Shiva Tandava Stotram
About this text: The Shiva Tandava Stotram was composed by Ravana, the great scholar-king of Lanka, in reverence to Lord Shiva. Despite being the antagonist of the Ramayana, Ravana was a supreme devotee of Shiva and an accomplished Vedic scholar. The 16 verses describe Shiva's cosmic Tandava dance with extraordinary poetic power — cascading Ganga, blazing third eye, crescent moon, and the ḍamaru drum whose beat is the rhythm of creation itself.
Even the most powerful among men composed this as a song of surrender.
जटाटवीगलज्जल प्रवाहपावितस्थले
jaṭāṭavīgalajjala pravāhapāvitasthale
जटाकटाहसम्भ्रम भ्रमन्निलिम्पनिर्झरी
jaṭākaṭāhasambhrama bhramannilimpanirjharī
धरारधरेन्द्रनन्दिनी विलासबन्धुबन्धुर
dharādhareṁdranandini vilāsabandhubandhura
जटाभुजङ्गपिङ्गल स्फुरत्फणामणिप्रभा
jaṭābhujaṅgapiṅgala sphurattaphaṇāmaṇiprabhā
सहस्रलोचनप्रभृत्य शेषलेखशेखर
sahasralochana prabhṛtya śeṣalekha śekhara
ललाटचत्वरज्वलद् धनञ्जयस्फुलिङ्गभा
lalāṭa catvara jvalad dhanaṁjaya sphuliṅgabhā
करालभालपट्टिकाधगद्धगद्धगज्जवल
karālabhāla paṭṭikā dhagaddhagaddhagajjvala
नवीनमेघमण्डली निरुद्धदुर्धरस्फुरत्
navīna megha maṇḍalī niruddha durdharasphurat
प्रफुल्लनीलपङ्कज प्रपञ्चकालिमप्रभा
praphulla nīla paṅkaja prapañca kālima prabhā
अखर्वसर्वमङ्गला कलाकदम्बमञ्जरी
akharva sarvamaṅgalā kalā kadamba mañjarī
जयत्वदभ्रविभ्रम भ्रमद्भुजङ्गमश्वस
jayatvadabhra vibhrama bhramad bhujaṅgamaśvasa
दृषद्विचित्रतल्पयोर्भुजङ्ग मौक्तिकस्रजोर्
dṛṣad vicitra talpayorbhujaṅga mauktika srajor
कदा निलिम्पनिर्झरी निकुञ्जकोटरे वसन्
kadā nilimpa nirjharī nikuñja koṭare vasan
इमं हि नित्यमेवमुक्त मुत्तमोत्तमं स्तवं
imaṁ hi nityam evam uktam uttamottamaṁ stavam
पूजावसानसमये दशवक्त्रगीतं
pūjāvasāna samaye daśavaktra gītaṁ
शम्भुस्तुति कृपया वीक्ष्य प्रसन्नस्तु श्रीरामचन्द्र।
śambhustutiḥ kṛpayā vīkṣya prasannasthu śrīrāmacandra
About the Composition
Ravana composed this stotram after he tried to uproot Mount Kailash — Shiva's abode — to carry it to Lanka. When Shiva pressed the mountain down with his toe, trapping Ravana beneath it, Ravana composed this hymn with his ten heads and twenty arms as an act of surrender. Pleased by the composition, Shiva released him and granted him great boons.
The meter is Jagatī (12 syllables per quarter), classified in Pingala's Chandas-shastra, the foundational treatise on Sanskrit prosody. Ravana's command of this demanding meter while pinned under a mountain demonstrates both his extraordinary learning and the power of genuine bhakti. The stotram is traditionally recited during Pradosha time and on Shivaratri. The Shiva Purana (Vidyeshvara Samhita) prescribes Pradosha as an auspicious window for Shiva worship, and Shivaratri as the night Shiva performed the cosmic Tandava.