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Vol. 18 | Issue 5 | September-October 201

ISSN 2230-821

Official Publication of

Endocrine Society of Indi

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IndianJournal ofEndocrinology &Metabolism

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Letters to the Editor

Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism / Sep-Oct 2014 / Vol 18 | Issue 5 741

Response to the

Endocrinology and

the arts at the feet

of the dancing Lord:Parathyroid hormone

resistance in an Indian

icon

Sir,Dr. Seshadris[1]article on Apasmara in the religious imageof Nataraja, Lord of dance, is interesting. Though therehave been several publications on the image of Nataraja,

since it was rst studied by Coomaraswamy,[2]there havenot been any scientic publications focusing on the dwarfdevil, Apasmara. Hence, Seshadris article is an importantpublication in this newly emerging eld of Religiousart and Science. However, basing our conclusionssolely on the visual inspection of one particular artwork and also without incorporating the theologicalconcepts into scientic analysis may be an unscholarlyapproach to develop a new eld. Correlating the imagesof Apasmara in different Nataraja images would havebeen helpful; readers may nd a normallooking,i.e. lacking hypothyroid or any neurological stigmata,

Apasmara in the image of Nallur Nataraja createdby artists of Chola dynasty[3] [Figures 1 and 2] whoalso had created the Chidambaram Nataraja image thatDr. Seshadri refers.[1]

Scientic study of religious art should include theological,literary, socio-cultural, and historical viewpoints apart fromvisual inspection of the art. Dr. Seshadris article providesenough mythological/literary background of this image ofNataraja and Apasmara but fails to incorporate various otherangles of scholarly study. Theological studies related to thestory of Nataraja reveal that the dwarf-devil, Apasmara, was

a mental concoction of ignorant sages who had forgottenthat their spiritual powers were because of the grace of LordShiva himself.[1,2]There is no indication in scriptural literaturethat the Lord had to subdue a disabled or crippled being,rather, the devil Apasmara may be considered as a symbolical,artistic representation of spiritual weakness/dwarsm thatthe sages had demonstrated towards Lord Shiva, becauseof their growing arrogance and/or ignorance. One maynote that the synonyms of the word Apasmara, in Sanskrit,include mental derangements such as forgetfulness or loss of

Figure 1: Abronze image of Nallur Nataraja, early Chola dynasty, 900 CE;

Library ARTstore, University of California, San Diego. Note the Apasmara

seated below the dancing Shiva

Figure 2: Magnied picture of Apasmara (left) and Natarajas face (right).

Note that Apasmara is comfortably seated, his face and neck are not

cringed by Lords weight and he seems to be oblivious of the presence

of the Lord dancing on top of him. His facial features are not signicantly

different to that of Shiva (right) and apparently there are no neuropsychiatric

or endocrinal stigmata

memory (apa = loss and smara= remembrance), confusionof mind and Epilepsy (http://www.spokensanskrit.de/).Hence, apasmara can be found as a symptom in variousneuropsychiatric disorders and even among clinicallynormal individuals. Historically, many of the templesof the Chola period had also functioned as mental healthcenters[4]and one may only speculate about the use of danceas a therapeutic tool by ancient Ayurvedic/Siddha physicians

in those temples. While socio-culturally, all the varietiesof dances around the world, including Bharatanatyamin our context, have been used for entertainment andmood elevation, modern researchers have started to usedance as body-mind exercises in treatment programs forneuropsychiatric disorders.[5]

Parameshwaran Ramakrishnan

Center for Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School,

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

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Letters to the Editor

Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism / Sep-Oct 2014 / Vol 18 | Issue 5742

Corresponding Author: Dr. Parameshwaran Ramakrishnan,

Center for Study of World Religions Harvard Divinity School, Harvard

University 42 Francis Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138, USA.

E-mail: par469@mail.harvard.edu

REFERENCES

1. Seshadri KG. Endocrinology and the arts at the feet of the dancing

Lord: Parathyroid hormone resistance in an Indian icon. Indian J

Endocrinol Metab 2014;18:226-8.

2. Coomaraswamy A. The Lord of Dance. The Sunwise Turn Inc.

2 East 31st Street, New York, Published 1918. Available from:

http://www.oriente-e-occidente.com/PDF/The_Dance_of_Siva.pdf

[Last accessed on 2014 Apr 14].

3. Nallur Natarajan, Harvard Artstor. Available from: http://library.

artstor.org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/library/welcome.html#3

|search|6|All20Collections 3A20nallur20nataraja |Filtered 20

Search|||type3D3626kw3Dnallur 20 nataraja 26 geoIds 3D26

clsIds3D26collTypes3D26id3Dall26bDate3D26eDate3D26d

Exact3D26prGeoId3D||1| [Last accessed on 2014 Apr 14].

4. Raghavan DV, Tejus Murthy AG, Somasundaram O. Treatment of

the mentally ill in the Chola Empire in 11 th -12 th centuries AD:

A study of epigraphs. Indian J Psychiatry 2014;56:202-4.

5. Guzmn-Garca A, Hughes JC, James IA, Rochester L. Dancing as

a psychosocial intervention in care homes: A systematic review of

the literature. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2013;28:914-24.

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DOI:

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Author Reply

Sir,I am grateful for the valuable comments in the letter onApasmaras illness. It is gratifying to note that the columnhas found an erudite audience that critically reviews it. Itis with this fullling feeling that I venture to reply to thelearned correspondent.

The real Apasmara is indeed the ignorance of the sagesof the Daruka forest (and indeed the forests in ourhearts). However, the purpose of the column is to lookbeyond the theology and explore an endocrine meaningto the art.

It is true that there are several interpretations of theNataraja bronze, including the famous ve poses in theve sabhas (halls) of which Chidambaram is the mostfamous. The poses of the Lord in each of these aredifferent. The example that the correspondent quotes inNallur, though not one of the ve, is an exquisite exampleof craftsmanship. It may be noted that even in the Nallursculpture, Apasmara is a dwarf, not a grotesque cretinthat stares out from the other forms but an example ofa proportional short stature nevertheless. The absence ofeven a grimace in the dwarf s face is probably testimony

to Natarajas exquisite dancing skills. I had chosen theChidambaram Nataraja only because, while it may not bethe rst, it is certainly the most famous and the most sacred.

In Tamil as well as Sanskrit, in the times gone by, nameswere given based on a cause or reason (kaarna peyar).Thus, one nds references to koon pandian (because hehad a hunch back).[1] or Krishna because he was dark.While Apasmara may represent lesser neuropsychiatricmanifestations, the Tamil term for Apasmara-muyalagan

(derived from muyalvali) points out to epilepsy as thedisease behind the name.[2,3]

The objective of this column is to provide an endocrinelink to the art form. Congenital psuedohypoparathyroidismappears to be a reasonable t to the Chidamabaram andother Apasmaras that explains the whole constellationincluding neuropsychiatric manifestations.[4]I must hastento add that art and sometimes even endocrine diseasedepend so much on the eye of the beholder. The eye doessee what the mind wants it to.

Thank you once again for a stimulating letter that will helpthis column improve.

Krishna G. Seshadri

Professor and Head Endocrinology Diabetes and Metabolism,

Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Corresponding Author: Prof. Krishna G. Seshadri,

Professor and Head Endocrinology Diabetes and Metabolism,

Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai - 600 116, Tamil Nadu, India.

E-mail: krishnagseshadri@gmail.com

REFERENCES

1. Dundas P. The Jains. Routledge. 2002. p . 127.

2. Sundarar. Thevaram 7.2.3. Available from: http://www.shaivam.org/

tamil/thiru07_1.pdf. [Last accessed on 2013 Oct 19].

3. Smith D. The Dance of Siva. Religion Art and Poetry in India.

Cambridge University Press. p. 226-7.

4. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. Vol. 37. 1962. p. 26- 32.

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