Nataraja नटराज | Mosaic of the Cosmic Dance | Museum Poster

Some say the cosmic dance is one great motion, grandchild. The mosaic-makers know better. Look — every gold tile is one heartbeat of the dance, one moment of the world being made. The matted hair flying, the drum in his hand, the foot raised. The snake spirals around his arm in tiny tiles of jade. The whole gold sky behind him is one long flame. He dances in fragments, and the fragments make the whole. We are inside this picture too, if we stand close enough. We are made of his tiles.