The three tenses, past, present, and future are real to mankind, but in divine terms, they are fragments of one Time, called Mahakala; this is one of the names of Lord Shiva, for in him they are united. Many different types of images express this concept, but the most celebrated is undoubtedly that of Shiva as Nataraja, ‘Lord of the Dance’.In his upper right hand, the dancing god holds a drum (damaru) shaped rather like an hour-glass, the skin stretched, across the two extremities; it is sounded by a rapid rocking motion of the hand, producing a loud, staccato noise.