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Shiva Tandava Stotra (Sanskrit: शिवताण्डवस्तोत्र, romanized: śiva-tāṇḍava-stotra) is a stotra (Hindu hymn) that describes Shiva's power and beauty. It is traditionally attributed to Ravana, the asura King of Lanka and devotee of Shiva.[1]
The stotra is in the Pañca-cāmara Chanda[clarification needed]. It has 16 syllables per line of the quatrain, with laghu (short syllable) and guru (long syllable) characters alternating; the poetic meter is iambic octameter by definition. There are 15 quatrains in total.[2]
Both the ninth and tenth quatrains of this hymn conclude with lists of Shiva's epithets as destroyer, even the destroyer of death itself. Alliteration and onomatopoeia create roiling waves of resounding beauty in this example of Hindu devotional poetry.[3]
In the final quatrain of the poem, after tiring of rampaging across the earth, Ravana asks, "When will I be happy?" Because of the intensity of his prayers and ascetic meditation, of which this hymn was an example, Ravana received from Shiva powers and a celestial sword called Chandrahas.[4][5][6][7][8]
Parts of the stotra was recreated as a song in the following Indian films: