In this book, Anne-Marie Gaston, a professional exponent of several Indian classical dance styles, combines her knowledge of the oral and literary traditions of Bharata Natyam with an extensive review of Saivite sculpture. She demonstrates that sculptural depictions of Siva, and his manifestations in dance, have a common root in mythology, and shows the interdependence of the two arts through an examination of symbolic stances and postures of the hands and feet. Beginning with a brief historical survey of the dance in India, Gaston discusses its secular-religious functions and the extent to which changing social norms have affected the form.