The eternal penance He did made Him so handsome and the nonchalant way in which He carried Himself was charismatic to all who saw Him.

One day, Shambhu had walked into a Yagnashala, in which a couple of Rishis and their wives were commencing a Yaga. Once the ladies set eyes on Shiva though, they melted under His powerful form and the gaze which looked straight forward. They could not focus on the Yaga, but rather wanted to go fall at this mysterious Yogi’s feet and serve Him for the rest of their lives!

The Rishis weren’t oblivious to this. They were enraged at the sight of Shiva, and began to evoke terrible creatures from the fire to destroy this distraction in the form of the Yogi. First from the fire, came a ferocious tiger, which pounced on to the Lord. Without a second glance, Shambhu grabbed the tiger by its throat with a strong hold and killed it, granting its soul Kailasha-Moksha. He then proceeded to skin the tiger, and wrap the skin around His waist. Following the tiger, a cobra came, and Shiva caught it and wrapped it around His right wrist.

The Rishis weren’t outdone yet. Next from the fire came an elephant, which Shiva also killed easily and adorned its hide as His upper garment. The demon which came afterwards was defeated and the annoyed Eeshwara started to dance on his back. This demon is Apasmaara, the demon of ignorance, which represented the Rishis’ mindsets as they chose to ignore the powerful aspects of the Lord, and instead attempt to bring Him down. Shambhu’s long tresses came loose and spread out behind His back, jumping elegantly as an accompaniment to His energetic dance!

To end this war, Shiva grabbed the fire from the Yaga, which had now taken such a wrong turn (!), and held it firmly in His left hand, so as to use at the correct time and for beneficial purposes only.

The pose He chose to stand on, as Nataraja, has Him with four hands, in a spectacular and mesmerising leg position, where the left leg is raised above the knee of the bent right leg, and the lower left hand is bent downwards towards the foot of the right leg, beckoning His Bhaktas to surrender at His feet, the Abhaya mudra giving out reassurance!

The smiling of the face shows Nataraja as one who is undisturbed by His surroundings.

Nataraja is widely worshipped in Shaiva temples around South India, Thillai Chidambaram being the main one, as it is also referred in Shaivism as Bhuloka Kailasham, or the Kailasham visible on Earth!

Jai Bhavani Shankar!