Dances of India.pdf - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKADANCES OF INDIADANCES OF INDIACONTENTS1. Acknowledgements 12. Editorial Dr.Padma Subrahmaniam 33. The Dance of Shiva Ananda K. Coomaraswamy 154. The Gift of Tradition K. S. Ramaswami Sastri 205. The Spiritual Background ofIndian Dance Rukmini Devi 256. The Renaissance of Indian Dance andits Consequences Mohan Khokar 307. The Art of Dance Dr. C. P. Ramaswami Iyer 358. The Place of Language in Dance Prof. C. V. Chandrasekhar 409. Waiting in the Wing Usha Jha 4710. The Ramayana in Indian Danceand Dance-Drama Mohan Khokar 5411. The Art and The Artist K. S. Ramaswami Sastri 6012. Kuchipudi Dance V. Patanjali 6213. The Veedhi of Bhagavatam Andhra Dr. V. Raghavan 6914. Bhagavata Mela - Dance-Drama S. Natarajan 7215. Koodiyattom D. Appukuttan Nair 7416. Origin and Development of Thullal P. K. Sivasankara Pillai 7717. Kathakali-The Total Theatre M. K. K. Nayar 8118. Mohiniaattam Dr. (Smt.) Kanak Rele 9719. Bharatanatyam Smt.Chitra Visweswaran 102

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKADANCES OF INDIA20. Dance can Play a Therapeutic Role Smt.Sudharani Raghupathy 10521. Yakshagana Bayalata K. S. Upadhyaya 10822. A Glimpse Into Odissi Dance Dr. Minati Mishra 11523. Mayurabhanj Chhau Dr. (Mrs.) Kapila Vatsyayan 12124. Kathak Dance as an Art -Form Dr. S. K. Saxena 13225. Udayshankar Moni Bagchee 13526. Temples as Patrons of Dance Dr. K. V. Raman 13827. Therukkoothu-The Folk-Theatre ofTamilnad Smt. Shyamala Balakrishnan 14028. Chakkiyar Koothu Mrinalini Sarabhai 14429. Vivekananda Kendra Samachar 14630. Folk-Dances of Gujarat Parul Shah 16931. Folk-Dances of Punjab - Bhangra Dr. (Mrs.) Kapilavatsyayan 17532. Folk-Dances of Haryana Sudhir K. Sharma 17833. Folk-Dances of Madhya Pradesh Dr. (Mrs.) Kapila Vatsyayan 18134. Natya Tradition in Maharashtra Sucheta Bhide 18435. Folk-Dances of Rajasthan Dr. (Mrs.) Kapila Vatsyayan 18836. Folk-Dances of West Bengal Dr. (Mrs.) Kapila Vatsyayan 19237. Manipuri Dance Darshana Jhaveri 19438. Folk-Dances of Arunachal Pradesh Niranjan Sarkar 19640. Assamese Dance Pradeep Chaliha 205

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAWe are very thankful to artiste Kalpanawho managed to get a good. number ofvaluable photographs which have beenused in this volume. Our thanks are alsodue to ‘SITRA’ who did the cover design inspite of his heavy pre-occupation withother commitments. We are indeed verythankful to M/s. Rajsri Printers for theirneat handling of the work and the speed2DANCES OF INDIAwith which they executed the wholevolume. While every care has been takento see that no party is left out in ouracknowledgement for their meritoriousassistance and co-operation, we earnestlysolicit forgiveness for any mistake ofomission or commission which, of course,has not been deliberate.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA3DANCES OF INDIABHARATIYA NATYA AND NRITTAEDITORIALDr. PADMA SUBRAHMANIAMThe earliest extant literature on thesubject of Indian Dance is Bharata’sNatyasastra. There seems to havebeen some Nata Sutras even before thisSastra was penned. But they have eitherbeen lost or got dissolved into the presentNatyasastra. The term Natya encompassesin itself all the artistic elements of theTheatre Art. Dance was only a part ofdrama in ancient India. But drama itselfwas mostly danced. There was hardly anybifurcation between these arts in the trueHindu theatre. Like the Hindu religion, whichis itself a fusion of the Aryans’ . Vedicyagna and the non-Aryans’ Agamic puja,the Hindu theatre also took the form of ahomogeneous presentation of dance anddrama. Dance seems to have been afavourite sport of the non-Aryans, whiledrama, with its literary beauty was theAryan’s love. The art of dance developedas drama through its getting mingled withthe Aryan culture. Natya was the termwhich indicated this composite whole. Theterm Sangita was always referred to in itstriple aspects viz., Gita (song), Vadya(instrumental music) and Nritta (dance).All the earlier works on Sangita hadchapters on everyone of these elements.Natya included these three plus drama too.The Natya sastra is an unsurpassedcompendious work dealing with all theseelements in totality and running to thirtysixchapters. It is highly probable that thiscomposite work was written during thecourse of a few centuries, by authors ofthe same pen-name. Hence this work maybe considered as an extraordinarycompilation of a series of supplementaltreatises on the subject. This clearly provesthe exclusive importance that the nucleusof the original treatise on Natya and itsauthor Bharata enjoyed in the ancient Hindusociety.Natya, in its complete form consists ofmusic, dance and communication throughexpression. Of these, the second and thirdelements are known as Nritta and Abhinaya,respectively. The Natya- sastra describesall these elements in great detail. Later,authorities like Saarangadeva (12thcentury A.D.) recognised another formcalled Nritya and defined it as arepresentational kind of Nritta. ButBharata’s period had the arts of only Nrittaand Abhinaya as parts of Natya. Nrittacould be handled in two ways, viz., Uddhata(gracefully forceful) and Sukumara(gracefully soft). These obtained thenames of Tandava and Lasya perhaps onlyafter Kalidasa’s time. During Bharata’s

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAperiod, the term Tandava seems to havebeen a synonym of Nritta. The Aryans seemto have freely incorporated the art of Nrittainto their Natya. Ever since then, Natyawas almost suffused with Nritta. Its actualplace in it is revealed through the study ofthe nature of Natya.The goal of any Natya is only to createRasa. Rasa is the enjoyment of an aestheticbliss’ derived through witnessing or readinga production. The process through whichthis is achieved is the sub- structure ofthe varied rules analytically laid down inthe Natyasastra. The Bhava, i.e. feeling,contained in a situation and the characterinvolved has to be expressed by the actoror the writer, as the case may be, in sucha way that it can be understood by theonlooker or reader. Unless the feelings andideas are communicated, the audiencecannot share those feelings, whichultimately is responsible for evoking Rasa.The art of communication is calledAbhinaya. There are four mediums ofexpression available for the artists. Thisanalysis, given in the Natyasastra, is soaccurate and universal that it is valid eventoday, for any production in any part ofthe world. The four Abhinayas are: Angika(physical), Vachika (verbal), Aharya(external) and Satvika. (internal)Angikabhinaya is the art of physicalexpression. The entire human body hasbeen analysed in the Natyasastra as Angas(major limbs) and Pratyangas (minor limbs).Later, authorities added to this classificationthe Upangas (subsidiary limbs) which inturn, were divided as those belongingexclusively to the face and those of theother limbs of the body. Exercises from head4DANCES OF INDIAto foot are prescribed for each limb, basedhighly on kinetic principles. The studentwas expected to master these individualexercises and proceed to practisingcombinations of movements of variouslimbs.These exercises are to be meaningfullyutilised to convey ideas and more importantthan that, feelings. This is the essence ofAngika Abhinaya. Physical expression is apart of human nature. The connectionbetween the psyche and the physic is sointrinsic, that even the minutest vibrationof the mind gets easily reflected throughthe body in daily life itself. For instance,nodding the head is part of humanbehaviour while reacting. The force, speedand space of our pacing also reflect theinner composure and conflicts. The art ofphysical expression is hence beautifullyconceived, classified and codified byBharata, to artistically suit a dramaticrepresentation.Angikabhinaya is of two categories. One isthe Padarthabhinaya while the other isVakyarthabhinaya. The former means theexpression of word to word meaning, whilethe latter is a communication of the generalidea of a sentence or even the mood. Forthe actual execution of these, threemediums are given, viz., Sakha, Ankura andNritta. Sakha literally means branch; Ankurais sprout while Nritta is dance. Sakhaindicates the availability of an entiresystem of gesticulation through the hands.A complete language of gestures has beenhanded down by generations of artistes.These hand gestures are of two kinds. Oneis a group of Abhinaya Hastas and the otheris a set of Nritta Hastas. The former is

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAsub-divided as Asamyuta (single hand) andSamyuta (combined hand) gestures. TheseAbhinaya Hastas are used to bring out thePadarthabhinaya. The practical applicationof the given set of Abhinaya Hastas is calledAnkura. The second group of gesturescalled the Nritta Hastasare to be used in Nritta-Dance. These may beused in the art ofVakyarthabhinaya. Themost obvious requirementfor the actors was themasteryoverAngikabhinaya for, thismedium of expression wasused in full measure inancient Natya. This isnothing short ofdemanding dancing talentin actors. The scenes likeSakuntala watering theplants or the beeharassing her, or evenDushyanta riding thechariot, were all enactedwith suitable gestures andmovements. The Caris andGatis involving the legswere to be used torepresent the variouscharacters and situations.Their combinations calledthe Mandalas were to beused to enact fighting sequences. TheAngaharas which involve the Karanas wereprimarily meant for invoking the blessingsof the gods and manes in the preliminaryof the play. They were also to be usedwherever the emotion of love dominated.These Angaharas involve hand gestures.5DANCES OF INDIABut the Mandalas are groups of dancemovements to be used along with holdingweapons like the bow and arrow. TheNyayas or rules for such a handling arealso laid down. The actors were actuallydancers. All these prove that Natya wasenacted as Nritta in allthe practical sense.Abhinavagupta is ofthe opinion that Natyaand Nritta are notdifferent from eachother from the view ofactual practice. Ofcourse, unless one isable to comprehendthe nature of theNatya of those bygonedays, it will notbe possible to digestthe idea of the arts ofdrama and dance notbeing different. TheNatya of ancient Indiawas a wholesomecombination of thepresent day play,opera and ballet. Theexacting nature of thetalent of the artisteswas in the form of theirbeing expected tospeak, sing and dance.Bharata hasmentioned only Natya and Nritta, while theclassification and rigid crystallisation of theterm Nritya, as understood today is notfound in his work. But Nritta itself can bepresented as representational or nonrepresentational.It can be a part of the

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAactual body of the play, or adorn thepreliminary of the same. In any case, Nrittawas considered as a limb of Natya. In otherwords, it is enlisted under Angikabhinayaby Abhinavagupta, the commentator.Sakha, Ankura and Nritta are the threeelements of physical expression. Thismeans that Nritta is the expression of ideasthrough the movements of the entire ‘body.This aspect of Angikabhinaya has gone intooblivion in the course of the past four orfive centuries. Angikabhinaya has come tomean the mere art of hand gestures basedon the Abhinaya Hastas delineated in a morerecent work, viz., Nandikeswara’s AbhinayaDarpanam. The art of using the entire bodyto convey ideas is Nritta according to theBharata tradition. Later, authoritiesclassified Nritya as representational andNritta as non-representational arts. But,Bharata’s Nritta was both re-presentationaland non-representational. It was an art tobe mastered by the actors and dancers.Every major and minor limb was to undergoexercises which were to be practised,independent of each other as well as beingwoven into one fabric. These Vyayamasformed the foundation of Nritta. The limbsof the body are classified as Angas-majorlimbs which include the hand, chest, sides,waist, hands and feet. Upangas are theminor limbs such as the neck, elbows,shoulders, belly, thighs, shanks, knees andheels; the Upangas of the face are eyes,eye-brows, nose, lower lip and chin. Later,authorities like Sarangadeva classified thelimbs into three groups as Angas (majorlimbs), Pratyangas (subsidiary limbs) andUpangas (minor limbs). Exercises for eachof the Angas and Upangas are named anddescribed in the Natyasastra. These are6DANCES OF INDIAso analytical that they almost exhaust thepossibilities of human ability. They createan unlimited scope for the artistic use ofthe body. The pedagogy of the techniquehas been unfortunately lost along with thetechnique itself. Bharata’s Nritta is no easypath. It cannot lend itself for celebratingArangetrams in six months! It does notallow us to get satisfied with the merefootwork technique of the Adavu systemof Sadir or any other isolated dance styleof today. The feet are only one of theAngas and hence the steps are not theend of this demanding style. Every limbhas to be under the control of the dancersin the Bharata Nritta. In the process. ofthis achievement, the first stage is thelearning of the Vyayarnas which areexercises of the Angas and Upangas. Threebasic elements mark the second stage oflearning the Nritta. These are the Sthanas(postures of the body), Nritta Hastas(course of movements of the arms andhands) and Caris (the specific way ofmoving the leg). Then comes theparticularisation of the combinations of thethree elements of Nritta Hasta, Sthana andCari. Any such single combination is giventhe name Karana. The Natyasastra hasenlisted and enumerated 108 suchcombinations under the name of Karanas.The Karanas should be understood as aunit of Nritta. The foundation as well asthe pinnacle of Bharata’s Nritta is theKarana.Before going into the details of theKaranas, it is essential to grasp the conceptof its elements. Sthana denotes the Sthithior the static aspect. It is the definiteposture of the body which decides the

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAphysical lines and the space the bodyoccupies. These Sthanas depend on thevaried positions of the feet. Sthanas arebased on the Padabhedas such as Sarna,Parswa, Tryasra, Ancita, Agratalasanchara,Suci and Kuncita. The Sthanas involve thepositions of the entire legs unlike thePadabhedas which involve only the feet.The knees play a prominent role in thisformation. Bharata has mentioned sixSthanas for men in Chapter and three forwomen in Chapter XIII.This does not mean thatthey cannot or should notbe used by the contrarysex. In addition to thesestanding postures, he hasgiven nine sitting postures(Asanas) and six recliningpostures in Chapter XIII.Sarangadeva has given alist of fifty Sthanasincluding Desi (Folk, Noveland Exotic) postures. TheSthanas of Bharata andSarangadeva do notinvolve the hands. Butlater works like the Naiyasastra Sangraha prescribethe hand gestures for theSthanas. Sthanas orSthanakas, as they are variedly referredto, are in short definite positions of thebody in which the legs and hands are tobe moved in a Karana.The second element of major importancein a Karana is the Nritta Hasta. Hastas arethe hand gestures which can be broadlyclassified as those of communicativesignificance and others of mere aesthetic7DANCES OF INDIAvalue. The former is called Abhinaya Hastaand the latter type connected with Nrittais called Nritta Hasta. The Abhinaya Hastasare also of two kinds, viz., Asamyuta-singlehand gestures and Samyuta—com- binedhand gestures. Bharata has given a list of24 Asamyuta, 13 Samyuta and 30 NrittaHastas. The main difference between theAbhinaya Hasta and Nritta Rasta is in theirstatic and dynamic qualities. The originalform of the Abhinaya Hasta is static andinvolves just the fingers.This static form of AbhinayaHasta is motivated inseveral ways to bring outseveral ideas. For example,the first Abhinaya Hasta,Pataka literally meaningflag, can be moved invarious ways to depictideas such as you, me, sky,floor, clouds, opening orclosing doors, welcoming ordriving out and many othersuch contrary ideas. Buteach Nritta Hasta has adefinite course of actioninvolving the entire armsand not just the palms;thirty such actions aredescribed. These actionsdepend on the four Hasta Karanas (fourways of whirling the wrists). The thirtyNritta Hastas are based on such rollingactions of the hands and arms. The NrittaHastas of Bharata’s period are nowobsolete; only a few are seen scattered inthe various dance styles.The third element that constitutes theKarana is the Cari. It has its roots in Car

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAwhich means to move one’s self, go, walkor roam about, get diffused and to continueperforming. The term Cari indicates all themeaning given for its root. Bharata definesit as the simultaneous movements of thethigh, shank and feet. Hence, the Cari is amovement which causes the action of theentire leg. Thirty-two such Caris aredescribed under the classification of BhuCari and Akasa Cari. The sixteen Bhu Carisare the movements of the feet close tothe ground while the sixteen Akasa Carisare movements, involving leaps, jumps andextensions of the leg off the ground. TheseAkasa Caris remind us of some of the Pliesof the Western Classical Ballet. Hence, itis erroneous on the part of some scholarsto assume that Indian Dance has nomovements involving actions on the air orhaving the extension of the thighs. Thiswrong impression is caused by the factthat these Akasa Caris have becomeobsolete in the presently known traditions.The Karana, being a combination of Sthana,Nritta Hasta and Cari, is certainly amovement and not a mere pose as normallybeing misunderstood. Karana has its rootin Krn meaning doer, causer, doing,making,producing, helping the act of doing and onthe whole, any action. The word Karanaalso suggests the idea of being aninstrument, an element and an Anga or partof something, and in dance, it is a unit ofaction. We have words like Antahkarana,meaning an inner part, i.e., the conscience.We also have the popular usage like ‘ManasaVaca Karmanaha tridha Karanani’ meaningby the three means of thought, word anddeed. Hence, Karana is a means to someend. Karanas are woven to form an8DANCES OF INDIAAngahara (a chain of dance movements).The major difference between thetechnique of Bharata’s Nritta and that ofour contemporary Nritta is in the use ofthe legs, space and patterns. Theextension of the legs caused by the AkasaCaris have been practically lost. All thepresent styles depend on the foot-worktechnique only. The use of the legs fromthe root of the thighs down to the toeshas been out of vogue for nearly fivecenturies. The various aspects of BharataNritta are seen scattered in the so-calledregional styles and very often seen in theneighbouring cultures of Ceylon, Burma andIndonesia. The distinctions of the regionaldance styles of India are because each ofthem has just either retained orconcentrated on the isolated aspects ofNritta. The Kathak has the Sarna Sthanaas its main stay, while the Sadir and itssister styles have the Mandala Sthana.The Vaisakha and Vaishnava are seen morein the Kathakali. The Hasta Karanas andsome Nritta Hastas are retained in Manipuriwhile the South has managed to preserveall the Abhinaya Hastas. In the eyes ofthose who have studied the practicalaspects of the Naiya sastra, almost anydance style of our country reveals a basicunity in the apparent diversity. Almostevery dance movement can be explainedagainst the backdrop of the Natyasastra.The unlimited scope offered in this text,when used in practice, gives room forunending variety.The new term Bharata Natyam for the olderterm Sadir has created a fair amount ofconfusion in regard to its antiquity. This

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAstyle is just one kind of Bharata Natyam,if we take the term Bharata Natyam tomean that Natya which follows Bharata’swork. It is partiality to associate the nameof this great sage with just one of thestyles that still retains the traces of hisNatyasastra. In fact, the present BharataNatyam is more of Nritta and Nritya in itsnature than Natya in its true sense. Everystyle of dance has in it some aspect ofthe Natyasastra still lingering. Hence, thevarious styles may be referred to as,Bharata Natyam in Manipuri style,Bharatanatyam in Sadir style,Bharatanatyam in Kathakali style and soon. In the eyes of one who has studiedthe Natyasastra all the so-called majordance styles of India appear like thedifferent shades of the same colour. Arewe not used to recognising all the substylessuch as those of Thanjavur, Vazhuvur,etc., as Bharatanatyam and the Gharanasof Lucknow, Jaipur and others as Kathak?It is only an extension of the same. Theevolution of the Karanas can be seen in allthese styles. Some examples are thechanged forms of Mattalli Karana inKuchipudi, Paraswajanu Udvrittam andMandalaswastikam in Sadir, many of theKaranas involving Tribhang in Odissi,Atikranta and Parswakranta in Kathakali,Vartitam in Mohini Attam, Adhyardhika Cariin Manipuri, Karanas involving Bhramarisin Kathak and Vivrttam in Yakshagana. Theuse of the entire legs and arms in the Carisand Nritta Hastas give the Karanas definitecharacter. These do differ from theestablished and well-remembered classicaltraditions. It is natural that theperformances of these Karanas disturbthose who are soaked in any one of the9DANCES OF INDIAmost angular sub-styles of the Sadir. Thefact is that Bharata’s Nritta is all embracing.A resurrection of the lost technique hasproved that Bharatanatya in its true senseis Bharatiya Natya.Another interesting factor of Bharata’sNritta is that it is suitable for both thesexes. The same set of 108 Karanas aremeant for both the male and the femaledancers. There are no separate movementsfor Lasya and Tandava. In fact, the termTandava is used only as a synonym ofNritta in the Natyasastra. This Tandava iscommon for both the sexes. The chapterdealing with the Karanas is called TandavaLakshanam. The Katanas are called NrittaKatanas. Though their origin is attributedto Lord Siva, it is handled by Parvati Deviand the apsara women too. Hence, wemust realise a basic fact, that though theformat of the action are the same, due tothe inherent differences in nature of themale and female, the ultimate effect isdifferent when they are performed. Theforceful style of presentation is given thename Uddhata and the soft execution ofthe same is called Sukumara. Hence,according to Natya- sastra, Nritta orTandava may be performed as per theUddhata or Sukumara usage. It should alsobe kept in mind that the Uddhata and Sukumarausages are not to be compartmentalisedfor the male and the female dancers.As and when necessity arises, these canbe interchanged in consonance with thecharacter and the situation.Dance, Gymnastics and Acrobatics haveall often got mixed up in the course oftheir development. This is true of the danceof every part of the world. In fact, some

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA10DANCES OF INDIAof the more acrobatic Karanas must beviewed from the point of view of exerciseand in the case of Natya, their proper usein the relevant sequences. For example,the somersault was meant for fightingsequences and certainly not for beingincluded in the Angaharas to represent love.The movements which are more ofacrobatic nature were actually termed asAdhama-inferior in a later work calledMahabharata Chudamani. The ideal Nrittabut not the least Satvikabhinaya-anoutcome of the psychological states ofmind. Vachikabhinaya includes the dialoguesand songs. It may be prose or poetry. Voicemodulation and its control, playa major rolein this form of communication. TheNatyasastra gives even the rules ofprosody. The language employed is alsoexpected to suit the various characters.All the plays of our contemporary theatreseem to utilise only Vachikabhinaya andis that which emanates beauty and joy at that too devoid of songs. Thethe various levels of human understandingand perceptions such as physical,intellectual, emotional and spiritual.Aharyabhinaya included the specific facialmake-up, colours, crowns, jewelry andcostumes for each character.The level of Nritta is directly proportionalto the level of the dancer’s realisation ofher own inner personality; this is quite apartfrom her physical beauty or even skill.Nritta is a spiritual experience for the idealdancer and the ideal audience. It is a meansthrough which the dancer achieves ashedding of her body consciousness. As inYoga, in dance too, the body is trainedonly to be forgotten about. The dancer’sself, integrated with the universal danceof all the constant Cosmic Activity, liberatesher from all the shackles of this earth. Thedancer herself becomes a microcosmicbeing, experiencing within herself unlimitedfreedom and bliss. The result of such aNritta is the same as that of Yoga andYagna.Apart from the art of Angikabhinaya in whichNritta also IS meluded, Indian theatre haslong recognised the use of Vachikabhinayaverbalexpression, Aharyabhinayaexpressionthrough external elements likecostumes, make-up and scenery and lastSatvikabhinaya is perhaps the mostimportant, yet the most difficult mode ofexpression. It cannot be gained throughmere learning or practice. It needs aninnate sense to feel the various situations.It depends on the mental involvement ofthe performer backed by a clear intellectualgrasp of the characterisation to beportrayed. Sat literally means ‘mind’. Evenin actual life, it is most natural that theinner feelings get reflected in the face.Apart from the facial expressions, the eightSatvika conditions are said to be stupor,perspiration, horripilation, change of voice,trembling, change of colour, tears andfainting. The four-fold art of Abhinaya canfurther be classified as Natya- dharmi(stylistic) and Lokadharmi (realistic). TheNatya was the combination of both thesemodes of expression. Natyadharmi pertainsto the conventions of the stage. Forexample, walking around the stage maydenote a change of place. The use ofdance in drama is itself Natya- dharmi.The convention in a play, according to

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAwhich persons are supposed not to hearwords uttered in proximity, or to hear whathas not been uttered at all, are all part ofNatyadharmi. In this conventional stylisticmode, the actor may dance instead ofwalking. In short, anything which is beyondthe purview of realism, but presented inan artistically appealing manner isNatyadharmi. If, on the other hand, theplay depends on natural behaviour,presented as simple acting with noflourishes of even physical expression, it iscalled Lokadharmi.A deeper insight into the Natyadharmi andLokadharmi modes reveal that the formeris formal and perhaps easier to be handledwhereas the latter is informal, but requiresa consummate skill, understanding, mentalinvolvement, imagination and sobriety. Theformer can be taught, but the latter hasto be felt and hence it requires an artisteof greater experience in communication. Itis also true that Lokadharmi, when treatedwell, is more easily understood even by anuninitiated audience. But the Natyadharmireaches only those who are at least fairlywell versed with the conventions of thestage. The use of hand gestures is directlyproportional to the degree of Natyadharmi.It is interesting to note that Bharata hasstated that in superior persons, handgestures should have scanty movements,in mediocre ones, there should be mediummovements, while in the acting of ordinarypersons, there should be profusemovements of hand gestures. But whendifferent occasions or time ‘presentthemselves, wise people should make varieduse of the hand gestures. Bharata has alsomentioned that the hand gestures are to11DANCES OF INDIAbe totally discarded when ne has to enactsituations such as fainting, dreaming orbeing terrified, disgusted or overcome bysorrow and so on. Such scenes need to beenacted through Satvikabhinaya.This expression of inner feelings withoutthe use of gestures is closer to the conceptof Lokadharmi or realism. Hence thesituations and characters fully charged withemotion are expected to depend only uponSatvikabhinaya in the Lokadharmi style.Bharata’s Natya was a combination of boththe stylistic and the realistic modes ofexpression, thus adding to its unendingvariety.Apart from the differences in the modes ofcommunication, Natya on the whole, is tobe constructed in one or a mixture of thefour styles called Vrittis. They are Bharati,Arabhati, Satvati and Kaisiki. Here they areinterpreted from a practical point of view.Bharati is the verbal style, depending mainlyon the beauties of Vachikabhinaya. Use offlowery language as well as the slangsuitable for the specific characters are themain features of this Vritti. The merereading of the play itself must be satiatingin the Bharati Vritti. Language and dictionwith proper voice modulation mark thestrength of this style. Arabhati Vritti is theforceful style characterised by apredominance of combats, arousing thepsychological states of fury, hatred andwonder. The combats are to be performedthrough the use of Mandalas. Hence itinvolves a fair amount of Natyadharmi withAngik- abhinaya of the Uddhata or forcefulnature. It also needs pageantry andglamour through elaborate scene settings,

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAcostumes and make-up. HenceAharyabhinaya plays a major role in theArabhati Vritti. Satvati Vritti depends mainlyon the strength of the emotional content.The main feature are the moulding of thecharacters, and story with enough scopefor Satvikabhinaya. This naturally amountsto a greater use of Lokadharmi with only alittle use of gestures. Satvati has beentranslated as the ‘Grand Style’. Perhapsthis description suits the glamour of theArabhati style. Sat denotes psyche andhence Satvati Vritti may be understood asthe emotional style, whereinSatvikabhinaya dominates. Satvika alsodenotes the Satvaguna-the superiorqualities of human thought and itsconsequential behaviour, the other qualitiesof a relatively lower gradation beingRajoguna and Tamoguna. The play inSatvati Vritti is expected to portraycharacters of higher qualities. Even if thereare sequences of fights and personalcombats, they must be based on theNyayas (strict adherence to the properrules). Of course, the essence of all Indianplays is the victory of the good over theevil. The Satvati Vritti needs to suppresseven sorrow. This style, on the wholeshould be taken to require subdued acting(without being demonstrative) with arealistic expression of feelings andconcepts of a superior nature.The Kaisiki Vritti is different from the SatvatiVritti in its Natya- dharmi character. Kaisikineeds delicate emotions like, love,portrayed through Angikabhinaya. It needsthe support of glittering costumes, lil- tingmusic and cultivated dance, all meltingtogether to make an amalgam of12DANCES OF INDIApleasantness. It needs beautiful women,like the heavenly damsels, the Apsaras.They are said to have been created byLord Brahma to fulfil the requirement ofthis Vritti. It is likely that it is the conceptof Apsaras that gave to the Indian stagethe Kaisiki Vritti itself. This idea of femininegrace-Lasya-which has come down to thisday is certainly a product of the influenceof these imaginative dancing demigoddesses.The Kaisiki Vritti is still seenhaving its sway in the Indian movies whereinthe heroine is unhesitatingly portrayed assinging and almost dancing the patheticsongs, even when portraying thecontemporary society. The stylism in theIndian movie is the result of its inheritancefrom the traditional Indian theatre. Theolder Tamil dramas of this century were,and are still marked by a profuse use ofmusic. Such musical dramas of Tamilnaduhave their own parallels in other parts ofour country.The most amazing fact is the permanentvalue of Bharata’s analysis andclassifications of the art of dramaticpresentation. The ideas of the four modesof communication, realism, stylism and thefour basic styles of the theatre art holdgood, for any part of the world and at anypoint of time. Almost any production can.be analysed against this basic backdrop ofthe Natyasastra.The Natyasastra does not stop with themere analysis of the Vrittis. It has alsogiven advice to artistes regarding thechoice of the specific styles, in a pure ormixed fashion· to suit the taste of theaudience of the various regions. These arebroadly classified under four Pravrittis,

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAtaking geographic divisions intoconsideration. These are calledDakshinatya, Avanti, Odramagadhi andPanchali. The geographical namesmentioned in the Natyasastra with regardto these Pravrittis are met with in thePuranas. The Dakshinatya Pravritti pertainsto the land south of the Vindhya mountainsand uses the Kaisiki Vritti. Avanti belongsto the western region and makes use ofthe Kaisiki and Satvati Vrittis. Odramagadhiis meant for the eastern region includingNepal and is expected to use the Kaisikiand Bharati Vrittis. Panchali is with regardto the northern region; For this the Satvatiand Arabhati Vrittis are recommended.Combinations in varying degrees of thedifferent elements of Naiya like the fourAbhinayas, the two Dharmis and the fourVrittis with all the aspects of Sangita viz.,Gita, Vadhya and Nritta gave rise to anumber of major and minor types of drama.These were the Rupas or Rupakas, and theUparupakas respectively. Bharata mentionsonly the ten major Rupas. Later historyshows that many minor plays calledUparupakas were developed as dance andmusic dramas. All the present operatic,dramatic and dance forms can be studiedin relation to the older Rupakas andUparupakas.In this context, the dance known asBharatanatyam today, is neither Naiya inits true sense nor does it faithfully followBharata. It has the aspects of Nritta andPadarthabhinaya performed mostly as solodance. In fact, it is closer to the conceptof Lasya as found in the Naiya-sastra.Lasya, according-to Bharata’s work,includes a set of songs or verses to be13DANCES OF INDIAsung or recited by a solo female dancer.These are at least somewhat similar to thegeneral format of the present Bharatanatyam.But this Lasya of Bharata’s workis only one of the sparks from the greatfire of Natya which was of a majorcomposite structure. Except the AbhinayaHastas, the present Bharatanatyam hasnot retained many of the intricacies of evenBharata’s Nritya and Abhinaya.There are other dramatic forms· which areclose to Bharata’s Natya in their conceptionif not in their technique. The Therukkoothuand Bhagavatamela of Tamilnadu, Koodiattamand Chakkiarkoothu of Kerala, theBhagavata Atta of Kuchipudi and of othersimilar villages of Andhra, and theYakshagana of Karnataka, are some of thetheatrical forms which show an underlyingunity in their format in spite of theirlinguistic diversity. All these forms aredescendants of Bharata’s Natya and henceall the four Abhinayas play an equal role inthem. The artistes are expected to speaksing and dance. Mime plays a major role inthem. The songs are in the local languages.But the general character of these playsis highly unified. There is a striking similarityeven in their Aharya. The large crowns thejewels, their shoulder pieces and the makeuphave a striking similarity. The charactersare represented with their suitable Gatis(gaits) along with the songs called Darus.The origin of the Daru can be traced in theDruva, a musical form mentioned in theNatyasastra. The types of Darus arecommon to all these. Only their names andmetres change. The Sutradhara (thedirector of the play) introduces the play inthe prologue. He is called the Kattiyakkaran

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAin Tamil. The Tiraisilai (the hand-heldcurtain) is used in all these forms tointroduce major characters. Except theKoodiattam, all these other theatre formsare enacted only by male artistes.14DANCES OF INDIABharata’s tradition. Hence, like a livinglanguage, the performing arts of India havealso been undergoing changes constantly.This does not mean that they ever losttheir roots at any point of time.Bharata’s Natya is so comprehensive thatits elements are invariably met with in ascattered manner, even in the remotestcorners of our country. Its compendiousnature is a testimony to the unparalleledartistic and intellectual synthesis of ancientIndian theatre. With the help of this Sastra,we are able to analyse and appreciate anytheatrical form of the world. It is amazinghow this art had been fully developed in allthe possible aspects, even at a period whensome parts of the world were still sleepingin the cradle of civilisation. The unlimitedscope it offers for creativity, in spite ofrecording even the minutest detail of theart of action and acting, speaks for theunending variety of interpretation, thatgenerations of artistes have been able toconceive for the same rules.The general impression of some scholarsthat Indian theatre offers no scope forcreativity and imagination is actuallybaseless. The Natya- sastra and othertexts are like grammar and the artistes whohandle them are like poets. The freedomwhich poets have within the frame-workof the rules of grammar and prosody, iscertainly enjoyed by the actors anddancers. The terms Margi and Desi in bothmusic and dance signified the older andnewer forms. As centuries passed, thespontaneous creativity of the artistes ofvarious regions were also codified underthe name of ‘Desi’; ‘Margi’ signifiedThe Indian artiste finds audience of thelevel of appreciation which is equal to herown mental calibre. After all, Natya is saidto yield all the fruits of life-Dharma, Artha,Kama and Moksha. Hence the artistes havebeen and are still serving as poets, usingthe rules laid down in the Sastras to createtheir own worlds of art.Bharata’s Natya has its deep roots in everypart of our country. It has also spread itsprinciples at all the levels of appreciation.Natya is an imitation of the three worldsand hence all types of characters areincluded in it. It has always had theresponsibility and capacity to satisfy peopleof various tastes. In spite of laying thequalities of even an ideal spectator,Bharata says that the inferior and commonpersons in an assembly which consists ofthe superior, the middling and the inferiormembers, cannot be expected toappreciate the performance of the superiorones. And hence an individual to whom aparticular dress, profession, speech andan act belong as his own, should beconsidered fit for appreciating the same.That is why we need Sahrdaya (audienceof equal mental calibre) to make theperformance of Natya a real success. Aswater finds its own level, Natya too findsits own audience at various planes ofhuman perception.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA15The Dance Of ShivaDANCES OF INDIAANANDA K. COOMARASWAMYThe Lord of Tillai’s Court a mysticdance performs; What’s that, mydear?”- Tiruvachagam,XII.14Amongst the greatest of the names ofShiva is Nataraja, Lord of Dancers, or Kingof Actors. The Cosmos is His theatre. Thereare many different steps in His repertory.He Himself is actor and audience-When the Actor beats the drum,Everybody comes to see the show;When the Actor Collects the stagepropertiesHe abides alone in His happiness.How many various dances of Shiva areknown to His worshippers I cannot say. Nodoubt the root idea behind all these dancesis more or less one and the same, themanifestation of primal rhythmic energy.Shiva is the Eros Protogonos of Lucian,when he wrote:“It would seem that dancing came intobeing at the beginning of all things, andwas brought to light together with Eros,that ancient one, for we see this primevaldancing clearly set forth in the choraldance of the constellations, and in theplanets and fixed stars, their inter-weavingand interchange and orderly harmony”.I do not mean to say that the mostprofound interpretation of Shiva’s dancewas present in the minds of those whofirst danced in frantic, and perhapsintoxicated energy, in honour of the pre-Aryan hill-god, afterwards merged in Shiva.A great motif in religion or art, any greatsymbol, becomes all things to all men; ageafter age it yields to men such treasuresas they find in their own hearts. Whateverbe the origin of Shiva’s dance, it becamein time the clearest image of the activityof god which any art of religion can boastof. Of the various dances of Shiva, I shallonly speak of three, one of them aloneforming the main subject of interpretation.The first is an evening dance in theHimalayas, with a divine chorus describedas follows in the Shiva Pradosha Stotra:“Placing the Mother of the Three Worldsupon a golden throne, studded withprecious gems, Shulapani dances on theheights of Kailasa, and all the gods gatherround Him:“Saraswati plays on the Vina, Indira onthe flute, Brahma holds the time-markingcymbals, Lakshmi begins a song, Vishnuplays on a drurn, and all the gods standround about:“Gandharvas, Yakshas, Patagas, Uragas,Suddhas, Sadhyas, Vidyadharas, Amaras,Apsarasas, and all the beings dwelling inthe three worlds assemble there to witnessthe celestial dance and hear the music ofthe divine choir at the hour of twilight”.Thisevening dance is also referred to in theinvocation preceding the Katha SaritSagara.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAIn the pictures of this dance, Shiva is twohanded,and the co-operation of the godsis clearly indicated in their position ofchorus. There is no prostrate Asuratrampled under Shiva’s feet. So far as Iknow, no special interpretations of thisdance occur in Shaiva literature.The second well-known dance of Shiva iscalled Tandava and belongs to His tamasicaspect as Bhairava or Virabhadra. It isperformed in cemeteries and burninggrounds, where Shiva, usually ten-armedform, dances wildly with Devi, accompaniedby troupes of capering imps.Representations of this dance are commonamongst ancient sculptures, as at Ellora,Elephanta, and also Bhuvaneshvara. TheTandava dance is in origin that of a pre-Aryan divinity, half-god, half-demon, whoholds his midnight revels in the burningground. In later times, this dance in thecremation ground, sometimes of Shiva,sometimes of Devi, is interpreted in Shaivaand Shakta literature in a most touchingand. profound sense.Thirdly, we have the Nadanta dance ofNataraja before the assembly (sabha) inthe golden hall of Chidambaram or Tillai,the Centre of the Universe, first revealedto gods and rishis after the submission ofthe latter in the forest of Taragam, asrelated to the Koyil Puranam. The legend,which has after all, no very closeconnection with the real meaning of thedance, may be summarised as follows:In the forest of Taragam dwelt multitudesof heretical rishis, following of the Mimamsa.Thither proceeded Shiva to confute themaccompanied by Vishnu disguised as a16DANCES OF INDIAbeautiful woman, and Adi-Shesha. Therishis were at first led to a violent disputeamongst themselves, but their anger wassoon directed against Shiva, and theyendeavoured to destroy Him by means ofincantations. A fierce tiger was created insacrificial fires, and rushed upon Him; butsmiling gently, He seized it, and, with thenail of His little finger, stripped off its skin,and wrapped it about Himself like a silkencloth. Undiscouraged by failure, the sagesrenewed their offerings, and produced amonstrous serpent, which, however, Shivaseized and wreathed about His neck like agarland. Then He began to dance; butthere rushed upon Him a last monster inthe shape of a malignant dwarf, Muyalaka.Upon Him the god pressed the tip of Hisfoot, and broke the creature’s back, sothat it writhed upon the ground; and so,His last foe prostrate, Shiva resumed thedance witnessed by gods and rishis.Then Adi-Shesha worshipped Shiva, andprayed above all things for the boon, oncemore to behold this mystic dance; Shivapromised that he should behold the danceagain insacred Tillai, the centre of theUniverse.This dance of Shiv a in Chidambaram orTillaiforms the motif of the South Indian copperimages of Shri Nataraja, the Lord of theDance. These images vary amongstthemselves in minor details, but all expressone fundamental conception. Beforeproceeding to enquire what these may be,it will be necessary to describe the imageof Shri Nataraja as typically represented.The images, then, represent Shiva dancing,having four hands, with braided and jewelledhair of which the lower locks are whirling

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAin the dance. In His hair may be seen awreathing cobra, a skull, and the mermaidfigure of Ganga ; upon it rests the crescentmoon and it is crowned with a wreath ofCassia leaves. In hisright ear, He wearsa man’s ear-ring, awoman’s in the left;He is adorned withnecklaces andarmlets, a jewelledbelt, anklets,bracelets, fingerand toe rings . Thechief part of Hisdress consists oftightly fittingbreeches, and Hewears also afluttering scarf anda sacred thread.One right handholds a drum, theother is uplifted inthe sign of do notfear: one left handholds fire, the otherpoint’; down uponthe demonMryalaka, a dwarf holding cobra ; the leftfoot is raised, There is a lotus pedestal,from which springs an encircling glory(tiruvasi), fringed with flame, and touchedwithin by the hands holding drum and fire.The images are of all sizes, rarely if everexceeding four feet in total height.Even without reliance upon literaryreference, the interpretation of this dancewould not be difficult. Fortunately,however, we have the assistance of a17DANCES OF INDIAcopious contemporary literature, whichenables us to fully explain not only thegeneral significance of the dance, butequally, the details of its concretesymbolism. Some ofthe peculiarities ofthe Nataraja images,of course, belong tothe conception ofShiva generally, andnot to the dance inparticular. What is themeaning of Shiva’sNadanta dance, asunderstood byShaivas? Its essentialsignificance is givenin texts such as thefollowing:“Our Lord is theDancer, who, like theheat latent infirewood, diffuses Hispower in mind andmatter, and makesthem dance in theirturn.” [KadavulMamunivar’sTiruvatavurar Puranam, Puttaraivatil,Venracarukkam, stanza 75, translated byNallaswami Pillai, Shivajnanabodham, p. 74.]The dance, infact, represents His fiveactivities (Panchakritya), viz: Srishti(overlooking, creation, evolution), Sthiti(preservation, support), Samhara(destruction, evolution), Tiro-bhava(veiling, embodiment, illusion and also givingrest), Anugraha (release, salvation, grace).These, separately considered, are theactivities of the deities Brahma, Vishnu,

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKARudra, Maheshwara and Sadashiva.The cosmic activity is the central motif ofthe dance. Further quotations will illustrateand explain the more detailed symbolisms.Unmai Vilakkam, verse 36, tells us:18DANCES OF INDIAdesolate. The place where the ego isdestroyed signifies the state where illusionand deeds are burnt away: that is thecrematorium, the burning ground where ShriNataraja dances, and whence He is namedSudalaiyadi, Dancer of the burning-ground.In this simile, we recognise the historicalconnection between Shiva’s gracious danceas Nataraja, and His wild dance as thedemon of the cemetery.This conception of the dance is currentalso amongst Shaktas, especially in Bengal,where the Mother rather than the Fatheraspectof Shiva is adored. Kali is here thedancer, for whose entrance the heart mustbe purified by fire, made empty byrenunciation.We find in Tamil texts, the purpose of Shiva’sdance explained. In Shivajnana Siddhar,Supaksha, Sutra, V, 5, we find:“Creation arises from the drum: protectionproceeds from the hand of hope: from fireproceeds destruction: the foot held aloftgives release”. It will be observed that thefourth hand points to this lifted foot, therefuge of the soul.Shiva is a destroyer and loves the burningground. But what does He destroy? Notmerely the heavens and earth at the closeof a world-cycle, but the fetters that bindeach separate soul. Where and what isthe burning ground? It is not the placewhere our earthly bodies are cremated, butthe hearts of His lovers, laid waste and“For the purpose of securing both kinds offruit to the countless soul, our Lord, withactions, five, dances His dance”. Both kindsof fruit, that is Iham, reward in this world,and Param, bliss in Mukti.The conception of the world process asthe Lord’s pastime or amusement (lila) isalso prominent in the Shaiva scriptures.Thus Tirumular writes, “The perpetualdance is His play”. This spontaneity ofShiva’s dance is so clearly expressed inSkryabin’s Poem of Ecstasy.This aspect of Shiva’s immanence appearsto have given rise to the objection that hedances as do those who seek to pleasethe eyes of mortals; but it is answeredthat in fact He dances to maintain the lifeof the cosmos and to give release to those

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAwho seek Him. More over, if we understandeven the dances of human dancers rightly,we shall see that they too lead to freedom.But it is nearer the truth to answer thatthe reason for His dance lies in His ownnature, all His gestures are own-natureborn (svabhavajah), spontaneous andpurpose less for His being is beyond therealm of purposes.In a much more arbitrary way, the danceof Shiva is identified with the Panchakshara,or five syllables of the prayer Shi-va-yana-ma‘Hail to Shiva’. In Unmai Vilakkamwe are told: “If this beautiful Five-Lettersbe meditated upon, the soul will reach theland where there is neither light nordarkness, and there Shakti will make it Onewith Shivam” [Nandikeshvara, The Mirrorof Gesture, translated by Coomaraswamyand Dug- girala, p .11.]The Tiru-Arul-Payan however (Ch. IX. 3)explains the tiruvasi more naturally asrepresenting the dance of Naturecontrasted with Shiva’s dance of wisdom.“The dance of nature proceeds on one side:the dance of enlightenment on the other.Fix your mind in the centre of the latter”.Now to summarize the whole interpretationwe find that the essential significance ofShiva’s dance is three-fold: First, it is theimage of his rhythmic playas the source ofall movement within the Cosmos, which isrepresented by the Arch: Secondly, thepurpose of His dance is to release thecountless souls of men from the snare of19DANCES OF INDIAIllusion: Thirdly, the place of the dance,Chidambaram, the Centre of the Universe,within the Heart. So far I have refrainedfrom all aesthetic criticism and haveendeavoured only to translate the centralthought of the conception of Shiva’s dancefrom plastic to verbal expression, withoutreference to the beauty or imperfection ofindividual works. But it may not be out ofplace to call attention to the grandeur ofthis conception itself as a synthesis ofscience, religion and art. How amazing therange of thought and sympathy of thoserishi-artists who first conceived such atype as this, affording an image of reality,a key to the complex tissue of life, a theoryof nature, not merely satisfactory to asingle clique or race, nor acceptable tothe thinkers of one century only, butuniversal in its appeal to the philosopher,the lover, and the artist of all ages and allcountries. How supremely great in powerand grace this dancing image must appearto all those who have striven in plasticforms to give expression to their intuitionof Life !It is not strange that the figure of Natarajahas commanded the adoration of so manygenerations past; familiar with allscepticisms, expert in tracing all beliefs toprimitive superstitions, explorers of theinfinitely great and infinitely small, we areworshippers of Nataraja still.Source: «The Dance of Shiva”, Page 66-79 Published by Sagar Publications, 72.Janpath, Ved Mansion, New Delhi - 1.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA20The Gift Of TraditionK. S. RAMASWAMI SASTRIDANCES OF INDIAAll over the world we have crudefolk dances as well as classicaldance. We find the figures ofdancing women in the ruins of Harappaand Mohanjo Daro. In the Rigveda, GoddessUshas (Dawn) is described as clad in gaygarments, like a dancer. God Siva asNataraja and Goddess Uma are said to havetaught respectively Tandava (the vigorousmasculine type of dance) to the sage Tanduand through him to Bharata and others,and Lasya (the graceful feminine type ofdance) to Bharata and others. In theAbhinaya Darpana of Nandikeswara, we findthe famous verse:Angikam Bhuvanam TasyaVaachikam Sarvaangmayah /Aahaaryam ChandrataaraadiTam nu tvah saatvikam Shivam / /sage Bharadwaja’s ashrama (hermitage).Valmiki describes Swayamprabha’s friendHema as Nritta Gita Visarada (Expert indance and music). In Ravana’ s harem therewere similar experts as Nritta VaditraKusalah (Sundara kanda, X 32). In theMahabharata we are told that Arjuna learntdance from the celestial maiden Uma andtaught it to princess Uttara Panini (500B.C.) refers to Natasutras. Queen Mira Bai’sdevotional dances are well-known.]ayadeva’s Gita Govinda was interpretedby the dances of his wife Padmavati. Dancewent into the hands of courtesans forcenturies but now it has been taken upenthusiastically by family women and isuniversally popular.(The world is the movement of His limbs;all speech is His Voice; the moon andthe stars are His decorative ornaments.Let us pray to the good God Siva). Thecosmic dance (tandava) of God Siva isof seven kinds and symbolises theAnavarata or eternal dance and thedances of creation and preservation anddestruction and obscuration and grace(Panchakritya or five divine acts) andthe dance of bliss (Ananda Tandava).There is also another classification asAnanda Tandava, Uma Tandava, SivagauriTandava, Kalika Tandava, TripuraTandava and Samhara Tandava. In theRamayana of Valmiki, we find the dancesof the celestial apsaras, maidens in the

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA21DANCES OF INDIALiterature GaloreBharata’s Natya Sastra is the Bible of Indianaestheticians. It says that the Creator(Brahma) created it to give joy in life tothe gods who found their cosmic functionsto be heavy and dreary. Bharatarmada andAbinaya Darpana are other importantclassical works on the Indian art of dance.Kalidasa’s drama Malavikagnimitra throwsmuch light on the art and show showprincess Malavika was an expert in it.Vishnu Dharmothara and Agni Purana throwmuch light on the art. Other importantSanskrit works are Dhananjaya’s DasaRoopaka, Sargadava’s Sangita Ratnakara,Thulajaji’s Sangita Saramitra, BalaRamavarma’s Bala Bharata, Haripala Deva’sSangita Sudhakara, Veda Suri’s SangitaMakaranda, Rasamanjari etc.Tamil literature is described as consistingof Iyal (poetry) and Isai (music) andNatakam or Koothu (Dance). Of the manyancient Tamil works on dance only BharataSenapatheeyam is extant. BharataSiddhanta, Bharata Sangraha andMahabharata Choodamani are recentworks. In the famous Tamilepic Silappadikaram wehave many great ideasrelating to the art. Thereis a reference to elevenvarieties of dance ( alliyam,Kudai, Kudam etc). Itrefers to 24 kinds ofabhinayam, KambaRamayana refers to adance hall calledAdumantapa Balakanda,Nagarapadalam stanza62). 108 Kananasor danceposes are beautifully sculptured in thegopuram at Chidambaram. There is a danceplatform in front of the great temple atTanjore. There are innumerable Tamil andTelugu and Canarese amorous anddevotional songs (padams) composed forinterpretation by dances.The Tamil word Nattuvangam means theart of teaching dance, and Nattuvanarmeans dance-teacher.Two beautiful verses in Abhinaya Darpanagive us the very quintessence of theteaching as well as the learning of theIndian art of Dance.KanthenaambayedgeetamHastenaartham Pradarshayet /Chakshubhyaam darsayedbhauamPaadaabhyaam taalamaacharet //(Sing with the mouth and show themeaning by the gesture of the hand andreveal the emotion (bhava) by the eyesand gently beat time with the feet).

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKATato hastastato drishtir-Yato drishtistato manah /Yato manastato VaachahTato Vaachastato Rasah //22DANCES OF INDIA(The eyes follow the hand, the mind followsthe eyes, the bhava follows the mind, andthe rasa follows the bhava).Gitaavaadyatalaanuvartini /(The dance must accompany the vocalsong and the instruments). It is thus clearthat the speechless eloquence of the eyesintensifies the beauty of the gestures androuses the inner feeling (bhava) to theblossomed state of aesthetic emotional bliss(rasa).It is often said that Bharata Natyam ismeant to be performed only by women. Inrecent times, Uday Shankar and Ramgopaland others have learnt and exhibited it.But Lasya or the graceful form of dance ismore appropriate for women than for men.There is a view that it is suited to womenand not to girls because Sringara bhava(the emotion of love) cannot be understoodby girls. But the essence of the dancebeing devotion or divine love expressed interms of human love, the charm of thedance depends on naturalness andsincerity which are clouded in adolescentand adult human beings by egoism andegotism and a desire to excel and shine.Variations in GestureIn classical aesthetic terminology, Nrittameans pure dance without reference toany theme or emotion. Nritya is dancewhich expounds emotion by gestures.Natya adds a story element to it. Abhinayais the interpretation of emotion by gestures(angika) , by voice (vacheka), by dressand decoration (tapery) and by physicalmanifestations (sattvika). Anyadbhavasrayamnrittam nirityamtalarasasrayam. Gestures can be by thelimbs (anga, pratyanga, and upanga). Theycan be shown by a single hand (asamyuta)or by both hands (samyuta). Tamilnadu isrich in the variety of folk dances as well asin the classical art of dance. Thedescriptions Marga and Desi refers toclassical dances and regional folk dancesrespectively. The Kummi and Kolattam andPinnal Kolattam dances by the girls of theTamilnadu are danced in lovely rhythmicpatterns in which songs beautifymovements and movements beautifysongs. They are not mere crude movements

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAof the limbs out of exuberance of animalspirits because in that case they would bedance but not art. Nor are they soelaborate and controlled by rules asBharata Natya. The Bhajan dances oftrained religious singers and dancers aremidway between folk-music and folk-danceon the one hand and elaborate Carnaticmusic and Bharatanatyam on the otherhand. On the other hand, oyilattam,chakhaiattam, kauadi dances, karagamdances, dummy horse (poikal kuthirai)dances, theru koothu (street drama)dances by hill tribes, gypsy dances etc.are folk arts pure and simple. ButBommalattam (puppet-shows) is anartistic achievement. The puppets aremoved by strings tied to the limbs of theartist behind the curtain. The songs of thesingers and the movements of the puppetssynchronise superbly. When I was young Isaw Harischandra’s story in Bommalattam.It was attended by thousands night afternight and it made a profound impressionon my mind. The introductory dance bythe Kinchin bommai (puppet) was as lovelyas a Bharata Natyam dance. What is calledPavaikoothu (puppet-dance) in ancientTamil literature shows the antiquity of theart. In Andhra we have the TholBommalatta (painted leather piecesoperated with bamboo sticks and seenthrough a semi-transparent screen lightedfrom behind). In the Malabar, shadow playfigures are shown by perforating holes onsquare pieces of flat leather.Folk-DancesThe Tamil literature--especially the greatepic Silappadtkaram-refers to other dancessuch as alliyam, kudam, kodukoti, etc.23DANCES OF INDIAThey are not now extant. It refers also toAyar koothu (dances by shepherds),Kuravai koothu (dances by kuravans) etc.They are obsolete. But what is calledkuravanji has been lifted to the highestlevel of art by the genius of poets. In it, ahuman heroine loves a king or a god andgypsy goes to her and foretells her goodfortune. The Kutrala Kuravanji SarfojiKurauanji, Viralimalai Kurauanji and AehagarKuravanji are fine works of art and giveroom for fine ballet dances which are notmere folk-dances but are fine artisticperformances. I must refer also to a newaesthetic creation viz.Chchaya Natakas(Nizhal Attam in Tamil) or shadow-playsby the great artistic geniuses Sri UdayShankar and his wife Srimathi AmalaShankar. In them, the acting is by humanbeings but the public see only the shadowsthrown on a gigantic screen from the otherside of the screen. They have nowpresented the Ramayana and the BuddhaCharita.Thus we have in the above dances, bothpure folk dances as well as artistic danceperformances in which the art elementblends with the folk element. TheBhagawata Mela of Melattur and Oothukadand Soolamangalam etc. in the TanjoreDistrict is a high-class classical dancedrama,whereas Bharata Natyam is a solodancewhich IS the ne plus ultra of theclassical dance art of South India.Bhagawata Mela dances present variouspuranic themes through dances by manymen who sing and dance where-as inBharata Natya the artist does not singwhile others sing. The songs in BhagawataMeta are in Telugu as the Naik kings of

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKATanjore had it as their court language. Thethemes are the stories of Prahlada,Harischandra, Dhruva, Markandeya, Usha,Rukmini, Sita and others. The dancedramascombine fine poetry and elaborateCarnatic music and fine and elaboratedances. The founder of this classicaldance-drama was Venkatarama Sastri ofMelattoor who was a contemporary of theimmortal musician Tyagaraja.Influence AbroadFinally I wish to make a passing referenceto the farflung influence of Indian Art inCeylon and Burma and Indonesia and farEast Asia including Thailand (Siam) andCambodia and also in China and Japan. InJava, Bali, Cambodia, and in Eastern Asiagenerally, Indian art concepts and artmotifshave had a dominant influence. Dr.A. K. Coomaraswami says: “The leadingmotifs of Chinese and Japanesebuilding art of the pagoda and toru arealso of Indian origin”. (The Arts and Craftsof India and Ceylon page 117). Mr. Havellsays, “Indian idealism during the greaterpart of this time was the dominant note inthe art of Asia whichwas thus brought into Europe; and we finda perfectly oriental atmosphere and strangeechoes of eastern symbolism in themedieval cathedrals of Europe and see theirstructural growth gradually blossoming withall the exuberance of Eastern imagery”. Wefind the influence of Indian art, viz, Hindu24DANCES OF INDIAart and Buddhist art in the temples atAngkor Vat and Prambanan and Borobodurand also particularly in the music and danceand the general cultural atmosphere in theisland of Bali. In Indonesia, Indian art andthe colourful beauty and glory of natureand human life and dress and decorationwere blended to perfection. In Bali, thependel, the jangar, the leyong and thekabzyar dances interpret the heroic actionsof Arjuna and other heroes of Indianmythology. The pendel is a classical danceconnected with temple rituals. The otherdances also interpretPuranic episodes. The Ketjah or monkeydance depicts the Ramayana story. Thereare also dances interpreting the Buddhistand jataka stories. There are also folkdances. The gamelon orchestra, aidedsometimes by vocal music, adds to thefascination of the dances. The dancegestures are of Indian origin. The dressand the decoration of the Javanese andBalinesedancers are similar to those discernible inthe Ajanta frescoes. Tagore says: “In Indiawhere exuberance of life seeks utterance,it sets them to dance. One who knowstheir peculiar dance- language can followthe story without the help of words”.It is thus clear that the art of Dance wasborn and grew up in India as a spiritual artand spread all over South -East Asia andflourishes even to-day as a supremespiritual art in the house of its birth.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA25DANCES OF INDIAThe Spiritual Background of Indian DanceRUKMINI DEVIOne of the greatest and mostancient arts of India is thedance and as far as I know Indiaalone has given it so high a place in bothnational and spiritual life. No one was toolow born for this sacred art, nor anyonetoo great or spiritual for it. From the SublimeBeing comes the inspiration and example.Therefore, everyone who is but part of Him,every living creature, is animated by thatspirit of creation which is the dance. It isbecause the whole conception of art iscosmic and allembracingthat inreality it is undyingand eternal. Itsexpression is many, forit is like the light of thesun which sparkles onthe ocean. From theoneness of that lifecomes the creativegenius in man. Manintuits the spirit andabsorbshisenvironment. From the harmony oftheenvironment, the life, the thought, thephilosophy and nature all around, with thecreative spirit within, inspiration is born,and art is the expression.Environment is of tremendous importanceto the actual form of art. The environmentis what we call national life. If in India, thedance, as any other art, is essentiallyspiritual and philosophical, it is merelybecause the sages have given a spiritualmeaning to it. It is also because the verysame sages have, at the same time, helpedto build the nation so that there is nofundamental difference between thespiritual and the physical, nor is there adifference between the manifest and theunmanifest. This has been the uniquenessin the civilization of India. If we understandthe highest, we understand the least alsoforboth are one.Importance of MusicFrom this point ofview comes thedance tradition ofour country. Thedance is not an artby itself. It is aunique expression,through the body,synthesising all arts.In reality, though itis the nature of thebody to respond torhythm, yet it is thamasic in nature andits inertia expression, which we call dance.Therefore, the perfect harmony of thephysical and emotional produces the dance.How is emotion stirred? It is flexible andquickly affected and that which stirs itmost is sound. Sound as movementexpresses itself in music. Music is thespeech of the Highest. The firstmanifestation is in terms of sound, whichis speech or music. All this is so

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAmagnificently conceived and presented tohumanity through the form of Nataraja, thegreat Yogis of Yogi. In Him is synthesisedall planes of consciousness and all the arts.We find that the instinctof dance is in the savageas in the cultured. Whenthe dance becomes an artthat transcends thephysical, it becomes art,giving pleasure to all, tothe devas as well ashuman beings. It is equallyan art that pleases alltastes. In dance there ismusic for the musician, fordance is but the music ofthe body. It is said thatwhen music, in terms ofpoetry, song and rhythm, blends with theinstruments, it becomes complete music.There is music in the dance as there isdance in music. Without the spirit ofmusic within, it is impossible to dance;for music is the expression of thehighest emotion, through gesture,movement or mime. When it is perfectlyexpressed through gesture of hastaabhinaya,movement or angika-abhinayaand satvika-abhinaya or facial expression,the dancer becomes something beyond andunfolds another great art into herself-theart of natya or drama. Then she becomesthe story-teller or the actress. To doperfect justice to the story telling or indelineating a particular character in drama,aharya-abhinaya (expression throughcostume) becomes part of the four-foldaspects of the dance.In Bharata Natya as danced in solo26DANCES OF INDIAperformances, the dancer is the storytellerand aharya abhinaya or the expressionof a character through beautiful costumesand jewels is elaborate but simple in onesense. The dancer has merely to prepareherself to be beautiful and pleasant and tocreate a personality that can make herstory attractive. Her art is music in theform of dance and every emotion of everysong and every character is in her. In thedance- drama where the dancer is aparticular character, the art of costume isitself expressive of a rasa or an aspect ofthe fundamental state and no movementis expressive by itself. The truest expressionis in the experience within, which isdependent on so many things-especiallyon the spiritual development and perceptionof the artist.Dance and Our HeritageThus dance becomes an art that unifiesart. The painter sees beauty of line andcolour, the sculptor sees the grace andthe form, the actor sees the portrayal oflife, and the musician and poet alike see

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAthe very embodiment of poetry in motion.With all these blended in one who isdedicated body and soul, the dancerbecomes the very expression of [atarajaHimself, of whom it is described that HisAngika or the movement of His limbs is theworld around, the Vachika, the poetry ofHis dance, is the language within allspeech, the Aharya, His costume andjewelry, are the moon and the stars, whilethe Satvika, the true expression, is theessence of Being, Siva Himself. In Him is allunited and in Him is all transcended by thedivine spirit. This is the dance and this isour heritage.In this spirit we can still see true dance inIndia. Bharata Natya is the root and originof all dance in India. Essentially, all realIndian dancing is Bharata Natya, thoughnow only one particular school of art isknown by the name. The most ancientauthority on dance is the Natya Sastra ofBharata. In the South, there is what isknown as the Tanjore School of BharataNatya, but Kancheepuram and other citiesare equally famous for the practice of theart. In every temple and on all auspiciousoccasions, there were dance performances.The art very nearly died as it had becomea means for remembering the body ratherthan of forgetting it. Yet, those whom theworld denounced as having becomecorrupt, gave themselves up with devotionand sincerity to the art they loved. Theart was their very life and they workedand sacrificed their bodies for perfectingthe art.Divinity in Indian DanceAccording to the Indian conception,27DANCES OF INDIAcharacter and dance go together. In realitythey are one and the same, for what iswithout is but what is within. Through theportrayal of Gods and Goddesses onebecomes divine. Indian dance beingspiritual, it is suited only for spiritualexpression. Through bhava one portray, instory-form the lives of Gods and GoddessesThe Indian genius has shown that humanityis divine and divinity is human; hence thestories of Gods and Goddesses who liveand speak like humans. This was so in everypart of India. There were the dance-dramasof the Bhagavatars (men-dancers) in theTanjore district, in Kuchipudi in the Telugudistricts, and Chakiar Koothu in Malabarwhere it still survives. Through these andthrough the still-living dance drama ofKathakali in Malabar, religion lived,philosophy lived and art lived. As you travelall over India we find no part of the countrywhere ,dance did not flourish, although,except in Assam, Orissa and one or twoplaces in the later years, dance wasconsidered as an art of the vulgar. Yet onehears of the great Kathak dancers of theUnited Provinces as flourishing under thepatronage of rulers and noblemen. Onenever hears of Kathak being performed intemples but only in courts as temples hadbeen destroyed, and the temple lost itsplace as a centre of art and culture. InAssam it is a respected art and it lives asa sacred expression enjoyed by all. Thoughthe style is different from orthodox BharataNatya, yet in essence it is the same, givingthe same age-old atmosphere, and tellingthe stories of Krishna, Rama and the danceas an art-form lives everywhere, in thetemples, in the courts, in the fields, amongthe peasants and even ordinary people all

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAover India.Because we forgot our heritage, the artalmost disappeared. Today there is asudden awakening to the glory of the art,and people everywhere are thinking andspeaking of the dance. Entertainments aregiven everywhere and new names offamous exemplars of the art are heard.Revival of the Art28DANCES OF INDIAof colour has almost vanished, equally thesense of form and line. The ordinary dramasportraying religious stories like theRamayana and Mahabharata were crudeand childish in presentation, though sincerein spirit. Today sophisticated vulgarity hastaken the place of simple crudeness.Which is preferable, the crudeness of theignorant or the vulgarity of theBut if the art is to live, we have firstto remember that it is an essentialpart of our lives. India’s realachievement depends upon herunderstanding of the place of artin life. To know this, one mustunderstand India, the very heart ofIndia herself. We cannot revive theart by forgetting India. Indians todayare forgetting India. They try toexpress in dance, a spiritual medium,ideas totally foreign to our genius.People try to portray Rama butdisbelieve in Rama! That is why inmodern India, art fails for want ofsincerity. We tried apparently torescue the art from the corrupt, butbecause we lack devotion, dedicationand sincerity, we are graduallycorrupting art itself. There is a generallowering of standards and the declinehas been so fast that one dreads whatis in store for the future. Will the dancehave to go through another deathbefore it regains its own glory? Asdance is part of life itself, the nation andits consciousness will have to go througha revolutionary change in character. Indianarts have been slowly deterioratingbecause crudities have crept in. The sensesophisticated? The latter has nocompensations and is subtle and dangerouswhile the former had at least its merits.Hard work was its feature, inspiration itssource, and devotion its aim. Today, there

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAis dance without hard work. People wanteither diplomas or headlines. It is easy tohave both because we do not have today,trained audiences, including art critics andthe public will take one at one’s ownvaluation. If that valuation is high as it isbound to be in the mind of the ignorant,the “fame” achieved is indeed great. It wassaid by Kathakali teachers of the old typethat it took 12 years of hard training beforea dancer could even take a minor part onthe stage. In Bharata Natya it took no lessthan seven or eight years of hard work.Today, even twelve months is too long.Owing to the lack of devotion, there islack of discipline and, as a consequence,there is a deficiency in technique. Theresult is that there is no inspiration. Tomake up for this, false stimulation fromoutside is resorted to, instead of truestimulation from within. This naturally killsthe creative spirit and, therefore, therehas to be copying from others, and perhapsalso borrowing from foreign countries. Trueart never copies. It is like a well of deepcool waters from which flows fresh ideasand life. India understood the dance asjoy which is why Nataraja’s dance is calledAnanda- Tandava. This joy is that of aYogi. What sort of a Yogi? One who hasforgotten his body. The forgetfulness isnot due to negligence but due to control.After training the body, one forgets it. Thisis the technique of “art which conceals29DANCES OF INDIAart”. This is why the dance is called a Yoga.People think that technique is the antithesisof creative expression. This is a wrongnotion, since the creative spirit is but theachievement of a technique by which thetechnique itself vanishes, and uniquenessis the result. This final outcome is thesupreme joy of creation. Even in folk artthere is the expression of joy. Every partof India has its folk art, solo or groupdramas, and dance-dramas. Each typeexpressed the uniqueness of the life andthought around, all different from eachother like the Garba and the Rasa Lila ofGujarat, the Kaikottikali and Kolkali ofMalabar, Kummi and Kolattam of the Tamilcountry, the village dances of Assam,Orissa and other places. For groups of everylevel of thought there is the dance fromthe lowest to the highest, from the childto the adult, filling the country with musicand movement. When Indians realise whatis Indian in essence, art will regain itsoriginal height and the dance will return tothe people in all its pristine purity.Dance is being revived but if this revival isto continue, we must know the spiritualmessage of art and make art a part of ourlives. Then our very lives will become worksof art and India will become a Land ofBeauty; a fit vehicle for the message ofthe Sages and Saviour of humanity.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA30DANCES OF INDIAThe Renaissance of Indian Danceand its ConsequencesMOHAN KHOKARDuring the last two centuries orso, the art of dance in India wasnot held in much respect,dueto certain norms of prudery which wereintroduced into India by the alien rulers.For most people in India as well as outside,Indian dancing was associated exclusivelywith what was performed by the Devadasisand Nautch-girls, and as a result of thesocial stigma attached to these women,dancing in India came to be looked uponas a vain and vulgar pursuit. This state ofaffairs continued well into the first quarterof this century, till the setting in of theRenaissance of Indian dance, but afterthis the art of dance in India rapidlycame into its own and since then it hasnot only retrieved much of its lostprestige and glory but also made markedprogress. The revival of the dance inIndia began a little over three decadesago, and important pioneering work inthis direction was done by UdayShankar, Rukmini Devi Arundale, E.Krishna Iyer, Menaka, RabindranathTagore and Mahakavi Vallathol. However,it deserves to be noted that before therevival proper began in India certaindancers in the West became interested inIndian dance and they endeavoured topresent, to whatever, extent it waspossible for them, dances and ballets basedon Indian themes. In fact it can be saidthat it is these early attempts to produceIndian dances and Indian ballets in theWest that paved the way for the revivalof the dance in India.Western Interest in Indian DanceThe first dancer in the West to performIndian dance was the Americanballerina Ruth St. Denis. From her earlyyears Ruth St. Denis was much interestedin the Orient and this led her, in 1904, tocompose and present her first Indiandance, which she called Radha. This proveda great success, which prompted Ruth St.Denis to take Radha to Europe where shetoured for three years before returning toAmerica. Ruth St. Denis continued to takegreat interest in Indian dance and duringthe next ten years or so she composedand performed several Indian dances inAmerica, such as The Cobras, The Incense,The Nautcli and The Yogi. In 1925 RuthSt. Denis and her husband, dancer TedShawn, visited India, and after their return

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAto America Ted Shawn presented The Danceof Shioa, a solo number which he performed,with great success, for several years. Itis to be noted that the dancespresented by Ruth St. Denis and TedShawn were not in any authentic Indiantechnique but in their own improvisedIndian style. However, the importanceof these dances lies in the fact thatthey were able to create interest forIndian dance in America and Europe,and this interest, in due course, led tothe revival of the dance in India.After Ruth St. Denis, another Westerndancer, the great Russian ballerina AnnaPavlova took an interest in composing andperforming Indian dance. She undertook anextensive world tour which lasted severalyears, and she visited India in 1922 butwas thoroughly disappointed as she couldnot find any trace of the great art of dancein India of which she had heard so much.However when she returned to Europeshe carried impressions of India with herand in 1923 she composed and presentedtwo short Indian ballets, A Hindu Weddingand Krishna and Radha. For composingthese ballets she took the help of UdayShankar, who was then a student ofpainting in London, and Shankar alsopartnered Pavlova in Krishna and Radha.In 1928 Pavlova visited India again, andon this occasion she performed her Indianballets in parts of India. This proved to bevery helpful in creating interest for dancein India, and the seeds of the Renaissancecan be said to have been sown at thistime. After this Shankar played a leadingpart in the revival of Indian dance, and hewas soon followed by two others, Rukmini31DANCES OF INDIADevi and Menaka who, too, were inspiredand initiated into the dance by Pavlovaand were destined to make positivecontributions in the field. Apart from RuthSt. Denis and Anna Pavlova there are twoother Western dancers who played animportant part in the revival of Indiandance. They are La Meri and Ragini Devi,both Americans. Like Ruth St. Denis, LaMeri was interested in the dances of theOrient from an early age, and this led her,in 1936, to visit India, to study Indiandance. She learnt Bharata Natya underPapanasam Vadivelu Pillai and MylaporeGowri and Kathak from Ram Dutt Misra. Andeven as Pavlova discovered Uday Shankarand introduced the world of dance to him,to La Meri goes the credit of discoveringRam Gopal and introducing him to the worldof dance. As for Ragini Devi, she was thefirst Western dancer to come to India tostudy Indian dance in a fairly seriousmanner and she was also the first to carrythe Kathakali dance outside Kerala and topresent it in other parts of India, whichshe did in 1932, with Gopinath as herpartner.Thus, it is evident that Western dancerslike Ruth St. Denis, Anna Pavlova, La Meriand Ragini Devi became interested in Indiandance before Indians themselves did, andthis in many ways paved the way for therevival proper of the dance in India. UdayShankar left the Pavlova company, stayedin Europe a few more years dancing andgaining valuable experience, and then cameto India to become the torch-bearer ofthe Revival movement. In 1930, UdayShankar took a party of dancers and foreight years he toured Europe and America.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAThis was the first time that Indian dancewith authentic Indian music and costumeswas carried outside India, and whereverhe went Shankar won respect for himselfas well as for Indian dance. In 1938,Shankar returned to India and soonafterwards he founded a school of Indiandance, known as India Culture Centre, atAlmora. This Centre was established largelywith financial help received from Shankar’sadmirers in Europe and America, and here,apart from providing training in Shankar’sown style of ‘Creative Dance’, classicaldances like Bharata Natya and Kathakaliwere also taught and for this there weregreat masters like Sankaran Nambudiri andKandappa Pillai.Having made a successful beginning, theDance Renaissance in India soon spreadto several parts of the country, with theresult that the major forms of Indianclassical dance began to get itrehabilitated. In the South, MahakaviVallathol founded the Kerala Kala Mandalamfor teaching Kathakali and Mohini Attam,and it is no exaggeration to say that eventoday most of the Kathakali and MohiniAttam dancers who matter have sometimeor other been associated with thisinstitution. About the same time RukminiDevi and E. Krishna Iyer rescued BharataNatya from the depravity it had fallen intoand, by themselves setting examples, gavethe art a new respectable status. RukminiDevi augmented her contribution byestablishing Kalakshetra, a school forteaching Bharata Natya and Kathakali. Inthe North, Menaka gave a new life toKathak by being the first woman of respectand learning to take this part from theNautch-girls and to perform it32DANCES OF INDIAprofessionally. As early as 1936, Menakaeven took a company of Kathak dancersto Europe and her performances at theInternational Dance Olympiad in Berlin wonher three of the highest awards which,understandably, immediately raised thestatus of Indian dance in the West as wellas in India. And, finally, Gurudev Tagorecontributed his share to the Renaissanceby introducing Manipuri dance as a subjectof study in Santiniketan.Apart from bringing about a generalrehabilitation of the major forms ofclassical dance in India, theRenaissance also helped theemergence of the art of ballet in India.Ballet, it must be pointed out, is an artwhich is new to India, for though dancesand dance-dramas and operas of sorts haveexisted in India since long, there is notradition of ballet, according to the Westernconcept, in India. In ballet there is a storyor theme, there is choreography, decorand music but the music is purelyorchestral and no songs are allowed.Uday Shankar’s ContributionBallet was introduced into India byUday Shankar, and he learnt thetechnique and the presentationmethods of this art through hisassociation with Anna Pavlova and hislong stay in Europe. Shankar’s earlyballets, such as Tandava Nritya andShiva-Parvati Nritya Dwandva, were rathersimple and were composed largely inShankar’s own style of dance. In this style,the bulk of the movements and steps wereoriginal, but Shankar also incorporatedtraces of certain classical and folk-dances

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAof India and of dance forms he saw inEurope. Later, when Sankar made anextended stay at Dartington Hall, England,he came under the influence of the Germandancer Kurt Jooss, who is an upholder ofthe Free Expression Dance movement inthe West, and this goaded Shankar toproduce ballets like Rhythm of Life, Labourand Machinery. Many years afterwardsShankar took another step forward whenhe used the South-East Asian techniqueof shadow-plays and produced” twoballets, Ram Leela and Buddha.Other DevelopmentsShankar’s example was soon followed byseveral other dancers in India. One of thefirst to do so was Menaka, who brokeground by producing four Indian ballets,Krishna Leela, Deva Vijaya,Malavikagnimitra and Menaka Lasyam. Itshould be pointed out, however, that theseballets were not composed in the creativedance style of Shankar but in the Kathaktechnique. Later, a number of other dancersfollowed the lead given by Menaka andbegan to produce ballets using classicalmodes of Indian dance. The work of RukrmniDevi, Mrinalini Sarabhai and Gopinath isparticularly important in this connection.They have produced a good number ofballets using Bharata Natya or Kathakalior, in some cases, both together.The creative dance style evolved by UdayShankar was further developed when heestablished the India Culture Centre, atAlmora. This school produced a largenumber of talented dancers, many of whomlater contributed a good deal to thedevelopment and spread of ballet in India.33DANCES OF INDIASome of those, all of Shankar’s school,whose contribution in this direction hasbeen truly outstanding are Zohra Segal,Narendra Sharma, Devendra Shankar,Sachin Shankar and Shanti Bardhan.Bardhan, who is unfortunately no more,made a noteworthy contribution byproducing a ballet Ramayana in which heused an original technique wherein thedancers move and act like woodenpuppets. It should also be mentioned thatthe art of ballet in India received atremendous fillip from the forties onwardswhen, as an outcome of the nationalupsurge, a number of important ballet andtheatre organisations came into existence,such as the Indian People’s TheatreAssociation, Indian National Theatre andIndia Renaissance Artists. Indeed, some ofthe early ballets produced by theseorganisations, such as The Spirit of India,India Immortal, The Discovery of India andRhythm of Culture, are still regarded asclassics in the field.The Role of TagoreRabindranath Tagore, for his part, did muchto help the revival of dance and the spreadof ballet in India. Using Manipuri as thebasis he evolved an individual technique,which came to be known as theSantiniketan style of dance, and in this hecomposed and presented many dances anddance-dramas, the themes of all of whichwere taken from his own songs and plays.With these productions, Tagore touredseveral parts of India and thesepresentations no doubt added to the dignityof Indian dance and also helped drawstudents from all over India to Santiniketanwho, later, were instrumental in carrying

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAthe Santiniketan style to practically allparts of the country.Consequences of the RenaissanceThe Renaissance of Indian dance beganrather abruptly, but it has moved fast andhas now achieved what by any standardare imposing dimensions. This has helpedthe resuscitation of the art of Indian danceas a whole, and all forms of Indian danceclassical,folk and tribal-have benefited.In fact, through the rendering of timelysuccour, many traditional dances anddance-dramas have been saved fromcompletely sinking into oblivion. Such wasthe state of neglect in which they existedon the eve of the Renaissance. Anothermajor consequence of the revival hasbeen that a member of traditionaldances and dance-dramas have beencarried from the temple to the stage,and this is something which would haveseemed impossible even two decadesago. Such was the sanctity attached tothese arts. for instance, one can seethe Kuchipudi, Bhagavata Mela,Kuravanji and Krishnattam on thestage; yet only a few years ago, soorthodox were the regulationsconnected with the staging of thesedance plays that performances wereallowed only in certain temples andonly at specified times in the year. Folkdancesand tribal-dances, too, have earneda new lease of and this has received itsgreatest fillip from Folk-Dance festivalswhich for some years have become animportant feature of Republic Daycelebrations at Delhi. In recent years similar34DANCES OF INDIAfestivals have also been organised inseveral other regions of India, and thesehave helped not only to unearth hiddenand dormant forms but also create widerinterest in folk and tribal dances of all partsof India.The cinema, which is a product of themodern age, has also been affected bythe Renaissance of Indian dance, for thedance has come to be one of the mostimportant ingredients to ensure thesuccess of a film. In the early days of thefilm in India, dancing was occasionallyincluded to provide diversion and thetechnique used was a version of thedecadent Nautch, but in recent yearsclassical dance-forms like Bharata Natyaand Kathak have been successfully usedin Indian films. On the whole, however, itcan be said that it is rare that one seespure and good dance in an Indian film, forwhat is generally presented is anadulteration or hybridisation of variousIndian dance techniques, and morerecently, there has also been a tendencyto incorporate and ape dances and rhythmsof the West in Indian films.All in all, the three decades or so followingthe Renaissance have been very eventfulin the history of Indian dance. And, thoughin the more recent years one has seen, tosome extent, a lowering of standardsbrought about mainly by unscrupulouscharlatans and dabblers in the art, one isat the same time happy to find the art ofdance gain a new and more honoured placein popular esteem and also the emergenceof Indian dance as an art with aninternational status.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKATHE ART OF DANCE35DANCES OF INDIADR. C. P. RAMASWAMI IYER... Throughout the world’s chronicles, thedance as embodying rhythmic movement,designed to express individual or groupemotions, has been identified both withsacred and secular activities. It is anotheraspect of the practice of those Aranar andMudrar with which the yogi seeks toconquer his physical as well as his psychicselves and make of them his servants, nothis masters. As early as the Vedas, it waslaid down, for instance, that in connectionwith the great Aswamedha and othersacrifices or Yajnas performed for the goodof the country, there should be enactedsome specified sacred dance. TheYajurveda and the Brahmanas, as a matterof fact, speak of the Maha- Vrata danceand a special and elaborate performancein connection with the Stotra after theRajasuya and other Yajnas.The art of dance amongst us has beenlargely synonymous with and has been theattendant of many religious and symbolicceremonies. Which of us but has beenthrilled by the sight of that memorableembodimentof Nataraja, one of thegreatest evocations of Indian genius?Inside yonder hall, you will find such animage of Nataraja, the Lord of the CosmicDance, whose performance is a symbol anda typification of that involution that takesplace after each Pralaya is over, when orderis to be restored after chaos. It is in thatsense that the Vedas, the Avesta and theBible alike speak of Logos, the word orNada, the sound, as the origin of theworlds. This sound is the sound of the drumthat Nataraja holds aloft. In order that wemay realise the full significance of thatdance, not merely from the artistic pointof view but from the cosmic, we shouldpicture to ourselves the idea of motion,ceaseless and quick beyond seeming orimagination, motion akin to the speed ofthe stars, but nevertheless accompaniedby the steadiness and poise of themanifested Divine, a dance to match themusicof the spheres, a dance of the great-Energiser trampling on the forces of eviland calling on all created beings, by thesound of the drum, to burn their sins, anddeficiencies in the fire that is held aloft,and to achieve the summum bonum oftheir existence. This is part of the spiritualand compelling significance of that dance.But rather than dilate any further on thistopic in our poor language, may I beallowed to refer to what a great Tamil singerhymned many centuries ago, addressingthe image of Sri Nataraja at Chidambaram?Very loosely translated, the meaning of thepassage is as follows;- “Oh, Lord of theeternal cosmic dance, what in relation toyou does not dance and throb to the tuneof the Infinite? Your matted and tawny locksare dancing in rhythm. Your features, likeunto the mellow orb of night, dance. Yourpiercing and wide eyes dance. The rays ofthe moon streaming from thy locks vibratein unison. The drum that you hold in your

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAhands calls to the Universe andaccompanies the music of the spheres, thecircumambient Nada. The skin of the tiger,slain as the spirit of evil, that you wear onyour dancing frame, quivers, Your hand heldin benediction moves and dances inharmony. One leg is lifted up, but it is in36DANCES OF INDIAI have referred this poem for the purposeof indicating what ideals underlay the danceand the symbolism of the dance in theolden days. Tamil is the language of Bhakti,as Sanskrit is the instrument for expressinglofty speculation, acute analysis andphilosophy. The same idea is conveyed ina famous Sanskrit sloka which I thustranslate;uddhrtyedam vimukter-ayanam itikaratdarsayan pratyayarthambibhrad-vahnim sabhayam kalayatinatanam yah sa payan-natesah.“Lord Natesa’s uplifted hand points the wayto salvation; He holds the fire whichdestroys the evils of the world; in thedance hall of the Infinite He performs thesacred and eternal dance. Let Him protectus.”static dance. One leg forces down steadilyand implacably the forces of evil, but itmoves even while at rest. Your consort byyour side looks at you smiling and inwardlyrejoices over her privilege to witness thisgreat manifestation. Oh, Lord of the world,the object of all worship and praise, cladin the ether as thy vesture, Oh, Lordmanifesting yourself at Chidambaram, Oh,embodiment of intellect and perception andbliss!”Such is the beginning of the art. Thereligious dance was not peculiar to India.Egypt had it; Assyria had it; Palestine hadit. The Old Testament speaks of flute andtabor and drum, and of the maidens dancingbefore Samuel and Saul. King Solomon hasreferred often times to the practice of thisart. China and Japan have developed thisart mainly on the secular side, with greatminuteness and artistic skill, and the playof the fan has been a well-knownaccompaniment. Throughout the ages,therefore, the dance has had a great partto play. But so far as India is concerned,its manifestations are well-known andfamiliar. The dance of Nataraja, the danceof Ganesha, the dance of Subrahmanya(after the conquest over Sura Padmasura),the dance of Krishna in two aspects-theKaliyamardana and the Rasamandala, thefierce and the delicate-the dance of Kali,

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAthe great Uddhata dance whichheralds the final cataclysm and the end ofthe world, all these are parts of the Indianheritage of culture.Our ancients were analytical in their artsand their enjoyments. In the matter of theFine Arts especially, they expended theirpower of analysis to the utmost of itspossibilities. Bharata, for instance, dividesNartana, the great art of the dance, intowhat he terms the sacred and the secularaspects.37DANCES OF INDIAthe auditorium or Preksagrha, the stage orRangabhumi and the green room orNepathya. He demands that the seatsshould be arranged gallery-wise, or to quotehis own words “as in a ladder”. He sets outthe right sizes of theatres, a large onebeing 128 by 64 cubits, a medium one 64by 32 cubits and a small one 32 by 16cubits (i.e , 48 by 24 feet). Very carefuldirections as to dress, demeanour,theatrical properties and other details havebeen laid down. Our dramas and danceshave therefore had full literary treatment.The sacred aspect is demonstrated by theTandava dance and the Lasya dance, theAllegro and the Pianissimo to borrow termsfrom another art. The Desi dances arethree-fold viz., the Nritta; the Nritya withthe aid the Natya; Nritta being the dancewith the aid of the feet themselves; Nritya,the movement of feet with gesture superadded,which developed into our Kathakali;Natya, the movement of the feet withgestures and with words. In order toepitomise the art of dance whichculminated in the drama and those gestureswhich are of the essence of Indian dance,I can do no better than to extract asentence from the Mirror of Gesture,written by Mr. Ananda Coomaraswami, amost discerning critic and art-lover. Hesays: “The song is to be sustained in thethroat; its meaning is to be shown by thehands; its moods are evinced by glances;its rhythms are marked by the feet”. Thatis an accurate summing up of intrinsicaspects of the dance. Bharata goes intominute particulars as to the building andfurnishing of a theatre. Dealing withNatyasastra as the fifth Veda, he describesThe Veil of DefamationIt is only within the last 100 or 200 yearsthat the word “nautch” came into vogue,the word being really Hindi: nach fromSanskrit nritya. But it also unfortunatelysignifies something more secular anddeleterious than mere Nritya. A nautchbegan to be associated with those “sistersof shame” who had to earn their living byarts other than dance, but who used thisart of dance as an additional means ofallurement. With the degradation of thenautch came the degradation of the art,and the spiritual degradation accompaniedthe social. Some years ago, a good lady,Miss Tennant, came all the way fromEngland to India and asked many personsto sign a covenant that they would notattend any dance or nautch performance.Many of them signed the covenant andnow they themselves are the unrepentantbreakers of that covenant. The positionthen was that we lived in a period when itonly needed somebody else to come andsay thatwe must he ashamed of our selves. We

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAforthwith began to be ashamed ofourselves. It was taken for granted thatanything connected with our culture mustbe necessarily imperfect, if not perverse.Any criticism directed against our culturewas taken to be necessarily right. We werebidden to adopt the perpetual post ofhanging down our heads in shame, and tocontribute actively to our self-effacement.Those days are happily passing away.Classical ReferencesLet us however look at the past history ofthe art. Some days ago, I was reading theearliest of Tamil romances, Silappathikaram,which is as old as the Christian era. In thethird chapter of that book, Madhavidescribes how she spent five years andmore in learning the art of dance, because,without it, it would not be possible for anycivilised being to live a full life. Arjuna wasa dancer in the court of Virata. What dowe find in Kalidasa’s Malavi- kagnimitra?The Dance. According to tradition, theEmperor Samudragupta used the plectrum,borrowed from the Greeks and played onthe zither whilst his wife danced in public.Udayana and his wife also practised theart. The dance, therefore, was not lookeddown upon; it was not despised; it wasnot one of the spurned sisters of the arts,but it was the foremost of them.A Comparative EstimateThere are amongst us friends who areacquainted with European systems ofdancing, which also started, as ours did,as religious manifestations amongst theGreeks, as, for instance, in the Dionysiandance, and among the Romans, the Druidsand the other nations in Europe. But the38DANCES OF INDIAdances of the West soon developed verylargely on secular lines. A question may beasked as to what the main differencebetween the two systems is. I amanswering that question to the best of mylights and shall, no doubt, evoke criticism.My task is, however, to draw pointedattention to one aspect of the matter,namely, that in the development of thisart of dance, the art of Kathakali, the artof Gopinath’s troupe, great care has beentaken to see that each art is maintained’pure, and unalloyed by the influence ofkindred but extraneous cultures. The secretand the raison d’ etre of the Europeandances, as developed especially within thelast two hundred years, is that it is likemodern European painting and sculpture,regarded as a means of self-expression,the evolution of the artist’s specific,individual personality. Thus it is that theEuropean dance, which began with thedanse basse and the danse haute andflowered in the stately and courtlyceremonies of the Pauane, Courante andthe Minuet of France and the Fandango ofSpain, and the courtesies and bows of theFrench and German court functions andthe intricacies of the Waltz, have, withthe march of time, adopted the jazz bandand Negro melodies and quick and startlingrhythms borrowed from many lands, and isnow passing through such manifestationsas the Bunnyhug, Texas Tommy, Charleston,Blues, Lambeth Walk (adapted from therevue ‘Me and My Gal’) as well as the SouthAmerican dances, Samba, Rumba, Tangoand Mexiase, and may I add the latest,Boomps-a-Daisy and Jitterbug which, Ithink, are quite recent. In each one of theseforms of dance, the idea has been that

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAparticular art-forms are utilised mainly forthe purpose of manifesting the exhilarationand the emotion generated in man andwoman who, in the main, performed inpartnership. These dances are amongst theefflorescence of the present-day Europeanpersonality which assumes remarkable andoriginal forms in architecture, painting,sculpture as well as in music and dancing.These may be disturbing to some of usand may appear to be vehement andcontortionist; but these are characteristicsof this age and its mood. The Indian idealhas been different. Whether in paintingsor in murals, whether in sculpture of thosegreat forms of Nataraja, Krishna and Durga,or music or the dance, Indian art willinglyadopts rigid rule-conventions, and subjectsitself to very strict rules and disciplinesand is anxious to eliminate the individual,and to concentrate on its interpretationof the universal. One result of such aneffort is that our art is largely anonymous.Speaking of European art, the works ofgreat masters like Rembr-andt, Titian,Raphael, Velas-quez, da Vinci, BenvenutoCellini and Rodin attract thousands andmillions but who knows the authorship ofour sculptures and Images and murals? Whoknows the artificers of Kanyakumari or ofthe great gopurams, mandapams, stoneand wood carvings at Madura,Tanjore,Thiruvarur, Trivandrurn and Suchindram?Nobody. Indian art has eliminated or strivento eliminate the individual and the particular.It has striven to think of the individual asa fragment in a continuous existence, asan item of eternity, not as a protagonistof an art evolved for the purpose either ofirnmortalisation or as the expression of the39DANCES OF INDIAperson’s longings, emotions and aspirations,or even as originating some idea preciousto humanity.Criticising such a conception, manycompetent persons have observed that inadopting this attitude and this approach,our art has suffered to no small extent.Opinions may differ, but nevertheless, thereis no advantage in confusing the twodifferent ideals, no point in defacing distinctboundaries. The ideal of Indian art has beenthe sublimation of ideals by the eliminationof personality; and the Indian dance hasidentical objectives with other forms ofIndian art.With the best will in the world, MadamePavlova, after her visit to Malabar, wishedto combine the beauties and the graces ofthe Russian ballet and of the Waltz withthe Katha-kali. One of the artisticconsequences of a movement for whichshe was to some extent responsible wasthe art of Uday Shankar, Menaka andvarious others. I have the greatestadmiration for these exponents of acombined art but I venture to say, and Isay it with fear’ and trembling and withthe timidity ‘of a mere amateur dealing withexperts, that it is one thing to follow aparticular art, say the Indian art, to thelimits of Indian possibilities in sight of thoseideals which it has set. before itself, andwhich may be circumscribed, butnevertheless, are definite; it is quiteanother thing to explore European art andits wonderful possibilities and blossomings,but for heaven’s sake, let us not make anolla padrida-a confused intermingling ofdivergent ideals and ingredients ...

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA40DANCES OF INDIAThe Place Of Language In DanceProf. C. V. CHANDRASEKHARThe Oxford Dictionary defineslanguage as a vocabulary andway of using it as prevalent inone or more countries and places. It alsodefines finger language as talk byconventional signs with fingers. The fingerlanguage must have been a predecessorto the spoken language. It is an acceptedfact that language is not as old as manhimself. Before the evolution of thelanguages there must have existed somemeans or methods of communication whichcould have only been through some signsof the various limbs of the human body,made more precise with the help of facialexpressions. These changes of expressionsare naturally an outward exposition of one’sinner feelings. This mode of self expression,before language was evolved is theprimordium of dance. Prof. Jesperson, thephilologist has said that ‘dance arose inprimitive human mind on occasions festiveor otherwise exciting’. Innumerable varietiesof dance form, were evolved as a meansof expressing various moods like joy, anger,sorrow, etc. If man could express all themoods and communicate through his bodymovements the satvikabhinaya, why thenwas the necessity of a language at all indance?We are well aware that even at a timewhen the different languages of the worldare so highly evolved, we are unable tocommunicate with each other without acommon link-language. In such a situation,the limitation of communication throughdance alone, as it existed, would have leftit in the same stage of evolution as itexisted centuries ago without thedevelopment of the language. So there isno doubt that language has been one ofthe major factors in the evolution of dance.Scope Through LiteratureIt would be worthwhile here to consider, inshort, the history and development of danceand its literature. For Bharata to havewritten a treatise almost two thousandyears ago on subjects of dance, music anddramaturgy, a very strong tradition ofdance must have flourished and existed toenable him to codify the entire dance.Naturally, Sanskrit must have been thelanguage prevalent, spoken and understoodfor the arts. His work was followed by manymore. The Sanskrit plays of Bhasa, Kalidasa,Bhavabhuti, Harsha and others followed theNatya Sastra tradition. These plays werenot just plays of spoken words and emotionsbut included the angikabhinaya- gesturelanguage. The Natya-dharmi, (the modeof presentation in a stylised way) whichas a rule is strictly to be followed in dancein contrast to the Lokadharmi, was alsodefinitely followed in the Purvaranga of theplay and occasionally in the course of theactual play. In the medieval period most ofthe regional languages developed, andalong with them regional dance-styles alsodeveloped. Manuals on dance in variousregional languages were written and theregional styles naturally followed them. I

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAmention these only to emphasise theimportance of literature in dance, which isa product of the developed language. Indealing with the subject, I limit myself tothe Indian dance, although the same rulesshould apply to dances all over the world.We in India are very fortunate still to be inthe possession of dances from veryprimitive types to the most stylised andadvanced classical forms. A review of thesedifferent dances would give even a laymanan idea as to the part played by languagein its evolutionary ladder.The Beauty Aspects41DANCES OF INDIAreference to each and every word uttered.We may mention here the padams,kirtanams and varnams in Bharatanatyam,which are musical compositions which thedancer interprets through the most precisetechnique of coordination of the word andgesture. Thus in interpreting a given lyricalcomposition of a padam or a Javali, theSome of the tribal dances even to this dayare danced only to the beats of differentdrums with intermittent sounds and crieswith no songs to accompany. We have thefolk dances wherein lyrics conveying aparticular legend or word compositionsuitable to the occasion are sung in simplefolk-tunes and the dances that accompanythese convey the mood of the song bysimple movement. For example, acomposition describing the birth of Krishnawould only be portrayed as a dance of joywith movements of feet and hands thrownout in ecstasy. Here, it is the meaning ofthe song that helps the audience tounderstand and appreciate the dance assuitable to the particular occasion. Finally,when we come to the classical dances,the language of gestures and movementsof every major and minor limb of the bodyare so highly stylised and codified, thatthe dancer is in a position to representevery word of the song with appropriategestures, body movements and facialexpressions. The spectator is thus in aposition to enjoy every movement inthree categories of (I) the meaning of thecomposition as a whole, (2) the meaningof each line in the composition and (3) themeaning of a word in a line viz. Kavyartha,vakyartha and padartha, are elaborated.In maintaining the sthayi bhava (thedominant mood) the kavyartha is projectedto the audience and then the complimentaryand transitory moods are projected throughthe vakyartha and padartha. After a wordto word interpretation, the dancer caninterpret each word with as many possiblemeanings as the word can offer, relevantto the situation, thus giving maximum scope

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAfor the sacharibhava.Therefore, the understanding of the songtextdefinitely helps the spectator inenjoying the dance. But very often we hearmany a spectator say that what he enjoyedmost in a Bharatanatyam concert was thetillana or other pure dance sequences likethe teermanams (rhythmic sequences orsyllables) in a varnam. How can weinterpret this feeling of the spectator? Isit because he does not understand the songtexts of the abhinaya or does he reallyenjoy the varieties of rhythmic patternsconstructed in space with the help ofangikabhinaya? Bharata himself asks as towhy nritta (pure dance) was created ifabhinaya was devised to bring out themeaning of the songs. In answer he himselfsays:Kintu shobhaam pramanayeditinrittam pravartitamPraayena sarvalokasya nrittimishtarrtsvabhaavatah [ NS Ch. IV 51. 264 ]“Nritta is not concerned with any meaningof the songs. But it creates beauty. Bynature man is fond of Nritta.” Thus aspectator enjoys Nritta, not because thereis no language involved in it, but morebecause, as Bharata says, he is fond ofNritta by nature as it creates beauty. Thisis further proved by the fact that even aperson who understands the abhinaya alsoenjoys nritta because of its beauty andrhythm. But the place of language mainlyconcerns abhinaya. Abhinaya is to projectsomething before the audience whichwould establish a rapport with the audienceby creating the rasa in them. Theunderstanding of even a few words in asong gives them enjoyment. In the first42DANCES OF INDIAchapter of the Natya Sastra dealing withthe origin of dance, the gods headed byIndra are said to have asked Brahma tocreate a spectacle which could be bothseen and heard. Commenting on this,Abhinavagupta says: “To see is to enjoyand hear is to understand”. So, naturallyunderstanding complements theenjoyment.The Role of GesturesA person sometimes enjoys listening to arecitation in a particular language becauseof its beautiful composition of words, itsmetre, the syllables etc. He enjoys thesound and expression of the language andtries to compare it with his own languagewhich he understands. This aspect of thelanguage could be universal. But thelanguage as such is not universal butconventional. Even a said language has somany dialects that universality of a singlelanguage becomes difficult. Similarly, thelanguage of gestures is mainly conventionallike a spoken language. But there are anumber of gestures which are naturally andcommonly used by people of all racesspeaking varied languages. Commongestures used for words like come, go, eat,sleep and questioning words like why, whatetc. are universally used in the samemanner, thus exposing the universality ofthe gesture-language partially. Thesecommon gestures with a little stylisationturn into precise dance gestures which areeasy to follow. Very often the same gestureis used to show different meanings. Thenarises the difficulty of understanding theparticular meaning that the gesture isshowing. This can only be solved with thehelp of the language. Although the gesture

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAwould be the same, theposition of the gesture andthe meaning it conveys isdifferent. As an example,one of the asamyutahastas might be taken toillustrate this. Thetripataka is shown with thefingers straight except thering finger and the thumbwhich are bent. Althoughthe tripataka would meana particular type of flag, itis used to denote thefollowing according to theAbhinaya Darpanam ofNandikeswara.Mukute oriksha bhaveshuvajre taddharavaasave lKetaki kusume dipevanhijwalaavijrimbhane ll(1. 101 A.D. )Kapote patralekhaayaamvaanaarthe parivartane lYujyate tripataakoyamkathito Bharatottamaih ll(1. 102 A.D. )The crown, the tree, thethunderbolt, Indra, thepandanus flower, flame ofthe fire, the dove, letter writing, an arrow,to go round, etc. Unless one is aware ofthese usages or unless these are expressedto appropriate words of the song-texts,the dance would be meaningless exceptthat it is a movement of beauty asmentioned earlier. Therefore, in theconventional gesture-language of thedance, the lyrics or the songtexts becomeimportant. Thus angikabhinaya withoutvachikabhinaya remains incomplete.43DANCES OF INDIABharata confirms thiswhen commenting on theimportance of speech indrama.Vaachi yatrashturryartarryonaatyasyaiuaa tanuhsmrita lAnganaipathya satvaanivaakyartham rryanjayantihi llNS cs. XV, s1. 2“One should take care ofthe words (vachikabhinaya).For these areknown as the body of thedramatic art. Andgestures, costumes andmake-up and acting ofsatva (merely) clarify themeaning of words.”At times, the word used isthe same and so is thesituation but the differentroot-meanings of the wordare presented throughdifferent sets of gestures.To quote Shri Junjunni Rajafrom his monograph on theKoodiyattam (Sanskrit play enacted inKerala, supposed to be the closest form ofpresentation according to the NatyaSastra), “Sugriva calls Rama by the word‘deva’. The term is derived from the root‘div’ which means to ‘desire’, ‘to rejoice’and ’to have splendour’. All these differentmeanings are shown through gestures whileaddressing Rama. You have cut off all theseven sala trees with one arrow; to sucha great man killing Vali is only a sport.”

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAAfter showing this idea through gestureshe calls ‘deva’. Then he indicates anotheridea. “Having cut off the seven Salas youshow a desire to defeat Vali”. And then headdresses “There is nobody so splendid asyou, enthusiastic in killing Vali.”Expression of IdeasSometimes, abhinaya performed withoutsong-texts is understood when a particularstory or a particular anecdote of a story isportrayed. It is not because the spectatorunderstands every gesture without thetext being sung, but because he is awareof the anecdote that is depicted and uttersthe sequences one after the other withinhimself in his own language which heunderstands. If a caption like ‘makhan chor’or ‘Rukmini haranam’ is given to the dancethat is being performed, understandingbecomes much more easier. Even a singleline of the text repeated over and overagain keeps the spectator alert in followingthe full story enacted. This is because thespectators’ mind is prepared to receive thesame. Even abstract themes incontemporary dances without songtexts,need the help of language to explain thethemes. Language therefore definitely helpsin bringing about objectivity inpresentation.Verbal text alone in the general term doesnot help the spectator to understand andenjoy the dance completely. The text hasto be in the language that he understandsfully well. Otherwise a word here or a wordthere which makes sense to him of coursemakes him alert and enjoy but he onlyenjoys the total beauty of the dance andnot the details. For example, the followingfrom the Krishna legend, where a Gopi on44DANCES OF INDIAan errand, is stopped by Krishna en routeand she pleads with him not to obstructher way, is portrayed thus in three differentlanguages:Challanamma ponu, dari viduvumu-Krishna-I go to sell curds, clear the way for me 0Krishna - In Telugu.patha chaduemu jibi ... banamali-Vanamali!Clear out the path as I wish to go”-In Oriya. orKahe rokata dagarryare-why do you stopme on my way - In Hindi.All these verbal texts almost mean the samebut to a spectator who understands theparticular text, the enjoyment is more. Ifnot, he translates the sequence in his ownlanguage to enjoy it to the utmost withthe help of the synopsis already provided.Sometimes, the non-understanding of thelanguage creates a sense of uneasiness inthe spectator. He wishes to enjoy the totalbeauty of the movement of the limbs andthe varied expression accompanying them.But the constant utterance of words inthe songs does not give him the freedomto enjoy the dance the way he wants toenjoy it, as the accompanying songdistracts him from his imagination. But thereverse view is also expressed by some.Even though one does not understand themeaning of the song, he feels that but forthe song he wouldn’t enjoy the dance somuch. So according to him the song givesa completeness to the dance.What are then the views of a performerwith reference to, language? A performeralways has an edge over the spectator ashe is aware of what he is dancing orinterpreting. Whether he interprets a song-

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAtext verbatim or he performs asancharibhava to a given sentence in atext by elaborating it, or even if he dancesa gatbhava, as in Kathak, to a Lehara, (asingle line musical composition played onan instrument and repeated over and overagain) as the musical accompaniment, heis interpreting, his aim is mainly to conveythe same to the audience before him. Thelanguage therefore doesn’t become asimportant to the dancer as it is to thespectator. The performer, when he realisesthat the spectator is following every wordof the song-text that he is interpretingreceives an added enthusiasm to give outhis best which feeling he does notexperience before an audience whichenjoys the dance just for its beauty. Thus,to perform a Tamil varnam in Madras, aKshetranga padam in Andhra, an Oriyacomposition in Bhubaneswar or a Tulsi padain Varanasi is not only a thrill but also achallenge as the dancer has to be verycareful in his delineation. A similar situationis faced when a teacher of dance has toimpart lessons in abhinaya to those whodo not understand the language of thesong-text. Here he seeks the help of thefundamental facility of translation in alanguage. He has to give a general idea ofthe theme, followed by word to wordtranslation. But it is an accepted fact thateven the best of translations do not bringout the same idea of the poet which hewants to convey through a particular word.So one who understands the text in thesame language of its composition is in abetter position to exploit the song-text.Otherwise, there is a sense of restrictionwhich is felt by the dancer.45Importance of the Song-TextDANCES OF INDIAAn amateur performer is always guided bythe song-text as the words in the songtextsconstantly remind him of hislimitations. But to an ace dancer, the textalmost remains as a basic skeleton overwhich he builds up the improvisation whichare not set and rehearsed. But a singleline of the song-text which the audiencehears all the time becomes important tothem, as they correlate the whole actionwith that text.I mention below a line from one of thepadams in Telugu, in Sankarabharanam.Kshetranga and others composed theirpadams mainly for the dance, portrayingthe various nayikas in each one of them.She longs for her lord Rajagopala. Thenayika is vasakasajjika. The sakhi narratesher condition to the nayaka.Dari joochuchunnadi, needu priya-’Yourfriend awaits you’-The dancer, afterinterpreting a word to word sequence goeson to improvise. I mention some of thepossibilities of interpreting this single linewhich would be further divided into twoparts. The first part-Dari joochahunnadi- She awaits you.1. She awaits you at the door step.2. She turns around to look at thestreet by which you would come.3. She stares at a person at adistance, thinking it to be you.4. She is thrilled at the slightest rustlethat she hears.5. She watches.(a) as she combs her hair(b) as she is applying collirium(c) as she dons a saree

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA(d) as she adorns jewellery ...(e) as she keeps tasty eatables for you(f) as she makes a flower garland for you(g) as she prepares the ‘bed for you6. She is lost in your thought.7. She portrays your image in her eyesclosing them.The second part- Needu priya-Your friend.Your friend who-(a) is fit to talk to you(b) is an equal to you(c) is fit for your embrace(d) is loved by you(e) speaks high of you(f) heeds your wordsThere could be many more added to thislist. A spectator may not follow actions ofall these variations, but if he is aware ofthe meaning of the single line of the songtexthe tries to correlate and enjoy.What has language to do with a spectatorwho, say, is a foreigner? He does notunderstand the language of the song-text,the music that accompanies, nor the storyelement and he is not familiar with theculture either. However, he enjoys thedance immensely. Firstly he is surprised atseeing something, the like of which, he hasnever witnessed before. He is enamouredby the subtle movements of each limbespecially the mukhajabhinaya (of the faceand the eyes in particular). He is lost inthe complexities of the rhythmicpermutations and the total effect the wholedance produces. We can go back toBharata and say that by nature, men arefond of the dance as it creates beauty.46DANCES OF INDIABut even to such a spectator, a detailedsynopsis of the abhinaya performedfollowed by a demonstration of a songtexttranslated into his own languagecreates a sense of closer universal gesturesfrom an abhinaya sequence and achievesa sense of satisfaction if his identificationis found correct.An Experience RecalledI would like to narrate here an experienceI had with a group of ballet students inRussia. While presenting a demonstrationlecture to the ballet artists at TheatreEstonia, Tallinn, I asked the audience torecite to me a poem in Estonian along withits translation for which I would performthe abhinaya. One of the dancer promptlywas up on his toes and recited a poemwhich when translated read as follows:“Amongst all the eligible suitors in ourneighbourhood, I love the married one wholives round the corner.”The lyric, which burst the audience to alaughter, made me a bit nervous. But soonI composed myself and turned out thewhole theme into a beautiful story throughthe language of dance, receiving thebiggest ovation. I realised how a short lyricin Estonian could make the Estonians gocrazy as though they had totallyunderstood the art of Bharata.Thus, we find the closeness of thelanguage and abhinaya althoughfundamentally language differs from dance,in that the former is discursive while thelatter has an element of simultaneity.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA146DANCES OF INDIAVIVEKANANDA KENDRA SAMACHARFollowing is the detailed report of the activities of Vivekananda Kendra organisedthroughout India, with the Head Quarters at Kanyakumari.1. No. of visitors to Vivekananda Rock Memorial 19,43,3792. No. of visitors to Arise, Awake Pictorial Exhibition 19,3003. No. of visitors to Wandering Monk Exhibition 6,5004. No. of visitors to Gramodaya Darshan Park 2,1255. No. of visitors who stayed in Vivekanandapuram 1,71,8166. No. of patients treated at the dispensary 13,587The following were some of the important visitors to Vivekananda Rock Memorial:DateName of the Visitors10.04.09 Justice Shri H.L. Gokhale, Chief Justice, High Court, Chennai01.06.09 Shri Purushothambhai O. Solanki, Minister, Govt. of Gujrat12.06.09 Justice Shri S.P. Sinha, Judge, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi14.06.09 Shri Rajendra Ratnoo, Collector of Kanyakumari District, Nagercoil26.06.09 Shri A.C. Mahajan, Chairman & M.D. Canara Bank, Bengaluru24.09.09 Shri V.N. Joshi, Managing Director, Bina Oman Refinery Ltd.,30.11.09 Gen. Deepak Kapoor, Chief of Army Staff, New Delhi20.02.10 Shri K.M. Chandrasekhar, Union Cabinet Secretary, New DelhiGen. Deepak Kapoor, Chief of Army Staffwrote in the visitors’ book at the RockMemorial - It is an honour and a privilegeto be here. On behalf of all ranks of theArmed Forces, I wish you success, joy andhappiness.Shri K.M. Chandrasekhar, CabinetSecretary: ‘A truly elevating experience.It was great to sit in the meditationchamber and hear the primordial sound.Congratulations to all the officers and stafffor maintaining this great edifice whichstands testimony to India’s history, India’scultural heritage and the contribution ofall our people to the spiritual enrichmentof the whole world’.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA147DANCES OF INDIAMore than 40 organizations and associations availed of the accommodation facilities fortheir meetings, seminars, etc. To name a representative few:OrganisationNo. ofParticipants01. Kutch Kadura Pathitha Sat Sangh Mandal, Chennai 1,50002. Vazhka Vazhamudan, Nagercoil 43003. Postal Department Office Union, Chennai 40004. BSNL Employees Union, Nagercoil 30005. Horticultural Department, Pechiparai 25006. Rm.K.V. & Sons, Tirunelveli 21007. NSS camp for students of M.S. University, Tirunelveli 20008. Baval Engineering College, Namakkal 16009. All India Ayurvedic Conference 15010. Rashtriya Ayurveda Vidya Peeth, New Delhi 100Details of Shibirs conducted at Vivekanandapuram:ShibirFrom To01 Acharya Prashikshan Shibir 01.04.09 25.04.09 8002. Personality Development Camp 08.05.09 10.05.09 5803. Sanskar Varga Shibir 23.05.09 29.05.09 33304. Karyakarta Prashikshan Shibir 05.06.09 20.06.09 1305. Yoga Shiksha Shibir 05.06.09 19.06.09 4106. Kendra Shiksharti Deeksha Shibir 08.05.09 31.08.09 2107. Youth Camp 24.07.09 26.07.09 3808. Spiritual Retreat 08.08.09 14.08.09 8009. Yoga Shiksha Shibir 01.12.09 15.12.09 5410. Varishta Karyakarta Prashikshan Shibir 05.12.09 15.12.09 3011. College students from 10 States 28.12.09 31.12.09 13812. Spiritual Retreat 05.02.10 11.02.12 94

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA148DANCES OF INDIASri M. Hanumanta Rao, Treasurer,participated in the International Conferenceon Yoga Research & Cultural Synthesis atKaivalyadam, Lonavla. His paper andpresentation at the conference on Yoga &Value Education was declared as the bestin its category (Yoga & allied subjects).Branch Centers: All the 219 BranchCenters in 21 States carried out theplanned programs in accordance with theprescribed norms. Regular Sanskar Vargas,Yoga Vargas and Swadhyaya Vargas andfive Utsavs on account of Guru Purnima,Universal Brotherhood Day, Sadhana Divas,Gita Jayanti, Samarth Bharat Parvacommencing on 25 Dec and concluding onVivekananda Jayanti on 12 Jan wereorganized appropriately. They alsoconducted camps and competitions etc.,to involve youth and others in this ThoughtMovement. These events brought a largenumber of men, women and childrentogether to the Kendra fold. A few of thehighlights were:In Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, in all 4centres together 192 programs/camps etcwere organized in which 14892participated. Flood relief – during Floodsin Andhra Pradesh - material costing morethan Rs. 3 lakh was distributed among 2500affected people.In Asom Prant the ‘Vijay Hi Vjay’ MahaShibir at Tinsukia from 6 to 10 January 2010was attended by 712 students. All otherprograms and camps at different placesattracted 72,000 and odd people.In Gujrat. The Principal EducationSecretary of the Government was the chiefguest on Guru Purnima Day at Ahmedabad.In Karnataka, at RT Nagar, Bengaluru, twoAnandalayas and a dispensary once a weekwere the additional programs. On Sri RamaNavami Day, there was an Akhand RamNama japa and Ramayana Pathan followedby distribution of Maha Prasad for over8,000 devotees. The wonderful part of theprogram was serving of food was done bythe participants of Anandalaya & SamskarVarga along with their parents. AtMangaluru, 4 Anandalayas for 80 children,an eye camp benefiting 85 persons and amassive Raksha Bandhan were organized.At Mysore, Swami Nityananadaji, SriRamakrishna Math, Mysore, and ShriPramod Radkar, General Manager, RBI,addressed a well attended meeting onVivekananda Jayanti Day. A personalitydevelopment camp also was organized inwhich 45 students participated.In Madhya Pradesh Prant, the majorevent was ‘Vijay Hi Vijay’ Maha Shibir atBhopal for about 700 select collegestudents from 50 districts of MadhyaPradesh and 6 districts of Uttar Pradesh.It was conducted by 308 Karyakartas from26 to 31 December 2009. Shri Shivraj SinghChauhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh,inaugurated this mega event. As a followup, Yuva Prerana Shibirs were held at fourplaces viz., Bhopal, Dhar, Gwalior andJabalpur for 427 persons. An off-shoot ofthe ‘Vijay Hi Vijay’ was starting of 26Anandalayas for about 1,000 children, bythe participants on their own initiative with

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA149DANCES OF INDIAthe guidance from Kendra karyakartas. Thepersonality development camps at Bhopal,Gwalior and Jhansi were attended by over800 students. Maj. Gen. G.D. Bakshiaddressed about 350 persons on BharatiyaSamrik Parampara at a Vivek VicharParicharcha program in Bhopal. About4,000 people attended various programsduring Samartha Bharat Parva celebrations.In Maharashtra, six mandal-wise ‘VijayPoorna Vijay’ Shibirs were conducted atMumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Jalgaon, Nashik andPimpalad for 560 students. These were partof the follow up of the Vijay Poorna VijayMahashibir organized at Shegaon in 2009.The new Mandal Vyavastha is evolving tospread the Kendra activities to all areas ina more planned way.Nearly 19,000 persons attended theprescribed Utsavs held at various branchcenters.Vivekananda Kendra Prashikshan VaSeva Prakalpa, Pimplad: Five Balwadis,six women’s awareness camps, fiveAnandalayas, two Adhyatmic Shibirs for 78persons, a Vivekashrama for girls and boys,Shiva/Deepa Pujas attended by 1,500devotees were the programs. Vocationaltraining was given to 72 persons andimplements and two cows were also givento indigent farmers as a part of economicdevelopment program. Over 8,000 personswere treated in 9 medical camps with thehelp of a doctor and 22 SwasthyaRakshaks.In Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, 5,200students performed a large scale SamuhikSurya Namaskar. On Vivekananda JayantiDay. Swami Shiveswaranandaji ofRamakrishna Math and Sri Dibyasingha Deb,Gajapati Maharaj, Puri, were some of theimportant persons who attended thisprogram. Over 11,000 persons attendedvarious programs in this State.A plot of land admeasuring Acre 0.481allotted by the Government of Odisha during2008-09 on lease of 99 years for Rs16,83,500/- in the Jagamara area ofBhubaneswar was given possession. Thework of the Regional Centre-cum-Instituteof Culture & Yoga Building is to begin.In Sambalpur District, for organizing theactivities of the Utkal Seva Prakalpa onfull fledged scale, land admeasuring 18.40acres in Mouza Amlipani. P.S. Jojomura waspurchased for Rs 15,23,968/-.In Rajasthan Prant, 7,800 students tookpart in essay writing competitions and1,400 selected out of them attended 20camps. There were also 18 youth campswhich were attended by 1,065 students.The Utsavs were attended by over 6,000people. A Balwadi for 35 children andSanskar Vargas at 19 places for 327children and Yoga Satras and Vargas for470 persons were conducted.A 2-day Kaushalya Shibir as a part oftraining in Vyavastha was organized for themembers of all Samities in Rajasthan.In Tamil Nadu, at Chennai, VivekanandaKendra participated in a large scale HinduSpiritual & Service Fair organized by GlobalFoundation for Civilizational Harmony atChennai. Many distinguished guests like ShriS.S. Barnala, Governor of Tamil Nadu, ShriB.S. Yediyurappa, Chief Minister ofKarnataka, Swami Gautamananda, Head,

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA150DANCES OF INDIASri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai and Shri R.Nataraj, Director General of Police, TamilNadu, visited the Fair besides a largenumber of people. On the occasion, SwamiVimurtananda, Editor, RamakrishnaVijayam, released the ‘Green Pathfinders’– Part II of Kendra Patrika. A personalitythe students performed in perfect unisonmass Surya Namaskar before the largeaudience, a rarely seen event for them.Many of them won prizes in sports andother events conducted by differentagencies.At Madurai, Five Yoga Satras weredevelopment attended by 140 children with conducted for 217 persons. An100 parents was another event.At Coimbatore, a ‘Let us play an exam.’Camp was held for 793 students from 7schools.At Tiruppur, Vivekananda Kendra tookunder its aegis ‘Anbu Illam’ a residentialhigh school run on sound lines. The schoolhad 187 students, 7 teachers and 10supporting staff. Twenty eight studentsfrom this school who appeared in the Xstandard public examination 2009 have allpassed, eleven of them scoring first classmarks. Their extra-curricular activities wereintroductory session about VivekanandaKendra and a Swadhyaya Class wereorganized at Sourashtra College for Women.Note books and writing materials weresupplied to 100 needy students. Apersonality development was attended by71 students. A Kutumb Sammelan to stressthe importance of family life for a healthysociety and a Sat Sang on the role ofIndian culture in day to day life were held.The five Utsavs were celebrated well withthe participation of students and generalpublic as under:also noteworthy. On 26 January 2010 allGuru Universal Sadhana Gita SamarthaPurnima Brotherhood Day Divas Jayanti Bharat ParvaAt two places At 2 places At 3 places At one place At four places550 persons 510 persons 200 persons 55 persons 550 personsattended attended attended attended attendedAt Thoothukudi, tailoring was taught to55 Village girls. During Navaratri, Poojaswere performed in various temples as apart of creation of organized work.Sri. K. Balasubramaniamji of Palayam-kottai,Tirunelveli donated a peace of landadmeasuring 4.5 cents valuing Rs 6.30lakhs as his donation for establishingVivekananda Kendra branch centre andorganizing Man making & Nation buildingactivities.In Kolkata, West Bengal, many monks ofSri Ramakrishna Math attended some ofthe Utsavs and addressed the invitees.Vivekananda Kendra VidyalayasSixty one Vidyalayas as listed belowincluding 6 new schools in ArunachalPradesh and 3 in Asom provided valueeducation to 23,000 students. In Arunachal

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA151DANCES OF INDIAthe students of Standards in X and XIIstandards acquitted themselves creditablyin the public examinations. Kum. MausumiBora of VKV, Tafrogam, stood first in theState in the X Standard public examination.Nine students from VKVs formed part of 10member team to participate in national levelChildren’s Science Congress at Ahmedabad.Kumari Taba Yahi, VKV, Yazali has beennominated as a member of a team of 25students to represent India in anInternational forum. Nine VKVs at Amliang,Jairampur, Kuporijo, Koloriang, NiveditaVihar, Oyan, Roing, Sunpura, and Ziro,participated in a State-level ScienceSeminar 2009. A team of students won theNational Level On Line Quiz competitionconducted by Department of Science &Technology, Government of India, NewDelhi.State No. of No. ofVidyalayas StudentsAndaman 09 2,928Arunachal Pradesh 30 10,503Asom & Nagaland 18 7,575Karnataka 01 354Tamil Nadu 04 1,646Total 61 23,006Shri K. P. Rao, Principal, VKV Yazali andShri. N. Kumaravel, Principal, VKVBanderdewa, were awarded Government ofIndia’s National Teacher’s Award and CBSETeacher’s Award respectively. He donatedthe amount of Rs.25,000/- to Kendrastating that it rightly belonged to his Kendrawhich cared for him for the last 33 yearsand inspired him to reach such a stage asto be rewarded.The highlight of the Universal BrotherhoodDay celebration at VKV Itanagar was thepresence of Gen. J.J. Singh, Governor,Arunachal Pradesh and Smt Anupama Singhas chief guests. The Governor afterfelicitating the state toppers in AISSE 2009recalled his close contact with VKVs duringhis army days in Arunachal Pradesh andappreciated Vivekananda Kendra for itsnation building activities. Sri A. Pandiyan,General Manager, North East region, IndianOil Corporation who donated a mobilescience laboratory van to the Vidyalayaand Sri Tapir Gao former M.P. and SusriRekha Davey also attended function.Some of the other important visitors toour various schools were:1. Shri. Bosiram Siram, EducationMinister, Arunachal Pradesh.2. Shri Nabam Atung, President,Indigenous Faith & Cultural Societyof Arunachal Pradesh.3. Shri L. Khimhun, Secretary General,Rangfra Faith & Culture PromotionSociety.4. Shri Tapi Mara who climbed to thetop of Mt. Everest.5. Shri K.Kumar, Editor, ArunachalFront.6. Shri Bhanghai Pasong, Coordinator,Arunachal Vikas Parishad in KurungKumeyFor further info visit: www.vkvapt.org

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA152DANCES OF INDIAVivekananda Kendra VidyalayasAsom & NagalandEighteen Vidyalayas – seventeen in Asomand one in Nagaland, with 7525 studentsfunctioned satisfactorily. Of these threewere newly started. 397 students appearedfor X standard public examination and 391of them passed with 318 scoring first classmarks. Out of 277 students who appearedfor XII standard public examination, 249passed out with 176 scoring first classmarks.In the competitive entrance examinations,VKV Tinsukia turned out the highest numberof successful candidates, a record for anysingle school in the district. Yasin ShahtazEmanee from VKV, Golaghat, who stood firstin the State level Science Fair at RegionalScience Centre, Guwahati, for his model,represented Asom in the Eastern IndiaScience Fair held at Birla Industrial &Technological Museum, Kolkata.Su. Dipa Das Choudhury, teacher, VKVBadarpur received a Gold Medal from theUniversity of Bangaya Sangeet Kala Kendra,Kolkata, for her contribution to Teachers’Training in Creative Dance. Sri KalyanDeka, Teacher, VKV (NEEPCO) Doyangreceived Shilpi Prerana Award instituted by‘Uttar Purvanchal Niyog Sangvad’ for hiscontribution to the cultural field.Twoteachers, Shri S. Mohan Das, VKV Tinsukia,authored a book titled ‘Bishwasar AbartotBipanna Jaiba Baichitra’ and Su. NabanitaBhuyan, VKV, Umrangso brought out twoscience guide books for classes VIII & IXStandards.Thirteen camps of different kind wereconducted for 800 students and 6 trainingprograms for 410 teachers and supportingstaff members. The attendance at theUtsavs was as under:Attendance Guru Universal Sadhana Gita Samarth BharatPurnima Brotherhood day Divas Jayanti ParvaStudents 7,500 9,878 6,800 6,750 9,878Others 545 13,000 545 1,400 16,500Some of the VIPs who visited the differentVidyalayas were1. Shri Nikhil Kumar, Governor ofNagaland2.Dr. Tapodheer Bhattacharjee, ViceChancellor, Assam University,Silchar.3. Prof. Arup Kr. Sarma, Dean, IIT,Guwahati.4. Sri Devasish Sarkar, GeneralManager, NECF, Margheritta.5. Shri Kanak Gogoi, Scientist,Guwahati

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAA plot of land measuring 7 Bighas 17 Lessaswas purchased for Rs. 172200/- in villageUhanipathar, Mouza Haleswr, P.O. Dipotanear Tezpur for establishing VivekanandaKendra Vidyalaya for the people of Tezpur.The construction of infra-structure wasundertaken in VK Vidyalayas – Ramnagar,Nalbari, Shuklai, Tezpur, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh,Tinsukia.KarnatakaVKV, Kallabalu near Bangalore (started in2001) had 354 students, 20 teachers andtwo supporting staff members. Justice Dr.Rama Jois, former Governor of Bihar &Jharkhand and currently a member of RajyaSabha, was the chief guest on UniversalBrotherhood Day celebrations.153DANCES OF INDIAVivekananda Kendra Pratishthan TrustThirteen Shikshartis working in differentcenters attended a Karyakartas PrashikshanShibir and 21 others underwent KendraDeeksha Shibir. The Trust selects suitablepersons, trains and assigns them to variousbranch centers and projects. Thewherewithal for the Pratishthan to takecare of the needs of the Karyakartas comesfrom the generous contributions of patrons.The details of the patrons (as on 31-03-2010) are as under:1.Annually donating 30,6312.Lump sum 1,05,4433.Perpetual 4,430Vivekananda Kendra PublicationsTamil NaduVivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya,Kanyakumari, had a strength of 1,308students. In Class X, 66 Students passedin first class out of 73 appeared. In classXII 68 students passed in first class out of74 appeared.The students performed wellin various competitive examinations of otherorganizations. Shri S. Abraham Lingom, VicePrincipal, received ‘Asiryar Tilakam’ – districtbest teacher award.Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya,Valliyoor, had 608 rural students. Out of16 students who appeared for X standardexamination, 15 passed with 12 of them infirst class. All the 11 students whoappeared for XII standard examinationpassed with 8 of them getting first class.The school has built a reputation for itself.ChennaiJodhpurSolapurPalitanaGuwahatiVivekananda Kendra Patrika,English Half yearly, titledGreen Pathfinders,Vol. I & II;Yuva Bharati, English monthly& Viveka Vani, Tamil monthlyKendra Bharati, Hindi monthlyVivek Vichar, Marathi monthlyVivek Sudha, Gujrati monthlyVivek Jagriti, Quarterly inAssamese & EnglishChennai Branch published two new books– Wandering Monk in English and Story ofRock Memorial in Malayalam and reprints inBengali (1), English (8), Hindi (2), Kannada(1), Malayalam (2), Tamil (11) & Telugu(1). It also brought out calendars, diariesand some novelties which were all in gooddemand. Total Subscribers of Yuva Bharati

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAare 7473, Vivek Vani are 2910 andVivekananda Kendra Patrika are 887.VK Hindi Prakashan Vibhag, Jodhpurpublished KENDRA DARSHAN - MananeeyaEknathji’s letters and it was released inthe hands of Param Poojaneeya MohanraojiBhagavat, Sarsanghachalak of R.S.S.Another book – AMERICA ME SWAMIJIwas also published. The Hindi PrakashanVibhag also organized Readers’ andSubscribers’ meetings at Jodhpur, Jaipur,Ajmer and Udaipur. Total subscribers forthe Kendra Bharati are 4770.VK Asomiya Prakashan Vibhag,Guwahati brought out translation ofEKNATHJI in Assamese which was releasedin the hands of Sri P Parameswaranji duringthe All India Adhikari Baithak for 2009 heldat Guwahati. Also, VIJAY HI VIJAY bookfor the College level youth program. TheSadhana of Service was reprinted. VKPrakashan Trust financially helped inbringing out the publications. TotalSubscribers of Vivek Jagriti are 1100.VK Marathi Prakashan Vibhag, Punebrought out Marathi translation ofVIVEKANANDANCHYA PRAKASHATSAVARKAR and DAMYAVAR YOGO-PCHAR. It also reprinted many other titles.The Vivek Vichar is published from Solapurand has 2383 subscribers.Vivekananda Kendra Institute ofCulture, GuwahatiThe Dibrugarh University has recognizedthe Institute as a Research Centre witheffect from 24 September 2009. Thenotification by Dibrugarh University stated:154DANCES OF INDIA“The Institute has constantly striven toexamine and validate the systems fromour point of view so that culture becomesthe foundation of development. It is anendeavour that all seminars and fieldinvestigations, the basis of which isresearch, are conducted not to replicatewest centric scholarship but to presentmatters befitting the magnitude of ourtraditions”.On the Foundation Day (31 st January) ShriRajkumar Ajit Singha, a scion of the lastAhom king of Asom and renowned columnistand social activist conferred the VKICSANMAN 2010 on Sri Chaoba Kamson, aSocial Activist, from Manipur, As GeneralSecretary of Tingkao Ragwang ChapriakPhome, Asom, Manipur and Nagaland, SriKamson helped to establish several templesdedicated to Tingkao Ragwang, to preservethe traditional faith and culture.The survey team of the RabhaDocumentation Project has recorded thetraditional crafts, handloom products, ritesand rituals, hymns, ballads, festivals etc.in Goalpara district. The harvest festival‘Sarbojanin Baikho’ at Nadiapara, the funeralceremony ‘Farkanti’, at Dorni and the hymnsof Bakai Puja prevalent in Asom-Meghalayaborder were covered. An awarenessprogram during the Peerahasu Puja - a postharvest festival for the welfare of thelivestock - was also conducted.Two half yearly issues of the ‘Quest’ havebeen brought out on ‘community festival’and ‘the traditional marriage systems ofnortheast India’. This house journal Questhas been accorded International StandardSerial Number [ISSN] 0976 – 0040).

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA155DANCES OF INDIAThe VKIC Reference Library with 225members has 5,024 books and subscribesfor 27 national and international magazinesand research journals.Two ‘Stress and Health ManagementWorkshops’ for supervisors and workmenof Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.(PGCIL) in Misa, Nagaon district of Asom,were conducted. Sri K Bhuyan, DGM, waspleasantly surprised that Kendra had suchprograms and wanted to have a long termassociation. After seeing the impact of 2Yoga Abhyas classes for 140 students ofAsom Institute of Management, Dr.Shantikam Hazarika, Director, desired tointegrate Yoga as part of the course andwanted the frequency of the course shouldbe increased.Eight personality development camps aspart of Vijay Hi Vijay program ofVivekananda Kendra Asom Prant wereconducted for 205 students of 14 collegesto inculcate a spirit of nationalism in them.VKIC Arunachal Pradesh ChapterIn connection with production of adocumentary film on Buddhist Monasteriesin Tawang District, a team from Gujratcovered 4 major Gompas, includingUgyenling Gompa, the birthplace the sixthDalai Lama.Smt. Likhamoni Mein, Principal, Kalakshetra,Itanagar, in her address on “Indian ClassicalDances and Arunachalee Dances - theCommon Features.” demonstrated manycommon mudras of the folk dances ofArunachal and Bharatnatyam.During a panel discussion on the role ofNyubu (Priest) in the Nyishi and NyegamPanam (expert in history and traditionalknowledge) in Nyele, the self governinginstitution of the Nyishi pointed out thatNyele removed rivalries between partiesand took them from Yalung (Dispute) toTagung (Peace). Dr. Ligu Tacho,Chairperson, said that Lok-Adalat wasnothing but another form of Nyele.VKIC Delhi ChapterThe study group chaired by Sri I.P Gupta,former Lt Governor, Andaman and Nicobar,after finalizing the scheduled activities forthe year discussed the “Common Bases ofHinduism”.Vivekananda Kendra Arun JyotiProject, Arunachal PradeshUnder the project for ‘Development throughCulture’ 20 towns and 138 villages in 11districts were covered through five manchs.Anaupacharik Shiksha Manch118 Balwadis with 2,584 children and 17Anandalayas with for 338 childrenfunctioned well.Swasthya Manch27 Medical camps benefiting 2,800 personsand 9 awareness camps enlightening 500people about health and hygiene were held.Mahila Manch4 Vocational training centers trained 64girls and there was a good sale of theproducts made by the trainees.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA156DANCES OF INDIAYuva Manch79 students attended 2 ‘Pariksha De Haste,Haste’ (write your exam. in a happy mood)programs. 75 youths endeared themselvesto the thronging devotees during the annualmela at Parasuram Kund, by their service.Sanskrutik Manch (Cultural Wing)On Raksha Bandhan Day over 21,000 Rakhiswere tied to various people apprising themof the significance of this symbolicexpression of brotherhood amongst allmembers of the society.For further info visit: www.vkarunjyoti.orgVivekananda Kendra MedicalResearch FoundationThe hospitals at Asom and the hospital atBina in Madhya Pradesh functionedsatisfactorily and filled up an importantneed of the people in the area.VivekanandaKendra NRL Hospital, Numaligarh, Asom,provided services as under:Vivekananda InternationalFoundation New DelhiIn the Vivekananda Kendra InternationalBhavan, a new activity with the nameVivekananda International Foundationstarted functioning.Vivekananda International Foundation wasinaugurated on 1 December by Justice ShriM.N. Venkatachaliah, retired Chief Justiceof India. Mata Amritanandamayi gave herbenediction. Smt Vani Jairam, the notedclassical singer and a well wisher renderedthe invocation song. Shri Ajit Doval, formerChief of Central Intelligence Bureau hasjoined as Honorary Director and a numberof former senior military officers, diplomats,bureaucrats, and academics are on theadvisory board and the executive councilto guide the activities of the Foundation.The Organisation : It is a New Delhi basedthink tank.1.Outpatients2.In-patients3.Operations cases4.Radiology& USGservice provided5.Patients attended atmobile medical camps6.Pathology service7.Blood transfusion8.Physiotherapy service9.Yoga service38,9231,7533491,60010,20171,7602512,2652,529India’s leading security experts, diplomats,scholars and philanthropists collaboratetowards functioning of this foundation. Bygenerating innovative ideas, thoughts andactions, it aims to evolve into a nodalcentre of excellence that will propel Indiato her rightful place. The VIF brings togetherthe best minds from India and other nationsto dilate on key national and internationalissues. VIF promotes quality research andis a platform for dialogue & conflictresolution.Objectives : Analyse India’s external andinternal security environment to offer

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAinputs to shape policies and responsestrategies.Offer policy alterations to contain risingextremism caused by India’s socio-ethnicdisparities. Interact with civil society andoffer institutional support for exchange ofideas among conflicting groups.Critique public policy, the working ofdemocratic institutions and constitutionalbodies.Evolve benchmarks for good governanceand efficiency in public institutions.Reassess, formulate and develop India’scivilisational and cultural imperatives in anincreasingly globalised world.157DANCES OF INDIAdevelopments in the neighboring countriesand its implications on India.Centre for Governance and Political(Development) Studies – Deals withpolitical, military, economic and otherdevelopments in the neighbouring countriesand its implications on India.Centre for Economic Studies – StudiesIndia’s economic challenges in relation todomestic and international developmentsin trade and economic policies.Centre for Historical and CivilisationalStudies – Study of sociological and civilhistory for correct interpretation ofhistorical findings.Promote initiatives that further the causeof peace and global harmony.Resource Centres : The Foundation seeksto meet its objectives through six centresof study :Centre for National Security and StrategicStudies – A hub for VIF’s study on nationalsecurity issues such as left wing extremism,militancy, North-Eastern insurgencies anddemographic invasion from Bangaladesh.Centre for International Relations andDiplomacy – Dedicated global strategicissues, changing trends in internationalpower equations, India’s foreign policychallenges and options best suited to helpIndia achieve its national objectives.Centre for Neighborhood Studies – Dealswith political, military, economic and otherActivities : To achieve these objectivesVIFOrganises events, holds conferences,lectures, seminars and discussions withscholars and subject specialistsInteracts with the diplomatic communityin New Delhi to project India’s viewpointand to understand the views andperceptions of other nations.Engages policy makes on issues of topicalinterest and share VIF’s views and concernswith them.Develops institutionalized contacts withacademic bodies, research institutions,select Indian and foreign think-tanks,universities and organizations representingthe Indian diaspora.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA158DANCES OF INDIAIntends to publish books, monographs,policy briefs and special reports.03. A presentation by Maj. Gen. G.D.Bakshi on ‘Bose: Key catalyst ofIndia’s freedom’ on the birthWebsite : www.vifindia.org.anniversary of Netaji SubhashChandra Bose.VIF maintains a regularly updated websitewhich offers :Opinions, articles and features oninternational relations and diplomacyExhaustive postings of news from Pakistanand Bangaladesh, including Pakistani UrduMediaCivilisational and relevant historical issuesin the Indian context.Features on security and strategic affairssuch as left wing extremism, terrorism,illegal immigration, insurgencies in J&K andNorth-east.Up-to-date round-up of news about theVIF, its current activities as well as acalendar of upcoming events, seminars,conferences, etc.The following were the events during theDecember 2009 – March 2010:04. A lecture by Dr. SubramanyaSwamy, former Union Minister, onChina’s increasing role in India’sstrategic calculus.05. A lecture by Maulana MahmoodMadani, M.P. & leader of JamiatUlema-i-Hind on ‘Terrorism –Response through Indian Ulema’.06. A two day Seminar on ‘Afghanistanbeyond the London Conference:India’s Options’.07. A talk by Shri Shyam Saran onClimate Change.Besides the persons mentioned above,other VIPs who visited the Foundation,were:01. Gen. Richard Myers, former US Chiefof Defence Staff.02. Shri John Negroponte, Diplomat.03. His Holiness Dalai Lama.01. A lecture by Shri Michael Chertoff,former Secretary, US HomelandSecurity before an elite gathering.02. Release of the book - ‘The Rise ofIndian Military Power: Evolution ofan Indian Strategic Culture’ of MajGen.G.D. Bakshi, by Gen ShankarRoy Chowdhury, former Chief ofArmy Staff.For further info visit: www.vifindia.orgKerala : VK Vedic Vision Foundation,KodungalloorA four day ‘Sree Ramakrishna BhaktaSammelan’ was held in May 2009, precededby a mini Kerala Parikrama with a decoratedSri Ramakrishna Chaitanya Ratha was takenfrom Kanyakumari to Kodungallur. Severalsenior monks of Sri Ramakrishna Maths likeSwami Gautamanandaji, Swami

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKASakranandaji, Swami Swaprabhanandaji,Matajis of Sri Sarada Math, well knownspeakers- Dr. Suvarna Nalappad, Dr. C.Radhakrishnan and Dr. H.G. Sudarshanattended the program which concluded witha grand Yati Puja to 30 monks and 15matajis were well attended by thedevotees.A souvenir ‘Viveka Tharangam’ and 3 booksin Malayalam: 1. Sadhana Panchamritam,2. Jeevitha sayahanathil AnandhathinullaVazhi & 3. Jnanadayini Sarada, were broughtout on the occasion.A mass Surya Namaskar by 600 childrenfrom 9 schools another important event ofthis center.‘Vishwa-Bhanu’ – a bi-monthly in Malyalamwas published and was well received bypeople.Books Published1. Jivita sayahnathil anandathindevazhi2. Jnanadayini Sri Sarada Devi3. Viveka Tarangam (Souvenir ofR.K.Bhakta Sammelan)4. Surya Namaskar (instructionbooklet)The book Sadhana Panchamritam for dailyreading, was reprinted. For further details:159DANCES OF INDIAVivekananda KendraNatural Resources DevelopmentProject, KanyakumariVK-NARDEP received award cum grant ofRs.1 lakh under “Idea – Innovate –Incubate” scheme for its paper “Biomethanationplant with water Hyacinth,Ipomoea and Sea weed as input material”by National Research DevelopmentCorporation, New Delhi.Many of its personnel participated in theseminars and workshops etc., organized byvarious government and private agencies.Two of its personnel spoke over All IndiaRadio, Nagercoil, on ‘Global Warming’ andAzolla & its usefulness.The Times of India, Rutag, IIT, Chennai,Organizer, New Delhi and Vivek Saptaha,Mumbai, carried articles on the work doneby this project.Besides Shri Narayan, Chief GeneralManager, NABARD, Chennai and Dr. K. Ajit,Ford Foundation, New Delhi, a good numberof Self Help Groups members, farmers andstudents from outstations visited theTechnology Resource Center.Whether you believe in spirituality or not, for the sake of thenational life, you have to get a hold on spirituality and keep toit. Then stretch the other hand out and gain all you can fromother races, but everything must be subordinated to that oneideal of life; and out of that, a wonderful, glorious future Indiawill come - I am sure it is coming - a greater India than everwas.- Swami Vivekananda

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA160DANCES OF INDIAThe details of the programmes held by NARDEP are as under:-Programme No. BeneficiariesTraining in Cost Effective ‘Green Architecture’Training in Roof top rain water harvestingTraining in Sustainable Agriculture1104120405Training in Production & use of High potncy compost etc.Training in Azola TechnologyLivestock ManagementTraining in Capacity Building for technology adoptionTraining in Nutrient management for better farmingTraining in AgricultureTraining of vaidyars etc in Indian System of medicineGreen Health homeGreen Health campsSeminar on ‘Varma’ pointsConstruction of KVIC biogas plantsShakti Surabhi biogas plants constructedAwareness on & training in Shakti Surabhi biogas plantMotivation training of Co-operative Society officialsTraining of TWAD officialsTraining of officials in PDS and human relationship320331189 Days332212332270508423201,4952,6747376615603457236682One thousand copies each of books titled‘Azolla’ (Hindi), ‘Rain Water Harvesting’(English) and ‘Valviyal Chinthanaigal’ (Tamil)were brought out. For further info visit:www.vknardep.orgUnder Vivekananda Kendra RuralDevelopment Programme, conducted 40Eye Camps in which 6,643 patients werescreened & 1,911 were got operated inArvind Eye Hospital, Tirunelveli & were alsoprovided post operation needs.Supraja Foundation from Hong Kong hasgenerously provided vessels for theBalwadis and also uniforms and toys forthe children studying in them. State Bankof Travancore, Valliyoor Branch, donateda computer with all accessories. Sixbooklets were brought out.For further info visit: www.vkrdp.org

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA161DANCES OF INDIAVIVEKANANDA KENDRA RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMEThis project functioning since 1982 continued its service activities in Tamilnadu asbelow with unflagging enthusiasm.1 Balwadies75 2,0742 Sanskar Vargas3 Competions for children from 1,138 Rural middle schools4 Competions for students from 536 rural schools5 Competions for students from 193 urban schools6 Competions for 200 Plus 2 level institutions & Others7 Competions for students of 137 colleges8 Competions for college 16 professors & 74 teachers9 Yoga Vargas & Satras10 Swadhyaya Vargas11 Deep Pujas235 8,070125 22,5009 2,64311 2,1947,18816,7179012 3952 43290 25,120121314Amudha Surabhi : Collection of cereals from 2220 familiesAnna Puja : Collection of cerealsAdopt a Granny Scheme15 Education aid to girls16 Marriage aid to girls17 medical aid for the needy18 Camps for children from 148 schools19 Camps for Plus 2 students from 105 colleges20 Camps for college students from 79 colleges21 Camps for Sanskar Varga students22 Personality development camps for students23 Training camp for Balwadi teachers24 Refresher training camp for Balwadi teachers & Others25 Number of reprints of publications brought out26 Medical Centers18.7 Tons47.5 Tons6336217353 2202 2505 3272 23511 759421501015 25,714

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA169DANCES OF INDIAFolk - Dances of GujaratPARUL SHAHThe important inroad by which arthas entered the daily life ofpeople is through the domain of folkmusic and folk dancing. In all cultures andcivilizations of the world, human movementhas worked as a vehicle of expression ofjoy and sorrow. The urge of outwardmovement or dancing are different incontent, theme and style. But they aresimilar in spirit of spontaneity, participationof audience etc. They cut down theeconomical and social barriers, bringingpeople of various communities andeconomical classes together.Folk dances of different parts of the worldhave common links. Usually they portraythe functions of daily life, rites and rituals,beliefs of performers in spirit and the like.They are performed throughout the yearon social events like marriages, child birth,around the agricultural functions and duringfairs and festivals.There is total absence of selfconsciousnessand sophisticated stylisationin folk forms. They are ever renewing, atthe same time keeping with the tradition.They are dynamic. There is re-creation andrepetition going hand in hand.expression through body movement hasassumed many shapes and forms atdifferent periods of history and in differentparts of the world. These forms of humanThe Indian subcontinent has various races,linguistic groups, different geographical andclimatic conditions and many religions whichgive rise to rich folk dance forms. Hereprehistoric forms have survived along withthe growth of new forms, in spite of manyhistorical, social and economical changes.There are various cultures existing side byside. The tribal people are the creators ofwhat is termed as the tribal dances of Indiawhere the peasant society is responsiblefor ritualistic agricultural and seasonal folkdances. ‘Gujarat has always been a land

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAof dancing since the days of Lord Krishna.Dance has been an integral part of thesocial, religious and cultural life of theGujarati people. The folk dances of Gujaratideally reflect the smooth merging of diversesocial and cultural thoughts.Gujarat lies in the West coast of India andcomprises of Gujarat, Kutch, the Rann ofKutch and Saurashtra. Geographically ithas fertile plains, lush green fields, sandyplains, bare rocky hills, flat salt-soakedlands and a long coastal line. Theboundaries of present day Gujarat touchthose of Pakistan, Rajasthan, Maharashtraand M.P. This rich fertile land has attractedoutsiders throughout history who came asinvaders, travellers and settlers. Theybrought with that; in their own ways oflife, traditions and enriched the culture ofGujarat.All these provide a rich ethnic variety ofpeople. Ethnically there are tribes of Bhils,Kolis, Vagharis, there are agriculturists likeThebas, Kanabis, Meranis, Ahir, Rabaris,there are seafarers like Tandels andKharwa, There is also a developed peasantcommunity and urban society. The historyof Gujarat is very interesting which isevident through the proto-historical sites,mediaeval temples and rich tradition ofminiature paintings. Jainism flourished herefor centuries. Vaishnavism permeated theclasses and the masses. The tribal andpeasant tradtions co-exist, mutuallyinfluencing each other and yet remainingaloof.The constant blending of alien cultures isresponsible for the variety of folk dancesfound in Gujarat. These could be divided170DANCES OF INDIAbroadly into the following groups.(i) Dances of social pattern, performed atmarriages, child births and other importantsocial events.(ii) Dances connected with agriculturalfunctions like sowing of cotton and maize,cutting of ripe crop etc.(iii) Dances of religious ceremonial patternsconnected with festivals like Holi (festivalof colour), Diwali (festival of lights),Navaratra (festival of worship to GoddessAmba).The most popular and known folk dancesof Gujarat are Garba, Garbi, Rasa, Rasada,Tippani, Padhar-Nritya, Dangi-Nritya etc..Most of these dances have a circle orMandala as the basic Choreographicpattern. As the circle signifies thecompleteness, the dances in the circularform show’ the richness of culture andfullness of life in Gujarat. It would be verydifficult to describe and review thisfountain head here and so I wouldconcentrate on a few very popular dancesof Gujarat.Rasa which is supposed to belong to Kutchand Saurashtra is performed all overGujarat. The Rasa traditions are as old asthe Puranic period. In various parts of thecountry Rasa are danced in differentmanner.In Rigveda we have mention of couplesdancing in circles. But from the point ofview of folk tradition, the description of’Halli saka ‘a group dance, in the HarivamsaPurana is very significant. Here is a groupdance, in a circular formation with thehands joined together forming a chain. The

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAtime (Tala) is kept by clapping and isaccompanied by singing. A young man(Krishna) stands in the middle of twodamsels. The feet movements, toes, heelsand legs first start their journey to explorerhythmic expression in measured steps,long, short, quick and slow accompaniedin single, double and triple timings.Later on, these Rasaka and Halli saka weredescribed as two of the Upa rupakas inmany Sanskrit treaties on Dramaturgy byauthors like Kohala, Vatsyayan,Sarangadeva, Sharadatanaya, Bhojaand others. Uparupakas are the minordramatic forms, having predominanceof music and dance. These treatiesdenote Rasa or Rasaka, Hallisa orHallisaka as the dances of thecowherds.171DANCES OF INDIARasa”. Thus Rasa or congregational musicbelonging to the pastoral stage of society,dates in Gujarat from much an early date.In a wall painting in a Bagh cave we see aRasa Mandala depicting women with sticksand cymbals to the accompaniment ofmusicians.The Rasa of Shri Krishna in Gokula andVrindavan on the full moon night of Aswinwas naturally a favourite theme, with manyof our Gujarati poets like Narsinh Mehtaetc. He and many others wrote specialWhile in Hallisaka there is one heroand several heroines; there are asmany men as women in Rasaka. Thusthe main feature of Rasa is dancingin a circle by men and women, to theaccompaniment of musicalinstruments and keeping time eitherby clapping or beating of two sticks.The number of dancers go from 8, 16or 32 up to 64 couples, who also singthe song. There are three varietiesof Rasaka described.(1) Danda Rasaka--Rasa dancewhere Danda or sticks are used.(2) Mandala or Tala Rasaka-Rasadance where clapping is used.(3) Lata Rasaka-Rasa dance wheredancers cling to each other anddance like a creeper to a tree.This is the genesis of our mediaeval “ DandiaRasa songs describing various stages ofKrishna’s life. They also wrote songsdescribing the agricultural cycles andseasons. Today the traditions brought bySri Krishna to Saurashtra have gained muchground and have blossomed as one of themost popular, lilting folk dance forms,incorporating many local elements.The religious history of Gujarat suggeststhat people followed Shakti worship. Later

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAon, with the coming of Krishna, Vaisnavismcame to Gujarat. And as a result of thesetwo major faiths, a new artistic formevolved’ Garba and Rasa’. As Krishna wasa shepherd, the Rasa is essentiallyassociated with agricultural cycle. It isperformed on Vasanta Panchami, Navratraand Sharad Purnima, important festivalsconnected with sowing and reaping ofgrain. They are performed mostly by menand often complex designs of lotus,serpent, Nataraja are created whiledancing in a circle.The Dandia Rasa is the counter part ofGarba or Tali Rasa. Dandia is a wooden stickor iron pipe, abouta foot long. At theend tiny bells aretied to make thejingling soundwhen they strikeeach other. Thedance hascomplicatedrhythmic patternsbeginning in a slowtempo and endingwith a fast tempo.Each dancer in thecircle not only performs a solo dance withhis own sticks, but also has multiplerelationship with his partner on either sideand opposite. The circle keeps breaking,forming various patterns. The local termsare ‘Chokdi’ ‘Sathiya’ etc. The sticks arebeaten standing, sitting and lying on thefloor and also jumping in the air.Rasa dances are performed all over Gujaratby various communities. Basically they aresame but each community has its distinct172DANCES OF INDIApattern. ‘Garba’ is the most popular women’sfolk dance. Its origin seems to be from thetribals wandering about hunting. Gradually,it became an agricultural ritual and todayit is a social dance at all levels of society.The ‘ Garbo’ or ‘ Garbha ‘ is the life inside awoman’s womb. An earthen pot with holesaround the circumference and light burninginside symboIises so. Such a pot placedon the head of a lady is comparable to thestarry dome of heavens, handled by Mahashakti.The dance in motion as well as songscame to be termed as ‘Garba’. Garbadancing is performed by women only toget blessing from the Goddess Aroba. It isperformed fornine nights at astretch duringthe festival ofNavaratri in themonth ofOctober atevery streetcorner ofGujarat. Thisbeing a danceof worshipwhere all areexpected tojoin, the technique is very simple. Nointricate foot work or body movements areinvolved. The dance in a circle is performedby simple clapping of hands in rhythms ofthree (Tin Tali) or four (Hinch). The songsare sung by the dancing group only. Thesongs of famous poets of Gujarat likeDayaram, Premananda and others arespecial Garba songs usually known toeveryone.The actual performance begins at night

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAafter the women finish their house-holdwork. All gather at the street corners. Aphotograph of the Goddess or a lamp iskept in the centre and around it the circleis formed. The dancing begins with slowtempo and reaches a fast tempo. Therhythm is kept by a Dholi or drummer whosits in the centre.Sometimes women carry on their heads‘Mandavadi ‘ a small canopy made of173DANCES OF INDIAwaist neck and hands. The musicalinstruments used for Garba are mainly thedrum or dhol and Nal. But Rasa has Pavo(a double flute) Vansali (flute) Zanza (Discs)etc. The drummer ties his drums aroundthe neck and moves inside the circlebeating it.Garba songs are mostly in praise of MotherGoddess Amba describing her form, powersand invoking her blessings. Also there arebamboo chips covered with a red silkenpiece of cloth. They dance with it and laterput it in the centre. Mandavadi symbolisesthe temple of the God-dess. Women wearsaree in the Gujarati style. Each communitywears different clothes. In Saurashtra,women wear embroidered petticoats(Ghaghra), a backless choli (Kapdu) and ahead cover (odhani) with lots of silver andhead ornaments. Males wear Kediyum(shirt) Vajani (trouser) and Rumal a printedhead piece with silver ornaments on theGarbas describing seasons, and socialthemes of domestic and married life. Asthe Rasa dances have Krishna in theirorigin, most of the Rasa songs evolvearound the life of Krishna a t various stagesfrom child Krishna to the flirting Krishna.There is a tribal belt running in the Southeastof Gujarat adjoining Madhya Pradeshand Maharashtra. The furthest cornerjoiningMaharashtra of this belt is known as Dang.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAIt is a rich hilly forest of Tick and Bamboo.The Gangis arc unique tribals, a blend ofGujarati and Maharashtrian culture mixedharmoniously with original Dravidians. Thedance performed by the Dangis is calledDangi Nrita. Men and Women join hands,forming a chain or shrinkhala makingserpentine movements with one leading.The movement is very fast, swift andcreate various choreographic patterns ina fraction of a second. Each variety ofstep is called’ Chala ‘ and there are about27 varieties of these chalas. One of themost amazing sights of this dance is thecreation of a human pyramid.Anotherpopular folk dance of Gujarat is Tip-paniNritya. ‘Tippani is a stick, with abroad base,used to level the flock of a newlyconstructed house, read.The workingwomen sing in unison while levelling thefloor with Tippanis and move in gracefulbut strong movements in rhythm creatinga spectacular dance with their colourfulcostumes.These dances are performed by variouscommunities at the time of a local fair orMela, on religious festivals and socialcelebrations. The mela incorporatestraditional institutionalised practices as wellas local variations. The mela is a vast‘stage’ where the ‘audience’ becomes the‘performer’ or vice versa depending on themood and pleasure of the participants.In Gujarat, there are hundreds of melasconducted every year, at different placesand times to celebrate a good crop or toworship a God or Goddess etc. Allcommunities-Bharwadi, Koli, Ahir, Vaghelas174DANCES OF INDIARasari, Charan etc. to name a fewparticipate. The Rasa and Garbas are seenat their best in such melas. Until say aboutthe last 30 years, people outside were notso much aware of the folk dances ofGujarat.But after independence, throughGovernment efforts and with the help ofsome regional institutions, these folkdances have been popularised. These folkforms are now being protected, studied anddocumented. Ironically enough, in this veryprocess the forms and content areviolated. The real purpose is lost. Theseliving forms have become static in theprocess of documentation and in the actof restaging them outside their context.These dances when performed during melasor social events are related to open spaces,an atmosphere of river banks of a hillock,a religious ceremony, harvest operations,participation of various communities etc.They are not limited to a ‘performance time’of 2 hours.Gujarat also has a rich folk theatre ‘Bhava’popular mostly with rural audiences, datingback about 800 years. The whole nightperformances by professional male actorsor Bhavayas are looked forward and enjoyedimmensely by elders as well as children. Itcomprises of singing, dancing as well asacting. The performers achieve instantrapport with the audience, and makingindirect or direct jokes on social problems,act as mass education media.One wondersat the homogeneous blending of variouscultures, faiths, social and economicconditions which have generalised such avast variety of folk dances in Gujarat.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA175DANCES OF INDIAFolk-Dances of Punjab- BHANGRADr.KAPILAVATSYAYANBhangra, the most popular andvirile of the community dance ofthe villages of Punjab is closelylinked with the ritual importance which isgiven to wheat. After the wheat crop issown, the young men gather together insome open field under the light of the fullmoon in answer to the beat of the drum.The dancers begin to move in a circle, sothat as many new-comers who wish to joincan do so without breaking its continuity.The circle goes on wideninguntil a large open circle isformed with the drummer asthe leader. The leader, witha large drum hung in frontstands in the centre andplays the dholak (the drum)with sticks. He is oftenaccompanied by two or moresingers who perform thefunction of sub-leaders. Therhythm of the dance is simple2/4 or 3/4 and the song isalso a simple melodic tune.The words are couplets from the traditionaloral poetry of Punjab, called Boli or Dhola.Although a couplet may be taken initiallyfrom a known piece of poetry, there isimmense scope here for improvisation. Witheach new couplet, the dancers changetheir steps and respond to the singing ofthe couplets with typical refrains like Bale-Bale, Oai-Oai and Vah-Vah. The dancersnaturally first begin with a slow rhythm,with an abrupt jerky movement of theshoulders and a hop-step; this is followedby many vigorous movements of the wholebody and the raising of both hands to theshoulder or above the head level. Afterthe circle has been well established andthe tempo of the dance has accelerated,the two main dancers dance within thering in a kind of duet. This is followed bypairs emerging from different sections ofthe circle, dancing in the central arc andreturning to their respective places in thecircle. The pairs of dancers can executemany variations, ranging from graceful tovirile movements, circles, pirouettes, jumpsand extensions of legs, jumps, and leaps.A skilled Bhangra dancer may even performsome highly complex acrobatic movementof the torso touching the floor, through aspinal back-bend or letting another dancerstand on his shoulders, while he danceson his knees. Since there are no rigorousrules of the Bhangra, it leaves an over-

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAwhelming impression of fresh spontaneousvigour and vitality. Its movements arenevertheless characteristic of themasculinity of the Punjabi and cannot bemistaken for anything else. Inchoreographical patterns, besides thecircle and the semi-circle, sometimes twotieror three-tier circles of one group ofdancers balancing themselves on theshoulder or arms of another group ofdancers standing in a circle can also beseen. The whole formation moves in a fastrhythm. A dwarf is included in the partyand he has an important role to play. Sogreat is the impression of its vigour andvitality and so infectious is its spontaneitythat the Bhangra has enhanced folk dancesof others: also its free and spontaneouscharacter has made it possible for it totravel to urban centres for all socialoccasions of merry-making withoutreference to its original Baisakhi harvestritualassociation.The Bhangra was prevalent throughoutPunjab in undivided pre-independent Indiaand was not restricted to a singlecommunity or caste. Originally, perhaps itwas a tribal dance of the immigrants ofcentral Asia. Soon, it was associated with176DANCES OF INDIAagriculture naturally; today it has acquireda purely social secular character. Thecostume of Bhangra is the usual dress ofthe Punjabi peasant comprising a lowerdhoti (tahmat-lungi), a kurta and a waistcoatand a colourful turban called pag. Whileno other musical accompaniment besidesthe dholak was used originally, in somerecent versions, other percussioninstruments like the cymbals and the jhanjare being used.JhumerThe Jhumer is another folk dance of theharvest season. Although it shares manyfeatures with the Bhangra it can be clearlydistinguished from the latter on accountof its thematic content and its emphasison recreating the gaits of animals and birds.In the Bhangra, there is no attempt toshow the movements of sowing and reapingthe harvest; in the Jhumer all the functionsof daily life are recreated and the pairs ofdancers who come into the central area,often imitate the movements of the animalsthey rear. Two men become bullocks of thefield, a third a plough and the fourth afarmer. The gaits of the animals, theploughing of the field, sowing of the seedsand harvesting are shown step by step.The crops are cut and then the dancersagain rejoin into a circle and dance verymuch in the manner as of the Bhangra.KarthiKarthi is the only mixed dance of men andwomen, which used to be more popular inthe hills, than in the plains. While theBhangra and the Jhurner are not precededby any ritual to a deity, in the Karthi,offerings are first !Dade to a deity, at

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAharvest time This is followed by womenleading the procession, and singing songs.The men follow, and then a circle is formedwith men and women alternating and linkinghands. The accompanying songs aresentimental, and tell of battles fought andvictories won, of the union and quarrels oflovers. The tempo of the Karthi is slowerthan the tempo of the other two dances.There is much clapping of hands both singlyand in pairs. While nowind instruments areused in the Bhangraand the Jhumer, a folkshehnai and other windinstruments are inevidence in the Karthi.Gidda177DANCES OF INDIAweaving and embroidery. The sounds ofthe spinning wheel, the village well, thegurgling of the water, the beauty of thefields, and the tensions between themother-in-law and the daughter-in-law,love of the brother-in-law for the sisterin-laware woven into the fabric of thesong. Sometimes, the movements areimitative of these chores or narration ofepisodes, at others they are purelyThe Gidda is anexclusively women’sdance, a counterpartof the men’s Bhangra.Dressed gorgeously,the women gather together in the opencourtyard to perform the Gidda. The Giddais an ancient ring dance with simplegraceful movements without crisp jerks andabrupt turns and twists so characteristicof the Bhangra.The dance begins in a circle, which is thenbroken up into two semi-circles andsometimes into groups of four or six. As inthe Bhangra, the pairs emerge from thecircle to perform different variations on atheme. The couplets of the song describetheir daily chores ranging from cleaning ofthe wheat to thrashing and to spinning,abstract. The dance ends in women pairingto do a ‘spin’. Extended arms cross andhold the other dancer and the two togetherperform a kikali. In Kashmir also, we havea kikali of the women in the Rouf; a kikaliseems to be typical sport and dance ofthe Women of North India.In spite of the seeming contemporarypaucity of a large variety of tribal and folkdances in Punjab, it must be rememberedthat this was the home of many ritual andtrance dances, and many musical styles.The Tappa, an integral part of. North Indianmusic grew out of these simple folk tunes.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA178Folk-Dances of HaryanaSUDHIR K. SHARMADANCES OF INDIAIf the folk-music and dances of aregion are any expression of thegeneral character of a people, the folkdancesof Haryana fully epitomise theenergy and. exuberance, vigour andvivacity, as also the religious fervour andaesthetic propensities of a people who havewell proved their mettle In the battle-fieldsand diligence on the farms.Folk-lorists believe that there is a surprisingcompatibility between the physical traitsof a region and its folk-music and dances’the dances of Himachal have the softquality of a fern tree tossing enchantinglywith the touch of the mountain breeze,the dances of Bengal have the wavymovements of a meandering river trippingwantonly over shiny pebbles, the dancersof Rajasthan swerve and gyrate like gustsof sandstorms, whirling over the sanddunes.And so too the folk-dances ofHaryana have the forceful quality of thewind, the elegant movement of thestanding crops, the wide sweep of Its openfields and the ruggedness of its fruitful soil.It is an art in its unchiselled glory born outof the spontaneous feelings of the peoplewho have accepted challenges with asmile.There is a wide range of festivals and familycelebrations when the village homes echowith the jingle of dancers’ bells. There aredances for men, for women, and for both.Though the unbridled joy is common to all,there are different dances to suit differentoccasions.The “Dhamal” DanceThe past hangs heavy on Haryana. Legendhas It that this dance has its origin in thetimes of the Mahabharat. It is performedjointly by men and women In the open inmoon-light during “phalgun” days (March).The men play on their “dhap” (a big flatcircular drum With one flap-only) whilewomen sing the full-throated refrain:“Dhap Medhur Bajaya, ChhoraLeelgar Ka, Dhap Madhur .Apa Jamuna Ka Jat Ho jaye ReMagan”.(The dyer’s young son plays so sweetly onhis” dhap” that even the waters of Jamunaget enchanted by it). This dance-form ispopular in the Gurgaon and Mohindergarhdistricts of Haryana. The” dhap” itself isused for various aesthetic formations andchoreographic effects. When the dancereaches its crescendo a dancer climbs upon“dhap” held by his co-dancer and givesindividual performance atop It.The “Khoria” Dance of WomenWhen the barat (marriage party) leavesthe Village with the bride-groom, the housebecomes the exclusive domain of women-

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAfolk who in the evening do the “khoria”dance. In it the dance is not performedcollectively but by individual women whocome out of the group, give a dynamicperformance of quick and lovinglymischievous movements to the waist ,shoulders, hips and arms and pound theearth with youthful excitement. As onedancer recedes back to the line the nextcomes forward thumping merrily. The totaleffect of the “Khoria” is one of a varietyprogramme stringed on a common theme.This dance is also performed on theoccasion of other family celebrations.The “Faag” DancesThe “faag” dances, as its name suggestsare performed during the month of Phalgun(March). Haryanavis celebrate the cropseasonwith gusto and eclat. Both menand women, separately and collectively,utilise their free time in dancing away theircares. They enjoy the Sight of their crops179DANCES OF INDIAcoming to maturity, The free mood of theseason is well expressed in a folk-song sungduring the folk- dances:Kacchi Imli Gadrai Phagan MeinBudhi ai Lugai Mastayee PhaganMein”.(The ripe tamarind has ripened in Phagunand even the old hag has run amuck in theintoxicating month of Phagun. Heretamarind is symbolical of young women’syouthful yearning for their husbands).Sometimes dialogue forms in songs are alsoused during the dance performances ... Amost popular song during these dances is;“Phagun Aya Rang Bhara Re Lata”,(Phagun, drenched in colour has come).The “Holi” DanceThe “Holi” dance on the day of Holi eveningon “dhulendi” (the day of colours) is only a

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAvariation of the “Phagun” dance which isspread over the many days of the month.In the Holi dances, coloured water andpowder provide the extra-visual appeal tothe dance. In the thick mist of colouredpowder and sprays of rainbow sprouts,dancers gyrate gracefully like lovelyphantoms in a dream. For hours togetherthe dancers regale the crowd. Men in amood of frivolity wear women’s costumesand exhibit their talent in female steps.The “Googa” DanceGooga, known as Googa Peer, besides beinga saint is also a popular folk-hero. Namedafter the Muslim saint, this male dance hasreligious over-tones too. Googa isworshipped both by Hindus and Muslimsalike and his devotees as a respect to thepeer, do this dance. The dancers attirethemselves in bright yellow clothes and singthe exploits and virtues of Googa Peer tothe accompaniment of a dairu-a specialsmall drum held by one hand and beatenby a stick by the other. One of the dancersholds a long staff atop which are tied tuftsof peacock feathers, colourful fans, andgarlands. The dance begins with slowgraceful movements and ends in frenziedecstatic actions.The “Loor” and “Jhoomar” DanceBoth of these are women’s dances in whichin the former, women divide themselves intwo groups and in the latter they form acrescent and each dancer by turn comesout of the line for a performance and thengoes back. Loor which means a girl, isperformed by teenaged girls and themes180DANCES OF INDIAlike child-birth and marriage are sung indialogue forms. The Jhoomar is a Haryanavicounterpart of the Punjabi girls’ Giddha.The “Ghoomar” DanceGhoomar is essentially a dance of Rajasthaniorigin and is popular in those areas ofHaryana which border Rajasthan.Besides these major folk-dances ofHaryana, there are regional variations. Forinstance, areas adjacent to “brij” likeFaridabad, still, perform the Rasa Leela ina very artistic way. Colourful charactersof folk-life like the snake charmers, alsofind place in the folk-dances of the State.Women often perform the sapela dance inwhich one acts the role of the village bellewhile the other acts as the snake charmerand they sing: Woman: “Sapela Been Bajade Chalungi Tere Saath.Man: Mahlon ki rehney wali tenay kutialaagay Udaas”.(Oh! Snake charmer, play on your flute andI shall follow you. You are a dweller ofpalaces, you will not feel at home in myhut).Thus Haryana dances are not onlyexpressions of a particular emotion at aparticular time but a spilling over of thegeneral exuberance of the Haryanaviwhether it is a family function, a festival,a religious ceremony or a hopeful time fora fruitful harvest.It is a time when men and women becomealive with the lilting rhythms of romanticfolk-tunes bestowed on them by a richcultural heritage.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA181DANCES OF INDIAFolk-Dances of Madhya PradeshDr. KAPILA VATSYAYANMadhya Pradesh is rightly knownas the Heart of Indiasurrounded as it is by Bihar, Orissa,Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, UttarPradesh and Rajasthan. It shares physiogeographicalfeatures with the regionswhich surround it: it has many racial andethnic affinities with other parts of India.Linguistically, although the predominantlanguage is derived from the Indo-Aryan,there are tribal groups who speak dialectsof the Dravidian and Munddari group oflanguages. One fifth of the population istribal comprising over forty-eight tribes:there are the hill, plateau and plains peopleamongst these tribes and villagecommunities.The TribalsThe tribes of the area can be divided intothe Hill tribes who are either hunters orfood-gatherers, the plains tribes who arepredominantly either shift or settledagriculturists or who work as agriculturallabourers and urbanised tribals who aretoday employed in mines and factories.The hunters and the food-gatherersamongst these are the Bhatras whoaccording to legend migrated fromWarangal in Andhra Pradesh. All these tribeshave dances of the hunt, reminiscentremotely of the hunt-dances of the Nagasbut very different in quality. For some ofthese tribes the god of hunting is the Autgato whom a thanksgiving is offered througha dance. The actual dance connected withhunting is elaborated in some of the tribes,not so in others. Only men take part inthese dances. Besides the hunters, thereare the nomads like the Mang Garudi whoreside principally in Berar. On the campingground they hold many festivities, includingdances. The music and dance content ofthese nomads is minimal and not as highlydeveloped as either the Himalayan nomadsor the Banjaras of Andhra Pradesh.The Gonds, the Marias and the Murias ofvarious varieties are, however, dancers,par excellence of the area. The Gonds alongwith many allied tribes comprise apopulation of nearly fifty Iakhs.The Festival DanceThe Karma festival provides occasion forthe dance, amongst the Gonds aselsewhere. The women with interlockedarms dance in straight lines and rectangles.The rectangle is also a characteristic motifof the wall painting and pictographs of theGonds. The men form a separate circularring, and dance vigorously, displaying theirprowess. After a while, some dancers climbon the shoulders of others and this twotierformation moves in perfect step, bodiesswinging to the rhythm of the drum andthe claps of the women. Later, the dancersalight from the shoulders of the otherdancers, get inside the dancing circle, andstart threading in and out as if playing hideand-seek.The drum beats faster and louder

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAand the formations break up in anuproarious tumult. In these dances, thetorso is bent in front. The knees are bentand there is a circular pelvic movement.The Gonds also perform Jhumar dances.These are meant to accompany their lovesongs. There are other songs, with socialthemes.The Chaitra festival dance is anotherfamous dance of the Gonds of Bastardistrict; it is performed after the harvestto thank goddess Annapurna for the harvestalready gathered and to seek her blessingsfor the next crop. Men and women dancein a circle, in semicircles or in rows; alldancers hold each other’s waist.A peacock feather on the head is adistinctive mark and the dancers wearcolourful costumes, adorning themselveswith garlands of shells and pearls. As thedancers go round in rhythmic movements,their feet beat to the music of the shehnai,nagada, timki, tapri, dholak and maduri.Sometimes, the singha and kohukaerophonic instruments are also played.182DANCES OF INDIAattraction consists in balancing and cleverfoot-work. Many dances are performed onthe gendi.The AttireThe men wear white muslin turbans oroccasionally silk ones. The turban isadorned with a coronet of peacock featherstems. Down to the waist they wear a closewhite saluka or blouse, below a dhoti ofsmall width coming down to the knees, theend of which hangs loosely behind. On theirnecks hang necklaces of silver or gold coinsor corals. Their hands are adorned withsilver bangles and their feet with heavybrass or iron boat-shaped ornaments whichtinkle to the timing of the rhythm. In theirright hand they hold a staff, in their left awhite kerchief or peacock feathers. Thepeacock is another important motif in tribalart: during the dance, feathers acquire thesame ritual significance.The costumes of the musicians aredifferent from those of the dancers. Theyput on a shirt or a jacket and colouredturbans; they do not use cowries.Stilt DanceDancing on stilts is fairly common amongthe Gond children of Madhya Pradesh. Thedance is popular in the Vindhyas, theSatpura ranges, the plains of Chattisgarhand Bastar. The proper season for thisdance is the rainy season from June toAugust. A dancer who has learnt to balancehimself on the gendi can successfullyperform it even in water or on marshysurface. The difficulty in balancing on thegendi accounts for the fact that this danceis generally confined only to children. ItsThe women wear a coloured dhoti, woundclose round the body down to the knees,one end of which goes up across theirbreasts to their backs. The knot of theirhair is adorned with a coronet of palm orother leaves behind which hangs a net ofcorals. From their necks also hangs a chainof coins or corals. Besides the necklacesof coins or corals they wear silver hansalialso. In their ears they wear heavy silverear-rings from which hang small slendersilver chains. Sometimes, this chain alsogoes over the head to the ear on the otherside. Besides, they wear bahunta on their

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAarms, silver bangles on their wrists andperry or todar round their ankles. Whiledancing, in their right hand they hold thiski(a clapper) and in their left a colouredkerchief’.Gond DancesThe dances of the Gonds, particularly theSaila and Rina, are highly developed. Manyparts of the human body are exercised andthere is a wide range of movement. Theformations change frequently. The menform a circle in the initial stages: this isfollowed by semicircles being formed intwo’s. The women form a separate circle:each group faces the centre of theirrespective circles in some phases, andbacks the centre in others.AbhujmariaKaksar is a festival dance, performed bythe Abhujmaria of Bastar. Prior to the rains,the Maria cultivators in every villageworship the deity for reaping a richharvest. To invoke the blessing of the deity,Kaksar, a group dance, in which youngboys and girls take part, is performed. Boysput on a peculiar costume of a long whiterobe while girls are clad in all their finery.The dance presents to both girls and boys,a unique opportunity to choose their lifepartners, and marriage is enthusiasticallycelebrated afterwards. There is rhythm andmelody in this dance. The melodious music,the tinkling of the bells combine to createan atmosphere of spell and enchantment.Gaur DanceBut all these dances-beautiful and colourful183DANCES OF INDIAfade before the resplendent beauty of thedances of the Bison-horn or Seeng Mariasof Bastar. The dance is called Gaur afterthe name of the bison. Frisking, jerking ofthe bison is imitated. For the Maria boy hishead-dress with horns and beads is hisgreatest possession. A group of these menwearing bison horn head-dresses and veilsof beads and shells beat huge drums. Thegirls carry sticks called tirududi in theirhands and wear heavy anklets: the twotogether dance in intricate formations. Thegirls form a row and then go around andthrough the men dancers. They do notusually sing, and even if they did, it wouldbe lost in the thunder of the drums.Most of these dances have no religioussignificance although the people believe inShakti and Danteswari who is consideredas the presiding deity during danceperformances.Other formsMany folk opera and drama forms haveevolved such as the Maancha and theChhattisgarh Nacha in Madhya Pradesh.Ballad singing is popular and pervasive andthe stories of Alha and Udal hold audiencesin the same manner as Dhola Maru inRajasthan and Malushahi in Kumaon.And yet, in spite of this rich variety andthe long sustained tradition of oralliterature, school of painting, sculpture andclassical music, Madhya Pradesh does nothave today a ‘classical dance form’distinctive to it. This level in dance seemsto have disappeared during the last fiftyyears or so.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA184DANCES OF INDIANatya Tradition in MaharashtraSUCHETA BHIDEToday Maharashtra does not haveany living classical dancetradition nurtured and developed inthe local environment like the BharataNatyam of Tamil Nadu, the Kuchipudi ofAndhra or the Odissi of Orissa. Butinteresting references can be found in thesculptures and treatises on music anddance of the Yadava period. They indicatethat the dance and music tradition closelyrelated to Natya Shastra was prevalent inMaharashtra prior to the Mughal invasion.The earliest reference to dancein Maharashtra can be found inthe Aurangabad sculptures of the6th and 7th century. Cave No. VIIhas a beautiful panel showing adancing girl with six femalemusicians. This dance posture canbe identified as ‘Katisamam’according to ‘Natya Shastra’.Another important evidence ofdance can be seen on the outerwalls of the Amba or Mahalakshmitemple at Kolhapur. This templebelongs to the 8th or 9th century.The life-size figure sculptures on the templewalls include female dancers in variousgraceful postures representing GoddessParvati’s ‘Lasya’. The figures of musiciansplaying flutes, lutes and drums are alsoseen. The reflections of Natya ShastraKaranas like Talapushpaputa, Karihasta,Prustasvastika, Diksvastika, Katisamam canbe easily seen in these figures. Theinscriptional references show that theMahalakshmi of Kolhapur was the familydeity of the Rashtrakutas the earliestdynasty in Maharashtra. The Rashtrakutaswere great propagators of arts. The uniquecave temple of Shiva known as ‘Kailash ‘was carved at Ellora during the Rashtrakutaperiod-latter half of the 8th century. TheKadambas, Shilaharas and Yadavas werethe next powerful dynasties in Maharashtra.Of these, the Yadavasare known as thegreatest patrons of arts and devotees ofShiva. Most of the old temples now foundin Maharashtra and in Deccan belong tothe Yadava period (1000- 1350 A.D.).The Ambarnath temple (near Bombay) hasmany dance sculptures. The inscriptioninside the temple mentions that the templewas built it 1060 A.D. by king Mummuni.Most of the dance postures carved herecan be identified according to the

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAdefinitions of Sthanakas and Mandalas asgiven by the old texts. The dancesculptures are also found on the Shivatemples at Jinnar (near Nasik) , Jhodga(near Malegaon) and Khidrapu (near Miraj)Several Sanskrit texts on music and dancewere produced in Maharashtra prior toIslamic invasion. The well-known‘Sangeetha Ratnakara’ of Sarangadeva isforemost among these. Sharangadeva wasa court Vidtoan and musicologist of theYadava King Singhana (1210-1247 A.D.).The ‘Sangeetha Ratnakara’ is consideredas the most important treatise on oldclassical music. It also includes chapterson dance. The definitions ofHastas and postures given inthese tally with those ofAbhinaya Darpana and arefollowed in Bharata Natyam eventoday. The description of thethirty-six types of Prabandhasas given by Ratnakara includescompositions like Oovi, Aaryaand Charchari which are typicalMarathi compositions. These canstill be heard in the traditionalmusic of old Haridasa’sKathakaras. Another typicalMarathi Prabandha mentioned in Ratnakarais ‘Dhaval - the type of songs sung at amarriage ceremony. Sharangadeva’scontemporary was Parshvadeva. He haswritten ‘Sangeetha Samaya Sara’ whichalso gives many Marathi musical terms.Haripala-Deva, son-in-law of RamachandraDeva Yadava, wrote ‘SangeethaSudhakara’ on music and dance. Anotherimportant treatise ‘Manasollasa’ waswritten in Maharashtra by the Chalukya185DANCES OF INDIAKing, Somesvara III, in 1131 A.D., almosta hundred years before Ratnakara. Thisgives two Marathi Geetas as examples andmentions ‘Oovi’ as being the most popularPrabandha of Maharashtra. Jnanesvara andNarnadeva, two of the great saint-poetsof Maharashtra have mentioned manymusical terms and techniques in theirwritings. Namadeva has also mentioned thenames of ragas and talas for theirdevotional compositions.The Muslim traveller, Kena Batoota, haswritten a description of Devagiri (today’sDaulatabad) in his travelogue. Along withthe popularity and excellence of the danceand music performances he has alsodescribed the palatial homes of themusicians and dancers, their wealth andhigh status.The above-made observations make it clearthat in medieval Maharashtra (or Deccan)dance and music were a part of the everyday life of the people, and the music anddance were performed according to theold texts.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAThe foreign invasions started in the latterhalf of the 14th century. The Mughals camefrom North-East and Europeans from theWest. Maharashtra had to bear the bruntof their direct onslaught.Comparatively away fromthese, the extreme southernprovinces of India like TamilNadu could hold on to theirart traditions and their socialsignificance as a means toattain divine peace. InMaharashtra these normswere overshadowed by thepolitical and religiousonslaughts of alien invaders.Muslim fanaticism barredwomen from free movement.Under the command of Shivajithe great, came the firstconcentrated opposition tothe Islamic invasion. Theballads (called Powadai inMarathi) sung in praise of thebrave warriors took the placeof the devotional ‘Natya’ forms.‘Lavani’ an erotic musical lyricbecame more popular with theurban masses as a form oflight entertainment in thelatter Peshava period (firsthalf of the 19th century).Comparatively, the conditionswere more stable in southernMaharashtra, The old forms ofdevotional plays likeDashavatar, Kola, ]agar, Lalit, and Gondhalcontinued to be performed uninterruptedas a part of the temple festivals. Theseforms still exist in their old technique as a186DANCES OF INDIApart of village life in Maharashtra. Goa atthe extreme south of Maharashtra alsooffered shelter to Natya traditions.Fortunately, even with conversions toChristianity, the Portugueserulers did not seem to haveinterfered with the culturaltraditions of the land. Tillfifty years back, Goa hadthe Devadasi tradition ofmusic and dance. TheDevadasis were maintainedby the temple institution andthey gave special music anddance performances (called‘Pene) on the occasion oftemple festivals that werecelebrated all the year round.They danced in front of thepalanquin when the deitywas taken out in procession,a custom similar to SouthIndian temple festivals. Theirdance had a delicate graceand a classicism of its own.Today this tradition is in atotal decadent form.The reform of the Marathitheatre began in Central’Maharashtra in 1842 A.D.due to the contact withKarnataka. A troupe ofYakshagana performers werevisiting Sangli State. RajaAppasaheb Patwardhan,then the prince of Sangli andthe connoisseur of arts was so muchimpressed by their performance that heasked Vishnudas Bhave, his protege to writeand produce a similar play in Marathi. No

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAclassical ‘Natya’ tradition was alive inMaharashtra then. This may be the likelyreason why Vishnudas Bhave omitted the‘Nritya’ aspect of the Yakshagana techniquefrom his own mythological production. Headopted only such features of Yakshaganalike Sutradhara (the conductor,commentator), the Vidushaka ( a comiccharacter), Nandi (benediction),Vigneshwara Stuti (prayer to Lord Ganesh),mythological themes, absence of stagedecorations, etc., which were in factderivatives of old Sanskrit Natya.Thus was launched the first reformedmythological Marathi play under theinfluence of Carnatic Yakshagana. Almostfifty years later started the golden era ofMarathi theatre through the musical playsof Annasaheb Kirloskar and Kakasaheb.Khadilkar. The base of these plays was stillmythological, yet the performances anddecor started becoming more and morerefined. The forte or these plays were thesongs acted and sung by the great singercum-actorslike Keshavrao Bhonsle,Balagandharva, Master Krishna Rao andothers. These created a new tradition ofdrama-music for Maharashtra known as‘Natya Sangeeta’. Being more lyrical andfull of emotion this light classical musicthrilled the audiences more than the pureclassical. But the inspiration for many ofthem came again from the popular CarnaticKritis, Their original tunes were adopted to187DANCES OF INDIAthe Hindustani ragadari way of singing witha perfect blending.A parallel instance had happened atThanjavur about 150 years earlier to thereformation of Marathi drama inMaharashtra. The Tanjavur Maratha rulerswere overwhelmed by the beauty ofCarnatic arts. Themselves being scholarsthey mastered the Carnatic music danceand drama techniques and wrote dramasand dance compositions in Marathi. Theyprobably thought that the usage of theirmother-tongue would help their brethrenin Maharashtra to understand and enjoythe classical dance and drama and it wouldagain take root in their homeland. Whatevermay be the reasons, their efforts did notseem to have created the desired effects.However, in the past century, Maharashtrahas made a great contribution to thedevelopment and refinement of North IndianHindustani Classical music by way of manyoutstanding scholars and musicians.Though Maharashtra has lost its originalclassical dance or drama tradition today,it certainly has the necessary cultural,musical and literary base. As a devoutBharata Natyam dancer, this author feelshopeful that taking inspiration from theMarathi rulers of Thanjavur, Maharashtracan evolve a new ‘desi’ mode of BharataNatyam and thus enrich the great arttraditions of this land.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA188DANCES OF INDIAFolk - Dances of RajasthanDR.KAPILA VATSYAYANEthnologically, Rajasthan presentsa varied picture: there are manytribes comprising of the Sansis, thehereditary criminals, the Kamaras, theBanjaras (the nomads) and the Gujjars,the Kathods, the Bhils (who are found inall parts), the Bhila Mina, the Garasias,the Sehrias and the Rebaris. Theagriculturists sow bajra, jawar and maize;many agricultural cults revolve around theharvest of these. Camel and sheep providethe basis of animal husbandry. Dance formssuch as the Ger, the Gher Ghoomara, theGhoomar, the Jhumar, are performed atboth the tribal and village level: indeed,the Jhumar has travelled upward and hasbecome the regional dance of the urbancentres also.Gher GhernurThe Gher Ghemur of the Sansis is thesimplest of the dances, both in contentand form. It begins with a slow movementwhere men and women first dance in twoseparate lines and then form a circle witha man and woman alternating. The tempoof the dance increases gradually to a pointwhere each person has both a rotatingmovement around his own axis, as also arevolving movement along thecircumference of the circle. The hipmovements are the most characteristicfeature of this dance.There is bothinstrumental and vocal musicaccompaniment to this dance. The danceis vigorous and there are no languorousmovements.Of AjmerThe Sans is and Kanjars from Ajmer havetheir own variety of dances which aredifferent from the Sansis of other regionsof Rajasthan. Nevertheless, these are alsomixed dances which are performed onfestive occasions to the accompanimentof a dholak, jhalar and algoza. As aparticular dance develops, it gains in tempoand the women’s movements have anunbelievable swiftness. Pirouettes, circlerotating and revolving movements abound.In all these torso is used as one unit, soare the lower limbs. Movements are circular.The Bhils of Rajasthan have a variety ofdances, which correspond to theagricultural cycle.GhurnerThe Ghumer dance is the very life-bloodof the Bhil culture. Performed at all seasons,it is always accompanied by songs of love,glory or defeat. Men and women move in acircle, one half of men and the other ofwomen. This Ghumer dance should bedistinguished dearly from the dance of thesame name prevalent in Rajasthan amongstthe members of urban society; today thelatter is a popular ceremonial danceamongst the aristocracy of Rajasthan. TheGhumer dance of the Bhils is a much morevirile dance and is like the Ghumer dance

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAof the Sansis. Ghumer of the urban centresbecomes a polite social dance of women.RaikaA mixed martial dance is the Raika. Menand women start in two rows. The menhold swords. Men sing, invoking the godsto grant them strength in order to defeatthe enemy. Men and women then form acircle and move in steps, which arecharacterised by a sliding movement of one189DANCES OF INDIAshehnai and nagara. Other dances are alsoperformed on the occasion of marriages.The gait of the women in all these dances,is the characteristic feature of the Bhildancing of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh andGujarat. The body is held relaxed, the torsois used as one unit, but there are somecurved movements demanding the use ofupper chest and lower waist separately.While the tempo is fast, there is little useof strong energy. There is hardly anyinstrumental musical accompaniment; onlythe song of the women forms the constantbase of the dance. They perform a Garbadance on the night of Navaratri. A pitcher,beautifully decorated, is placed in thecentre and the women sit around clapping.Gradually, they get up and walk in unisonround the pitcher.Gaurifoot and a shifting of the hip girdle fromside to side. The dance begins slowly butreaches a climax, when the men brandishtheir swords in a frenzy.JhoriaAmongst the dances which revolve aroundthe life cycle is a marriage dance calledJhoria. The Jhoria literally means a woodenstick. The men form one circle, the womenanother one and they perform a vivaciousdance to the accompaniment of the dhol,Gauri is a religious dance-drama of the Bhils: it is performed by the Bhil men in themonths of Sawan and Bhadon. The dancerevolves around the worship of the deityBhairavanath. The chief worshipper is theBhoya who goes into a trance whiledancing: others dance in circles around atrishul while keeping time with the paratand thali. Many different types of dressesare worn by the dancers, representingdifferent characters. In form and style thisis a ritual dance-drama, rather anoccupational dance.GherThe Gher dance is a favourite dance ofthe Mina tribe who are akin to the Bhils;this is performed during the Holi festival.As the dance gains in tempo, the dancersform themselves into circles. This is

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKApredominantly a man’s dance.Also, there are the Bhil dancers of Jaloredistrict, amongst which the Dhol dance isthe most popular. Each dancer has a bigdrum (dhol) which he plays while dancing.Other dancers carry naked swords in theirmouths.Valar190DANCES OF INDIAcourse of the dance, many imitativeactions signifying the grinding of corn, themilking of the cow are also portrayed. Thesitting position does tot change, but thewomen shift or slide on the ground.Movements of the upper limbs are intricate.The dance is accompanied by men whosing the song to the accompaniment of ektara and manjirus.Valar is a typical dance of the Garasias.Its song is woven round the beauties ofnature, the starry night, the moon, themountain and the restless rivers; it is anexpression of romantic feelings and is in alyrical mood. The sentiments of the songare presented through suitable gestures.Artistically, the dance is highly developed;unlike other tribal dances it seeks toestablish a correlation between the word,sound and the gestures. Also the openstrong movements of the men of the desertsgive place to more languorous movements.Tera TaliThe Komar tribe performs the Tera Taliwhich is an elaborate ritual with manyelements of dance. It is generally performedby two or three women who sit on theground. Manjiras or small cymbals are tiedto different parts of the body of thedancer. The dancer’s face is covered witha veil and a naked sword is held betweenthe teeth: a decorated pot is balanced onthe head. The dancer holes a manjira ineach hand. It is said that there are thirteendifferent ways of striking the manjiras andperhaps thirteen manjiras are tied to thebody of the dancer. Thus equipped, thewomen squat on the ground and producea variety of sounds. Sometimes, in theIn contrast are the dances of the sturdytribe of Sidh Jats who live in the remotestpart of the Thar desert. They are followersof Guru Gorakhnath and are famous for theiryogic feats. A huge fire is lit, big drumsand pipes play the music, and a song issung. The dance is performed to thisaccompaniment. A group of Sidh Jats jumpinto the fire and dance vigorously in anormal manner for an hour or so. This firedancetakes place in March-April during amela (fair) held in memory of Guru Jasnath.GeederGeeder is danced by the tribes of theShekhavari area. I t begins fifteen daysbefore Holi. In this, only men take part.Drums are kept on a raised platform andthe dancers form circles. Sticks are alsoused. It resembles the Gher in many ways.In this and other dances, we observe thecoalescing of the levels of agriculturalfunctions and myth.Kachhi GhoriThe Kachhi Ghori is very popular in theeastern part of the State. As the nameimplies, the dance is a presentation ofhorse-riding. The horse used in the danceis made of two small bamboo sticks withtwo baskets tied to each end. An

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAartistically prepared head ofa horse is fixed to one ofthe baskets and a bunch offlex-fibre to the other. Thedancer, dressed as abridegroom in flowingcostume and with sword inhand” adjusts the horse” onhis waist in such a way asto create a realistic effect.Movements are jerky andangular.In a typical Kachhi Choridance (performed mostlyduring marriages) four tofive dancers take part at atime and dance to theaccompaniment of the dholand turahi. Rajasthan is thehome of a number of balladand dance forms also: themost famous amongst theseis the Pabuji-ki-Par. It is likethe Ramola and theMaiushahi of Kumaon. ThePabuji-ki-Par is painted,sung and dancedThe Costumes191DANCES OF INDIAprints are earmarked forspecial groups. Thewomen wear long-sleevedcholis and have very largebeautifully printeddupattas.The ornamentsare of both silver and gold.The Bhil tribes use silver,but the sophisticatewomen of the aristocracyprefer gold ornaments. Acharacteristic feature ofthe head ornament is thebodla which is a goldornament with stones andis worn in the centre ofthe forehead: this is alsoa common ornament forthe lowliest and thehighest. The characteristiccostume of the men consistsof a tightly worn dhoti with atraditional bandi and aturban. Although the type ofthe dhoti as also the longsleevedbandis vary fromregion to region in Rajasthan, the manner ofdraping is common to practically all thecommunities of Rajasthan.The costumes of the dancers of Rajasthan,whether tribal or urban society, have manycommon elements. The closely gatheredghaghra (skirt) is common to all the tribesand castes of Rajasthan. The design andthe type of the skirt varies from region toregion and the kind of material used alsochanges from level to level but brightcolouredprints are common: particularThe deserts, the sand-dunes, the fewoases of greenery, the history of warsfought and won, the romantic tales of lovehave all contributed in giving Rajastan itsrich and ornate culture with a distinctiveregional character. Solo skilful artists,professional musicians, dancers andacrobats are the repositories of manytraditions of the performing, plastic andthe decorative arts.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA192DANCES OF INDIAFolk - Dances of West BengalDr.KAPILA VATSYAYANThe history of Bengal is all toowell-known to be retraced.Although early archaeologicalremains are few, and there is little evidenceof monumental architecture and sculpturebefore the establishment of the Pala Senakingdoms, it is common knowledge that theregion shares its early history with the restof India. Between the 11th and 18thcentury, Bengal broke up into a number ofsmall potentates who seemed to have beencontent with their particular local culture.However, this was also the time of thespread of Vaishnavism. The songs of Jaidev,Vidyapati and Chaitanya entered everyhome and hamlet. Different forms ofVaishnavism, such as the SajivaVaishnavism were overlaid with GaudiyaVaishnavism. The contemporary traditionsof music and dance have to be viewedagainst this ethnic and historicalbackground.Makara Sankranti is an important festivalin all parts of Bengal. The Tusu Parab isheld in Birbhum on this occasion. Groupsof young girls gather every eveningthroughout the month of Pousa (December-January) and sing songs which have beentermed by the generic term Tusu. On theday of Makara Sankranti the groups go outof the village to a nearby tank or riverwith the goddess Tusu symbolised in smallclay figurines or sometimes merely as cowdungballs. After a sacred bath they returnto worship and make offerings of rice tothe deity. Different groups meet, sing songsnear the river-bank or the pond andcompete with each other. The songs areaccompanied by simple group movements:there is no other accompaniment.The men also have their particular songsand dances for the occasion: these areknown as the Bhaduriya Saila. The dancecontent is more predominant here: mendance in circles clockwise and anticlockwise.During the preharvest rites ofBhadra and other festivals like the ChhataParab are held.In Chaitra, another type of compositionknown as the Jhumar is sung and danced.Jhumar can be sung and danced by onlymen or women or both depending upon theparticular occasion. The Jhumar at Chaitrais a typical men’s dance which isaccompanied by drum (madal) and cymbals.At the time of the transplanting of thepaddy only women sing and dance theJhumar. This is then known as the AshariyaJhumar. This typical agricultural ritualdance and music was perhaps later takenover by the professional dancers calledNachnis. Special songs were composed forthese dances under the patronage of thesmall nobles and jamindars. Names of manyJhumar composers such as DinbandhuNarottam and Ram Krishna etc. are known.Into the agricultural songs of transplantingpaddy was impregnated the theme of thelove of Radha and Krishna and other storiesof mystical union. The basic tune of the

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAJhumars remained more or less the same.The development of the Jhumar providesan interesting instance of an old formabsorbing a new content.The agricultural dances have graduallygiven place to dances which are purelydevotional or religious in character.Practically each different sect has its ownmusic and dances. The worshippers ofShakti dance in the Chandi mandir of Siva,in the dance hall called Gambhira and thoseof Vishnu in the Natmandir. All thesepavilions are specially constructed for thedance in front of the shrine. The Gambhirafestival is held on this day. So also is theChakar festival on Chaitra Sankranti inTarakesvar where Siva is worshipped. Gazandance is performed by men dressed insaffron robes who carry a dhanuchi(incensed burners). This is exclusivelyperformed by men; the musicalaccompaniment is provided by decorateddrums and brass gongs (Kanshi).193DANCES OF INDIAintersperse the singing. The footwork iselementary, but the movement of the pelvicgirdle is difficult and characteristic. It isfreely used by men singing the songs toindicate a dramatic moment.The martial dances of the Raibenshes andthe Dhalis, however, tell a different story.The dances of the Raibenshes of Burdwanand Birbhum seem to be the last survivingvestiges of war-like traditions. Thetechnique of the dances is so vigorous thatthere has been a new interest in teachingthese dances to educated boys and girlsof urban centres specially by the Bratachariorganisation. Essentially the dance is aseries of vigorous physical exercises, inwhich the erect torso has an importantpart to play. The dancers begin in a singlefile and then make a circle. Hops, jumpsand circles are characteristic. Skills withthe shield and the spear and the trishulare common. A percussion instrumentaccompanies the dance.The ballad singers, the boatmen, thefishermen and the professional musiciandancers, actors, acrobats and evenjugglers have their distinctive songs anddances. The Bhatiyali, a popular light musicform, can be traced back to the boatman’smusic - the baul to the mendicants andthe gazi to others.A characteristic feature of these is themusical accompaniment which consists ofa one stringed instrument called the ektara.The dance movements are, by and large,restricted to short sequences whichTo a totally different category belongs theJatra, the traditional theatre form of Bengal.The Jatra is performed by travelling troupesunder the management of a man calledAdhikari. Although, originally, the Jatra mayhavehad only the theme of Radha and Krishna,today Jatras are written and performed bywriters and dramatists of rural and urbancentres. Its format resembles the structureof the other folk theatre forms like theNautanki of Uttar Pradesh and the Bhavaior Tamasha of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA194DANCES OF INDIAMANIPURI DANCEDARSHANA JHAVERIManipuri dancing developed inthe North-eastern part ofIndia, has two simultaneoustraditions, namely, Animism and Hinduism.Laiharoba festival, invoking village godshas mainly the dance of the priestessdescribing the primitive concept ofcosmology. Since the last two hundredyears, due to Gaudiya Vaishnavism, danceand music developed into a most stylised,classified and dignified art form aroundthe theme of Lord Krishna and Radha.Dance and music were the integral partsof the religious lives of the people.Innumerable gurus and artists delveddeep into the Vaishnavite SangeetShastras and literature as well asmanuscripts available in Manipur on danceand music. Inspired by them, theyincreased the store-house of dancemovements, talas and rhythm patternsand musical compositions. They evolvedtheir own system of music and dance andeven wrote various manuscripts.Throughout the year, each and every socialand religious festival is celebrated withdifferent forms of dance and music—e.g.dances with drums like Dhol, Dholak, Dafat,Khajari in Holi festival, dance with claps inRatha Yatra festival, dance with cymbalsin Jhulan Yatra, dance with sword and spearin Durga Pooja, and dance with Kartal anddrum in Natpala in different social andreligious festivals such as birth, marriage,shraddha and before Rasleelas.The themes of childhood pranks of youngKrishna as well as the divine love of LordKrishna and Radha pervade in most of thesefestivals. Rasleelas and Sankirtans are thehighly developed dance-forms revealing thehigh aesthetic religious feeling of the peopleof Manipur. Rasleelas go on for 8 to l0 hoursin the temple courtyard from dusk to dawn.The religious people of Manipur shed tearsof joy experiencing it as the real spirit ofthe Lord. All the technical elementsmentioned in the Sangeet Shastras arefound in Rasleelas such as Nritya, (Pure

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKADance), Nritya (Interpretative dance) andNatya (Theme expressed through four kindsof Abhinaya).The songs are sung in Padavali languagesuch as Brajabali, old Bengali, Sanskrit,Braja and now into Manipuri languagewritten by the devotional poets likeChandidas, Vidyapathi, Gyandas, Jayadeva,195DANCES OF INDIAdances on Nritta and Nritya Prabandhas,Manipuri dance is one of the most gracefuland lyrical dance styles of India. Theswaying movements of the neck and torsoare inspired from the bamboo trees liltingin the breeze. The movements are rounded,continuous mingling into each other likethe waves of the sea. There is an equalemphasis on the movements ofthe different parts of the body.The meaning of the songs isconveyed through hand-gesturesfacial expressions and bodymovements in a subdued, dignifiedand suggestive way.etc. They have a variety of talas rangingfrom four beats to sixty-eight beats andtheir various rhythm patterns as well asIn the Rasleelas, thirty to fortygirls wear the gorgeous costumesconsisting of a mirrored stiff skirt,upper half-skirt and a veil creatingan ethereal effect. In Sankirtan,male dancers with Kartal andMridang wear white dhotis andturban creating a serene and dignifiedatmosphere. In the festival dances, womenwear the hand-woven and embroideredphanek with stripes and white thin scarf.A traditional and classical Manipuri dancerhas a great challenge to present thesedances into the modern theatre havingdifferent demands. She should first have athorough knowledge of technique as wellas traditional dance and its other relatedaspects and then should present it in termsof modern concept of recomposing andrechoreographing it, keeping the originalform and spirit intact. Such creative workwithin the tradition will enrich andstrengthen the old classical tradition.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA196DANCES OF INDIAFolk- Dances of Arunachal PradeshNIRANJAN SARKARDance in India has variegated forms,It is like a necklace composed ofbeads of varied hues, shapes andsizes. Dance in Arunachal Pradesh is onlyone of those beads, the totality of whichmakes the heritage of this art in India.Dance is the stylised rhythmic movementof any or all parts of the body to expresssome emotions, ideas or to narrate a story.When a dance is accompanied by significantgestures and attempts the narration of aseries of events, it becomes pantomime.family, village or the whole community. Thesecond sub-group comprises of thosedances performed in ceremonies related toagriculture and domestication of animalsto secure a good harvest and increase ofdomestic animals respectively. The thirdsub-group is associated with the funeralceremony when the soul is guided by thepriest t’) its abode in the land of the deadand to prevent it from haunting its oldresidence. It is generally believed that ifthe soul returns to its old home, thebereaved family suffers diseases andThe dances, performed by the tribes ofArunchal Pradesh, have been broadlydivided into four groups. The first group isthe ritual dances which form part of a ritual.This group may again be divided into fivesub-groups. The first sub-group includesthose dances which form part of the variousrituals performed to secure prosperity, goodhealth and happiness of the dancer, hisdeaths. The fourth sub-group consists ofthe fertility dances. These are magical inthe sense that the imitation of themovements of coition is believed topromote fertility. War-dances make the fifthsub-group, which are on the decline withthe stoppage of internecine feuds andraids. In the old days, when anexpeditionary party was successful in killing

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAan enemy or more, the victors used toperform a ceremony on return, so that thespirit of the slain could do no harm to theslayer. Only among the Idu Mishmis, thevictim’s family also used to perform ritespraying for success in taking vengeance.Dance formed a part of this ceremony.Some of the tribes still perform thisceremony with the dance, when a tiger iskilled. Its purpose is to prevent the spiritof the tiger from harming theslayer. The war-dance usedto be prevalent among almostall the non-Buddhist tribes.197DANCES OF INDIAin an open place. He was enchanted bythe dance and marked it in all its details.On his return to the village, he told thevillagers of the marvel he had seen in thejungle. The villagers also organised adance- party and performed a danceimitating the movements of the monkeysand that was how they learned dancing.The Tangsas do not have any specialcostumes for dance, but wear their usualThe second group is thefestival-dance which formsthe recreational part of aparticular festival. The thirdgroup is the recreationaldances which do not form partof any particular festival orritual. These are performed onoccasions which inspire itsparticipants to express theirmirth through these dances.The fourth group is thepantomimes and dancedramaswhich narrate a mythical story orillustrated a moral. So, these are educativein purpose. The Buddhist tribes have a largerepertory of these.The Tangsa DancesLong long ago, the Tangsas did not haveany dance. A man was returning from hisfield when he heard a tremendous noiseinside the jungle he was passing through.He became inquisitive and stealthilyapproached the spot. There he saw a bigassemblage of monkeys performing a dancedress. Men wear a check lungi and a shirtor banian ; women, a skirt and a blouse.Some of them have a scarf also, A fewmay have a turban. Several sub-tribes(Jogli, Lungri, Moshang, Longphi, Kimchin,Lang-shing, Tolim, Morang, Rongang,Tikhak, Yangkuk and Sangbal) of theTangsas used to perform the Khatangceremony in which the worship wasaccompanied by human sacrifice. In thatceremony, they used to perform dance andthe drum was played in accompaniment.With the advent of administration in thisarea, this ceremony is no longer practised

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAand along with it has gone the drum as amusical instrument. They believe that theplaying of the drum was part of theceremony. That being so, if they play thedrum without performing the ceremony itselfthe deities may be vexed and may afflictthem with trouble in the form of diseaseand death. Four sub-tribes (Longchang,Ponthai, Saban and Moglum), which neverperformed the Khatang ceremony, however,use the drum in the dances of the Molfestival. The only other musical instrument,played by all the sub-tribes, is the going.They do not like to perform dances out ofseason but only during the appropriatefestivals as they think that suchperformance may enrage the deities whomay as a consequence make them sufferfrom some calamities. The war-dance andthe dance in connection with the Khatangceremony are no longer performed.Kukjong Festival and DanceThis festival is celebrated by eight subtribes(Lungri, Moshang, Longphi, Kimchin,Tolim, Morang and Sangbal) in the monthof December-:January. They start clearingthe jungle for cultivation after the festival,which lasts six days. On the first day, allthe able bodied men of the village, go outon a community hunt. They return on thethird day and the bag is equally sharedexcepting the headman, who is allotted alarger share. The women prepare largequantities of beer. At night, a grand feastof meat and beer is followed by dance.The feast continues on the fourth and fifthdays followed by dancing at night. Theyabstain from work on the sixth day. Theclearing of jungle is taken up from the198seventh day.DANCES OF INDIAAll, men and women, youth and adult, goround all the houses in the village wherethey , dance and sing in a circle round thehearth. The movements are the same asthat of the main circular movement of theSapoloro dances of the Champhang festival.There is no special costume for theoccasion and no musical instrument isplayed.The Wancho DancesThe Wanchos do not have any myth aboutthe origin of the dance. They perform thedances only during the appropriateoccasions. They do not have any dancewhich can be performed now and thensimply for merriment. There is no formaltraining, but in each dance, children ofeven six or seven years old join. They learnthe movements by imitating those of theelders. No musical instrument is played tothe accompaniment of the dances.Ozele Festival and DanceThis festival is celebrated in February-March after the sowing of millet. It lastsfor four days as was observed in Longkhauvillage. The dance is performed from about9p.m. to 11 p.m. inside the chief’s house.Among the male-folk-, boys, youths andadults take part while among women, onlygirls and these young married women whohave not yet got an issue and have notjoined the husband’s family, take part inthe dance. The dancers, dressed in theirfineries, stand in a circle, surrounding abonfire. The girls stand on one side of thecircle holding each other’s hands. The maledancers hold a sword in the right hand and

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAmost of them place the left hand over theshoulder of the dancer to the left. Themale dancers start singing when all take ashort step with the right foot to the right,flex the knees with an accompanyingforward swing of the sword and gently bringthe left foot up to the heel of the rightone. They repeat this sequence ofmovements. When the singing of the maledancers,ends, which is generally on theeighth or ninth step, all stamp their rightfoot once on the ground. The femaledancers take up the singing in reply. Theystamp the right foot twice on the groundduring their turn of singing, once generallyin the fourth step and the next at the endof the singing which generally falls on theninth step. Again the male dancers takeup the singing and thus the dancecontinues .All the male dancers have a cane baskethanging at the waist over the buttocks.The basket is decorated with colouredstraw tassels, monkey skulls or wild boar’stushes. The straw tassels of the basketsare decorated with coloured beads. Thestraps of some of the baskets aredecorated with white conch-shell-discs.Each basket has a bell fitted at its bottom.The tinkling of so many bells is the onlymusical sound. All have anklets of strawand girdles of one or two loops of red caneor of bands of cowries or beads just belowthe knee. The boys and a few youths arenaked but others wear a loin-cloth whichis white or light blue in colour with two redstripes at the ends decorated with smallbeads of different colours. This loin-clothis tucked in position with a cane waistbandwhich is about six inches broad ...199DANCES OF INDIAThe armlets are either of ivory, brass orred cane loops. The handle of the sword isdecorated with coloured goat’s hair. All wearsome bead necklaces. Some wearnecklaces of coins. The ear decorationsare tufts of red woollen threads or earplugsof wild goat’s horn or ear-plugdecorated with red seeds. Some havehead-dresses made of bamboo, silvershapedin a cone and decorated with hornbillfeathers. Some have red cane headdressesdecorated with wild boar’s rushes,The hair up to the middle of the crown isbought forward and cut so that the fringereaches just up to the top of the foreheadwhile the hair of the back is keptlong and tucked round a red or yellowcoloured rectangular piece of wood, calledthe khapak, Some of these khapak’s arestudded with small pieces of glass whilesome are decorated with carvings of thehuman figure or human skull or with a tuftof coloured goat’s hair. The sides of thehead are shaven.The girls of the Wangham and Wangchagroups keep the hair long arranged in atress, but the girls of the Wangpen grouphave their hair cropped. Some of the girlshave head-dresses made of palm-leafshaped into a cone and some of these headdressesare decorated with feathers.· Theyalso wear ear-rings. The upper portion ofthe ear-lobe has one small red slick piercedthrough it and projecting like a horn. Theneck and breast are covered with aprofusion of bead-necklaces of differentcolours. The hand is covered completelywith metal bangles and armlets. A few havecoloured rugs mostly red while others havea white cloth wrapped round the waist.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAOn the backdangles a bunch ofsmall metal bells,tinkling all the timeand also alongitudinallyhalved conch -shell.The Idu MishmiDances200DANCES OF INDIAThe Idu Mishmishave a ritual-danceand a fertilitydance.The ritualdanceis performedby the priest orpriestess in the ceremonies of Ai-ah, Aiih,Mesalah and Rren. The fertility dance isperformed on the last day of the Rrenceremony.The Ritual DanceThere is no definite myth about the originof this dance. According to local tradition,the first priest who officiated in a funeralceremony was Chineuhu and his brother,Ajijiuh, was the first priest who officiatedin the other three ceremonies in which thisdance forms a part. As this dance isassociated with the priestly office only,these two brothers may be said to be theoriginators of this dance.Besides the priest, there are three or,occasionally, four other dancers who areselected from amongst the spectators. Inaddition to the usual dress which consistsof a loin-cloth a short-sleeved coat, and asword slung on the right side, a leatherbag slung on the left side and a few beadnecklaces,the priest wears a few otherarticles. These articles are an apron withparticular designs, a head-band decoratedwith two or three rows of cowries, anecklace studded with the teeth of tigerand bear and a few metal bells. A priestesswears these special articles in addition tothe usual Mishmi woman’s dress of a skirt,a long sleeved coat and beadnecklaces.The priestess is generally accompanied byfemale dancers. The accompanying dancerswear the usual dress.The dancers stand in a line, the priest issecond either from the right or left. Duringthe dance, one dancer standing at oneend of the line plays a small drum slungfrom his neck. The priest and the othertwo dancers play a very small semi-globularsingle-membrane drum, striking it with abamboo-stick which is kept tied to the drumwith a string. The fifth dancer, if any, playsa horn bugle. When there are five dancers,the priest stands in the middle of the line.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAHe sings a line of invocatory song while allthe others play the musical instruments,flex the knees bobbing up and down andalternately raise the right and left heelsand stamp these on the ground in time tothe drum-beats. When the priest finishessinging the line, others repeat it in chorus.Again the priest sings another line of thesong which the others repeat in chorusand thus it goes on.After a prelude of flexing of knees andstamping of heels, they place one footforward and immediately bring the otherup beside it. If in the first step’ the rightfoot is taken forward, then in the next stepit is the left one. After each step, theyflex the knees. Thus, they dance forwardto the accompaniment of drum-beats andinvocatory song. When they have dancedforward for some distance, they dancebackward with the same movement. Thusthey dance moving forward and backward.Sometimes they break away from the lineformation and the four dancers standing inthe four corners sing an invocatory song,play the musical instruments and danceflexing the knees and raising the right andleft heel alternately and stamping theseon the ground. Now and then they changepositions dancing all the time but facinginward. Sometimes they dance in a circlefollowing one another with tripping steps.In another movement, they dance sidewayseither in a clockwise or anti-clockwisedirection. They stand in a semi-circle andin the anti-clockwise movement, they takeone step with the right foot to the rightand immediately bring the left foot besidethe right one. Thus they dance in a circle,201DANCES OF INDIAflexing the knees after each step.The movements of the dance are knownto all. Whenever or wherever there is theritual dance, three or four persons act asthe accompanying dancers. If anyone ofthe accompanying dancers is not sure ofthe next movement, he keeps a closewatch on the movement of the priest andimitates him. Thus, by imitating themovement of a priest, he learns it.The priest does not demand any moneyfor his priestly services, but the performerusually remunerates him according to hisability. The payment generally ranges fromtwo to five rupees in the ceremonies ofMesalah and Ai-ih, from thirty to fifty rupeesin the Ai-ah ceremony while in the Rrenceremony it ranges from sixty to onehundred rupees, in addition to ten seers ofrice and a quantity of beer. Theremuneration may also be paid in kind e.g.,with handloom coat, brass utensils or pigs.The dancers accompanying the priest donot receive anything.The parents of a new-born baby have toobserve ten days’ taboo, during which theydo not take part in any social function andso in dance also. The taboo for death isfive days and that is to be observed bv allthe members of a bereaved family. Apriestess can officiate in any ceremony orconduct a dance when she is in her menses,if she thinks herself fit. If a man consumesthe meat of a jungle animal, he cannotjoin in any social function for five days. Apriest in such circumstances refrains fromofficiating in any ceremony for five daysand others, likewise, do not take part inceremonial dances during the period.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAWomen do not take pork, chicken, beef orthe meat of jungle animals, except theporcupine and jungle- mouse. So this taboohas little relevance to them.Digaru Mishmi DancesThe Digaru Mishmis have no myth aboutthe origin of the dance. They have twotypes of dances called Buiya and Nuiya.The Buiya dance has two types ofmovements and it is performed forentertainment while the Nuiya is a ritualdanceperformed by a priest.Buiya Dance202DANCES OF INDIAtake part in this dance. There is no limit tothe age of the dancers although generallychildren and old persons do not take activepart in the dance itself but merely sit byas spectators. There is no special costumefor this dance, so they perform this dancewearing their usual dress. The male dancerwears a loin-cloth a sleeveless jacket, aturban and ear-rings. The female- dancerwears a blouse, a long skirt reaching downThis dance is performed on any festiveoccasion like the Duiya, Tazampu andTanuya festivals which are performed forthe prosperity and good health of theperformer and his household. The Duiya isthe biggest and costliest of these threefestivals. It is performed for propitiatingthe god called Ring. The Tazampu which issmaller than the Duiya festival is performedin honour of the god Jobmalu, who is lowerin rank than Ring in the Digaru pantheon.The Tanuya which is the smallest of thesethree festivals is performed for propitiatingthe god Jumdummeih. All these threefestivals are performed by individualhouseholds. Mithuns or pigs are slaughteredand an enormous quantity of beer is brewedfor the entertainment of the villagers andother invitees. This dance may also beperformed after a feast arranged by afamily to entertain the fellow villagers whoco-operate with it in opening a new field.The dance is performed in the passagewhich runs along one side of the housefrom the front to the rear. Men and womento the ankle with a short one wrapped overit and a side-bag on the left side. Theywear necklaces, large silver-ear-plugs anda silver fillet with its strap studded withcoins or cowries.The dancers stand in a line, one behindthe other, in the passage. One of thedancers plays a drum while another playsa gong. Cymbals are played, if available,by another dancer. Keeping time to the

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAbeats of the drum, gong and cymbals, thedancers take one step forward with theright foot, then gently bring the left footup to the heel of the right one gracefullyflexing the knees. Next, they take one stepforward with the left foot, bring the rightfoot up to the heel of the left one flexingthe knees as before. They dance forwardrepeating this sequence of movements tillthey reach the rear of the passage whenthey turn back and dance up the passagewith the same sequence of movements.Thus they dance up and down the passageof the house. They may or may not sing tothe accompaniment of the dance. Whenthey sing a song, it may be solo or inchorus.There is another movement when theydance with skipping steps but with noaccompanying song. The skipping steps ofthe female-dancers are lower and gracefulwhile those of the male-dancers are higherand more vigorous.The dancers get no remuneration. Thereis no formal training but they learn thedance movements by imitating those of theelders. In case of death, the near kins donot take part in dance till the funeralceremony is performed. The women undermenstruation do not take part in the dance.The parents have to observe a taboo foreleven and ten days for the birth of a sonand a daughter respectively, when theycannot take part in dance.The Khampti DancesThe Khamptis, who arc Buddhists, have nornyth about the origin of the dance. Theyhave many dance-dramas through whichthey unfold some stories or depict mythical203DANCES OF INDIAevents bearing ethical lessons. Thesedramas are generally staged during thereligious festivals of Potwah, Sankian orKhamsang, constituting the entertainmentpart of the festivals. If the youths areresourceful enough and have a liking, theymay organise a drama on any occasion.The musical instruments, played to theaccompaniment of these dramas. are thedrum, gong, cymbals and flute.The Khamptis observe some religious ritesand practices called the Nawah for threemonths during the rainy season. During thisperiod, they lead a life of sober restraint.They abstain from taking intoxicatingdrinks. They do not kill any living being nordo they join in any entertainment. The olderpeople engage themselves in prayers andin reading the scriptures. They also payperiodical visits to the monastery wherethey make oblations to Lord Buddha. Thereligious observance en the last day of theNawah is called Potwah. It is followed by aperiod of about a week devoted to merrymakingduring which a drama is staged.The Sankian festival is celebrated in April-May and involves the ritual of pouring wateron the head of the image of Buddha in themonastery.There are three stages through which thenovices have to pass before they attainmonk- hood. In the first stage, the novicesare called Kapi. When they attain a certainstandard of religious scholarship, they passon to the middle stage when they are calledChousang and then to the final stage whenthey are called Cham an. The Khamsangfestival is observed at the time when thenovices pass from the Kapi to the

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA204DANCES OF INDIAOhousang stage. It is generally observedevery third year. But it may vary at thediscretion of the head-monk.The dance is called ka and the dance-dramais called kapung (ka-dance; pung-story)and actually means a story depictedthrough the dance. There are always afew aged persons who weregood dancers in their youthand their help is sought atthe rehearsal of a play- helpwhich they give freely. Therehearsal of a drama startsabout one month before afestival. This may be donein the monastery or in anyhouse of their choice. At thetime of the rehearsal whichis generally done after dusk,they do not wear thecostumes. The well-to-dovillagers invite the dramapartywhen the drama isstaged in the frontcourtyard or in somesuitable open space near their house.Women do not take part in the drama. “Thefemale role, if any, is played by a man inwoman costume. After the performance,the party is given a remuneration of seven,fourteen, twenty-eight or forty-tworupees-always an amount divisible byseven. They purchase with this money thecostumes and masks used in the dramas.The surplus, if any, is shared by themembers of the drama party. If death hasoccurred in the house of a member of thedrama party, he cannot take part in adrama until the funeral rites have beenperformed.Ka Fifai Dance-DramaThe Ka Fifai drama is woven round thetheme of the traditional belief that ghostsappear and kidnap girls or men and troublethem.Theparticipants 111 thedrama consist of aman, his daughterwho is kidnapped, theghost who does thekidnapping, theMinisters of the Statewhomakepreparations for waragainst the ghost, theKing of the stage inwhich the girl’s fatheris a subject, and theking’s men who go outto capture the ghost.The drama opens witha man and hisdaughter walking inthe garden. The ghost appears andcaptures the girl, and immediately the mangreatly aggrieved rushes to the king’scourt to inform him of the incident and tobeseech him to rescue his daughter. Theking’s anger is aroused at this news andhe calls for his Ministers and asks them toprepare for war. The King’s men go in searchof the ghost and bring him before the king,who severely warns him never to do sucha thing again. The ghost frightened bowsbefore the king and with this ends thedrama.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA205ASSAMESE DANCEPRADEEP CHALIHADANCES OF INDIAOjapali and Devadasi DanceThe heritage of classical dance inAssam is of remote origin. Thereis an intimate relationship betweenthis style of dancing and the theory aspropounded in Sanskrit treatises on Dancesof India. These classical forms of Assamesedances are divided into many forms suchas the Ojapali, Devadasi, Shri Shankaridance etc. Here I am giving short noteson two forms of the old Assamese dances,namely, the Oja-Pali and the Devadasidance.The “Marga Nritya” or the classical danceof Assam dates back to the age of theMahakavyas.The well-known Chinese pilgrim, Huen-Tsang, who paid his historic visit toKamrupa, that is ancient Assam, during theregime of King Bhaskar Varma in the 7thcentury A.D. had referred to the dancewhich prevailed at that time.The existence of “Dalutrangana” that is atemple danseuse or devadasi was distinctlymentioned in the copper plate of King ShriVanamala Varma, who ruled in 9th century.In Assamese dances, Hastas (handgestures), Shirokarma (movement of thehead), Padachari (foot-work), Karana(Posture), etc. are performed after themanner of Natya Shastra or Sanskrittreatises on dance. The foot-work in anAssamese classical dance is extremelyintricate and is called “Gati” or “Bulan”. Italways reflects the theme of the dance inits infinite variation, speed and pattern.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAThere are “Hasti Bulan”, i.e., the slowmajestic steps of the elephant, “GhoraBulan”, i.e., the swift galloping steps ofthe horse, “Maira Bulan”, i.e., the majestic206DANCES OF INDIAmovements is a matter of long practiceunder expert guidance.The hand gesture is called “Hasta”,commonly known as Mudras. They areperformed either with a single hand(Asanguta Hasta) or with both the hands(Sanjuta Hasta). Those gestures that areexpressive of meaning are called “ShreeHastas” and those performed only for thesake of beauty and rhythm are called“Nritta Hastas”, The combination of all theHastas will be nearly one hundred.OjapaliOjapali dance is a prominent form ofAssamese dance, and in this form, songpredominates. Only small cymbals called“Khuti Talas” provide the musicalsteps of a peacock and so on.The dancer playing the role of the Kingmoves his feet in a majestic grace. Thesages move their feet in a way expressiveof their being in meditation. The youthfulprinces move with rhythmic grace and awarrior moves in quick strides.There are several kinds of “Karanas” or“Bhanges”, i.e., poses of the body in anAssamese dance. They are expressive ofmeaning and require to be mastered bylong practice. Those postures of the bodyaccompany the movements of the head,neck, eyes and feet. The mastery of theaccompaniment to songs. The Oja (SanskritUpadhyaya) who is the leader of the chorusand an expert in dance, dances with asong on his lips and dramatic movementsof the body. Emphasis is laid on the Hastasor Mudras. His companions known as “Pali”(Sanskrit Palita) i.e., assistants repeat the

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAsong following the master closely. The “Oja”expresses the meaning of the song withsynchronised movements of the hand,eyes, neck, head and feet. There are threekinds of Ojapali dances, namely-VyasageetOja”, “Suknarayani Oja” and “RamayaniOja”.Vyasageet OjapaliThe Ojapali of Vyasageet mainly sings thesongs of the Vaishnava cult. Here, thethemes of the dances are adopted fromthe stories from “Bhagavata”,“Mahabharata” and “Hari- vamsa”. Themake-up of a Vyasa Oja differs from thatof a Sukanarayani Oja. The Vyasa Oja wearsa long white skirt, a tight-fitting jacket, aturban of a particular shape, anklets andvarious other gold ornaments of the neck,handand ear.Suknarayani OjapaliThe other Oja named Suknarayani chantsmainly the hymns of the snake goddess,Manasa composed by Sukabi Narayan Dev,an Assamese poet of the olden days. Thetheme of the dance is the story of “Behulaand Lakhindar” which is mainly connectedwith goddess Manasa. The costume of thiskind of Oja consists of a long shirt knownas “Chapkan”. a white “Dhoti”, a chaddur,a pointed turban, and various goldornaments of the wrist, neck and ears.Ramayani OjaThe third variety of Oja, Ramayani Oja,puts the costume akin to Vyasa Oja, andsings only the songs from the Ramayana.Unfortunately, this kind of Ramayani Ojapaliis disappearing slowly. All the three kinds207DANCES OF INDIAof Ojapali dances have reached exquisiteperfection in Karana, i.e., posture andAngahaara, i.e., gesture.Another kind of Assamese dance is “Nati”dance of devadasis. This dance isperformed by the devadasis or professionalfemale dancers attached to the temple.This devadasi dance was mainly performedin Shiva temples such as the ParihareswarShiva Temple at Dubi, Biswanath ShivaTemple at Biswanatha, (near Tezpur), theShiva Temple at Dergoang near Golaghatetc. Nati dance was performed at only oneVishnu temple of Hayagriva Madhaba atHajo near Gauhati. Nati dance at any otherVishnu temple of Assam is not known.Unfortunately devadasi dance tradition isnow becoming a thing of the past. Thedevadasis lead a virgin life. Their costumeis exquisitely designed and artistic.The devadasis of Assam dress their hair incoiffure at the top of the head and adornit with flowers and put a thin veil over it.They wear a long skirt reaching down tothe ankle and a blouse with long sleeves.A long shawl known as “Riha” is put tightlyover the breast. One peculiar and strikingaspect of this devadasi dance is theperforming of swift somersaults in the middleof a dance by the devadasis. This practiceis not seen in any other traditional schoolof Indian dance. This devadasi dance isaccompanied by music with mridanga andmandira.There are both the slow and the swiftmovements in rhythm. There is a delicateand rhythmic blending of the Tandava andLasya elements in Assamese dance.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA47Waiting In the WingUSHA JHADANCES OF INDIANot very long ago, I hadambitions of becoming aprofessional dancer. I spenthours at the feet of my guru. I evenwent aggressively vegetarian. But mydebut as a professional dispelled all myillusions about my calling in life. Our littletroupe, which consisted of two dancers,my guru and our orchestra of three, wasinvited to Lucknow. Starry-eyed, I signedmy first contract-for a substantial sum plusa stay at Lucknow’s top hotel, travelexpenses (by air, of course) and all that.“Go ahead and order what you want-it’sall on the house!” we (the other dancerwas a French girl studying Odissi) saidgrandly to our musicians. They took us atour word. There were press interviews,flowers in the room, a car at our disposal.“Ah, the life of a prima donna!” I musedrelaxing in the only air-conditioned roomthat Lucknow’s “best” hotel could offer.The show was tremendous! A huge packedhall, applause, garlands, speeches, moregarlands. Success! We were reeling underits impact. It was all too heady. “ Now offwith the grease paint!” called out oursponsor. “We are all having dinner together.And, of course, the payments and things”,he muttered into his collar, getting typicallycoy at the mention of money.He bowed and smiled his way out of thegreen room, and that was the last we sawof him. We waited for several hours, sansgrease paint, getting more tired and hungryby the minute. When we finally returnedto our hotel, the Manager didn’t think allthis was very funny at all. Nor did the restof the troupe. Finally, after a sleeplessnight, the French girl and I sneaked outearly in the morning leaving myunsuspecting guru and the musicians ashostages, until we got to Delhi and wereable to cable some money to the hotel toset them free.Instead of opening the road to riches, myentry into the big, bad world ofprofessionalism set me bad by Rs. 2,500.Somehow the spotlights have never lookedso bright and beckoning to me since. But Ididn’t know then that, even at this price, Iwas one of the lucky ones. At least I hadhad the bouquets and the press reviews.Other young hopefuls spend their moneyand don’t even get a chance to dance.Dancing As a CareerTo settle on dancing as a full-time careertoday requires grit, especially if it is to bethe only means of earning one’s bread andbutter. We have from the youngergeneration, Yamini Krishnamurti, who hasclimbed the peaks of her profession. Yaminihas made many sacrifices and her devotion,her sadhana has been total. In financialterms, these have paid off; today she canset her price and be sure of getting it.But how many other younger dancers havereached this level so far? They can be

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAcounted on the fingers of one’s hands. BirjuMaharaj (if you stretch the “young” a bit)and Roshan Kumari in Kathak, PadmaSubrahmanyam from Madras who dancesBharatanatyam and, perhaps, one or twoothers have now gained a secure place inthe audience’s affections. For each one ofthem, however, there are a dozen others,with as much training and imbued with thesame high ideals, who lurk like shadows inthe wings of the dance-world, waiting fora chance to release their energy in onefrenetic burst at some music and dance48DANCES OF INDIAwith their own enthusiasm. I was told by afriend running a fashionable Dance Academyin New Delhi that most of the studentsthere are literally marking time beforegetting married. Apparently, classicaldancing adds “a vital new dimension toone’s matrimonial potential!”Opens Many DoorsFull 25 years after Independence, thestigma cast on classical dance by theVictorian values of the first generation ofIndians has worn off. Matrimonial ads nowcarry the legend: “Wellversed in culture anddance.”Another reason whysome young girls takedance lessons is that itis a pleasant way ofknocking off adipose fataguru at the Triveni KalaSangam in Delhi oncetold me!jamboree, or at a semi- private full-lengthperformance before retreating once againinto the limbo of hopeful inactivity. Thissad state of affairs is all the more surprisingbecause today dancing is the rage amongthe daughters of the bourgeoisie. Younggirls take to classical dancing for a startlingvariety of reasons-, most of which poorNandi- keswara could hardly have dreamtof. Their interest is usually sparked byparents who infuse (inflict?) their daughtersThen, dancing can alsoopen the door to the filmworld. Ever, sinceVyjayanthimala burstthrough the doors tostardom, followed more recently by HemaMalini, dozens of star-struck teenagers,particularly in Bombay, have been practisingtheir “bhangis” and “chakkars” with a newdevotion. Gopi Krishna, a Kathak dancerwho has taken part in more than one film,has a large number of hopefuls in hisschool; one of them, Padrna Khanna, istoday a dancing “star” (Johnny Mere Naam)who owes more to the fact that she cancontort her Kathak to suit the whims of

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAthe director than to the purity of hertatkars and tihais.Out of every hundred such Sunday dancersemerges one utterly serious student whosepersonal, environmentally and parentalinterest has led her to seek in dance, nota pleasant diversion, but an intensely personameans of expressing her creativeurge. For her, the greatest hurdle of all isto find a good guru. There are so manynot-so-good ones who have it all workedout-the way to affluence, They start agirl off with group lessons in the generalclass. A few months in this unwieldy groupand the student feels or her parents feelshe is getting nowhere and she soon settlesfor private lessons-the nearest thing to aguru-sishya parampara at a minimum ofRs. 150 for twice-a-week sessions.Dancing, of course, is a supplement to a“good convent education” which this classof parent has to afford. So betweencurricular and extra-curricular, the familyshould be prepared to set aside Rs. 250 innurturing this young talent. To ask howmany can afford this would be purelyrhetorical.Publicly LaunchedThen comes the arangetram day, whenour young hopeful is quite literally launchedon to the public stage. Traditionally, thearangetram was a simple, dignified, almostreligious ceremony presided over by thedeity, the guru and a small audience oflearned pandits who came to assess thepupil. Today’s arangetram, like today’smarriage, is a different matter altogether.The hallis usually air-conditioned. Thepandits in the front row are usually49DANCES OF INDIApoliticians, film-stars, diplomats (aninvitation to even a minor Third Secretarymay yield a bonanza in the form of aninvitation to dance abroad) and otheroffice-bearers of various Sanghs. Thelesser panditry is made up of communitybhais and bouffanted socialites. The lastthing they are likely to have in common isa love (let alone knowledge) of classicaldance.And such arangetrams cost the dotingparent dear. In a city like Bcmbay, thedamage can amount to anything from Rs.5,000 to Rs. 12,000 or even more. It mustbe said also that there are very few gurus,however traditional they may be andhowsoever pristine their style, who areaverse to this form of ostentation. Abreakup of costs in a typical arangetramwould go like this [in 1972]:Hall: Rs. 350 to Rs. 850Brochure: Rs. 500Invitations: Rs. 300Orchestra: Rs. 400-Rs. 500Costumes: Rs. 800Taxi fares: Rs. 50-Rs. 100Jewellery: Rs. 1,500Of course the smart thing to do is to coverthe cost by soliciting advertisements forthe brochure. If the dancer can find aregular registered society to sponsor herdebut, so much the better. But not so manysocieties or business-houses are itchingto launch new dancers. So the parentsare forced somehow to scrape togetherenough to meet these expenses. Many areundoubtedly buoyed by the hope that theirdaughter will rake it all back in once hercareer blossoms.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKABut more often than not, the flower isnipped in the bud by an early frost. If adancer has some influential connections,something in the form of a benefitperformance or a charity recital can beorganised. After several such performancesin which the dancer or her poor parents gofrom door to door selling tickets, solicitingadvertisements and being nice to neweditors and critics, the big moment comessomesmall society in an out- stationmofussil hears of her by some strangeword-of-mouth osmosis and tracks herdown. But the dancer’s travails are farfrom over. She has found a platform-butto dance there she will have to spend moremoney. The typical small society may offera tidy Rs. 250 and transport. She knowsthat this is exploitation, but what can shedo-a performer has to perform. She needsa platform and an audience. The Rs, 250may just about manage to cover the feesof her vocalist and her drummer. For therest-the dance leader (Nattuvanar), whois usually her guru, and the instrumentalist,for her dresses, her hotel and her food(not to mention the orchestra, her parentsmust pay. And so it goes, on and on. Soonthe parents realise that they are chainedinexorably to a financial tread-mill. “Is thiswhat I scraped and scrounged for? Howmuch longer can we payout of our pocketsto keep our daughter performing?” IndiraPillai’s father used to ask.Regional SentimentsA true lover of the dance, he had givenher the best training in the Tanjore styleof Bharatanatyam. He had taken a housein Tanjore (the family comes from Kerala)just in order that his daughter may drink50DANCES OF INDIAat the fountain- head of Bharatanatyam.After years of training and a number ofperformances in Tanjore, he took the boldleap into the unknown-he brought Indirato Delhi, the centre of the Sangeet NatakAcademy. At Sapru House, critics andsavants cheered her. Here wasunquestioned talent-a big future lay ahead,they said. One never heard of her againexcept in the odd report in the local papersof an Onam Day celebration at some smallcollege. Then I saw her face staring out ofa Malayalam film-poster. Her father had diedand Indira had been forced to abandon thelyrical graceful narya of Tanjore for a morelucrative but less aesthetic form on celluloidin her Home State.I deliberately mention “Home State”because regional chauvinism is nowhere asrampant as in the dance-world.Bharatanatyam is the preserve of theSouth: “What Bharatanatyam can someonefrom outside Madras or Andhra do?”, theSecretary of a leading Bombay Sabha askedme in a matter-of-fact way. An official ofthe Sangeet Natak Academy once told methat when in 1968, a non-Oriya exponentof Odissi was sent on a cultural delegation,a leading exponent of Odissi from Orissasent him a letter of protest-only an Oriyacan really know what Odissi is all aboutwas her plaint.Yes, Konarak is theirs, Chidarnbaram ours,etc. etc., so it goes on, ad nauseam. Cana Bharatanatyam dancer from Benarespierce the armour of utter disbelief heencounters in the hallowed Sabhas ofMadras? Can a Kathakali dancer trained inBaroda be regarded as anything other thanquaint, no matter how great his talent, by

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAthe pandits in Trivandrum and Trichur?Dancer Kamadev from London, who divideshis time between Madras and London, saythat the sub-divisions are even narrower.A Brahmin Sabha would like to invite aBrahmin dancer, a Mudaliar Sabha wouldprefer a Mudaliar. He says: “Of course theypay the artist no more than Rs. 250 or Rs.350". So it is very important for a dancernot only to be born into the rightenvironment, family and society but alsothe right region. (A favourable caste wouldalso be a great help!) “No dancer can thinkof making a go of it purely on the strengthof his virtuosity in India. I enjoy performinghere but, for ‘living’, I would arrange a fullthree or four months of chain bookingsthrough a good impresario abroad and takemy guru and orchestra with me. The restof the time I would like to teach in London”,Kamadev explained.51DANCES OF INDIApay every artist Rs. 300 to Rs. 500 for thisfestival and, for the public, entrance isfree. Of course, singing or dancing at theKal Ke Kalakar festival does not pay. Adancer from, say, Orissa may spend Rs.1,000 extra on travel and on paying hermusicians. But even this small break is,after all, a break.Brijnarain also runs a major festival in theSwami Haridas Sammelan, to which, as arule only those who have appeared in KalKe Kalakar are invited. The payment hereis far better. But to make both ends meet,he and the other organisers have to collectadvertisements worth Rs. 50,000 each time.And even this is not the end of it. For, theharsh fact is that India’s new elite, peoplewho will buy two silk sarees or a case ofsrnuggled whisky without batting an eyelid,would not even think of going to a danceor music recital.Most of these problems arose because, likeclassical music, dance has only recentlyforsaken the temple and the palace for thepublic auditorium. And as in the Europe ofMozart and Beethoven, the public concertof festival as an institution is in its infancy.What dance needs is a broad-basedimpresario system. There are a few in thecountry who consider themselvesimpresarios. But most of them are smallagents out to make a fast buck rather thanto promote a great art. One genuineexception to this rule is Brijnarain ofBombay whose dance and music festivalshave become land-marks in Bombay’scultural world. He has made it his missionto give young aspirants a break andorganises the Kal Ke Kalakar (Tomorrow’sArtists) festival every year. He is able to“I was once invited to dance at aconference in Mathura, and the terms weretravel fare and food. Being Mathura, thefood was fantastic, they assured me, madeof shudh ghee!” Ritha Devi, who has beenin this game for many years, told me, “Iturned it down, of course! I prefer eating‘fantastic’ food in Bombay in my own house!But they sent me a brochure of the festivaland I saw that even on these bizarre termsthey had managed to get a dancer, afterall. For the young dancer it is an‘investment’, so they payout of theirpockets-for no guru or orchestra would besatisfied with just food cooked in good gheeby way of payment. We have all done thisat the beginning, but it rarely pays off.“One has to keep spending out of one’sown pocket”, she explained.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAThen what, in today’s dance world, is theway out of this vicious circle? RajendraShankar, who is the brother of the greatsitarist Ravi Shankar, has done somethingwhich I feel is along the right lines. He hasbrought out a journal for his artists’association,Sancharini and allows dancersto advertise in it. Thejournal is distributed toall universities, musicsocieties, sabhas andthe like. He also on afew occasions arrangesa chain of bookings forsemi artists through hisvast and variedcontacts. ButSancharini charges nomoney-no impresario’scut! “We do not wantto make a business ofit. We are onlyinterested in helpingartists”, he told me. Here was the nearestthing to a regular impresario system-whyshouldn’t it become more organised?Another possibility is for the National Centrefor the Performing Arts to take a moreactive part in giving promising young artistsa break. Naturally one cannot expect aninfant institution to do everything at once,but the patronage of a presiding body likethis could be just what young dancers andmusicians need. Perhaps the Indian Councilfor Cultural Relations and the Sangeet NatakAcademy could also do more to fill the voidcreated by the lack of an impresario system.The precedent set by the famous dancerIndrani Rahman who invites young guestartists to dance at her recitals is laudable52DANCES OF INDIAand should be taken up by other seniordancers. But all these organisations willcome up against one immovable obstacle:the high cost of arranging a show. TheBhabha Auditorium costs Rs. 1,000 for anevening and a 5 cm. single-columnadvertisement in The Times of India costsaround Rs.80.When the onlyfunds allotted to alarge State bodylike U.P.’s SangeetNatak Academy isjust Rs. 58,000,schemes forl a u n c h i n gimpresarios andyoung dancers,pension benefitsand schemes forold artists,insurance guilds,etc. seem likeunadulterated pipe-dreams.If a dancer breaks her leg and has to stop,it is just very unfortunate Nana Kasar, whois a well-known teacher of Bharatanatyamin Bombay and who has studied under GuruChockalingam Pillai had a heart-attack. Hewas forced to suspend classes andnattuvangam programmes for a long time.With a large family to support, this is noteasy.Many Roles of A DancerThe classical dancer in India plays aremarkable plethora of roles she hasperforce to be her own publicist, maintainher bit of public relations: she is her ownagent and manager. If after all this she

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAhas enough energy and gift to go ondancing she is indeed remarkable. Thedancer may emerge all the more tougherfor it but not without a touch of bitterness.“I have spent well over Rs, 45,000 on mydaughter’s dancing”, said the father of thebrilliant young dancer Sucheta Bhide. “ButI want her to dance only before the rightaudiences”. Sucheta is indeed lucky butthere are so many who have had to giveup these vigorous standards.Dance Sans ProfessionalismAnd yet people do dance. They are beingchurned out of our dance academies, someare sent out armed with degrees, diplomasand certificates; there are universities inIndia which turn out a regular bunch ofgraduates every year. The largest casualtyis marriage. For the others, the choice isvery difficult. To give up one’s personallife and sacrifice all for the sake of one’scareer is indeed a big decision. Onerespects and appreciates Odissi dancerSanjukta Panigrahi’s success all the moreas she is a professional dancer in the truesense of the word. Kanak Rele is anotherdancer in this category.“I don’t dance for money!” is somethingseveral dancers are eager to assure you.Why shouldn’t one dance for money? Wasone taught gratis? Or docs the image ofthe nautch-girl accepting salaamis in silvercoins thrown at her, colour our pseudoprofessionals?“It is these very dancers who ruin thechances of our sincere artists”, said GuruKalyanasundaram of the well-known RajaRajeshwaree Bharatanatya Kendra. “Whennegotiating with an organiser one should53DANCES OF INDIAmaintain a definite standard of payment.There can be no bargaining of one’s artisticvalues. What happens is that the pseudoprofessionalhears of the negotiations andpromptly contacts the same organiser [orhalf the price. Even if one does not actuallydepend on it for one’s three meals, thereare incidentals-costumes have to bereplenished (a single grand Kanjeevaramsaree costs upwards of Rs. 400), tailoring,polishing jewels, blouses which get wornout very fast and all this cost money. AnArgentinian dancer, Myrta Barvie, who haddanced several years in the West and thenat Kalakshetra, was shocked at this lackof professionalism: “If you don’t need thefees, then throw it out of the window. Buttake it, insist on it, for the future of otherdancers depends on it”.The Government is also doing a great dealto help the artist. It has contributed avery great deal to their social recognitionby showering Republic Day honours onthem, sending them out on missionsabroad, giving scholarships (25 each yearfor music, dance and drama of Rs. 250 amonth), and soon. All this has helpedenormously. “If even 5% of these makethe grade, it will have been worth thetrouble and the expense”, explained Dr.Narayana Menon, who has been on theselection committee for years.But this is not really enough. A lacunaremains to be filled. The dancer needs helpin the period between her long years oftraining and reaching the commandingheights of her profession-if she ever getsthere.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA54DANCES OF INDIATHE RAMAYANA IN INDIAN DANCEAND DANCE-DRAMAMOHAN KHOKARTimeless and deathless is theRamayana. And it did not take allthese centuries to discover this.The ink had not dried on Valmiki’smanuscript, as it were, when the Lord,Brahma, is said to have appeared beforehim and pronounced:As long as in this firm-set landThe streams shall flow, the mountainsstand, So long throughout the world, besure, The great Ramayana shall endure.Truly prophetic words, but what possiblyneither Valmiki nor the Lord reckoned withwas the formidable extent to which theRamayana was destined to penetrate andpermeate the whole fabric of the moral andcultural life of the people. For, as thepassage of centuries has shown, theRamayana has survived not merely as amonument of epic poetry or even as acherished scripture, each thought of whichis enshrined in the minds and hearts of thepeople, but it has also found or inspiredrepresentation in countless formstranslations,regional adaptations of thestory, plays on the theme, effusiveoutpourings of saints and exalteddevotees, sculpture, carving, iconography,painting, music, dance and theatre.The Two AvatarsThe Ramayana is one of the mostprofoundly venerated books. The genesisof the Rama story can be traced to Vedictimes, but it was left to Valrniki to kneadthe theme into a coherent, integratednarrative and also to impart to it its epicdimension. At the time of writing theRamayana, the motivation was not·religious, for Rama had not yet attainedgodhood. The cult of Vishnu existed, albeitin embryonic form, in the Vedic period, butit is only from the beginnmg of the Christianera that Rama came to be recognised asan avatar. And as in the course of timedid Vaishnavism come to attract more andmore people into its fold, so also did thepopularity of the Rama faith spread andconsolidate its hold.The bed-rock on which Vaishnavism hasbuilt up it, vast following is devotionalismas implied in the adoration of a personalbeing coupled with complete disregard ofritualism. The avatars, all incarnations ofVishnu, are gods super-naturally revealedto man. And of the nine avatars that haveso far manifested themselves, the seventhand eighth, that is, Rama and Krishna,respectively, have the strongest hold inpopular imagination. Rarna represents theepitome of all that is pious and virtuous inlife and deed while Krishna is seen for themost part as a playful figure in his earlyyears and as the propounder and exemplarof one of the greatest precepts of devotionand duty in his later life. Both Rama and

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAKrishna find a dominant place in Indianliterature and art.Rama PlaysApparently, the first occasion for the Ramastory to be used in histrionic representationis the one cited in the Harivamsa. Thiswork, which is regarded as an appendix tothe Mahabharata and also accorded thestatus of an independent purana, waswritten within four to five centuries of theRamayana. This means that even at thatremote time, when Sanskrit drama had justtaken birth, the enactment of the Ramastory was known. The event described inthe Harivamsa relates to the presentationof a piece from the Rama saga in whichthe role of Rama is taken by Krishna’s son,Pradyumna. What is of consequence to ushere is that the description suggests, inno uncertain terms, that the performancewas not in the nature of straight dramabut of mimetic dance. Our present study,if we may remind ourselves, also concernsthe place of the Ramayana only in danceand dance-drama.That there has long been the system ofstaging Rama plays through a combinationof dance and drama is also endorsed by abrief episode in Bhavabhuti’s Uttararamacharita,of the 8th century A.D., whichrecounts how, on the request of Valmiki,Bharata Muni himself mounted a piece fromthe Ramayana on the stage, basing thepresentation on the canons of dance,drama and music he had evolved andenunciated in his magnum opus, the NatyaShastra. Again, though the Natya Shastrais silent on the subject of the Ramayana,Abhinavagupta’s great commentary on thework, the Abhinavabharati, while discussing55DANCES OF INDIAthe techniques of the ragakavya, which isa composition rendered. through song andgesture by a single performer, gives twoexamples-the Raghavavijaya and theMarecchavada, both of which are takenfrom the Ramayana theme.The Bhakti MovementThe medieval period in North India saw thearrival of the bhakti movement, and thisstraightaway cast its spell on every aspectof life, including art and literature. One lineof this movement, spearheaded byRamananda, a Vaishnava preceptor, gavegreat impetus to the worship of Rama. Andit was a result of this impetus that thecelebrated Ramacharitamanas of Tulsidascame to be written. Several situations inthis work have a distinct dramatic ethos,and there is also a sizeable sprinkling ofdialogues right through the poem. Thissuggests that possibly Tulsidas had in mindthe presentation of the work as aspectacle. In any ease the most famousof the Rama plays, the Rama Leela, is basedon the Ramacharitamanas, and this hasbeen regularly staged in North India frompractically the time of Tulsidas.Suitability of TherneRama and Krishna being the two major godheadsof Vaishnavism, the bhaktimovement too took two directions, one forRama and the other for Krishna. Like theRamayana, the Krishna theme too came tofind an eminent place in the performingarts. It is understandable, in this regard,that Krishna enjoys greater Importance indance, and Rarna in drama, One reason forthis is that Krishna is himself reputed to bea dancer and an adorable one at that; his

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA56DANCES OF INDIAcharacter and temperament lendthemselves admirably for interpretationthrough the dance. Rama on the other hand,is for the most part plain human, andhumane, excessively so in fact, and theseare hardly qualities to tickle the imaginationof spectators. Another reason is that theKrishna story is made up of several littleincidents, each of which offers a pithy,self contained episode. excellently suitedfor presentation as adance vignette. TheRama story, in turn, isone long series ofevents, all inextricablylinked with each otherand not easy to treatin isolation-just thematerial for theatre inthe form of dancedramaor drama.A Favourite Themefor KoodiyattamOf the various formsof classical dance anddance-dramaobtaining in Indiatoday, the oldest isthe Koodiyattam ofKerala. References tothis art in literature and chronicles suggestthat it was in vogue even as early as 1,500years ago. At any rate, Koodiyattam is theonly form of theatre we have at presentthat fits in with the concept of the ancientSanskrit drama. The repertoire ofKoodiyattam comprises some two dozenplays, nine of -which are consideredparticularly important and are the onescommonly staged. Of these nine, four areon the Ramayana theme: theAbhishekanataka and Pratimanataka, ofBhasa, the Ashcharyachoodamani, ofShaktibhadra, and the Mahanataka ofHanuman , The Ramayana story is in factaccorded such a pride of place by theChakkiars, or performers of Koodiyattam,that even in plays that have no bearing onit they invariably find occasion to cleverlyinduct the Ramayana theme into the overall denouement.In AssamOur next form, interms of evolution,is the Ankia Nat ofAssam. This is avariety of dancedramadevisedtowards the closeof the 15thcentury, by thegreat Vaishnavasaint and reformer,Sankaradeva. Hewrote six plays, ofwhich five relate toKrishna and one,the Rama Vijaya,deals with the’Rama theme. Alsoto Assam belongs the Ojapali tradition, inwhich a choral group recites episodes frommythology accompanying this with simplegestures and dance. One of the mostpopular pieces in the Ojapali repertoire isthe Geeti Ramayana of Durgabara; this workis additionally important for it representsone of the very few compositions which,though soaked in the bhakti of theVaishnava genre, is written by a poet who

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAdoes not profess the Vaishnava faith.RamanattamIn the first half of the 17th century cameinto existence a form of dance-drama inKerala, known as the Ramanattam.Actually, this was brought into being as achallenge to another form, the Krishnattam,which then held sway. Both Krishnattamand Ramanattam are composed in eightparts, each suitable for one night’sperformance. As the name indicates, theRamanattam concerns itself only with theRamayana theme. After it was created andpresented, the style proved so successfulthat very soon plays modelled after theRamanattam came to be written on otherthemes as well. As the art thus no longerconfined itself to the Ramayana, it cameto be given a new, more apposite name-Kathakali, story-play.Other Forms57DANCES OF INDIAdance, the Mohini Attam, which wascreated towards the middle of the 19thcentury, under the patronage of MaharajaSwati Tirunal.The Kathakali art has scores of plays,known as attakathas, specially written forit. On an overall count it can be said thatabout a quarter of these pertain to theRamayana theme. Some of the well-knownattakathas, in this context, are the RavanaVijayam, Lavanasura Vadham, Bali Vijayamand Seeta Swayamvaram, The Kathakalialso gave rise to a form of solo dance, theOttan Thullal, which was brought into beingby a famous poet of Kerala, Kunjan Nambiar,in the first half of the 19th century. KunjanNambiar wrote over 60 Thullals, about aquarter of which, such as theKartaviryarjuna Vijayam, SeetaSwayamvaram and Ahalya Moksham drawtheir inspiration from the Ramayana. Alsoto Kerala belongs another type of soloThe very first item in a Mohini Attampresentation, the Cholkettu, offers thestory of Rama in a nut-shell.The Bharata Natyam, which is one of ourprincipal classical dances, too carries agood number of items on the Ramayanatheme. The songs used in these items,however, Were not specifically composed

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAfor the dance but are drawn from the wholerange of poetry in Tamil, Telugu, Kannadaand Sanskrit. The kriitis of Tyagaraja andthe keertanams of Arunachala Kavi areamong the more popular numbers in thiscategory. The scope of the materialavailable in poetry is in fact so vast thatfresh pieces are being appropriated by theart all the time. As recent examples of thisare the Navarasa slokam from theRamakarnamritam and the Bhavayamikeertanam of Swati Tirunal. The BhagavataMela Nataka, which represents the dancedramaform of Bharata Natyam also carriesone play, in its repertoire of twelve on theRama theme, the Seeta Kalyanam.The Kathak dance, which centres almostexclusively around the Krishna theme,carries a handful of items on the Ramayanastory in its style. Binda Din, whosecompositions constitute the bulk of thesongs employed for expressional work inKathak, has written a few pieces pertainingto Rama and Ravana. Though not much invogue now, the mimetic sequences ofKathak known as Gats, formerly includedsuch themes as Ram Baan, Lav-Kush andSeeta Janani.The Manipuri dance, too, concerns itselfalmost wholly with Krishna. However,formerly, during the time of King GaribNawaz, who ruled in the first half of the14th century, the Rarnanandi cult ofVaishnavism with Rama as the supremedeity was acknowledged as the Statereligion and as part of this a pala, or danceand music ensemble, was attached to thePalace at Imphal and as compositions thispala took songs from the Ramayana theme,including some from the Vaishnava padavali.58DANCES OF INDIALater, the Ramanandi faith was integratedwith the Radha-Krishna cult, and as aconsequence of this the pala too shiftedits allegiance from Rama to Krishna. Anotherdance which has Krishna as the centralcharacter. is the Odissi. In the tradition ofthis there is nothing on the Rama theme,but, of late, Oriya songs about Rama, fromsuch sources as the Baidehisha Vilasa, havecome to be incorporated into the style.The Kuchipudi of Andhra, is a form ofdance-drama that was born in the wakeof the bhakti movement in the South. Oneof the most celebrated plays in this traditionis the Ramanatakam, which was quitecommonly staged till about thirty years ago.The Kuchipudi technique also carries itemsof straight expressional dance known assabdams and some of these pertain toRama, the best known example of which isthe Ramapattabhishekam. Another sabdam,the Manduka, describes how the stunningMandodari emerged from rhe womb of afrog and later ravished Ravana and becamehis wife.Another dance-drama in the classical mouldis the Yakshagana, .of Karnataka. This givesexhaustive. treatment to the Ramayanastory. Apart from a series of eight playsthat embrace the entire Ramayana theme,there are some twenty other well-knownworks on the subject, These carry suchtitles as Ramaswamedha, Ravana vadha,Lava Kusha, Kusha Lava, Subahu Kalaga,Marimukha Kalaga, Panchavati, Bali Sugrivaand Athikaya. As in practically all otherforms of dance-drama, in Yakshagana, too,there is no play that covers the entireRamayana in a single night. All the playsthat there are in the tradition project only

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAsnatches from the monumental saga.Only one tradition of dance and dancedramanow remains in the list, and that isthe Chhau. This has three distinct, thoughrelated, aspects one of which belongs toSeraikella, in Bihar. another to Mayurbhanj,in Orissa, and the third to Purulia, in WestBengal. In the Seraikella and Puruliaversions all characters wear masks. TheRamayana is represented in all three styles,but only in a token way in Seraikella, alittle more freely in Mayurbhanj, and veryextensively in Purulia. The Seraikella Chhauhas just one piece on the Ramayana,theSamudra Sashana, while the Mayurbhanjcarries five numbers-Rama Shoka, Jambeb,Kumbhakarna, Seeta Vivaha and Lava-Kusa. In the Purulia Chhau, the entire spanof the Ramayana, beginning with SindhmuniVadh, or the curse of the blind sage onDasaratha, and ending ‘With Rama’scoronation, is covered in nineteen scenes,which are presented in unbroken continuityand in a single night.The Ramayana theme has also foundextensive representation in the varioustraditions of the puppet theatre in India,but as these belong to a different genrethey are not within the scope of thepresent study. The same can be said ofthe system of dance and dance-dramaobtaining in countries that have a culturalaffinity with India, such as Burma, Laos,Kampuchea, Thailand and Indonesia.59DANCES OF INDIAComing to our time, that is, from the revivalof Indian dance and dance-drama that wasushered in the first quarter of the presentcentury, it is evident that the Ramayanastory has consistently provided inspirationfor new works and new experiments inchoreography. Why, the first two plays thatRabindranath Tagore ever wrote forpresentation as dance- drama-the ValmikiPratibha and Kal-Mrigaya, are drawn fromthe Ramayana. The pioneer of the freestyle in Indian dance, Uday Shankar,presented the whole Ramayana, at hiscentre in Almora, in the form of a .hugespectacle in a shadow-play, using humanfigures. One of his leading pupils, ShantiBardhan, produced the Ramayana with thedancers adopting movements stylised afterthe manner of puppets. Other leadingchoreographers, such as Guru Gopinath,Debendra Shankar, Amala Shankar, SachinShankar, Narendra Sharma, PadmaSubramaniam and K. Shekharan, have alloffered their own versions of the theme.Perhaps the most significant contribution,however, has been made by Rukmini Devi,who has presented the epic story in severalparts, in the Bharata Natyam style and withmusic by some of the top stalwarts in theKarnatak tradition.We can say it again. Timeless and deathlessis the Ramayana. And, so far as its placein the Indian tradition of dance and dancedramais concerned, if the past is any indexof what can be achieved one can be Surethat the future, too, has plenty in store.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA60The Art And The ArtistK. S. RAMASWAMI SASTRIDANCES OF INDIAThe supreme charm of BharataNatyam as a classical art is dueto a combination of variouselements. It combines footwork and fingergestures and harmonious synchronisedmovements of the neck and head and faceand eyes and eyebrows and eyelashes. Itcombines beauty of pose and movementwith charming expression of emotion. Itcombines intellect and imagination andspiritual charm with pure physical charm.The dance-artist must enter into the spiritof every movement and gesture and lookand should not do so in a mechanised andmechanical manner. She must merge herego in the charm of the dance and itsinterpretation of emotion. As the greatauthor and art-critic Sylvan Levi says well:“Indian genius produced a new art, whichthe word Rasa summarises and symbolisesand which condenses it in one brief formula“the poet does not express but suggests”.Suggestion (dhvani) and spirituality are thetwo eyes of the goddess of BharataNatyam.Bharata Natyam as it is learnt and renderedin Tamilnadu is a truly classical art in tunewith the aesthetic classics in India andespecially with Bharata’s Natya Sastra. Itis a difficult but fine art and. requiresintense application in addition to a glowinginauguration and intellectual concentrationand spiritual outlook, if it is to be renderedwell and express fully the inner spirit ofthe “Art of Indian Dance”. The dancer mustenter the inner spirit of Atma of the naturalphenomenon or the human personality orthe Divine Being that she wants to expressby look and gesture and rhythm. Shecannot express the soul of a peacock orthe soul of a swan by merely arching herneck. She cannot express the soul of ahuman being by exhibiting merely externalpeculiarities. Nor can she express the DivineSoul by merely indicating the weapons orthe ornaments of a God. She must, whendancing in accordance with Kriti (musicalpiece) enter into the bhava (the emotionalurge) which is the soul of the song. Theexcellence of a dance consists in theharmony of soul and heart and head witheye and looks and gestures and bodilymovements and rhythmic feet. The dancermust enter into the spirit of the mudrasand not merely exhibit the mudras in amechanical way. She must weave them intothe dance as a supreme poet weaves wordsinto a perfect lyric. She must submergeher egoistic personality in the emotion ofthe theme. Only then her intuition wouldbecome vibrant and active She must haveperfect poise and self-control. Any kind ofimbalance and exaggeration would kill theessence of symmetry and harmony whichis the soul of the art. Art and artificialitycan never go together. She must usecostumes and ornaments not in a spirit oftawdry exhibitionism and garish display butin a spirit appropriate and economicalselectiveness. By economy I do not meanvulgar cheapness but vigilant aesthetic

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAeconomy. She must allow the dominantemotion of the poem or the sons to risefrom her soul in a natural way and rejoicein the sunlight of the bhava (emotion) orthe aesthetic glory of the poem or the songeven as the lotus flower rises from themire and see the sunlight and rejoices init. She must pray to the deities of Songand Dance-Sri Krishna and Sri Natarajafortheir grace. She must be rooted intradition but must not get buried in it.She must express tradition throughoriginality and originality through tradition.When the divine emotion possesses thedancer and the dancer’semotion possesses thecultured audience and theemotion in dance andoriginality can be displayedin of the audiencepossesses the dancer, aperfect work of art will beborn. She will receive fromthe audience in vapour whatshe gives back to them in aflood. There must thus bea thorough unity of spiritamong the musicians andthe dancers and thecultured audience. Onlythen the real Bharatanatya Dharma (theculture of Bharata Natyam) will coincidewith Bharatiya Dharma (the culture ofIndia) and will grow from more to morewithout suffering any eclipse or decay ordeath and will attract the minds and heartsof all at all times and in all climes. Thatwas the essence of Natyam dances in61DANCES OF INDIAtemples and the dancer must regard thedance-hall also as a temple and theaudience as worshippers of the Goddessof Art.It is important to remember that the realmabhinaya is a vast realm in which there isgreat room for originality and creativeness.The traditional forms from Alarippu to Tillanahave definite contours and cannot bemeddled with, though even within thetraditional boundaries there is room for thedisplay of originality and creativepresentation. Just as there are gamakasor grace-notes in musicthere are gracegesturesin dance andoriginality can bedisplayed in them. Butin the realm of abhinayathere is no limit to thesongs taken up forpresentation andinterpretation throughdance or to the freedomof the artist to inventnew gestures to portraynew situations, incidentsand ideas. it is wrongto suppose that Bharatahas fixed finally and rigorously in ChapterIX of his work all the finger-gestures in afinal and a literary manner. he has nowehreforbidden new symbols and gestures fornew ideas. Thus there is as much ampleroom for the exhibition of Manodharma(aesthetic individuality and creativeness)in the art of dance as in the art of music.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAKUCHIPUDI DANCEV. PATANJALI62DANCES OF INDIAAfall-out of the recent culturalexplosion is regional chauvinism.Even the very nomenclature ofsome arts have acquired regionalovertones. Protagonists of each art formmake vociferous claims of hoary antiquityandas if it is an attendant feature—sublimeartistry. One is inclined to take it all aslocal patriotism not always backed by anunderstanding of the tradition and thetechnique. And indeed, the same degreeof ignorance is seen among writers andcritics of traditional arts, if authenticaccounts of the form are not available inEnglish. In the case of some arts one justdoes not get a standard reference bookmaybe, those who write do not have firsthandknowledge and knowledgeable personsdo not or cannot write.The case of Kuchipudi (pronouncedKoochipoodi) is none too different. The lackof recorded and dependable evidence has,made writers spread round thin materialto fill newspaper columns or brochurepages.Siva Leela TraditionLike Bharatanatyam, the name of Kuchipudiis modern. No identification of the form’sbase is possible from its nomenclature.However, if one gets to analyse the style’sconventional names, one may get a glimpseof its traditional moorings. In Kuchipudivillage, they refer to their art as ‘Bhagavatanatakam’, ‘Yakshaganam’, ‘Bharatam’ or‘Bharatanatyam’, Veedhi natakam etc. Now,Kuchipudi dance is all these and somethingmore. Kuchipudi may be the Kelika of theclassical texts.A major question is whether SiddhendraYogi, the patron-saint, was the father ofthe dance. Or, was his contribution limitedto ridding the local rustic dance-form ofits angularities and giving it a classical base?It is difficult to accept the suggestion that

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAthe Yogi innovated a form where notradition of dance existed at all. Traditionhas it that a widely popular dance-orientedentertainment form identified as Siva Leelawas in existence in parts of the Andhra63DANCES OF INDIAKuchipudi Bhagavatulu as Pagati-veshamare reminiscent of the ancient Siva Leelatradition. Whether one gives any credenceto this or not, it is agreed on all handsthat since Veera Saiva cult held anaggressive sway over the entire tractbetween the 11th and the 13th centuries,the Bhagavata tradition of Kuchipudi mighthave come into vogue only after 1300 A.D.Survival Through the AgesThe Devadasi tradition of the 12th and the13th centuries having degenerated and thefolk theatre having lost its lustre, the artistsof Kuchipudi might have .taken up the taskof salvaging the ancient tradition. Into thisconducive situation, Siddhendra made hisentry with a Vaishnavite ideal and artisticzeal. However, the reference to theGajapathi kings dating back to 1499 A.D.complicated the problem. An order issuedby Pratapa Rudra Deva states that groupsof dancers, including the Telinga batch,would render Geeta Govinda as part of adaily ritual before their family deity at Puri-Lord Jagannatha.region. However, no evidence is availableabout the form or the content of thesedances.The 13th century work Basavaparana ofPalakuriki Somanatha talks only of Perini,Even Panditaradhya Charitra whichdescribes the various dance forms of thattime does not mention Siva Leela.According to one oral tradition, items likethe Ardhanareeswara performed by theThe issue gets further entwined when it isnoticed that the tradition of singing andinterpreting Geeta Govinda had beenintroduced in the areas bordering KalingaDesa towards the close of the 13thcentury. One view is that the dancerschosen for the daily ritual at Puri were fromthe Srikakulam area. Narayana Teertha, thecelebrated composer of Krishna Leela-Tarangini, and believed to be the guru ofSiddhendra Yogi, who visited Puri on hisway back from Varanasi, might haveintroduced the Geeta Govinda tradition ofmusic and dance. Let me, therefore,

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAhumbly put it that attempts at fixing thehistoricity of the Kuchipudi tradition is anexercise in futility. Suffice it to say thataccording to the local tradition, SiddhendraYogi composed Parijata-apaharana as adance drama (Narayana Teertha is alsocredited with having written Parijataapaharnaas a ‘Yakshagana’) and made themale members of Brahmin families performit as a devotional exercise.The drama also set the tradition for thedevelopment of Kalapams. Indeed,Siddhendra’s work is better known asBhama Kalapam. Authors on dramaturgyin Sanskrit do not appear to be familiarwith Kalapam; they knew it as ‘a poemwritten in one metre’. Kalapam is aninnovation on the classical uparupakaSrigaditam with accent on presentation ofa single bhava by means of nritta andnritya. Bhama Kalapam is essentially adialogue between Satyabhama (SriKrishna’s consort) and her maid Madhavi.Pagati VeshamIt is said that originally Krishna and Gopikaalso figured and at the commencement ofa performance, Madhavi (Vidushaka) andGopika entertained the audience with musicand dance. With the entry of Krishna, aromantic dialogue ensued between him andGopika. It developed into a highlyphilosophical dissertation on atmaparamatmarelationship, interruptedoccasionally by Vidushaka, the jester. Thissequence was taken out of Bhama Kalapamand fashioned into an independent itemknown as Golla Kalapam. The jester takesthe place of Krishna in the dialogue. Again,Kalapam led to the evolution of the64DANCES OF INDIAVeshakathas which in course of time arebelieved to have developed into the thePagati veshams performed by the itinerantKuchipudi artists.The Kuchipudi fare is based on SrimadBhagavata and the Ramayana and isclassified under vachikaabhinaya (eachartiste is required to sing the lyrics whichwill enable him to get into the emotion easilyright from the beginning.) Tile music ofKuchipudi is taken straight from the styleof the bhajana-kootams of the Andhravillages. No doubt it is lively and sizzlingand offers immense potential for variegatedrhythmic patterning, but sounds rustic.Kuchipudi has yet to evolve its art musicfor the dance theatre like the music ofBharatanatyam.Bhama KalapamIn technical and procedural aspects,Kuchipudi dramas conform to Bharata’sformulation of classical drama. Theperformers here however, derive scientificsustenance from Nandikeswara’s AbhinayaDarpana. A performance opens withGurustuti and Naandi followed byPoorvaranga consisting of punyahavachana, Indradhwaja praushta, dhoopa,deepa, pushpanjali and ambastava. Allthrough this prefatory ritual Daruvus(combination of music, movements andmime) are executed creating a scintillatingeffect.Prahlada natakam, Rama natakam, Ushaparinayam, Chenchu Lakshmi, Sasirekhaparinayam, Nala charitram, Dhruvacharitram and Tripura are among thepopular dramas in repertory of the Kuchipudiartistes; but the earliest and the most

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAcelebrated work which has beensynonymous with the style is BhamaKalapam. It may even be said that theentire infrastructure was developed on thebasis of this composition by Siddhendra.Bhama Kalapam deals with the famousepisode from the Bhagavata in which proudSatyabhama insists that Krishna bring toher the celestial Parijata plant from Indra’s65DANCES OF INDIAremain behind the curtain held by stageattendants throughout the opening night’sperformance. She throws over the curtainher ornamented plait of hair called ‘jada’studded with 27 stars symbolising theconstellation, the five-hooded mythicalserpent and tiny golden images of the tenavatars of Lord Vishnu. The sutradhararecites devotional slokas and offers aratito the ‘jada’. This is called ‘jada bharatam’.The curtain-look of Bhama is a kind ofchallenge that if anyone could excel theperformer in artistry, he would cut the plaitoff in full view of the audience.In the play, Satyabhama is swadhinapatika,kalahantarita and vasakasajjika,alternately. The eternal oneness of atmaand paramatma is the essence of BhamaKalapam, Presently, there are about ahundred manuscripts of the compositionavailable but it is generally agreed thatthe text followed by the Kuchipudiperformers is not entirely authorised bySiddhendra. The earliest reference toKuchipudi performmance is available in theMachupalli Kaifiyat issued in the year 1502A.D. It states that Veera Narasimha Raya,the ruler of Vijayanagara, and his consortwitnessed a show presented by a visitinggroup in his palace.garden. The play which opens with a livelyPravesa Daruvu, employs the Samvada andthe Abhinaya daruvus numbering about 90.Till three-four decades ago, BhamaKalapam was performed on threeconsecutive nights and Sathyabhama wouldThe royalty was impressed by the balancedpresentation of natya dharmi and Lokadharmi. The latter aspect consisted ofdown to earth interpretation of secularissues. The artistes exposed the misdeedsof the chieftain of the Siddhavatam regionSammeta Guravaraju. In doing this, theperformers were only ful-filling Bharata’sdictum that theatre must serve as a sugarcoatedpill to correct the wrongs in society.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAThe Kuchipudi performers employ the seventypes of Tandava with variations of gati,karana and chari and the Desi five-foldLasya . The pushpanjali and the subhaleelanumbers were added to the dramaticproceedings at a later date.Bhagavata MelaThe Kuchipudi players were patronisedeverywhere both by the laymen and theinformed and were the honoured guests atmany a princely court. After the fall ofthe Vijayanagar empire, when the Kuchipudiperformers reached the Tanjore court, theywere received with great admiration. Theruler, Achyutappa Naayak, bestowed amunificent land grant on the artistes. Theartistes’ colony outside Tanjore known asMelattur (Achyutapuram) soon became averitable centre of Bhagavata Meta. Thistradition of staging Bhagavata MelaNatakams continues to this day. Duringthe annual Narasimha Jayanti Festivaldance-dramas based on the Bhagavata andthe Ramayana are staged for nine nightsconsecutively.The Nawab of Golconda, Abul HasanTanesha, who was a great patron of art,conferred the title of the Kuchipudi villageon the artiste families. In 1763 A.D. twoofficials of the Nawab, MosalikantiRamojipantulu and Kandregula Jogipantulu,executed the deed in favour of the families-Vedantam, Vempati, Bhagavatula,Pasumarti, Josyula, Mahankali andEleswarapu. From this, we come to knowthe families traditionally devoted to theart form. And perhaps as a return gesture,the dancers included salam jatis, formalsalutations, like salaamu, dhissalaamu and66diddhissallaamu.Limited RepertoireDANCES OF INDIAThe need had already been felt forquantitative as well as qualitativedevelopment of the repertory. SivaNarayana Teertha’s lyrical poem in Sanskrit,Sri Krishna Leela Tarangini, with its songendingsabdas afforded immense scope fordance depiction. The Bala GopalaTarangam in the raga Mohana with rhythmicgati variations of as many as 35 complextypes, is one of the many Tarangamsincluded in the fare. Jayadeva’s GeetaGovinda, padams of Kshetreyya and othermajor composers, Dasavatara nritya,sabdams, kandardhams, tillanas, etc.,were added. (However, Bhama Kalapam,Taranga nrityam, and Mandooka andKrishna sabdams continue to be theinevitable numbers on the bill. This,incidentally and unwittingly, prompts peopleto remark that the repertoire of Kuchipudiis severely limited). With these items,Kuchipudi lost its essential feature ofvachikabhinaya and the element of dramaleaned more more on nritta and nritya witha pronounced accent on abhinaya.The dramatic themes being mythological,the costumes and make up of Kuchipudiperformers had other wordly flavour. Malecharacters had an elegant kireetam,sankhachakra, bhuja-keerti, kama paira,ganda-bherundapataka, dhoti and kurta.Women, particularly, in the role ofSatyabhama, had an elaborate aharya.There were also body ornaments, kanthaabharana, big and small jada, sikha, ragidi,chandravanka, surya, tamalapaku,mogalireku, ketaki, turayi, papatapinji,

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAkamma, cheru, jookalu, kamapatra,tayettu, tajubandu, dandakadiya, pocheekankana, addabasa, billa, molatradu-the listcan be unending. And one can’t evenidentify many of these ornaments today..The characters of Narasimha, ChaturrnukhaBrahma, Sakti, Diti, Hanuman, etc., usemasks, locally known as karaala.Initiation67DANCES OF INDIAit would be futile to try to establish anydistinctive feature for any of our dancestyles. However, the social, cultural andpolitical histories of the regions concernedas well as the particular commentary onthe Bharata Sastra followed by each,afforded scope for the cultivation of thedance art according to local genius. Thus,Kuchipudi evolved as a form based on theIn the ancient gurukula system, a syllabusfor training was unknown. Depending onthe mental resources of the student, theteacher would initiate him into new andmore complex numbers. The custom hasbeen that a boy of five is taken to thetemple of Sri Ramalingeswara and initiatedinto the natya-veda by holding thepatakihasta and pronouncing ta.. tai tai tattam. After over five years of grounding inthe basics of music and dance, the boy isintroduced to the elements of abhinayaalong with teaching the panch a kavyas.Following this seven-year period, the boyis allowed to observe the performance ofveterans. He graduates only aftersuccessful completion of these exercises.By now, he realises that the oral traditionhe has been raised on is much more usefuland dependable than the rules written inthe texts. Indeed, this was what wasernphasised by Bharata and Nandikeswara.Origin of the StyleComing to the complex issue of thedistinctiveness of Kuchipudi as a dancestyle, it is rather difficult for one to emergeunscathed. When all the classical dancesin the country swear by the Natya Sastra,vachikabhinaya aspect with emphasis onpresentation of sanchari bhavas along withsprightly foot-work. In other styles, it isone-at-a-time and not simultaneous.Secondly, the Bhagavata mela natakamstaged in the Kuchipudi Melattur tradition,is the only form that conforms to thedetailed description of Bharata’s firstdance-drama, Amrita mathana. And onemay even say that the entire padaabhinayatradition of South India, had its origin in

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAthe Kshetreyya pada-abhinaya styleperfected by the Kuchipudi performerseither at home or elsewhere.Lack of PatronageThe British ascent to power in the 19thcentury signalled the decline of indigenousarts in South India. Lack ofpartonage cost it heavily interm of sustenance. Themissionary zeal of stalwartslike Vempati Venkatanarayana,fondly referredto as Kaliyuga Satyabhama,Tadepalli Perayya Sastry,Chinta Venkataramayya,Vedantam LakshminarayanaSastry and others kept theart alive in all its traditionalpurity. However, it was bythe artists of the followinggeneration that Kuchipudias a dance form began tobe known outside theconfines of Andhra,Vedantham Raghavayya,Vempati Satyam and ChintaKrishnamurthy, were amongthe outstanding teachersof the art. And VedantamSatyanarayana Sarmaemerged as the most giftedportrayer of Satyabhama.Kuchipudi is a popular dance form now.The credit for that is due to mainly threepersons: Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma,Yamini Krishnarnurthy and Vempati ChinnaSat yam-the two celebrated exponents and68DANCES OF INDIAthe third a dedicated teacher who madenearly every noted danseuse in the countrylearn Kuchipudi also. Now both Vedantamand Yamini have taken to teaching and itis incumbent on the former to keep thedance-drama tradition alive and growingwhile one would expect Yamini to continueto explore thepossibilities ofexpanding the solodance repertory.Chinna Satyam isoften accused ofcompromising withthe pristine traditionand to his critics onewould like to tell;traditional art formsmust be able toadjust themselves tothe changing socioculturalvalues inorder to bepreserved andfostered. Theacceptability ofKuchipudi dependson its adaptability tonew and novelthemes. Many of ouryoung performerslike Shobha Naidu,Swapna Sundari,Raja and Radha Reddy and others havealready begun experimentation. The futuremust belong to them. And if the academiesmean business, Kuchipudi can take its placeamong our major dance styles.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA69DANCES OF INDIAThe Veedhi Bhagavatam of AndhraDr. V. RAGHAVANKarnatak music and dance stillhave strong bonds with Andhra.In traditional dance-drama, theBhagavata Mela Nataka of some of thevillages near Tanjore in Tamilnadu are anoffshoot or a graft from the KuchipudiBhagavata plays in Telugu country. Manyof the technical terms of Bharata Natyaand a considerable part of its compositionssabdas,varnas and padalu-are in Telugu.The Kuchipudi tradition is the best knownof Telugu dance-drama forms but this isnot the only one. In drama and dance,from most ancient times, as the history ofthe Dasarupaka and Up arupaka traditionsof Sanskrit with more complete forms,lesser ones concentrating on selectaspects, are secreted and perfected. InKarnataka, where we have the Yakshagana,we also have the form taken from it calledTala-maddale in which without roles ormake-up, the participants sit down and gothrough the play orally.The Early PhaseWhen Kuchipudi Bhagavata attained its highwater-mark, it gave birth to a derivativesolo performance called the VeedhiBhagavata or Gollakalapa. The masters ofKuchipudi themselves thought of this newtype and it evolved through women-artistesof courtesan families (Kalavantula) whowere proficient in the solo dance-art ofNautch. The Kuchipudi tradition did notpermit women to play female roles in itsBhagavata stories and the Nautch had itsown repertoire of detached pieces andlove-songs. By crossing the features ofthese two, the form named VeedhiBhagavata or Gollakalapa was developedand a line of capable teachers andaccomplished exponents refined it to adegree acceptable to the connoisseurs. Infact, it became for a time very popularover a greater part of Andhra.The credit of discovering the art in its lastlingering phase goes to All India Radio,Vijayawada, and late Sri Y. Satyanarayana,who was with that station for sometime.Later through the Music Academy, Madrasand the Madras State Sangita NatakaSangam, I had the opportunity of bringingit to a wider public and to the studentsand lovers of the dance in Madras. Theartiste who expounded the art in Madraswas Smt. Annabathula Venkataratnam ofMummidivaram, a symbol of ripe andmasterly exposition, who, after somedecades of retirement due to lack of publicappreciation and support, had beenpersuaded to recapture theaccomplishment of her younger years.As already said, it is the Bhagavatas, thoseBrahmin scholars learned in Sanskrit andNatya Sastra, who were responsible fororiginating this form and giving it a shape.Instead of young boys, courtesans versedin Bharata Natya were absorbed into theart. Instead of disconnected lyrics, asustained Bhagavata-theme or episodewas substituted. These women-artistes

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA(Kala- vantula) had already behind them aheritage of music and dance and someknowledge of Sanskrit, puranic myths andthe rhetoric of love and nayika-nayakbhava,It was now necessaryonly to strengthen theirknowledge of Sanskrit and widentheir general acquaintance withthe tenets of religion andphilosophy. In fact, if as evolved,this form would shed its danceand gesticulations, and followmore strictly the trend of asingle puranic devotional story.It would result in another form,still popular, active andeffective, at least in Tamilnad,the Hari-katha or kathakalakshepa.In this, as in VeedhiBhagavata, there is only onemain exponent, usually a malethough women are not unknown,accompanied by music and oralexposition. Supported bythematic songs and verses, thispresents a devotional doctrinewith illustrative stories ofPrahlada, Dhruva etc.Characters70DANCES OF INDIAthe Kalapam. The golla always scores. Shecross-examines the Brahmin as to his realBrahminhood and expatiates on what a realBrahmin is according to the sastras andThe Veedhi Bhagavata has asingle female-artiste, the maindancer; she is supported by a secondaryfemale-artiste. To put across the ideasmore effectively, as much as toentertain,humour (hasya rasa) emerges;and for this a Brahmin, in more or less theVidhushaka’s role plays the interlocutor. Itis this dialogue or argument in which thechief lady, representing a milk-maid (golla),carries on with the Brahmin, that providesunder the torrent of her questions andSanskrit quotations from the sastras, thepoor Brahmin is left breathless.The Vidhushaka-Brahmin may also comeoff in his role of a comedian and vehicle ofwisdom. Wherever a song introduces acharacter, grandiloquently, the Vidhushaka,starts off on a parody of the song, a comic

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAtechnique which is found in a moresustained manner in the traditionalKoodiyattam presentations of Sanskritplays in Kerala. The Vidhooshaka forinstance may begin by parodying thenayaka and nayika. The Vidhushaka doesnot involve any new character; the playerwho began as Sutradhara and introducedthe performance, himself takes on theVidhushaka’s role. He is a versatile andmulti-purpose character, the constantcompanion of the lady and also her chorist.The PerformanceThe performance begins as with anytraditional dance-drama. A curtain is heldby two stage-hands and the main characterperforms behind it, her dance to theentrance-song as sung by the chorist. Theclassic ragas of Karnatak music are usedin the songs. The mridangam supplies therhythmic accompaniment. Jatis are orallyrecited and intricate rhythm patterns givethe dancer’s footwork sufficient scope forartistry. These songs are similar to thedarus found in the dance-dramacompositions and to each of these thegollabhama dances. She interprets thetheme in the songs closely throughabhinaya. The art of abhinaya is in fullevidence, and by the very nature of thetheme, the range of the ideas is wide, andthere is greater scope for improvisation andinterpretation (kalpana). With its elaboratedisplay of nritta and nritya, theGollakalapam takes its place amongauthentic forms of the Bharata Natya artsand possesses adequate potential for skilland beauty of exposition.71DANCES OF INDIAThe Veethi Bhagavatam when it becamepopular, was requisitioned for templefestivals, on occasions of marriage andother happy celebrations in the houses ofrich patrons.Some PioneersAmong the authors of compositions onBhagavata-stories for this art, and amongthose who, as gurus, trained courtesandancers as media for presenting this artform, may be mentioned Ravuri Kamayyaand his brothers Noorayya, Venkayya andSatyamgaru, Vempati, Venkatanarayanagaru,Vedantarn LakshminarayanaSastri, and BhagavatuluDasaratha Ramiah. The brothers trained theChittazallu family of courtesans and otherKalavantulus of note. Over a dozentalented dancers of this class who spreadand maintained this art arc stillremembered.The Veedhi Bhagavatam had to face thesame dilemma as other traditional forms ofdance and dance-drama in the recentpast. It used to be performed for thegreater part of the night and a fullperformance spread over three nights. Thislength of time is no longer feasible and thesame neglect and unhelpful conditionswhich led to the decay of other traditionaldance and dance-drama arts affects thisart also. Kuchipudi dance-drama andBharata Natya have been rehabilitated andit is hoped that lovers of art and institutionwhich have been established in Andhra, aselsewhere, for reviving the local art-forms,will devote their attention and resourcesto the Veethi Bhagavata, or Bhamakalapatoo.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA72DANCES OF INDIABHAGAVATA MELA - DANCE DRAMAS. NATARAJANBhagavata Mela dance-drama,though curiously enough nowsurviving only in one village inMelattur, is really of All India importance,because it is found to be aliving exemplification ofBharata’s conception ofNatya as a dance-dramaadumbrated nearly 2,000years ago in his NatyaSastra, the earliest andmost authoritative treatiseon the art followed by mostof the later writers throughthe centuries.The Bhagavata Melatradition seems to havecome into prominence fromthe time of ThirthanarayanaYogi, the author of KrishnaLeela Tharangani inSanskrit. He composed anumber of dance-dramas.He followed the tenets andmodes of Bhakti asexemplified in the‘Bhagavata’ lore and composed his dramasaccordingly.Those who sang the praise of God andexpounded Bhakti came to be calledBhagavathars and the dance-dramasenacted by them as Bhagavatha Natya MelaNatakas.The more popular dance-dramas ofMelattur Venkatarama Sastri were in voguenot only in Melattur but also in five othervillages in Tanjavur district, namelySalimangalam, Uttukkadu, Sulamangalam,Nallur and Tepperumalnellur.As the object of enactingthese dramas was devotionto God, the practice ofpresenting them only beforetemples came into vogue.Conceptions of art forearning one’s livelihood orart as a pleasant pastimehas no place in thattradition and it is so eventoday. Though, now a days,religious faith anddevotional aspect may nothave so much importanceto connoisseurs of art asbefore, one cannot but bestruck by the highaesthetic value and appealof these dance-dramas.The famous dance-dramasthat are usually staged arePrahlada Charitram and Harischandra. Themask of Narasimha is worshipped before itis adorned by the actor who plays the roleof Narasimha.As Telugu was the court language in TamilNadu from the time of Vijayanagara kingsdown to the time of the Maratha princesof Tanjavur, the Bhagavatha Mela dance-

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA73DANCES OF INDIAdramas were composed inthat language. Characterroles in these dramasbecame the properties ofparticular families inheritedfrom generation togeneration. In this way, theart has been a part of thelives of the people in thevillages.All the characters, includingfeminine ones, arepresented only by youngmen. Age-long socialconnections do not allowwomen to mix- with men onthe stage. As a part of theannual Narasimha Jayanthifestival, this is conducted.These dance-dramas areexpounded with music ofhigh class Carnatic tradition,dance and abhinayas inclassical Bharatanatyatechnique, poetic speechesand appropriate dramaticaction. This dance-dramamay resemble the Kathakaliof Kerala in being all-nightshows without the stagesettings of modern dramasand in having such featuresas Pathra Pravesam(introduction ofcharacters). Unlike inordinary dramas, everyactor in the mela drama has to be a dancertrained in Bharatanatyatechnique.It is true that the presentdaystandard of thesedramas is not what it wasduring the hey-day offormer generation ofmaster-artistes. All thesame, even at the presentday, one cannot but bestruck by three notablefeatures, namely,classically pure andappealing music, finenattuvangam and sastricabhinaya of an elaborateand imaginative type. Themusic is provided by noless a vidwan than themaster conductor BaluBhagavathar Subbier.As a classical dance-dramaaccording to theconception of NatyaSastra, the MelatturBhagavata Mela arthappens to be the onlysurviving link thatconnects us to the presentday with our ancientnational theatre tradition.As such, its nationalimportance and value haveto be adequatelyrecognised and realised bythe art circles in India that count.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA74KOODIYATTOMDANCES OF INDIAD. APPUKUTTAN NAIRKoodiyattom, the unique templeart of Kerala, is probably theonly surviving form of the traditionalpresentation of Sanskrit drama. Theperformance is confined to the templetheatres known as Koothambalams, theperforming artistes belong to specifictemple-dependent communities known asChakkiars and ambiars. The Chakkiars arethe actors and the Nangiars of the Nambiarcommunity undertake female roles to theaccompaniment of the Mizhavus (pot-likedrums covered with animal hide) andEdakka (a small drum played with a stick),Kurumkuzhal (a small wind instrumentsimilar to a Shehnai) and Kuzhithalam (asmall pair of cymbals).The Sanskrit plays usually presented onthe stage, belong mainly to those of theTrivandrum Sanskrit series, namely, thoseof Bhasa, Kulasekhara Varman, SreeHarshan, Mahendravikrama Pallavan andBodhayana, apart from AscharyaChoodamani by the Kerala dramatist, ShaktiBhadran.AbhinayasThe Koodiyattom as it is presented todaywas choreographed some ten centuries agoby King Kulasekhara Varman with theassistance of his friend Tholan , The formof presentation is highly stylised in AharyaAbhinaya (make-up.) costume and scenicspectacle, Angika Abhinaya (gesture) andVachika Abhinaya (oral rendering). Thereis no attempt at realism. In fact, theattempt i to present Puranic characters ina superhuman form, in an epic setting-norcan we claim a close adherence to thecanons laid down in Natya Sastra in thepresentation of this dramatic art form.In Angika Abhinaya, in which Hastha Mudrasare liberally used in descriptions,conversations, and dissertations, theLakshanas codified in Natya Sastra or thevarious other texts in Hindu dramaturgyare not faithfully followed. The HasthaMudras are taken from Hastha LakshanaDeepika which draws from the Tantricmudras prevalent in Kerala. The othermovements of the body, belonging to theAngika Abhinaya particularly the Charis,Gatis and the movements of the variousAngas and Upangas of the body also donot closely follow the canons prescribedby the Natya Sastra.In Aharya Abhinaya, the make-up andcostumes do not copy the external featuresof the characters either in facial make up,head gear, clothing or ornament. The makeupis symbolic of the nature of thecharacter presented on the stage. At thesame time, there is no typifying ofcharacters as in Kathakali. While inKathakali, Vali and Sugreeva wear the samecostume, in Koodiyattom, their costumesare different. Vali, as the more kind andpowerful of the two, possessing noble traitsof character with certain aspects ofamorous expression towards Tara, ha make-

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA75DANCES OF INDIAup which brings out those characteristics.In Vachika Abhinaya, the text of theSanskrit drama is rendered by the actorwith intonations reminding us of the Yajur-Vedic chantings of the Nambudiri Brahminsof Kerala. There is no attempt at makingthe speeches naturalistic. Even ragas(swaras as they are calledin Koodiyattom) do nothave the solfa symbols ofmusic. The prose renderingalso abound in certainintonations, which makefor greater stylisation.Choodamani lasting for twelve full days tellsthe full story of the Ramayana includingVanarolpathi by Shri Hanuman, by handgestures alone.Since one Anka (Act) of the drama aloneis performed at one time, there is a preludeto this performance called Nirvahana duringSplit PresentationKoodiyattom plays are notpresented in full.Presentation is soelaborate and there aresuch lengthy excursionsinto various fields that itmakes presentation timeconsuming.Hence nowadays these playsare presented only in parts-each part beingknown by a different name. Thus,Swapnavasavadatta is presented as sixdifferent performances, each performanceconfining itself to one Anka. (One Act).These Ankas (Acts) are also known bydifferent names. Thus inSwapnavasavadatta, the Ankas are calledBrahmacharyankam, Pandattankam,Shebhalikankam, Svapnankam,Chithrabhalakankam, etc. In PrathignaNataka, there is one Anka calledManthrankam which takes 41 days toperform. This is an oral exposition byVidooshaka of all things under the Sun.Similarly, the Anguliyankam of Ascharyawhich one of the characters sum, up thestory presented in the earlier acts of thedrama and possibly the earlier stories. This‘Nirvahana’ takes very many days and ifthis ‘Nirvahana’ is ‘rendered’ by theVidooshaka, it is an oral exposition. Othercharacters use hand gestures for thispurpose.The PerformanceThe performance can be classified into twoparts on the basis of the relativeimportance of the Vidooshaka, the comiccharacter. Thus, performances like the firstact of Subhadra- dhananjayam, the firstact of Stapathisamvaranam, etc., areVidooshaka dominant where there is greater

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAemphasis on VachikaAbhinaya (oral rendering).The Vidooshaka talks inMalayalam. He interprets theSanskrit slokas recited by thecharacters in Malayalam andrecites parodies of theseslokas and expounds thevarious laws of nature in avery humorous manner.The ElaboratenessThe most importantcharacteristic of Koodiyattomis its elaborate interpretationof the Sanskrit slokas orstanzas through handgestures by the various characters and byoral expositions of the Vidooshaka. Theslokas are enacted in such a way that theinner multiple meanings of the various slokasare explained to the audience. Evenincidents, anecdotes and philosophy whichhave only an indirect and very remotebearing on the meaning of the slokas canbe indicated by the actors. InAbhishekanataka in the Thorana TudhaAnkom there is a sloka in which Ravanaspeculates that the reason for a monkeydevastating the palace in Lanka is due tothe disrespect he showed to Nandikeswara.Nandikeswara had cursed him, saying thathe would be ruined by a monkey. In enactingthis sloka, the actor describes in detailRavana’s war with the Devas and theAsuras; he details the preparations for thewar, the triumphant journey thereafter, adescription of Lanka, his expedition to winover Vaishravana and the blocking of76DANCES OF INDIAPushpaka Vimana byMount Kailas, the vividfeatures of MountKailas, the quarrelbetween Parvathi andSiva and so on. TheAngika Abhinaya of thissloka takes 3 to 4 hoursto perform.Such elaborate andlengthy Abhinaya of theSanskrit slokas mayseem tedious to anindifferent audience. Fortheir entertainment,there are the humorousoral expositions spicedwith some vulgarity by the Vidooshaka. TheVidooshaka also expounds the famousPurushartha or the four ultimateattainments in human life. This is a satireon the follies and foibles of human life bywhich he recounts the exploits of a groupof adventurous high caste Hindus to attainthe four aims, namely, Rajaseva (waitingupon the King with flattery, gossip, etc.),Asanam (greedy enjoyment of an enormousfeast), vinodam (sexual enjoyment with aprostitute) and Vanchanam (betrayal ofthe prostitute whom he has enjoyed). Thesefour Purusharihas are interpreted in placeof Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Thisoral exposition usually takes more than fourdays, during which there will be muchpointed satire at the way of living ofhighbrow society, involving the audience.All told, Koodiyattom is unique in itspresentation of classical Sanskrit dramathrough the vitality of the folk medium.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA77DANCES OF INDIAORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THULLALP. K. SIVASANKARA PILLAIKerala is rich in literary and artistictraditions. The celebrated classicaldance drama, Kathakali, has placedKerala in the forefront of the civilizedcountries of the world.Thullal is yet another Kerala art which isfostered, encouraged and taught in KeralaKalamandalam. If we remember that thegenius, traditions and temperaments of apeople are most reflected in their traditionalarts, we could without any hesitation saythat the art form of Thullal is a mirror ofour cultural life. It is more so, when viewedin the light of the statement, “Thecharacter of a people is often learnt fromtheir amusements, for in the hour of mirth,the mind is unrestricted and takes itsnatural bent.” Thullal is a most amusingand mirthful dance recital...Thullal-Its Artistic Form and TechnicalDetailsThullal literally means dance. But the termconnotes a particular school of dance. Ithas a history which throws much light onthe literary, artistic and cultural life ofmedieval Kerala. This art form is thecumulative product of all the traditionaltheatrical arts of Kerala, both folk andclassical. In ancient times, the wisdom ofthe epics and mythology was conveyed tothe people by different classes of storytellers. Chakkyar Koothu is perhaps thebest example of the tradition which thehighbrow class of society fostered andencouraged. And hence, that art form inits evolution attained a high degree ofsophistication. But the medium resorted toby the folk for their self-expression,entertainment and propagation ofmythology was art, especially narration,music and dance. Kerala, in ancient times,was very rich in the patterns of suchtheatrical folk art forms which had singingand dancing as their integral parts. Theart of Thullal was evolved as a system outof the various singing and dancing art formsof the people incorporating apt featuresof classical styles so that by the harmoniousblend of the folk and classical forms ofarts it represented the accumulatedaesthetic experience of all sections of thepeople high and low. The themes weredrawn from the never failing myths andepics of India.As the main objective was the propagationof knowledge and enrichment of literaturethrough the medium of art, spoken wordand songs became the most powerfulcomponent of communication. The songswere sung to the accompaniment of actingand dancing with varying foot works. Basedon different styles of narrative singing,rhythms of dancing, foot work and makeupof the dancer, three varietiesof Thullal were evolved in course of time.They are:1. OTTAN THULLAL: It consists of avariety of rapid metres well suited for

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAamusing narratives and it is vigorous inexecution. The Thullal actor who presentsthis type has a fascinating costume. Hisface is painted green. With a roundheadgear of multi-coloured tinsel and gold,a breast plate to match, a circlet of jinglesround his ankles and wearing a frilled skirtround his waist, he sings and dances tothe sounding of the cymbals and beatingof the drum. Along with singing and dancing,the player acts the incidents narrated inthe songs.78DANCES OF INDIA2. SEETHANKAN THULLAL: It has metresof medium cadence for the songs used andrhythm to suit. In contrast to thepicturesque appearance of the dancer inOttan Thullal, the dancer in Seethankanhas his face unpainted, except for a fewblack lines, on the eyebrows and eyelidsto heighten the expression of the eyes.He wears a crown made out of the tenderleaves of coconut palm, with frills of thesame material adorning his wrists.3. PARAYAN THULLAL: This has a slownarrative style for singing, with slowgraceful elegant steps, movements andhand gestures. The make-up of a Parayanis very simple except for an ornamentalheadgear and a red cloth round his waist.The dancer smears the whole body withcharcoal paste.Kunchan NambiarOriginator of Thullal ArtThe history of the origin and developmentof this form is well known to all lovers ofKerala arts. More than two hundred yearsago, there appeared in the arena of Keralaculture a most extra-ordinary poet, the likeof whom is hard to be found. His namewas Kunchan Nambiar. He belonged to afamily of artistes who had hereditaryfunctions associated with the performanceof Chakkyar Koothu in Hindu temples.Striking the Mizhavu-a particular kind ofdrum to set rhythms of the Koothuperformance-was the main function, atwhich Nambiar also had his training duringhis boyhood. Though born at a place calledKillik- kurissimangalam in Palghat district,the major part of his life was spent atAmbalapuzha in Alleppey District and atTrivandrum. To these places he migratedas a court poet following the politicalfortune’ of the ruling kings of those days.It was during his days at Ambalapuzha that

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAhe invented the art of Thullal and personallyperformed the same for the first time. Thereis a traditional account relating to thecircumstances that prompted Nambiar toinvent such a popular art form. KunchanNambiar, while playing the drum at aperformance of the Chakkyar Koothu, hadthe misfortune to produce a wrong noteon the drum and the irate Chakkyaradministered a sharp ridicule. Nambiar, theyouthful poet felt highly mortified.Immediately after the performance, he setto work devising an altogether original formof entertainment. When the Chakkyarbegan his Koothu the next day, Nambiarproduced the first performance of his Thullalat a place nearby within the premises ofthe temple. The new entertainment sogreatly fascinated the people that theaudience that had assembled before theChakkyar abandoned him and flocked tosee Nambiar’s Thullal. This story has verylittle relevance when tracing the historicalbackground of the origin of this art formexcept that the incident narrated mighthave served as an immediate provocationto Nambiar for an improvisation of the artto which he had already given form andcontent. The social and historical conditionswhich processed the poet and his art formwere many.Those were days when the literary sceneof Kerala was in the grip of highbrowattitude. Sanskrit reigned supreme and anabstruse formalism was in vogue. The Keralastage patronised by the aristocracy withinthe premises of the temples was dominatedby the highly sophisticated art forms suchas Koothu and Koodiyattam. The commonman was left behind, unable to share the79DANCES OF INDIAdelights of scholarly poetry and drama andthe spiritual enlightenment of religiousliterature. At the same time, Nambiar founda vast body of folk literature in the lowerstrata of society in the form of songs andballads as also various types of folk artswhich though low in standard werecharacterised by the qualities ofspontaneity and naturalness undreamt ofin the creations of intellectuals. Nambiar’sgenius saw the wonderful opportunityoffered to a poet and artiste for asynthesis of these different literary andartistic tastes from which could be evolveda new art form with a new purpose. Heboldly seized the opportunity with anadventurous spirit. And he emerged as aperforming poet-a unique event in thecultural field.Nambiar was a born poet with a marvellouscommand of words and versification. Hewas equally proficient in Sanskrit andMalayalam. He had profound scholarship inall fields of knowledge of his times withabundant store of ancient lore. The outputof the poet has been prodigious. There areabout fifty poetical works to his credit asThullal compositions. All of them are onpuranic themes. But the compositions havethe unmistakable stamp of the poet’soriginality based on his worldly wisdom andoutlook. He very cleverly adapted thepuranic themes to the environment ofcontemporary Kerala life with a view tomake those episodes serve him as apowerful media for social criticism. This localcolouring is sometimes interwoven withinterludes of allusive satire on popularmorals and manners which have had theirbiting effect on society. And no wonder

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA80DANCES OF INDIAhas indicated the style of singing, the orderof hands, feet, eyes and emotionalexpressions during dance.The song is to be sustained in thethroat;Its meaning to be shown by the hands;Its moods art evinced by glances ;Its rhythms art marked by the feet,that the Thullal composed in the languageof the people, replete with fun and humourdesigned as a theatrical art blending manystreams of literary, musical, rhythmical andhistrionic traditions of the people blazedout into popularity which they still enjoy.Thullal as a Visual ArtEven though the spoken word is the mostimportant component of Thullal, effectiveuse is made of dance and music and thehistrionic technique of gestures to !makeit !most attractive to the audience as avisual art. It is evident from the poeticalcompositions that the poet was an adeptin the classical dance technique asenunciated in the Natya and SangeethaSastras. In one of his poetical works, heThis is an accurate summing up of theintrinsic aspects of the dance accordingto classical texts. But the most enliveningand dynamic components are the folk tunesand folk rhythms profusely used. It issurprising to note the innumerable variationsthat we come across in the reckoning ofthe folk tunes and rhythms used in Thullalmusic. Sometimes even scholars of musicare taken aback by the easy manner inwhich these complicated variations areperformed by expert artistes of Thullal.The footwork in Thullal calls forappreciation almost to the exclusion of itsother features. The varieties of the gaitand rhythmic movement are dependentupon the foot work, graceful and elegantas well as spirited and eloquent. The poethas emphasised the beauty of footwork asan integral part which should go incombination with singing. He had so muchmastered the native genius of the folk thatin one of his works he has even codifiedthe folk rhythms with rhythmicarrangements of syllables to form scalesof the time measure.Thullal is a most popular and unique artform that has become indelible in thecultural history of Kerala.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA81DANCES OF INDIAKATHAKALI- The Total TheatreM. K. K. NAYARColour, intensity of detail, stylisedmovements and rarity ofaesthetic expression makeKathakali a most unique theatre. Over thecenturies it has retained its novelty andappeal to the old and the new alike. Itsthemes are from mythology, its rootsreligion, yet its admirers embrace the mosttradition-bound and the radical alike. Itdazzles the novice and subdues theconnoisseur to helpless surrender. It drawsthe world to it and intrigues those whoprobe it. Why does all this happen, one isbound to ask, To understand it one has totravel back through the centuries into thelush green valleys of palm-fringed Kerala.The Back-dropLegend has it that the narrow strip of landcalled Kerala that lies in the South of Indiabetween the western ghats and theArabian Sea emerged out of the sea bydivine dispensation. Anyone who visitsKerala could see that the landscape differsin every aspect from the rest of India. Thepeople too, to a considerable extent. Howcould such a distinctly different area appearas a part of the Indian sub-continent? Themore one saw Kerala, the more one feltthat legend alone could explain it.Whatever be the origin of Kerala, it is truethat the people who inhabited it and theirculture differed substantially from theirneighbours across the mountains. Here wasa race, virile and warlike with chiselledfeatures and scrupulous in personalcleanliness. Their women were healthy andhandsome, proud of their long tresses ofhair and ability to stay young even aftermothering a dozen children. Theyworshipped serpents and Bhagavathi (theMother principle). Every tarawad (the jointfamily household) headed by a Karanavar,the head of the household, had its ownKavu (a bushy growth of trees) where theserpent was sacredly fed and worshipped.The village had its own Kavu where therewas the temple of Bhagavathi (also Devi).Nature was bounteous. Rich soils and heavyrains gave the people a prosperousagriculture-based economy. Farming wastheir main avocation except when wars hadto be fought.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA82DANCES OF INDIAof succession) according to whichownership of land in a family was vested inthe woman, the eldest male member beingthe manager of the properties.Their life was simple. Everyone was trainedin farming and fighting alike. They had kalaris(gymnasia) where they got training in theart of combat and the use of differentweapons. Agility of the physique wasparamount. Rigorous massage withmedicated oil was an annual feature ofone’s life.These people of Kerala had their own codesof conduct in peace and war. In peace,they were extremely benevolent and fondof recreation. In war, they were steadfastand fought to a finish. There were timeswhen wars In Kerala among the differentchieftains carried on for over a hundredyears. Men moved from one end of thecountry to the other, fighting. Many of themnever returned home .. So, a different landtenure system was establishedMarumakkathayam, (the matrilineal systemAs a result, religion and rituals took thecomplex turn seen elsewhere in India. Thepriests’ influence increased rapidly and itwas not difficult for them to secure themost privileged position In society. Theruling Nayar race believed that anythingthat was Devosvom (belonging to a temple)was sacred. So, in war, Devasvomproperties were all safe. Soon,Brahmasvom (belonging to a Brahmin) alsoacquired the same immunity. There was apractice earlier, for a person starting on awar mission, to transfer his properties tothe nearest temple as that saved it fromexpropriation by the victor. Now transferstook place not only to the temples butalso to the priests. In war-torn Kerala, nowonder, . the priests very soon becamethe owners of the major portion of thecountry. Legends were also raised givingdivine blessings to this economictransformation of society. Thereafter,society looked up to them for favours. Theyhad their own laws of inheritance. Theycontinued to follow them. They had theirown rigorous laws of marriage within theircommunity. But they would marry into othercommunities too. Others welcomed it as itimproved their social status then.Influence of Folk-DramaSanskrit got recognised as the languageof the gods and the elite. Religious ritualscalled for proficiency in Sanskrit. Knowledgeof Sanskrit was a social status symbol. TheNamboodiri brahmins, the land owning class,

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAhad enough leisure to devote themselvesto literature and recreation with abandon.The dance and the drama attracted themmore ‘than anything else. The popular folkformsof ritual plays like Darika Vadha (1)influenced the new forms of dance anddrama that they evolved. These folk artforms were full of colour and demonstrateda tempo of furious frenzy. Deep saffronand black symbolised evil. Green or bluishgreen was used to denote goodness andnobility.83DANCES OF INDIAKoodiattam and KoothuWhen it was decided to evolve a newpattern for the presentation of Sanskritdrama, the choreographers picked up thesecolours to accentuate character build-up.Over a period of time, Koodiattam, theancient Kerala way of presenting Sanskritdramas came into vogue. It called forprofessional specialisation in histrionics.Those who chose this profession werecalled Chakyars. It was a full-timeprofession calling for very rigorous training.Naturally, those who took to it could notalso perform priestly functions at the sametime. So, in course of time, Chakyarsbecame a caste of their own, confiningthemselves to the theatre. Along withChakyars, women of the Nambiar communitytook part in the drama. Among Chakyars,there were extremely talented actions.They came out to do mono-acts andentertain audiences at convenient hours.Koodiattam, the drama, usually commencedafter dinner and went into the early hoursof the morning. And it went on for severalnights continuously. But the ChakyarKoothu or the mono-act performance wasusually done in the day or in the eveningsand always ended before dinner. A koothuwas a piece of entertainment limited in timebut unlimited in hilarity. It was acombination of the various factors that goto entertain an intelligent audience. Itabounded in social satire. The Chakyartreated the king and the beggar alike. Tohold together an audience by sheer gift ofthe gab was not easy unless accompaniedby extraordinary histrionic ability. This waswhat made Chakyars inimitable and pavedthe way for a theatre which excelledeverything else in its finality Of aestheticexpression.A leisure-laden class of Sahridayas(connoisseurs) when they abounded insociety, could devote considerableattention to the perfection of evolving artforms. Thus it was that Koodiattam receivedenviable nourishment and meticulous careof detail. Dramas were specially written tosuit this stylised system and it became a

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAmust for every major temple to include aKoodiattam performance during its festivalseason.The AuditoriumAcoustics was important for both thedrama and the mono-act. The architectsof Kerala arts were therefore commissionedto produce the perfect piece of acousticexcellence. That was how thekoothambalams in the temples of Keralacame to be designed and built. Theiracoustic excellence had to be experiencedto be believed. And it was in thesekoothambalams that the famous playsTapati Samvarana and SubhadraDhananjaya of King Kulasekhara Perumalof Kerala of the eighth century A.D. wereenacted. To present seven acts, it tookthem as long as two months. Theintroduction itself could take four days.There could be no more evidence of theexistence of an extremely discerning,leisure-loving class and the dominant placethe drama occupied in the culturalpanorama of Kerala from ancient times.84DANCES OF INDIAKrishnattam, became quite popular verysoon. It copied the costumes of Koodiattambut improved upon them. For certaincharacters, it also used masks. Being anew art form directly promoted by apowerful rulery. Krishnattam became aregular feature in important festivities. Itsnovelty drew to it many people away fromthe Koodiattam stage. The rasikas whopatronised Krishnattam and KoodiattamWere the same, the elite members ofsociety who had learned Sanskrit and couldappreciate its literary depths.RamanattamMalayalam, as a distinct language, hadcome to stay by then. Ezhuthachan’sfamous works, the Adhyatma Ramayanaand the Mahabharata, were householdpossessions all over Kerala. The languagehad arrived with its own distinct diction,rhetoric and imagery. Every Nayarhousehold considered it a matter ofprestige and later, a matter of routine toget the children, both boys and girlseducated.KrishnattamAs the centuries rolled by, another additionto the theatre was Krishnattam. Those weredays when the Zamorins ruled the northernhalf of Kerala with their capital at Calicut.Sometime in the first half of the sixteenthcentury, the reigning Zamorin was oneManavedan, a great scholar and patron ofarts. He wrote a drama based on Krishna’slife and choreographed it into an elegantart form, called the Krishnattam (the playof Krishna). He also gave it a dance base.The script was in Sanskrit and the artists,Chakyars.Earlier this was confined to Sanskrit workslike Raghuvamsam and Sriramodantam, Butafter the emergence of the mellifluousmaster- pieces of Ezhuthachan,Manipravala, the judicious mixture ofSanskrit and Malayalam used by him toevolve a charming style of his own becamea popular theme of study and emulation.Poets, who earlier had confined themselvesto writing poetry in Sanskrit alone took tocomposition in Manipravala. A newawareness of the seamier side of life wasspreading among the middle classes. Thehighly Sanskritised Koodiattam and

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAKrishnattam were too high-brow for them.They needed something lighter, somethingthat could hold their enthusiasm. As italways happened at the time of such aneed in the cultural history of any people,the Raja of Kottarakkara came forward withhis new theme, the Ramanattam.Compared to the Zamorin, Kottarakkarawas a lesser Raja. He was the chief of asmall principality at a place about eightykilometres to the north of Trivandrum, thepresent headquarters of Kerala State. Hewas a great scholar and had grasped theessentials of the drama extant then. Hecomposed a play based on the Ramayana.As it took eight days to present aKrishnattam play, he too devised his playinto one for eight days. The essentialdifferences between the two were that.while Krishnattam was all in Sanskrit andwas enacted only by Chakyars,Ramanattam was in Manipravala style andperformed by the Raja himself and hisNayar soldiers. That was the beginning ofKathakali, the classical theatre of thepeople of Kerala.Opinions differ on the exact dates on whichthese plays were composed by the Raja.Reliable research scholars place the periodsomewhere between 1575 A.D. and 1630A.D. The Raja himself supervised thetraining of the actors who were all chosenfrom his army composed wholly of Nayarsand led by their chieftain, Kittu Kurup.Costumes were improvised, the typicalKerala colours, bluish green, red and blackdominating them in the facial make-up. Theactors learnt their words by heart and sungthem while acting. After a fewperformances, they got confidence to go85DANCES OF INDIAas a troupe and give performances indifferent parts of Kerala. Dancing and asense of rhythm came naturally to theNayars as their training in physical combatand warfare conducted in the Kalaries(gymnasia) was imparted according to atala (time beat). Religious rituals from theearly days involved dancing accompaniedby music and drumming. Over the centuries,music mostly in folk-song style, developedand acquired a distinct pattern of its ownin Kerala. Music drew the Nayars to it andthey wove it attractively into theirritualistic dances. So when Ramanattamwas introduced by the Raja ofKottarakkara, it was easy for him tointegrate an already existing style of musicand pattern of dancing.KathakaliWithin the first two decades of theemergence of Ramanattam as a distinctform of theatre, it became clear that theactor could not do justice to music, danceand action at the same time. Danceaffected one’s breath; music demanded asteady breath. It was between 1630 A.D.and 1640 A.D. that the Raja ofVettathunadu, a great lover of arts cameinto the scene to develop this art form. Bythen, the Raja of Kottarakkara was nomore. Vettathu Raja was a great scholarand connoisseur of the drama. He was ablyassisted by his versatile army chief,Sankara Nayar. It was at their hands thatRamanattam got refined into Kathakali. Theyintroduced many reforms, the mostimportant of which was to provide amusician, to sing the entire dialogue sothat the actors could be fully free tointerpret it with gestures and movements.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAThereafter, the actor could concentrateon specialisation in abhinaya (aestheticexpression) leading to the present stateof stylised perfection. The Raja alsoimproved the system of costumes andmake-up. Masks used earlier by demonsand monkeys following the practice inKoodiattam or Krishnattam were done awaywith. Instead, faces were painted withappropriate colours. It was the Raja-Sankaran Nayar combination whointroduced two of the most beautifulcomponents of the Kathakali performance,namely Purappatu and Thiranokku,Thotaya86commence.The ChendaDANCES OF INDIAThe most notable contribution of theVettathu Nayar combination was theintroduction of Chenda, the vibrant drumthat since then became the core of theaccompaniments. The chenda is heldvertically and is usually played with drumsticks.Earlier, as in Krishnattam, only themaddala was used.ThiranokkuThiranokku, another formality introducedby the Vettathu Raja was a stylised debutEarlier, at the commencement of theperformance there was only a simpleformality. That was called Thotaya. It wasan invocation and consisted of an epitomyof the dance movements. The actorsplaying the role of Rama and Lakshrnanawould perform thotaya to theaccompaniment of maddala (the drumplayed in a horizontal position with barehands.) The order and sequence ofmovements to be followed were prescribedby the Raja of Kottarakkara. The playcommenced thereafter.PurappatuPurappatu, the formality introduced by theVettathu Raja followed thotaya. In thiscase, the heroes of the play made a formaldebut before the audience by holding thethirassila (curtain) down with their handsand giving an opportunity to the spectatorsto see them and their make-up close athand. The movements that formed a partof Purappatu were again pure dance. Afterthis formality was over, the play couldof evil characters or characters ofextraordinary prowess. To register anintensive impact on the audience of theentry of a powerful character’, this methodwas thought of. As the drums playrelentlessly to the prescribed tala thecharacter brings down the Thirassila andprojects himself or herself to the audience.The expressions used on this occasionwould typify the bhava (the aestheticemotion) that dominated the succeedingscenes.Music

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAKathakali was on its way to growth andpopular enthusiasm. Kalaries (centres oftraining) were getting established indifferent parts of Kerala. One of them thatmade a significant contribution during theperiod to improve its showmanship was atKurichi near Kottayam in the erstwhileTravancore State. The teachers at Kurichiintroduced two musicians instead of one.The first, the leader, using a gong controlledthe tala of the actors and drummers as hesang the dialogue. The second one usedheavy cymbals to keep theaccompaniments at a high tempo andrepeated the songs to enable the actor tocomplete his interpretation. The first oneacquired, in course of time, the status ofa stage director and came to be known asPonnani and the second one, Sankidi.Kottayam Raja, the PreceptorThe next important period of developmentof Kathakali was during the time of theRaja of Kottayam in North Kerala who livedbetween 1665 A.D. and 1725 A.D. He wasa great scholar. He was also a greatconnoisseur of the drama. He was drawnto Kathakali early in life. He trained himselfas an actor of inimitable repute. Hishistrionic talents were legendary. He foundthat the stories of the Ramayana weredevotion-oriented and so did not giveadequate scope for the effective displayof all the nine bhavas. He therefore decidedto write stories based on the Mahabharatawhere men were men and women werewomen. The Mahabharata offered unusualscope for the display of all the bhavas. Hewrote four famous plays, Kirmeera Vadha,Baka Vadha, Kalyana Saugandhika andKalakeya Vadha.87DANCES OF INDIAHe was ably assisted by Chathu Panicker,a talented artiste and a highly imaginativeleader of men. Together they not only laidgreat stress on scientific music but alsotook pains to prescribe in meticulous detailthe stylisation to be followed scene byscene. It was the Raja Panicker combinewho made Sringara the most delightful andinevitable component of Kathakali. The slowdevelopment of the bhava through a highlystylised combination of expression andmovement became a standard pattern illKathakali called Pathinha Pada; itsstylisation and choreography receivedattention at his hands more than anythingelse.Kottayam Raja and Chathu Panickertogether made many remarkablecontributions. They recognised the needfor a high standard in the musicians anddrummers. They also recognised that artistsof such high quality should receive theapprobation of the audience. They seldomgot the opportunity to display their wareto advantage while the play was on as allattention was on the actors. So the Rajaand Panicker introduced an interludebetween the Purappatu and thecommencement of the play. That wasMelappada. Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda, thegreat lyric in Sanskrit that had immortalisedthe love of Radha for Krishna was a popularwork in Kerala at that time. It had, earlier,inspired the author of Krishnattam.Kottayam Raja was also inspired by itconsiderably in his handling of the Sringararasa in his plays. The poem commencingwith the words ‘Manjuthara’ in Gita Govindawas adopted by the Raja to enable themusicians to display their proficiency before

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAthe audience. The piece was sung to theaccompaniment of the drums and cymbals.At the end of it, the drummers cameforward and demonstrated their dexteritybefore the audience. The combination ofthe singing of Manjudhara and the displayof drums following it, was named Melappada.Thus, after Kottayam Raja’s reformation,the performance began with Thotaya,followed by Purappatu and Melappadabefore the story commenced. This formathas continued till today.Travancore Maharaja and KaplingadNamboodiriThe next major development of this artform followed soon after. That was duringthe time of Maharaja Karthika Thirunal’sreign of Travancore State between 1758and 1798 A.D. Poet, statesman andconnoisseur of arts, the Maharaja wrote anumber of plays and constituted apermanent troupe for regular performancesin the famous Sri PadmanabhaswamyTemple at Trivandrum. As luck would haveit, another great lover of Kathakali enteredthe scene at the same time. That wasKaplingad Namboodiri. An aesthete of nomean standard, a scholar of enviableproportions and a fanatic devotee of thisart form, the Namboodiri joined hands withthe Maharaja to make Kathakali, the mostenjoyable theatre art Makeup for eachtype of character was specified andcompliance ensured. Costumes wereprescribed with an eye on showmanship,colours being chosen with particularreference to mythological tradition andeffectiveness on the stage. Stylisedmovements were systematised and thetraining programme drawn up in detail. The88DANCES OF INDIAMaharaja’s reign lasted nearly forty years.That was long enough to stabilise all suchreforms and ensure them as a permanentfeature. The palace troupe, as thepermanent troupe was called, attracted thebest talent. Over a period of time, itbecame an established convention that aKathakali actor could be deemed to havegraduated only after he was permitted tojoin this troupe even if only for a day andperform at the Sri PadmaanabhaswamyTemple.There is very little change in the Kathakalithat we see today as compared to whathad emerged after the Maharaja andKaplingad Namboodiri had given it theoverhaul and trimmings.Abhinaya in KathakaliAbhinaya is histrionic expression or histrionicrepresentation. It is the essence oftheatre. In Kathakali, Abhinaya dominates.Abhinaya has been broken down into fourdistinct dramatic elements, each separatelyidentifiable and fully developed. They areAharya (Make-up and costume), Vachika(the spoken word), Angika (gestures) andSatvika (aesthetic emotional expression).AharyaThe first impact of Kathakali on one whosees a performance is made by its colourfulmake-up and costumes. Aharya thus playsan important role in the build-up of theKathakali atmosphere. The make-up orcostume in Kathakali was not inventedovernight. It was evolved over a period.Kathakali presented themes of gods,demons and supermen. It was necessary,therefore, to create the necessary

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAatmosphere to generate an impression ofunearthliness in characters. The ancienttraditions of folk-arts of Kerala were thereto draw from. The choreographers ofKathakali freely used what was availablein folk-arts like Thira, Koodiattam and tosome extent, even Krishnattam. Then they89DANCES OF INDIABasic qualities are three: Satvika, Rajasaand Thamasik. Satvika stands for the noble,generous hero, usually described as theDhirodatta. Gods, noble kings and princesare brought under this group. Examples areIndra, the king of gods, King Nala, KingYudhishtira and the Pandava brothers. Forsuch characters, the face is painted green,symbolising inner refinement, poise, heroismand moral excellence. Green is Paccha inMalayalam. So these characters have cometo be generally referred to as Paccha. Theface is marked off by a white chuttybeginning from the middle of the chin andrising on either side of the face along thejaw bones in a bow-shaped curve. Thechutty is terraced inside and it serves toproject the face as a miniature stage forexpression. The face is painted bright green,lips, brilliant coral red. Eyes are drawn outin black border lines and eyebrows neatlypencilled. On the forehead a Vaishnavamark is given in red and white.improved upon them. Character wasconsidered more important than individualfeatures so far as make-up was concerned.Thus a noble character, be it god or mancould be presented with identical makeup.Similarly an evil one, be it a demon or aman could use a common make-up too.Classification of characters by their basicqualities therefore, determined thecostume.Consistent with their basic qualities, thecharacters in Paccha are dignified, gracefuland aristocratic in their bearing andmovements. They do not open their mouthseven when they smile. Systematic traininghas made it possible for the actor to smileand even laugh effectively without openinghis mouth. They wear kiritas (headgear)made out of pith and wood, and elaboratelydecorated with mosaic.Among characters generally classified underPaccha, there are some variations to suitspecific requirements. Krishna stands outamong them. Krishna’s headgear isdifferent. Instead of a Kirita, he wears amuti, It is a coronet, decked with peacockplumes. While Paccha characters generally

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAWear red jackets and white skirts, Krishnawears a blue Jacket and a dark blue skirt.Krishna also wears a large garlandrepresenting vanamala (the garland of wildflowers). Krishna’s costume is also usedfor Vishnu. Rama and Lakshmana alsoappear with the same headgear.KatthiThe second broad classification, namely,the Rajasa type are Dhiroddhathasrepresenting ambition, might, arroganceand defiance. They are Pratinayakas(villains) as against the Pacchas type thatdenotes Nayakas (Heroes). Kings amongRakshasas (demons) or Rakshasas (evilones) among kings fall under this categoryfor purposes of Kathakali make-up.Examples are Ravana, Kamsa, Duryodhanaand Kichaka. The make-up is called Katthi.The green background of a paccha makeupis broken by a knife-shaped red patchwith a white border line, drawn close tothe upper cheek bon s. On the forehead,at a point close to the root of the eyebrowsand at the tip of the nose, chuttippoos(white balls) are fixed. The make-up isintended to project defiance, arroganceand a savage majesty. Katthi characterswear inside their mouth a pair of canineteeth which they can bring out at will whileexpressing wrath. In keeping with theircharacter, they move about in arrogantmajesty as though they were a law untothemselves. The character are generallysensual and pleasure-seeking as much asthey are headstrong and valiant. There isno difference between Paeeha and Katthicharacters so far as the headgear or thecostumes are concerned.90DANCES OF INDIAThere are some variations among katthicharacters to emphasise specificdifferences. An unusually wicked, fierce orwily katthi character is indicated by a largerknife-like pattern, like additional redpatches over the eyebrows and sometimesa black beard too. In Kathakali, katthi is apreferred role. Every leading actor wouldbe keen to perform a katthi role and winapprobation as it has wide scope for thedisplay of his histrionic expression.Katthi characters are permitted to makeweird noises to accentuate theirexpression. These noises vary inappropriate density in relation to the mood;from cooing while courting to rearing whenangry.ThatiThati is the generic term used for the makeupof characters that typify the Tamasikquality; namely, vicious and vile characters,cruel and power-crazy. Red Thati is theprominent one among Thati characters.Examples are rakshasas (demons) like Baka,wicked men like Dussasana and Susharma,The make-up is distinctly different fromPaccha and Katthi. The white chutti framework common to Paccha and Katthi isabsent. Instead, the attempt is to projectan embodiment of elemental, untamedpassions, mighty and overpowering. Brightred and deep black combine the colourspainted on the face to remove anysuggestion of softer graces or restraint.The eyes are made ferocious with a patchof deep black around them. The lips arepain ted black giving them a lurid look. Oneach cheek a white pattern is made, lookinglike bristles. The white balls affixed to the

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAtip of the nose and to the forehead aremuch larger than those used for Katthi.The headgear is very much larger than thekirita and its rim, fitted with red wool. Heroars like thunder and moves about inaggressive hauteur. Everything about thischaracter denotes beastly ferocity andbrawny might.Among Thatis, an important variationrelates to Kali, the evil character in thestory of King Nala. The make-up is equallyferocious; but he wears a black beardinstead of a red one.A further variation is used for the monkeykings, Bali and Sugriva of the Ramayana.Though they are not classed as demons,they are still fabulous animal kingspossessing brute force. The difference isprovided by a white curved patch on eitherside of the chin.Sudarsana chakra, the all-annihilatingdiscus-like weapon of Vishnu is also giventhe Red Thati costume.Black Thati is used for jungle tribes andaboriginals. They represent the elementaryman, primitive, uninhibited and alert. Theface is fully painted in black with bracketlikepatterns in red and white around theeyes. Lips are painted dark red. and at thetip of the nose, a flower like chuttippoo isworn. His headgear is also peculiar. It isblack in colour built with peacock feathersand is shaped like a lotus capital. He wearsa black beard and carries a bow and arrowsand a sword. He makes a simple noiseresembling a bird’s chirp. Examples of suchcharacters are the Kattala (hunter) in thestory of King Nala and Kirata (Siva indisguise as a hunter).91MinukkuDANCES OF INDIAApart from the three basic categories ofmake-up, there are some others of note.Of these, Minukku is a common name givento the make-up of women, rishis (sages),messengers and Brahmins. Minukku reallyrefers to the facial make-up alone. Thepainting is done in flesh colour in a simplemanner. Lips are painted red and the eyesand eyebrows accentuated. The make-upsignifies gentleness, restraint, poise andspiritual qualities. The costumes areunostentatious. There are no bulging skirts,blazing overcoats or imposing headgears.A rishi wears a Jatamukuta (like hair tiedup over the head). A Brahmin merely covershis head with a piece of cloth. A messengerwears a turban.The costumes of feminine characters (otherthan a demoness) are indeed a class bythemselves. In Kathakali, it is almost alwaysmen or boys who play the roles of femininecharacters. There are, therefore, nonatural advantages for display. Not onlythat. The costume should not also exposethe man behind it. So it is very carefullydesigned. The make-up is also delicatelyarraigned. A light golden yellow paint isused for the face. Powdered mica issprinkled over it. The eyes and eyebrowsare delicately elongated with a sensuouscurve. The hair is dressed into a knot, nearabove the forehead, a little to the left.Over this, a light coloured veil is worn,extending to the waist. A tight-fitting redjacket covers the body and arms. A giltbreast plate with two red breasts fixed onit is worn on the chest and a white scarfdrawn over the neck covers them. Anornamental belt is worn over a white sari

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA92DANCES OF INDIApleated with folds. And then there are theear-rings, necklaces, armlets and bangles.Femine characters’ movements are in thelasya style as contrasted with themasculine thandava.Hanuman’s CostumeFor Hanuman, the make-up and thecostume are both unique. Hanuman’scostume is referred to both as white thatiand Vattamuti. The upper half of the faceis painted black and the lower half red.Lips are painted black and a whitemoustache pattern is drawn on the upperlip. The nose is painted green and thereare two ovals in red on the forehead. Awhite chutty- like pattern is provided oneither cheek. A white woolly beard is wornover an enormous white fur coat. Theheadgear resembles the helmets worn byFrench colonial officers in the eighteenthcentury.These constitute the main costumes. Thenthere are variations for the swan, serpentkings, Narasimha (man-lion-an incarnationof Vishnu) and so forth. Most of the malecharacters wear long silver nails on theleft hand fingers. They help enhance theelegance of the mudras .Kathakali actors’ eyes are always reddenedby the application of a flower (Solaniumpubescence). The crimson eyes not onlyadd a sense of contrast in colour but alsoprovide a vibrant, sensitive instrument foreffective expression. All this takes time.To get an actor ready for the stage, itusually takes between four to five hours.VachikaThe Vachika component of abhinaya inKathakali is provided by the two musicianswho sing the slokas and the Padas frombehind the actors. The slokas constitutethe narrative portion which may includeintroduction of the characters appearingin the scene, the events that have takenplace in between scenes and so forth. ThePadas constitute the dialogue. They areall set to specified thalas. The style ofsinging is known as Sopana, derived fromthe patterns adopted for singing hymns atthe temple precincts.AngikaAngika abhinaya has a major role to play inKathakali. As the actors do not use thespoken word, they need an effectivegestural language to converse amongthemselves. So Kathakali has evolved itsown elaborate language of gestures.The basic component of this language arethe mudras (hasta lakshanas or handgestures). The language of Kathakali hasbeen drawn freely from Bharatha but hasbeen enriched to express almost everythingunder the sun. The gestures can begenerally classified asImitative: to show an elephant, a lion,a deer, a snake and so forthDescriptive: to show things like fire, river,mountain, city, house, etc.Expressive: to express different moodslike courteousness,anger, impatience,contempt etc. andsymbolic: to indicate destiny, Heaven,Hell, God, etc.To express something, be it a word, anidea or a sentence and to convey the full

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAmeaning of it, it is not enough if the handgestures alone are employed. The facialexpressions must accompany the handgestures. Intensive and ruthless trainingfor a period of a dozen years or moreenables the actor to bring under perfectcontrol every part of his body solely forthe sake of aesthetic expression. His eyesare ever vibrant, his facial muscleseloquent. his finger-tips creative and hiswhole person the very embodiment ofrhythm. The language of Kathakali is thusan integrated effort of the limbs, the eyes,the facial muscles and the movements ofthe body. It is stylised, yet eloquent.Satvika AbhinayaSatvika abhinaya is the core of Kathakali,It is the perfection of Satvika abhinayaattained in Kathakali that has made it thetotal theatre. Satvika abhinaya is alsoknown as Rasa abhinaya. Rasa is aestheticflavour or sentiment. In a drama all thevarious aspects of abhinaya shouldculminate in the delineation of rasa.Traditionally, the principal aestheticemotions are nine. They are:Sringara (amour)Veera (Valour-Heroic)Karuna (Pathos- Pathetic)Adbhutha (wonder)Raudra (Wrath or fury)Haasya (Contempt-Comic)Bhayanaka (Fearful-fright)Beebatsa (Disgust-revulsion)and Shantha (tranquillity)93DANCES OF INDIAaimed at. The actor merges with the roleportrayed. His description, for instance, ofa lotus, its blossoming and its folding up atdusk does not come out of mere trainingbut of dedicated observation of the lotusin a pond from dawn to dusk and assimilatingthe very spirit of its life.The StageThe stage of Kathakali is the simplestimaginable. The only equipment needed onthe stage is a huge coconut-oil-fed lamptowards which all movements converge.The curtain used is a small rectangularpiece of cloth called Thirassila. The drumsused are the chenda and the maddala. TheChenda is not used during Lasya. The othermusical accompaniments used are theChengila (the gong) and ilathala (thecymbals).The Traditional PerformanceIn the truly traditional style, Kathakali isplayed throughout the night in the openair. It starts in the evening with Kelikottu,the formal announcement t when all thedrums and cymbals are played in thecourtyard for a while. At about 9 o’clock inthe night, the maddala is played for a shortwhile in front of the oil lamp. This isfollowed by Totaya when one or two playersperform an invocational piece. After this,the musicians sing the first sloka of thestory of the night. This is followed byPurappatu and Melappada. After theMelappada, the story begins.In Kathakali all these are delineated withconsummate skill which comes out of therigorous training the actor has to undergo.It is not mere technical excellence that isI1akiattam, the Forte of KathakaliOne of the unique features of a Kathakaliperformance is what is called Ilakkiattam.The term is used to distinguish it from

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKACholliattam. Cholliattam means dancing tothe words sung by the musician. Themusician can sing only what is written inthe poem. When the artistes act to expressthe meaning of the slokas and the padassung by the musician, it is Cholliattam. Atthe end of it one should normally expectthe curtain. But the curtain does not fallso soon in Kathakali. The characterscontinue to converse with each other bythe use of gestures and Hasthalakshanas,Depending upon the talent and standingof the artiste on the stage, thisconversation can occupy anything from fiveminutes to a few hours. An artiste of highcalibre can make the scene most effectiveand delightful.Traditions and conventions have determinedthe occasions when Ilakiattam could beelaborate. To cite one example: the storyis Bali Vijaya in which Ravana, at theinstigation of Sage Narada, goes to Bali,challenges him to a fight t and getsthoroughly humiliated in the end. In thescene in which arada, with his inimitabletechnique, infuriates Ravana against Bali,the great Lord of Lanka decides to go andteach Bali a lesson. The pada ends there.Thereafter, both Ravana and Narada enterinto a long dialogue. The incident can bedeveloped from Ravana picking up hisfamous Chandrahasa, the sword presentedto him by Lord Shiva and Narada makingfun of him by saying that any-one wouldlaugh at the idea of a hero like Ravanausing a sword, to vanquish a mere monkeyinstead of carrying a small piece of rope totie it up. This could give an opportunity toRavana to explain to Narada whatChandrahasa meant to him. He could94DANCES OF INDIAdescribe his triumphant battle withVaishravana, the Lord of Wealth; thecapture of the Pushpaka Vimana (thelegendary aeroplane), his storming ofMount Kailas and the way in which he threwup the whole mountain as if it were afeather and so forth.Depending upon the talent and the mentalhorizon of the artiste, he could make thescene an unforgettable one. Ardentdevotees of Kathakali look forward toscenes of Ilakiattam rather than to anyother portion of Kathakali,. Otheroccasions when Ilakiattam is done arewhere a character takes an opportunityto describe a forest (Vana Varnana), theheaven (Swarga Varnana) and so forth.LiteratureThe plays of Kathakali are written in theform of Attakathas by eminent poets. Thereare about a hundred such plays which arepopular. In addition to the Raja ofKottarakkara who first choreographed thisart form, the great composers include theKottayam Raja, Maharaja Rama Varma andPrince Aswathi Thirunal of Travancore, UnnaiWarrier, Irayimman Thampi, VayaskaraMoossu and Kilimanoor Koil Thampuran.Unnai Warrier’s play on the story of KingNala spread over four days is reputed tobe the most outstanding of them all. Moreand more plays get written all the time.But very few make the mark. Literary orpoetic excellence alone does not make aKathakali play. It is the dramatic contentof it and its effectiveness on the stagethat matter.Versatility of the Artistes

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAThe hundred and odd plays have more thana thousand characters. The unique featureof the Kathakali actor is that he should beready to perform any role without notice.Usually, the role allotted to an actor isannounced only when he enters the greenroom. The musicians too have to sing theentire play from memory. The ruthlessnesswith which the artistes have to be trainedto attain this stage can well be imagined.Training In KathakaliTraditionally, the system of training inKathakali is the Gurukula style. Boys arecaught young, at the age of ten to twelve.They stay with the Guru. The training startsin the early hours of the morning. To beginwith, the student ha to undergo a rigorouscourse of physical exercises and dailymassage with medicated oils so that thebody becomes supple enough to providethe necessary grace in movements andgestures. Separate exercises are prescribedfor the eyes, the brows, the chin, the lips,the head and the neck. The eye gets specialattention as it contributes most to anactor’s excellence on the stage. It isnecessary that the artiste gains a goodbackground in Malayalam and Sanskrit andan ability to appreciate poetry. It is alsoessential that he becomes familiar with ourvast mythological lore. So he is given dailytuition on the epics and literature. Oncethe body exercises have prepared him forfurther work, he is put through the variousdance movements. From the second yearof the training, Cholliattam would begin.This is done for a few hours every day.The dialogues in the form of padas are sungin the brackground and the Guru directsthe student to express the meaning in95DANCES OF INDIAstylised gestures and movements. It takessix years before a student can attain theminimum standards of technical excellence.During this period, he gets an opportunityto play minor roles on the stage. The Guru’stask is over when he has satisfied himselfthat the student has achieved technicalexcellence and has acquired sufficientknowledge of the epics so that he couldeffectively project the appropriatecharacter of the role performed. Thedevelopment of the actor into an artisteof distinction depends entirely on his owninitiative thereafter.Dancing in KathakaliIn Kathakali, the drama and dance are soblended together that one cannot separatethe one from the other. Dancing in Kathakaliis not mere Nritta (pure dance) but Nrithya,(interpretative dance) existing side by sidewith Nritha. At the end of every segmentof the dialogue, there is a Kalaasa, a dancesequence that provides the punctuation.Kalaasas vary according to the mood andcircumstances; they vary according to thecharacters doing it. The bhava dominatingthe situation dictates the nature of Kalaasaemployed. If it is Sringara, the Kalaasa isslow, gentle, rounded and graceful. TheKalaasa that precedes a challenge to battleor when there is righteous indignation wouldbe brisk of movement t and expressive ofheroic sentiments. Kalaasas in war couldbe breath takingly vigorous while those offeminine characters could be the veryembodiment of grace and beauty. Astakalaasa is the most intricate of all Kalaasas.It is done on rare occasions when acharacter is under the inftuence of anoverpowering combination of emotions of

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAexhilaration, pride and satisfaction.Thedrums and cymbals accompanying theKalaasas emphasise their quality withspecial reference to the bhaua involved.Dancing in Kathakali is employed toaccentuate the dramatic element, to enrichthe lyrical tone and to build up and sustainthe entire fabric of the drama on rhythm.Sophistication And Power96DANCES OF INDIAsleepy hollow, about 110 Kms. from Cochin.Founded by the late Poet Vallathol, at atime- when classical art forms were in alamentably distressed state, this Academyof Classical Arts is the nearest approachto. a Gurukula. The Kalamandalam isfinanced by the State Government. Anotherinstitution that does yeomen service toWhen Kathakali stormed into the Theatrede Nations in Paris in 1967, it createdhistory in the Western theatre world.Edmond Gilles, the leading critic of Europe,admitted, “It is, in fact, the loss of meaningin the theatre of the Western world thathad impressed us most, when we cameaway from this demonstration of Kathakaliand it seemed as if there were no limits towhat we have yet to learn from the Easterntheatre”. Keith Dowhurst of· the Guardiansaid after seeing Kathakali at the Sadler’sWells in London in 1970 that, “It is a totalart form of immense sophistication andpower”. According to Clement Crisp of theFinancial Times, “This amalgam ofeverything from low comedy to the noblestexpression of man’s relationship with thedivine has become inevitable for the theatrefestivals of Europe and the British Isles”. Atraditional Kathakali performance runsthrough the night and the Mangala sloka issung in the dawn.Training InstitutionsThe most significant institution that impartstraining in Kathakali is the KeralaKalamandalam perched on the banks ofriver Bharathapuzha at Cheruthuruthy, aKathakali is the Kottakkal Arya Vaidyasala,located at about sixty kilometres fromKozhikode, Founded by a greatphilanthropist, late P. S. Varier, theinstitution is owned by a trust and ismanaged with competence and imagination.The Udyogamandal Kathakali Theatre isanother institution which has establishedreputation for imparting training and showmanship throughout the world. At Pakalkuri,forty kilometres to the north of Trivandrum,Kalabharathi, an institution founded underthe leadership of the late Guru Cheng annulRaman Pillai is the only one that impartstraining in pure Kaplingad style today.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA97MohiniaattamDr. (Smt.) KANAK RELEDANCES OF INDIAThe mighty ocean churned on and on.These were no ordinary disturbancesarising in the bowels of the oceanmany thousand leagues beneath thesurface. Those were not the elements thatwhipped up the ocean. Thiswas no seasonal upheaval todetermine the seasons, todetermine the destiny of theUniverse. On whirled themountain Mandargiri with theserpent Vasuki twined aroundit. The devas and thedaanavas were the churners,churning away the ocean toget at the essence of life,existence. Amrita was thereward. The magical amrita,the elusive potion that everyliving being thirsts for toachieve immortality, unendingyouth. On and on churned theocean whipping upmountainous waves andliberating great force, a forcethat was capable of sinkingthe earth. The ocean emptiedall the unparalleled treasuresthat it had in its depths. Outcame the kalpavriksha and thekaamadhenu, and ultimately, Lakshmi. Allwere relinquished to the devas, The onlyreward was amrita. At last, the greatstorms were allowed to subside; Mandargirito stop whirling and Vaasuki to rest. Thedaanauas, true to their creed, grabbed theamrita.a Lord: a Mighty Saviour! Save the universefrom this awful calamity. There is nothingleft but darkness with theamrita in the hands of thedaanavas, and Maha Vishnu,the Saviour of the universe,came to the rescue.MohiniA heavenly glow, heavenlymusic, silver bells tinklingbeauty unsurpassed-MOHINI.Mohini, the lotus-eyed,enchanting one and all with hercelestial dance-Mohini theEnchantress. Oh! the heavenlyenchantment. Shut your eyesa while to perpetuate theimprint of this enchanting sightin your mind. Forgeteverything just a while. Thisis Mohini--the Saviour is Mohiniand this is a dance not ofdestruction but ofenchantment in the very airthat you breathe, in the musicand in the twinkling toes of the dancer.What if she orders you to shut your eyesawhile in order to steal your amrita? Thevision of her divine being will enchant youforever in your dreams. What is amrita,immortality, when this divine form fills your

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA98DANCES OF INDIAvision and senses with the enchantingdance, the celestial dance, the dance ofthe celestial enchantress--Mohiniattam.Mythologythe impregnable shield, a veneer of divinityto everything that is beautiful and thus tobe worshipped-to be preserved intact andinviolate, to be passed on from generationto generation.Mythology. A magical word. Indian traditionshave always found an impeccable ally inthe Hindu pantheon, The Indian mind is soconditioned as to accept as gospel truthall that is decreed and propagated by themythological themes. Hinduism as a wayof life lays down a set of tenets to befollowed by those who wish to tread theright path. The principle to be propoundedis so woven into the texture of the themethat its message is manifest as such onlyto the learned and the initiate, to thosewho are seeking it. It is then left to thesepeople to interpret and preach theseaspects to the general mass of ordinarypeople.India has always been the melting pot ofdifferent cultures of the races thatperiodically swept down her fertile plainsand made her their permanent home. Tolay down tenets that would be acceptableto the temperaments, beliefs andinclinations of all these ethnic groups wasa herculean task. A way had to be foundwhich was an envelopment of themultiracial society and at the same timeso very simple as to be acceptable to theordinary simple mind. And what could bebetter than to achieve it by utilising thetraditions that dated to prehistorymythology?It could be said that our veryinspiration, the mainstream of creativity,is drawn from mythology and divinity.Essentially a race of worshippers of beauty,it is only fitting that Indians should giveActually, beneath these surface ethnoculturalinteractions, there lay the stronglayer of the earliest culture which was athrowback from the indigenous pre-Aryanraces and comprising of images andimpressions which were linked to prehistory.This resulted in the religious practicesacquiring high ritualistic ferver revealingintimacy with magic formulae of theTaantric cult. The belief in magic, sorceryand witch-craft and their practice helpedto maintain contact with the unseen andmysterious forces. And thus the Hindupantheon came to be used to representthe fundamental struggle between goodand evil-the daanvas emerging from thedepths of the nether world to challengethe devas. And man was encouraged tohope for a deliverance from such aconfrontation through the alliance with thesupreme and benevolent power which isalways victorious. This benevolent poweritself could liberate a tremendous magicalforce which could shake the universe. Itcould create great natural disturbances,plot great wars and unleash calamities-allcreations of the magical divinity. A meshnet of spell was magically cast to createillusions-maaya. But every now and thenthe beauty-worshipping romantic spiritflowered. And again and again this samebenevolent power would assume a form ofgreat beauty, this time casting a magicalspell of sheer enchantment-Mohini theenchantress employing her guiles to

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA99DANCES OF INDIAenslave the evil forces.And there being a subtle permeation of theregional folk practices in the classicalOur mythology registers a number of thesedances there emerged robustness andclashes between Mohini and the daanvasvitality which added not onlyor asuras. And in many such instances itdistinctiveness and verve but also beautyis Mahaa Vishnu, the life sustainer, whoand enjoyment. Out of all these, Mohiniassumes this enchanting form. AnAattam is perhaps the best example of suchenchanting dance, the resultant divinea fusion. Foundationally a product of theforce, the fruit of that romantic spirit whichinteraction of two cultures and their artisticflowered again and again; Mohini dancingcreations-the Kerala and the Tamil-it hasthe dance of the enchantress-Mohiniin its framework the beautiful lyricalAattam.elements of the social folk-dances of theThe Style and Gracegraceful Women of Kerala.The art history of India abounds ininstances which illustrate her rare qualityof assimilation and synthesis which isperhaps the secret of her culture and artflourishing in an almost unbroken continuityfor several millennia. So it is easy to acceptthe fact that while at one time the dancemust have been, in fact was, almostidentical in all parts of India, it eventuallydeveloped variations and styles like thedialects (Prakrits) and then on to themodern languages imbibing localgeographical and social traits andcharacteristics. Against this factor it canbe seen how the four better known dancestyles of Kathakali, Bharata Natyam,Manipuri and Kathak came to be developedand practised as similar and yet verydifferent dance styles.Until very recently it was presumed thatthese were the only classical styles ofIndian dance. Then in an imperceptible anddramatic manner, styles like Kuchipudi,Odissi and Mohini Aattam were discoveredin their native setting and brought out onthe urban stage to the delight andwonderment of the modernised art lovers.Kerala is, and justifiably so, renowned forthe magnificent Kathakali which was andto a greater extent still is the exclusivepreserve of man. Its severe demands andexclusive admittance of men seemed toseek, very naturally, a more graceful andflexible dance form suited to the women.The existing matrix of social dancesperformed by the women on festiveoccasions provided a beautiful skeletonwhich could be filled with the flesh andsinews of the classical practices as codifiedby Bharata in the Naatya Saastra and itsresultant dance practice and repertoirewhich was flourishing and was extremelypopular in the adjacent Tamil and Teluguprovinces. And as would be natural, MohiniAattam exhibits great affinity to thetheatrical tradition backing Kathakali.AntiquityThere are different opinions regarding, itsantiquity. There are some scholars whowould date it as early as theSilapadikaaram (2nd century A.D.) and yetsome others who would date it to the 10thcentury A.D. basing their surmise on two

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAinscriptions. The Chokkur inscription seemsto be the earliest (932 A.D.) reference todancing girls in Kerala using the wordnangayar. There is also an epigraphicrecord of 934 A.D. from Nedumparam Taliprescribing the quantum of payment to thenangayars and nattuvanaars (dancemasters).A book called Vyavahaaramaalain Sanskrit written in 16th century A.D.has a Malayalam commentary written in1709 A.D. where it prescribes the royaltyto be paid to Mohini Aattam players andother artistes. Later, Kunjan Nambiar, thecreator of Ottanthullalmentions Mohini Aattam.The reference to KunjanNambiar brings us to theglorious period of theTravancore Maharajahs. Themost note-worthy for MohiniAattam being Sri KartikaTirunaal Ramavarmaa (1758-98 A.D.) who wrote theBalaramabharatham, astandard work in Sanskritbased on the Natyasaastrawith a strong bias towardsdancing. The king himselfmentions that he is writingon the prevalent practice of his times. AlsoUllur S. Parameswara Iyer in his KeralaSahitya Charitam (Part III pp. 327) writes:“The Maharaja (Kartika Tirunaal) was verypleased on witnessing Dasiyaattam whichcame from para desa (Tamil-nadu). Hearranged with Karutedat Chomatiri, one ofhis courtiers, to promote and spread inKerala this art form in the name of MohiniAaattam for the first time.”And now we come to Kartikka Tirunal’s100DANCES OF INDIAillustrious successor-Swati Tirunaal. For along time, many of the historians were underthe impression that it was in Swaati’s courtand at his instance that Mohini Aattamcame into being. Almost everyone basedtheir opinion on the fact that Swaati’sexquisite lyrics were predominantly usedin Mohini Aattam. Also, after Tanjore’s King,Sarfoji’s death, two brothers--Ponniah andVadivelu-(of the renowned Tanjore Quartetresponsible for shaping today’s BharataNatyam repertoire) migrated to Swaati’scourt. Swaati himself was a musician anda poet of exceptional merit.It seems certain that withhis highly developedaesthetic and artistic taste,Swaati realised the greatpotential of this lovely artand accorded it patronageand improved its status.This would easily explain thefact that the Mohini Aattamrepertoire runs parallel tothat of Bharata Natyam,which is very natural sincethe Tanjore vidvaans wouldinfluence the entire processand Swaati’s kritis wouldnaturally provide fitting accompaniment.And yet there are a few dissimilarities.Similarities and DissimilaritiesA traditional Bharata Natyam recital todayhas the following items-Alarippu,Jatisvaram, Sabdam, Varnam, Padam,Jaavali, Slokam and Thillanaa. But in MohiniAattam, we find that there is no item similarto Alaarippu and instead Cholluketta isdanced as the invocation. But this practice

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAappears to date back to the ancient times.The Chollukettu is followed by a Svarajatior a Jatisvaram. The Sabdam that followsin Bharata Natyam is absent in MohiniAattam; it appears that it has got mergedinto the Chollukettu. Then comes aPadavarna -a taxing item in both the styleswhich beautifully blends nritta (pure dance)and nritya (expressive dance). There arePadams in plenty in Mohini Aattam. Theother items are Slokam, ]aavali andTillaanaa.One of the most glorious and individualisticcharacteristics of Mohini Aattam is that ituses almost all the major languages of theSouth as also Sanskrit.Technically, the basic posture of the feetresembles that of Kathakali excepting thatthe loot is planted flat on the ground andnot on its edge as in Kathakali. The footworkgreatly resembles Bharata Natyam butthere is no vigorous stamping as in BharataNatyam.The body movements are rotary-verygraceful and flowing giving a fullness tothe torso which balances the upper andthe lower parts of the body in perfectharmony giving to Mohini Aattam thefascinating picture of the undulating palmsof the Kerala sky-line and its rippling backwaters. The simple and soft costumes andjewellery identify Mohini Aattam with thesoft pastoral charm of Kerala.The rich abhinaya of Kathakali is softenedand made more subtle and yet it is definitely101DANCES OF INDIAmore exuberant and eloquent than thedetached representations of BharataNatyam.· Soft, imbued with grace anddelicacy it appears to be richer and moredynamic. Mohini Aattam has the emotionaldepth of Kathakali and the visual andennobling appeal of Bharata Natyam.A special mention must be made of thenayanaabhinaya of Mohini Aattam. Themerrily dancing eyes and the gaily flutteringeye-brows of a Mohini Aattam dancercreate a devastating atmosphere full ofmischief and bewitchment-totally suitableto Mohini, the enchantress who has cometo enchant. Yet this enchantment does notmean overstepping the limits of decencyand decorum. Rather it is human activityof the highest order; of decency anddecorum which create a rare feeling ofsatisfaction and happiness without arousingthe base feelings or hurting the sensibilitiesof ordinary decent human beings. TheMohini casts the net of her maaya andenvelops the entire audience stilling theirinherent asurik tendencies . Mohini neverlure, only enchants.It is worth mentioning here that at theturn of the present century this lovelydance style had reached SUI such a passthat only three or four items from its oncerich repertoire were practised. But due tothe efforts of a few dedicated dancers,the present author being one of them, thisdance style is coming into its own and isaccepted as one of the major classicaldance practices of our country.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA102DANCES OF INDIABharatanatyamSMT. CHITRA VISWESWARANEach nation in this world ischaracterised by certainfeatures peculiar to that particularcountry. With India what is decidedlystriking is the attitude towards life and allthat forms part of it. The Indian mind tendsto interpret all happenings in the world inphilosophical terms. And Philosophy hereis in turn closely connected and interwovenwith Hindu religion. In India these two fieldsrun along parallel lines that often fuse intoone. They can never be separated andthey form the very essence of oursociology and education. To us they arenot merely subjects of abstract study tobe confined within the portals of educationalinstitutions. Rather, they form the verywoof and warp of our society upon whichour way of life is hinged.It is then but natural that art too hasreligious and philosophical undertones. Inancient India it formed an important partof religion and was essentially a mode ofworship, Natyam, vadhyam, and gitamwere the paths that led one to theattainment of ‘moksha’ or spiritual salvation.It is of great interest to note that theorigin of dance in our country is traced todivine causes. The sacred art of dance issaid to have been the brain-child ofBrahma, the creator in the Hindu Trinity ofgods. The term’ dance’ is used in ourcountry for want of a more appropriateequivalent of the Sanskrit ‘natya’ whichembodies a combination of dance, dramaand music; in Indian art these three areclosely related and can never be completelydiversed from each other. The dramaticscriptures of our country are said to havebeen brought into being by Brahma at therequest of the lesser gods. The blessedBrahma framed the Natya Veda culling partsfrom the four Vedas. From the Rig Veda hedrew forth words, from Sama Veda, singing,from Tajur Veda, gesture and from AtharvaVeda, flavour (vide Chap. I,Bharata Muni’s‘Natya Sastra ‘). Brahma taught thisscience of ‘natya’ to Bharata Muni and hishundred sons and Bharata compiled therules and norms of this artistic science (orone may say a scientific art) into his famoustreatise ‘Natya Sastra ‘.All classical dances in India can be tracedback to this ‘Natya Sastra’. Due to varyinglocal and social factors that alwaysinfluence art, dance in different regionstook on various hues. For instance, the’Kathak ‘ dance of the North was usuallyperformed in the courts of royalty.Repeated invasions, political and religiousupheavals kept the art away from temples.The South was comparatively unaffectedby these frequent political and socialchanges and so the popular classical danceform,‘Bharata Natyam’, was largelypractised there in temples, though lateron performances in courts also becamecommon due to royal patronage. Socialfactors such as those mentioned abovehave gone a very long way in moulding

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAdance-forms into what they are today.Bharatanatyam, which is the culturalheritage of Southern India, especially ofTamil Nadu, is said to have derived thisname from Bharata Muni himself. Secondly,‘Bharata’ itself means dance. Yet anotherschool of thought propagated by VedantaDesikar declares that the word ‘Bharata’ isactually an acrostic comprised of thesyllables ‘bha’, ‘ra’ and ‘ta’ whichrespectively stand for ‘bhava’(facial expression), ‘raga’ (musicalnote) and ‘ tala’ (rhythm); thesethree certainly form the essentialaspects of Bharatanatyam andthere can be no dispute regardingtheir Importance.103DANCES OF INDIAtime measure. ‘Alarippu’, ‘Jathiswaram’ and,‘Thillana’ are apt illustrations of this group.Here no meaning is conveyed and thefundamental emotion is that of spiritual joyand ecstasy. These dances can be eitherdone with or without music. Originally,‘Alarippu’ was performed only to theutterance of drum syllables. In presenttimes these syllables are set to music andA dancer portrays emotions andexpresses ideas through thevehicle of her art. Naturally theportrayal would carry no weightif devoid of facial expression. ‘Tala’ or rhythm, lies at the veryfoundation of all dance-forms.Without a complete awareness of‘tala’, a dancer can perform nodance at all, for it motivates theartistic presentation. Lastly,inspiration is necessary for thedancer and this comes throughthe medium of music which isalways a must in a Bharatanatyamrecital. Besides, what is dance butmusic of the body. There is music in danceand dance in music.Technically speaking, Bharatanatyam hasbeen divided into three distinct categories:‘Nritta’, ‘Nritya’ and’ Natya ‘. ‘Nritta’ is puredance where the spot-light is on ‘ tala’ orprovide a melodious background to thedance.In ‘Nritya’ a fusion of ‘Nritta’ or pure danceand ‘bhava’ or facial expression can beperceived. ‘Varnam’, the most elaborate andintricate piece in Bharatanatyam recital

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAwhich poses a challenge to the capacityof the dancer belongs to this category.Here intricate combinations of ‘adavus’ (orsteps accompanied by limb movements)are interwoven with lines of the song.Expression through the language providedby the lines of the song is seen here.To the ‘Natya’ category belong dancedramaswherein each character isrepresented by a different dancer. Thoughessentially a style distinguished by solopresentation, Bharatanatyam is well-knownfor some of the traditional dance andballets performed over the past fewcenturies. To this class belong therenowned ‘Kuravanji’ ballets, of which‘Cutrala Kuravanji’, is the oldest extantcomposition. Today we find a number ofnew dance-dramas being staged many ofwhich are commendable productions.These are then the distinct classificationsfound in all schools of Bharatanatyam. Thestyle with which I am directly associatedis a substyle of the Tanjore School ofBharatanatyam and is called the Vazhuvoorstyle. Needless to say, like all the othermodes, this one is also characterised by‘Angasudda’ (perfection of limbs andmovements), ‘bhava’ and ’tala’. But just asevery school of any art lays emphasis onsome aspect dear to it, this style givesimportance to grace; the very grace ingesture that Nandikeswara’s ‘AbhinayaDarpana’ throws light on; the very gracethat transcends all art which isaesthetically appealing and spiritual isfound here. To this effect the sinous andlyrical lines of South Indian temple sculptureare adapted, to suit the dance-form. The104DANCES OF INDIA‘Karanas’ and ‘Sthanakas ‘ expounded inthe ‘Bharatarnava’ and ‘Natya Sastra’ findexpression in the medium of this classicaldance mode. In this respect it is revealingto study the sculptured carvings in thetemples of Southern India. Of thesetemples, the most significant from this pointof view, is that of Siva-Nataraja atChidambaram. In this temple are foundreproductions of the 108 ‘Karanas’ spokenof in the 4th chapter (‘ThandavaLakshanam’) of Bharata’s ‘Natya Sastra ‘.Vazuhvoor Ramiah Pillai has played animportant role in incorporating thesesculptural poses in Bharatanatyam, forthese had gone into oblivion in the recentpast. His master-piece of artistic creation,“Natanam adinar’, set to the songcomposed by Gopalakrishna Bharati, is fullof these ‘Karanas ‘ and help in making thedance striking and appealing.The various schools of Bharatanatyam maydiffer-but this difference is just superficial.Fundamentally they are all the same andalong with all other forms of our art pertainto and pertain towards one spirit-a spiritthat can be called Divine; a spirit that isomnipotent and omniscient. Because of thisuniversal and spiritual quality it appeals toone and all. The painter finds colour in it;the sculptor, beauty in the form; thereligious, a spiritual appeal, and thephilosopher, esoteric implications. It is thusa universal art. As long as man can feel,as long as he can pray and think, this divineart will continue to live and capture thehearts of millions.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA105DANCES OF INDIADANCE CAN PLAY A THERAPEUTIC ROLESMT. SUDHARANl RAGHUPATHYTo-day, dance all over the worldhas reached the height ofperfection and finesse and hasevolved into such a great art that it hasbecome one of the major factorsrepresenting the culture of a country. Infact, Bharata Natyam of South India isconsidered one of the most highlydeveloped arts in the world and a veryvital form of art reflecting the ancientculture of India.Dance has been a vehicle of culture fromancient times. It was not only a means topropitiate the gods, but also anentertainment, for various social functionslike birth and marriage. With the passageof time, the dances acquired new formsand became more systematised. Theresprung folk, tribal and ritual dances and.the more sophisticated court and classicaldances.Since the art of dance is audio-visual,certain standards in beauty are considerednecessary for a dancer; also perfection ofthe limbs. The female form has alwaysfascinated man, including sculptors,painters and poets and the female dancerseems to be more prominent in the field,though of course there are male dancersalso.Rhythm and movement are the life-breathof dance. At some time or another eachone of us has exhibited our emotionsthrough movement. Rhythm and movementare within us and a systematised andsytlised form of movement, synchronisedwith rhythm, acquired through training,make dance an entertainment projectedon the stage.Can all of us dance? Why dance! Can all ofus walk, run, jump in the normal way knownto us since creation? Can we say thatsince, God created man in his own image’,we are all perfect? According to Darwin’stheory, man occupies the highest rung inthe ladder of evolution. Why then do wesee deformities? Man’s child is said to bethe most hapless of living things. It has tobe fed and nurtured for quite a few yearstill the child becomes independent: Whythen are deformed children born? Manyreasons have been given. (I) Genes;(2)Marriages within the family; (3) Diseases;(4) Malnutrition and (5) Drugs.The result is that the child is not acceptedby society and it is unable to become apart of it. For no reason of its own it isrejected. Can this be prevented? Can thisproblem be over-come? Great strides havebeen made in the field of medicine toovercome the deformities. Is this possiblethrough dance? Since it is a physicalinvolvement, can it be used as a correctivefor deformities?Therapy and ExerciseAn affected child becomes the butt end ofridicule by all other children who have eyes

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAonly for the naked truth. Children are nodiplomats. An inferiority complex developsin the deformed child because it feelsdifferent from other children. The affectedchild can regain part of his self-confidencethrough the expression of dynamic coordinatedmovement wiping out the inferiorfeeling generated within the child and alsoin the parents. It should help to boost themorale of the parents of the afflictedchildren. It is also important that theparents are in the right frame of mind toguide the children to feel normal.Can dance movements be incorporated andused as a probable corrective? A dancer issaid to be the most coordinated person inthe world. Can part of this coordination beachieved in the deformed children?Bharata Natyam is considered one of themost beautiful forms of dance in the world.Why, it is a yoga in itself. Yoga in Indiafrom time immemorial was considered thebest medicine for good health and theunique corrective for many physical andmental ailments. Bharata Natyam is an artwherein every part of the body is used -eyebrows, cheek muscles, toes and so on.The earliest and greatest treatise on theart is Bharata’s Natya Sastra, amonumental work that deals with all aspectsof dance, drama and theatre. As one readsthrough the pages of theNatya Sastra, one is wonderstruck at thevariety of every possible movement of thebody and limbs conceived of by man andso methodically systematised and codifiedby the sage. It is no wonder then, thatwhen we view the various styles of dancein the world, similarities in some of the106DANCES OF INDIAmovements are recognised , Bharata laysdown the number of movements for theeyes, eyebrows, cheek muscles, waist, hip,chest, shoulders, knees and what not.Surely, dance is a good exercise for thedevelopment of the body.There can be no dance without music.Music is an integral part of dance. Musiccan be very soothing to the nerves. Why,our tradition says that once when a greatmusician sang a particular melody, itbrought rain and another singing a differentmelody melted rocks. If nature could bestirred with music, then surely the rationalmind of man is bound to reactinstantaneously. We have melodies for thedifferent times of the day, for the differentseasons and so on, which touch the depthsof the soul. Hence Bharata Natya is referredto as an audiovisual experience.Dance helps in (1) Concentration; (2)Exercising the limbs; (3) Acceleration ofcirculation; (4) Correcting certain faults;(5) Growth, physical and mental; (6)Relaxing the body and mind and (7)Imagination of the child, the most importantaspect.A child lives in a world of fantasy. Dance isa world of fantasy which is meaningful andgives an opportunity for self-expression.Acombination of all these factors may havea therapeutic value. Hence the experimentto teach dance i.e. Bharata Natya withproperexercise, breathing, diet etc. as aprobable corrective work with pleasure.New HorizonActually dance should be taught as partof deportment callisthenics, not just

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA107DANCES OF INDIAtherapeutic for the afflicted persons, butalso for the development of beautiful humanbeings with a healthy and broad outlookon life, creating sensitivity and anawareness of the outside.Such a school seems to exist in Japan. Itis called “Tokushu Gako” meaning specialschool. This is Japan’s special physicalculture for primary and secondaryschool children. There are institutionsfor each of the following:the style of dance learnt by the author,but there are other reasons also. It seemsto be the most balanced of dance forms.As an author wrote: Bharata Natya is acomposite art of rhythm, music, poetry,colour, sculpturesque poses, suspension ofmovement, symmetry, everything inbeautiful balance.(a) Eye (b) Mentally retarded; (c)Deaf (d) Delicate children and (e)Physically deformed.The purpose of these schools is tomake the children physicallyindependent and to graduallyintegrate themselves in social andprofessional activities. Shiju Okaprovincial government, runs a specialschool called Urishiyama for physicallydeformed children. It has spacious airybuildings with plenty of light. Ifnecessary, the walls could be removedto make the rooms into a hall. Pulleysand levers are used and also barexercises. Music and movements arealso taught. The Japanese are basicallyvery artistic people. They converteverything into a work of art. So even herethe atmosphere is made beautiful for thechildren to combine work and pleasure, toreach the goal.A question may be asked-why chooseBharata Natyam? It may be because it isHence this experiment of teaching dancenot only for stage glamour and publicitybut as a therapy and as a probablecorrective for physical deformities anddisabilities in children. In my experience asa teacher in this field, a moderateimprovement is visible in the affected pupils.Time will prove how much more successfulthis experiment will be.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA108YAKSHAGANA BAYALATAK. S. UPADHYAYADANCES OF INDIAYakshagana Bayalata is anexquisite folk dance-dramaplayed mostly in the South andNorth Kanara districts of Mysore State. Thegenesis of this folk art is s till a matter ofcontroversy, but it can be stated that ithas much affinity with the various regionalforms of dance-drama performed in Indiasuch as the Kathakali of Kerala, theBhagavatha Mela of Tamilnadu, and theVeedhinatakam of Andhra Pradesh.Yakshagana is known in different parts ofKarnataka by different names. While in theplains of North Karnataka area it is termedDoddaata, in old Mysore area it is knownas Moodalapaya. Its more refined formprevalent in the coastal districts ofKamataka is popularly called Yakshagana.Akin to Yakshagana, there is another folkart very popular in South Kanara district,namely, Yakshagana Bombeyaata (PuppetShow). This has also a hoary tradition ofover three hundred years.The OriginExpert opinion of scholars on these variousform, of popular dance-dramas trace theirorigin to the Sanskrit dance-drama whichwas in vogue in India during the 4th centuryA.D. Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy a renownedcritic and research scholar, has opined thatancient Shaivites were practising a NatyaSastra which was in no way inferior to theNatya Sastra of Bharata and that thecentre of this Natya Sastra was the famousNataraja Temple of Chidambaram.That these dance-dramas were distinctlydifferent from the Sanskrit dramas wasapparent. Sanskrit dramas were acombination of prose and poetry in champustyle and the characters therein had tolearn by rote the dialogue and there wereno dance movements. But in Yakshaganait is different. Yakshagana is essentially adance-drama with the characters depictingtheir roles effectively through dance,keeping step with the accompanying music.There is no historical and written evidenceto trace the origin of the name Yakshaganagiven to this form of music. Scholars havefelt that like Gandharvagana, this form wasnamed Takshagana. Gandharvaganabecame marg music while Yaksha-ganabecame popular as desi music. Those whospecialised in this form of desi natya shastrawere known as Yakshas, They became acommunity by themselves having taken upthis art as a profession.The DifferenceIt is quite natural and understandable thatthere are several similarities between thiskind of dance-drama and the dramatraditions of the neighbouring areas. If,however, we examine these differenttraditions, part by corresponding part, weshall find differences and distinctivepeculiarities. Take the system of singing,or the style of dancing, or costumes, orthe make-up techniques employed in each

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAand make a comparativestudy; the individualcharacter of each ofthese traditions standsout unmistakably. Forinstance, in YakshaganaBayalata there isdialogue but, theKathakali, Ottanthullaland Ramanattamtraditions employgesture instead.Kuchipudi is particularlyfull of these.The Main Features109DANCES OF INDIALet us now consider themain features ofYakshagana. Firstly, it isa dance-dramacombining dance andmusic. It must,therefore, have a story, a theme. The storyis taken from the Puranas mainly dealingwith the ten incarnations of Vishnu andthat is why this is otherwise calledDashavatara Aata. The theme is thetriumph of good over evil, or right overwrong, of the gods over the demons.Each story is in the form of a minor epiccontaining about two or three hundredstanzas in the various metres. These areset to music and sung by the Bhagavathato the accompaniment of two percussioninstruments called chande and maddale.The maddale is a variation of the mridangabut the chande or chande vaadya is peculiarto Yakshagana and is especially used inwarlike scenes and scenes of terror. Eachof such stories set to music is called aprasanga and there are today about 125such prasangas.Devidasa, Parthi Subba, Venkata,Nagappaya, Rama Bhatta and other folkwriters have composed a number of wellknownprasangas, influenced as they wereby political works of Kannada poets, KumaraVyasa, Kumara Valmiki and others. All thesewriters belonged to the 17th century andafter.So far as the music is concerned, thoughonly a few ragas are at present in vogue,eighty known ragas have been identifiedby experts as having been used. The mainfeature of these is their emotional appeal.There are different ragas to express theemotions of anger, heroism, pity, horror,fear etc. An ‘angry’ raga accompanied by

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAthe frenzied beating of the chande andthe appropriate dance of an actor mayresemble the challenging roar of a lion inburst of fury and have a blood-curdlingeffect on the spectator. The minimumduration of a prasanga is about 3 to 4hours.Although these ragas bear the same namesas those in Karnatak music, they areentirely different in the mode of style of ‘singing. The derivation of the raga is sovastly different from that of Karnatak musicthat Yakshagana music is distinctly aseparate system altogether.The distinct features of Yakshagana musicare that, though the swam prasthara maybe the same as either Karnatak orHindustani style of classical music, thegamaka and alapana style here is unique.We should be proud that the suddhaYakshagana music remains evergreen onlyin the Kanara districts. This system istransmitted by the guru to the disciple,who was to devote a lifetime of labour inorder to master it. As already noted, themain feature of this system of music is itsemotive power.War-like emotions are derived by ragas,Gandharva, Bhairavi, Kambhoji etc. Theragas Nilambari, Anandabhairavi, Todi,Saveri, Regupati, Punnaga Thodi, MohanaKalyani etc. depict the emotion of sorrow.Madhyamavathi, Todi, Arabi, Sri,Shankarabharana etc. depict pity.Nadanamakriya, Mukhari etc. excel in thedepiction of the terrible and the bizarre,and others like Mechu, Kore and Davalaraalso are in vogue. During the course of theentire performance of the one-nightsession, the sruti will have to be altered110at least 8 to 10 times.DANCES OF INDIAThe second feature of the Yakshaganadance-drama is that there is no premeditatedprose dialogue. It is improvisedby the actors and is based on the musicalstanza, sung by the Bhagaoatha, While theBhagaoatha sings a stanza, the actorsdance and when he stops singing theyinterpret the stanza in the form of adialogue or a monologue as the case maybe. Thus each stanza of the Prasanga iselaborated and expounded by extemporedialogue. It may also be noted in passingthat all female roles are played by maleactors.Thirdly, the dance form of the Yakshaganais peculiar to this art. It is more primevalthan refined. Like the ragas, it highlightsprimitive human passions and emotions,especially fury and terror. These twoemotions are more constantly evoked asthe stories deal mostly with battles, scenesof violence and carnage. There is a varietyof foot-work and movements whichappropriately express these emotions. Theactors dance to the music sung by theBhagavatha and to the resounding beat ofthe chande. In Bharata Natya terms, thedance form can be said to be more of thetandava variety, although there are lasyamovements also.Adaptation of ThemesBharata’s Natyashastra has in itself variousspecial features of the different dancetraditions of this great country, in a moreor less codified form. The 108 Karanas,the 33 pindi bandhas, 32 varieties of charis,niraalamba charis, 6 sthanas, the prayoganyayas-Bharatha saathiva, vaarshajanya

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAand kaishiki, while using the weapons, theatikranta, vichitra, lalithashankara,suchioidhdha, dandapada, oihritha, alaaihaand other mandalas expounded in jumps,the face-to-face battle movements andother gati pracharas are also identified inYakshagana by Bharata Natya experts.These features are still preserved in thevarious Yakshagana troupes here even tothis day. Instances like, Gaya on his gaganasamhara, Kaurava entering the dwaipayanasarovara Arjuna starting out on the chariotfor his vijay yatra in Ashvamedha Partia,Kaurava on his ghosha yaatra and gamehuntingexpedition, Sita Rama-Lakshmanafording the river, Arjuna climbing theIndrakeela mountain, Babhruvaahanagetting down into the patalaloka, lustridden Keechaka entering his sister’sVanitha vihara, the last day’s ratharohanascene of Karna, who at the same time isgrief-stricken at the loss of his son androused with the revengeful spirit againstPartha, depicting the contrary feelings ofveer a and roudra and such other sceneswhich are exhibited in different foot-workby the Yakshagana artistes. This will applyalso to the trivida rechakas, TheYakshagana artistes, it may be noted, didnot become adept in the art by a thoroughstudy of the Shastra, but learnt the art byhereditary talent and also by keenobservation and practice.The theme for the prasanga having beendrawn from Purana stories, in Yakshaganathere is a special feature known asvoddolaga, which presents the importantcharacters to the audience. There arevoddolagas both for nayakas (heroes) likeRama, Dharmaraja and also for111DANCES OF INDIAprathinayakas (villains) like: Kaurava,Ravana and other rakshasas, The classicalmudras and foot-work displayed by theimportant characters during this voddolagascene and partially hidden behind a curtainis something significant. Shivabhaktas likeHiranyakasipu, Ravana etc. very effectivelydisplay in tune with the tala, the variousdaily ablutions and pujas offered tosivalinga. Hastamudrika plays a significantrole in this type of abhinaya. Shikharamudra is used to denote heroism andauthority; Mrigashirsha and kataka mudrato denote. Danta Dhavana; pallava mudrafor Bhasmadharana; pataka mudra forlooking at the mirror; mushti mudra fordisplaying strength, karatari mukhamudrato denote assurance of protection, areamong the six important mudras that couldbe noticed in the voddolaga scene. Thevarious characters push aside the curtainand enter the rangasthala (stage) withfoot-work of the mixed type of tandavaand tandava lasya depending on thecharacter of the hero or villian whom theactor wishes to portray and also to depictthe essence of the story. A very specialfeature of the voddolaga dance is thebidithige (chande beats), which is differentfor each character who makes his entryinto the stage. This feature of bidithigehelps a spectator to identify the characterin voddolaga, even from a long distancejust by hearing the beats. An experiencedartiste of Yakshagana who might be anadept in the various techniques of thedance-form, learnt either instinctively orby observation, many a time, may not beaware of the names of the characteristicintricacies of the various mudras, steps orfoot-work. They are ignorant of the

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAlakshanas or its history.Costume and Make-upA very important feature of Yakshagana,however, is the costume and aaharyaabhinaya- make-up of the actors. It is atonce beautiful, colourful, bizarre, as alsofrightening. The art of facial make-up ormukha varnik, as this art is called, has along tradition. Different characters have adifferent facial make-up. The mostterrifying to behold is that of the rakshasacharacter. The effect of fear and horrorinstilled in the observer is to be appreciatedonly by seeing it. Words cannot adequatelyexpress the effect of make- up of suchcharacters. Head- gear and dress alsoplaya distinct role in the make-up. Thereare different types of head-gear fordifferent characters, such as the hero, aking, a prince, minister, a rakshasa, akiratha, a gandharva, etc. The kore,turbans of a kiratha-gandharva’s redturban, the impressive varnik of a Rakshasa,Kama’s black turban, the kedige mundale(small turbans) of characters like Arjuna,Babhruvahana, Sudhanwa which areprepared afresh on each occasion, beautifulcrown (mukuta) of Hamsadhwaja,Kalamlabhoopa, and such other head-gears,have resulted in a valuable contribution ofKarnataka-like Chalukya and Hoysala shilpatoIndian art- and cultural traditions. Dr. V.Raghavan, a great authority on Indologyhas to say: “ Yakshagana make-up isdecidedly more graceful, richer and moreclosely related to the ornamentation foundin our sculpture than the Kathakali makeup”.A unique feature of the items used in the112DANCES OF INDIAmake-up is that they are made from purelyindigenous materials-light wood, paddystalk, arecanut bark, bamboos, waste jute,cotton etc. There are different kinds ofbhujakriti, arm-bands, kataka, waist-bands,virakaccha etc. In fact, the make-up is sodevised that characters like Lord Krishna,Arjuna, Babhruvahana, Ravana, etc. canbe distinctly identified by their make-up.Dress is generally of deep colours withpatterns consisting of squares withalternating colours. The most essentialfeature of the costume and ornaments isthe colour and glitter. The mere sight of itis thrilling to the spectator who istransported to the glittering puranic worldof gods and demons. The Gudigars, a classof craftsmen of South Kanara and Shimogadistricts of Mysore State, have excelled inthis art.The total effect produced by the rousingmusic of the Bhagavatha, the rattling beatsof the chande, the frenzied dance of theactors and their brilliant costume andcolourful make-up combine to transport thespectator in a crescendo of music anddance to the din of ancient battle-fieldsand deeds of valour.The Stage and SettingAs the name itself suggests, YakshaganaBayalata (bayalu-field; aata-play), is a playstaged in open fields of paddy after themonsoon when the harvest has beencarted home. The stage-rangasthala as itis popularly known-is a square ground witha bamboo pole stuck in each corner to markoff the outer edge; its only decorationbeing bunches of fresh mango leaves, greenand tender, festooned from pole to pole.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA113DANCES OF INDIAAbout 30 to 40 feet from this is the greenroom, chowki, in popular language. Here,in the blaze of torches, now fast beingreplaced by petromax lights-the charactersdo the make-up. It is a peculiarcharacteristic of Yakshagana Bayalata thateach actor acts as his own make-up manand serves to impart an individualisticstamp to the traditional patterns of design.observes almost all the details given forpoorvarang« abhinaya by Bharata in hisNatya- shastra. Here it is calledsabhalakshana. The first of these dancesis the dance of the kodangis, or trainees,and begins after sunset. This is followedby a prayer to Lord Ganesha. After puja inthe chowki, the man who plays the jesterin the drama (vidushaka) carries the imageThe torches and the brown soil and the of the deity to the rangasthaladeep green vegetation around, canopiedover by the dark blue sky, provide a mostenchanting backdrop for the play.The PreparationsThe play is preceded by a few traditionaldances to keep the audience engaged aswell as to allow enough time for make-up.In fact, the Yakshagana Bayalata is theonly traditional dance-drama which stillaccompanied by the Bhagavata anddrummers and offers it a ceremonial arati.The argument of the drama to be enactedis given at this moment through recitationof one or two brief songs. The stage isthen engaged by two small boys made upas cowherds (Bala Gopalaka), and theydance for a while, and when they maketheir exit, two female characters come onthe stage and do some lasya dance.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAAfter these preliminary dances, theuoddolaga begins. Most of the importantcharacters make their appearance in thisscene, but they stand with their backs tothe audience and dance behind a curtainwhich only half reveals them. Femalecharacters do not show themselves in thisscene. After the Nayaka who gives thevoddolaga finishes his dance along withhis retinue and is seated on an improviseddais, the Bhagaoatha very respectfullyelicits a self-introduction of each characteras also the background of the story byputting questions.The Different RolesThe stellar role in Yakshagana is known asEradane vesha (second role) becausetraditionally, Bhagavatha plays the firstrole. Besides this, generally there are fiveother roles. Purusha vesha (hero), Sthreevesha (heroine), Rakshasa vesha (demons),Hasya (jester) and Moorane vesha (thirdor minor roles). All these roles requireintense training in dance and diction andbackground knowledge of the Puranas. Thetraining is mostly by observation and byan expert in the art passing it on tosomeone in the family.The most important person in the play isthe Bhagavatha. It is he who runs thewhole show. He controls, guides and directsevery little thing. He is the Sutradharawithout whose approval nothing canhappen. It is he who sings the songs ofprasanga and it is on his rendering of themand on his appreciation of the subtletiesand conflicts in the play that the success114DANCES OF INDIAof the show depends. Every charactermakes obeisance to him on entrance.The play ends shortly before sunrise, withthe rise of the morning star in the distanthorizon. The Bhagauatha sings the finalbenediction mangala, offers aarti to thegods and returns to the chowki for prayerand thanksgiving to Lord Ganesha.Lack of SponsorshipEvery Yakshagana troupe is generallysponsored or patronised by a temple.Sometimes, to propitiate the deity forbegetting a child, in time of trials andstress, devotees offer to organise a dramaby the troupe of the temple.Those troupes which are mostly maintainedby the several temples in the two KanaraDistricts are today finding it a strain tomaintain the tradition. On an average anartiste in a troupe is paid about Rs. 1,500for the six months he is engaged by thecontractor of the melas (troupe). This ishardly sufficient for him to maintain himselfand a family. So the artistes are eithergiving up this profession or turning totroupes who perform solely with an eye topopular appeal.It is a pity that such a noble art asYakshagana which, if performed in thetraditional way, should give pleasure to anduplift a vast mass of our people, shouldhave come to such a sorry pass. Unlesswe give some thought to this matter andthink of ways to keep the art alive, we willlose this precious treasure.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA115DANCES OF INDIAA Glimpse Into Odissi DanceDr. MINATI MISHRAIndian art has its origin fromreligion,and philosophy. All theforms of Indian art, be it music,dance, painting, sculpture, architecture orliterature, have their roots deep in thereligion of the country. As such, Indian artis a spontaneousexpression of sinceredevotion to god. Theword sadhana whichmeans continuouspursuit of meditation isvery often associatedwith it. This associationgives a perception oflife-long devotion toIndian art. Devotionmeans completeconcentration to reachthe goal. The artist inhis devotion is unitedwith the Almighty andfeels himself as onecomplete whole.The background ofIndian dance is moreantequated than thehistory of man or thehistory of a nation. Itis the history of thesoul of India. Dance isnot something meantformeredemonstration, but it is something aimedat self-realisation. Dance is a form of Yoga.It is a means of achieving unity inconsciousness. It is a path towards Godand Salvation.Dance and ReligionDance is intimately connected with religion.All original themes ofthe songs adoptedwere only on gods andtheir deeds. It wasalways held in abrighter sphere andwas considered to bethe path that could headopted for attainingmoksha. It is like theunion science, (YogaSastras) which is themeans of attainingspiritual freedom.Dance being an artwith an origin of divineattributes is intendedfor spiritual contentment.Unless anaspiring student reallyunderstands the realpoint of view, believesin its divine origin, thetruth of the Vedas andShastras, he or shecannot depict the artin its true sense. Hisperformance will be a pantomime, devoidof soul. Dr. Coomaraswamy says that there

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA116DANCES OF INDIAby the lover. Truth isreality as experienced bythe philosophers andbeauty is the reality, asexperienced by the artist,and these are the threephases of the absolute,and it is through thecollective work of art thatthe artist is able tocommunicate hisexperience.is absolutely no room for any amateur inthe field. An Indian artist is a professionaland often dances for an audience ofinspiring critics.According to the Indian view, the powerto experience aesthetic emotion is inbornand it cannot be acquired by mere study.Dance is the rhythmic philosophy that givesus tranquillity, patience, hope and unruffledjoy like a lamp in a windless place, thatdoes not flicker. All the forces of life arelooked upon like a forest whose thousandmoving arms are led by Lord Nataraja, themaster of dance. Everything has its place,and every wing has its function; all takepart in the divine concert, creating a mostbeautiful harmony. Religion and art are thenames of one and the same as experiencedThere must have been atone time one system ofclassical dance in India.One area might have beencut off from the-other andeach area might havedeveloped a local mediumof its own. The influenceof folk-dance may havebeen assimilated in this form and this couldhave resulted in the development of newcharacteristics in seclusion.The danceOdissi dance which is the typical classicalform of Orissa, has its origin in the templesof Orissa. As the temples are the seats ofcultural life in this State, the Odissi formof classical dance has rightly beenassociated with its day-to-day activities.Odissi dance is a peculiar form of Indiandance. The rhythm, Bhangis and mudrasused in Odissi dance have a peculiarblending. It is based mainly on the themeof infinite love of Radha and Krishna.The earliest mention of this form of classicaldance is found in the Natyashastra ofBharatamuni which dates back to sometime

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAbetween 2nd century B.C. and 2nd centuryA.D. Four styles namely, Avanti,Dakshinatya, Panchali and Odra Magadhiwere mentioned in this monumental andauthoritative work.Again we hear mention of seven styles ofdance in Abhinaya Chandrika by SriMaheswara Mahapatra, namely, magadhi,Souraseni, Karnata, Kerala, Odra, Goudaand Panchanada. Here we can refer Odissidance to Odra style.Siva and Parvati images found in Soro(Balasore) have used the abhaya mudrawhich is the earliest of mudras to be foundin Orissan architecture. We can find themudras of dhyana, abhaya and bhumisparsain the dancing Heruka in Tandava pose atRatnagiri, Orissa. For evidence, one has totake the Konarak temple into consideration,one of the last milestones of Indianarchitecture. Since the Konarak is a lasyaconception, the dancing forms on the wallsof this temple are also of laysa type. Everyinch of the Natamandir is sculptured withthe carvings of dancing girls and musicians.Dancers holding the drum, cymbals, mirrors,flute, show excellent expression of thedance-forms. The most fascinating of allis Alasa Kanya an expression of relaxation.It is a magnificent example of sculpture.The highest expression of Odissi dance wasthere in Nayika bhavas in Konarak templesas well as in the Ananta Vasudeva templeat Bhuvaneshwar. These are our evidencesin stone. Let us now turn to livingevidences.History tells us that the practice ofdedicating dancing girls to the temples inhonour of the gods, was prevelent at one117DANCES OF INDIAtime throughout India. Devadasis or dancinggirls dedicated to gods were attached tothe temples in Orissa, Saurashtra,Maharashtra, Andhra, Tamil Nadu andKerala, The institution of Devadasis is nowextinct everywhere except in Orissa.Devadasis in Orissa are known as maharismeaning mahat-nari, We can find theearliest mention of the deuadasis attachedto temples in 9th century A.D., where theinscription states that Kolavati, the Queenof the Kesari King, Uddyota, built a templeof Shiva and dedicated dancing girls to it.The Ganga dynasty came thereafter topower. Cholagangadeva who ruled from1077 A.D. to 1147 A.D., built the temple ofJagannath at Puri and employed Devadasis,After Cholagangadeva’s death, Anangabhimadevacame to power and he builtseveral temples and also built theNatamandir in the Jagannath temple. Itwas intended for performances of themaharis and musicians in honour of theLord.Maharis are of two kinds: Bahar gani mahariand Bheetar gani mahari, The bheetar ganimaharis alone were allowed to enter theBada Devla or sanctum-sanctorum. Theywere also allowed to sing duringBadaSimhara. The bahar gani maharis are notpermitted to enter the innermost sanctorumof the temple. They danced in theNatamandir.Devadasis or maharis were the only oneswho used to keep this dance traditionintact and kept it alive generation aftergeneration. The maharis attached to theJagannath temple were all Vaishnavites,but the maharis at Bhuvaneshwar were

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAattached to Shaiva temples while those atJhankad and Kakatpur, were dedicated toShakti,On the copper-plateinscription ofPurushotam Deva, it ismentioned that thereweretwoSampradayas ofNachunis-one of themwas from the Southand another fromOrissa. They used todance along with SriJayadeva’s GeetaGovinda. Before GeetaGovinda wasintroduced, maharisused to dance only theNritta portion(rhythmic) andabhinaya withmantras. But afterJayadeva’s GeetaGovinda became thepart and parcel of therituals, the maharisperformed abhinayawith different bhavaand rasas. Anotherexponent of Odissidance is RayRamananda. He was amusician, dancer, anddramatist. He taught this dance andpresented Jagannath bhava Nataka beforeLord Chaitanya and convinced him thatsinging and dancing are also forms ofprayers.Then we find that the Gotipua system was118DANCES OF INDIAintroduced. It emerged from the SatasahiAkhada at Puri. The Vaishnavite followersdid not approve of dancing by women.Hence, boys dressed as girls began todance and for thefirst time Odissi dancecame out of thetemples and began tobe performed in public.During this period,Vaishnava poetscomposed innumerablelyrics in dedication toRadha and Krishnaand the Vaishnavapoets chose thisdance of Gotipua as amedium of publicity oftheir cult. In theGotipua system ascontrasted to theother forms, one canfind a jerk in themovement in place ofthe smooth transitionsfrom one movement toanother.At present this Odissidance has beenreshaped and ispresented in a lyricaland most gracefulstyle.Odissi dance includesboth Tandava and lasya elements.Sabdaswara-pata and-Bandha are ofmainly Tandava style and exist m a crudeform in some remote places and It needs agood deal of refinement. Sabdaswarapataare of various types .relaxing to different

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA119DANCES OF INDIAdeities such as-Shiva, Kali, Vinayaka, etc. are many others mentioned in AbhinayaChandrika-such as Abhimana, Sukachanchu,An example of Sabdawaswarapata relatingmardala, Akunchana, Sarakhepa, etc.to Shiva:-“ Dharigida Giditaka Narigida GiditakaNada udaya vira diga digambaraSankara rupabhayadigi digi kesa-tandava trisuladharata jhen ku tin jhen kujhana jhana ta tijhana ta .... etc,Odissi dance is taught on the techniquelaid down in Bharata’s Natya Shastra,Nandikeswara’s Abhinaya Darpana and SriMaheswara Mahapatra’s AbhinayaChandrika.The main bhangi of this form of dance isTribhangi supposed to have been takenOdissi has a rich variety of mudras whichare based 011 Natyashastra, AbhinayaDarpana and Abhinaya Chandrika. Handgestures play a very important role in Odissidance as they are used in conveying themeaning in abhinaya and are used inrhythmic (Nritta part). According toShastras, we use-Asamjukta hasta (Single hand)Samjukta hasta (Double hand) andNrutta hasta (Dance hand).Apart from the Shastras, there are sometraditional mudras which are not mentionedin any other Shastras-They are Gabakhya, Bana, baloya,tambula, etc.In Odissi dance we have Nabatala system:They are1) jhampa-7 beats2) dhruba-14 beats-According totradition it is known as sarimana3) matha-10 beats4) rupika-6 beats5) tripata-7 beats6) ata (Kuduka)-of 12 beats7) ekatali-4 beats8) ada tali-7 beats or 14 beats9) adi tala-8 beatsfrom the Tribhangi of Sri Krishna and theChhauka pose (half-seated) of LordJagannath. There are other importantbhangis such as Adabhanga, abhanga,Atibhanga which are very much special toOdissi dance. Besides these bhangis, thereApart from these talas . .we have Fati talawhich is of 7 beats and Nisaruka. tala.Different chhanda like jhoola of (Tisrachhanda) and Pahapata of chatusrachhanda have got their own unique beautyin Odissi dance. These talas may varyaccording to different jatis, such as tisra,

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA120DANCES OF INDIAChatusra, Khanda, misra, Sankirha.Different types of bhavas, rasa, Nayaka,Nayaka, caris, mandalas, bhramari,Karana., Utbhavana, etc., playa veryImportant role In Odissi dance. Ekapadabhramari and biparita (opposite) bhramariare inevitable in this dance.sung in some raga and is developed indifferent varieties. Sargams mayor may nothe added. Bols with rhythmic syllables cemein between to enrich the beauty of theitem. A number of passages of Nrutta areperformed In stylised poses andmovements.Odissi embraces Nruua, Natya and Nruiyain different Items of its repertoire which isas follows: .1. The first item is mangalacharana:-This is a dance where the dancer dedicatesherself to the Lord and begs excuse fromthe Mother earth for stamping her feet onher, begs apology from the audience forany shortcomings and salutes to her Guru.This item is divided into three parts:-a) Bhumi Pranamab) Deva or Devi Stutic) Sabha Pranama2. Then follows :—Sthayee Nrutya orBatu NrutyaThis is an item of pure Nrutta. It beginswith a series of sculpturesque poses likeveena, mardala, flute, manjira, etc. and isperformed in a very graceful and stylisedmanner.3. The third item is Pallavi:-The movements of this dance areextremely graceful and lyrical. This isaccompanied by both music and rhythm.Music and rhythm are given equalimportance as the dancer proper A tune isPallaui is again divided into two kinds:-(a) Vadya Pallavi (b) Swara Pollavi.4. Abhinaya: The fourth item isabhinaya.This is done through facial expressionsdepicting different bhaoas and rasas withthe help of different hastes and action tobring out the meaning and mood of a song.No performance is complete without theperformance of an ashtapadi from theGeeta Govinda by Sri Jayadeva. Songs byOriya poets such as Banamali,Gopalakrishna, Kavisamrat Upendrabhanja,Kavisurya Baladeva Rath are performed bythe dancers depicting various moods.5. Last item is Mokhya Nrutya:-This is an item of pure Nritta (rhythm) andperformed in a fast tempo, to theaccompaniment of rhythmic syllables.The dancer becomes ecstatic, and throughthe ecstasy the dancer’s soul and mindare merged with that of god.Dance, be it of any kind, is considered asan effort to come near god and experiencetrue happiness.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA121DANCES OF INDIAMAYURABHANJ CHHAUDr. KAPILA VATSYAYAN..... . At the outset one is obligedto refer to the controversy over theword chhau as used for the threeforms prevalent in Mayurabhanj,Seraikala and Purulia. Some scholarshave been of the opinion that theword Chhau is derived from the wordchhaya or shadow. This opinion washeld by many performers, including theRaja of Seraikala, Others, however,have strongly challenged this view andhave drawn attention to the fact thatthe word chhaya is derived from (a)the word Chhau which in turn maywell be connected with the Sanskritword Chhadma, meaning disguise, (b)that the word may be derived fromcolloquial Oriya where chhau meansto hunt or attack stealthily. Thesecondary meaning of the word hasbeen considered as chauni, meaninga military camp from which the present Hindiword chaunl emerges or chauni which meansan armour and finally chhank which meansan attack. While it is not necessary toresolve the controversy, it is significantthat these forms should take their namefrom a function or a vocation rather thanfrom a caste as in the case of Bhagavatmelaforms or from an activity of a wholecommunity in the process of a pilgrimagesuch as a yatra or procession theatre formsknown to other parts of India. Judging fromthe fact that many sections of society takepart in all the three types of Chhau andthat in most cases they belong to themilitary class it would be reasonable toaccept the third interpretation althoughthe idea of a disguise is inherent becausein at least two of the forms masks areused.The Dance Tribes.....Mayurabhanj Chhau dance is prevalentin the South-eastern part of Orissa.Adjacent to the State of Mayurabhanj liesthe States of Seraikala and Purulia, todaypart of the States of Bihar and Bengalrespectively. Within the region there are alarge variety of tribes who, in turn, sharemany common features with the tribes of

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAMadhya Pradesh and Bihar. These tribesrange from the Munda group of the Austricand the Indid, even if anthropologists differon the classification.Agriculturally, many of the tribes of theregion are shift-cultivators and same aretool agriculturalists. Many propitiation ritesare common to this tribal group of people,and the agriculturists particularly have riteswhich revolve around the installation of apole as a symbol of fertility. Many dancesof the Hos and the Oraons are held at aplace away from their actual living areawhere the pole is installed before the Jhum(shift-cultivating rites) ceremonies begin.Linguistically, these tribes belong to theMunda group of languages and areinheritors of a non Indo-Aryan stream.A close look at the community whichperforms the Mayurabhanj Chhau dancesshow that although the dance is anexpression of a village culture, it has carriedforward many purely tribal elements. Wemay identify one or two of these elements.The group of people who perform thedances are almost without exceptionpeople who are called the Scheduled orBackward Classes. Among the categorieslisted in the Constitution of India are theNats, the Bhands, Bhumiyars, Paiks andothers. Mayurabhanj Chhau is performedby the priests from amongst the ScheduledClasses. Herein lies a tell-tale key of theinteraction between different levels ofIndian society ranging from tribal to villageand to the high castes. In the propitiationrite a connected with Mayurabhanj Chhauthere it one which revolves around theestablishment of a pole at a place which122DANCES OF INDIAshould be a few miles away from the village.Two occasions are considered appropriate[or the dance. One is about the Dussheratime (this was introduced some years ago)and the other at the Chaitra Parva. Forour purposes this second occasion is ofgreat significance. We may remember thatthe Chaitra Parva is celebrated throughoutIndia as the great harvest festival. We seeimmediately two simultaneous levels ofoperation; the first, a takeover from thepropitiation rites of the tribal groups onthe occasion of shift-cultivation and theother the rites and celebrations connectedwith agricultural harvest. Over these twolevels is superimposed a third one, for theritual today comprises worship of Lord Siva.It is important to note that there is noicon worship during the festival. The polecontinues to represent Lord Siva. Thedevotees are called Bhaktas, a word whichalso is often vulgarised into the formBhaktas.About a fortnight before the Chaitra Parvafestival, a select group of people areenrolled for undergoing the asceticpractices connected with the ritual. Theyfast, take a ritual bath, visit the temple ofGoddess Ambika and then proceed to offerworship to Lord Siva at the consecratedplace. Is this not reminiscent vaguely ofthe Kavadi and Karaga dances of SouthIndia? The ritual concludes in the pataceremonies observed during the last fourdays preceding the Chaitra Sankranti. TheBhaktas are not ordinary people. After theirinitiation they have to perform-a firewalkingritual called the nian pata, whichwe observe is absent from the SeraikalaChhau festival.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAThey perform another rite where thedevotee is suspended by his feet on a poleover a flaming fire. This ritual is called jhelanata. Finally, they hang in suspension bytheir arms while a pole makes a completerevolution of a T shaped structure. Thereis also some walking on thorns. These andother ceremonies come only on the 26thday of the month of Chaitra when a pitcherof water is brought out to herald thebeginning of the festival.The earthen pitcher is painted crimson withvermillion and is sanctified with mantras.The ghata represents Maha Shakti and iscalled Fatra Ghata.It is perhaps not necessary to dwell furtheron the significance of these rituals whichprecede the dance festival. Here is anamalgam of ancient rites, fertility ritual anddeity worship. A dance emerging from thisbackground would naturally not be termedclassical. However, even from thisbrackground could it be termed folk?While we may not answer this question atthis stage, let us now go on to the danceitself. On the first day of the festival whichroughly coincides with the last three daysof the month of Chaitra corresponding toApril 11th to l3th, the Chhau dancersproceed not to the area where the ritualhas been performed but to the temple ofBhairava. The teachers or the gurus of thedancers are not called gurus, but are calledustads, Obviously some syncretism hastaken place. The ustads and musiciansworship Bhairava and also initiate newdancers on that date.The initiation is done through tying a pieceof red thread on the right wrist of every123DANCES OF INDIAdancer. The ustads and musicians are givennew dhotis to wear. The preliminaries over,the whole assembly performs the ritualisticpranamic dance.A characteristic feature of the dance is anoffering of the leaves of wood-apple andflowers mixed with the earth collected fromthe practising area of the dance. All theseare tied in a piece of red cloth which iskept inside a proscenium stage-19thcentury building. Each dancer offers hispranams to these articles which were firstoffered to the Lord Bhairava. Withoutpausing to describe the performance of theMayurabhanj Chhau, let us speak at thisstage of the other rituals connected withthe performance. At the end of the ritual,at midnight, another pitcher or pot, thistime called the nishi ghata or the nightpitcher, or sometimes also the Kamana, thedesire ghata is worshipped. In many waysthis ghata also represents Shakti. Anotherritual connected with the dance is theoffering of a specially prepared dance tothe Sun-god. This is performed some timeduring the festival. Perhaps it is pertinentto recall here that sun worship is commonto many tribes, villages and to thesophisticated, high-class Brahmins ofOrissa.The Dance ProperNow to the dance itself. There are manyways in which we can analyse the formwhich is presented before and after therituals described above. We can look at itfrom the outside to find out whether it hasany relationship to other forms prevalentin the area or any connections with formsoutside the region of Orissa. We can look

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAat it from the inside, that is only from thepoint of view of movement and thetreatment of the human body which is theinstrument of expression again with a viewof investigating these relationships andconnections.There is no known recorded history ofMayurabhanj Chhau. There are also notexts. In short, from the outside, it wouldappear that the form is purely desi, folk orpopular, dependant or oral traditions.However, a close look at the chronicles ofthe Kalinga kingdom and of theirprincipalities tell us of a flourishing martialtradition where warriors were maintainedin large numbers called Paiks. The sculpturaltradition reinforces this evidence by theprolific depiction of war-scenes; shield andsword play and acrobatics. This ranges fromthe reliefs of Khandagiri and Udayagiricaves to the medieval monuments ofBhubaneshwar and Konarak. Much later inthe 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, thescroll-painting tradition of Orissa called patpainting emerges. While the Krishna themedominates the content of these paintings,there is evidence here also of theRamayana and the Mahabharata. Manycharacteristic postures and stances ofMayurabhanj Chhau have a close affinitywith the stances and postures arrested instone, line and colour in these reliefs andin these paintings. From the evidence ofsculpture and painting, it would appear thatthe Mayurabhanj Chhau dancers were notunaware of the principles of the treatmentof the human form, as it is known to thesculptors of the ‘great’ tradition. In contentalso, the Mayurabhanj Chhau incorporatesthe dances of Mahabharata, Ramayana,124DANCES OF INDIAand those revolving around Siva andKrishna. In addition there are dances whichdefinitely depict only martial drill. Theseinclude numbers like the astra danda.Besides the above theme there are alsoothers which revolve around everyday life,such as hunter dances and the trick dancesusing poles, ropes and pots.The occasion of the dances, the themesof the dances and the postures and stancesclearly establish the relationship ofMayurabhanj Chhau to dances prevalentin the regions of Seraikala and Purulia. Italso exhibits the processes of multi-layeringof many moments of historicaldevelopments. It may also be possible toestablish the relationship of Chhau withother dance-drama forms of India,particularly the Jatra of Orissa and Bengal.A distant similarity of narrative anddramatic form can also be seen with someforms of the Andhra Pradesh and theKarnatak regions.This external evidence has to be correlatedwith the actual techniques of the dance.Once we enter into the dance style itself,we find that it has shed almost all featuresof tribal, folk and village dance and hasacquired a distinctive stylisation which isa characteristic feature of the dance formscommonly termed as classical. The normalyardsticks of identifying a dance form asclassical have been the existence or nonexistenceof a rich body of composedpoetry, namely the sahitya. A secondyardstick has been the existence or nonexistenceof a musical composition whichis based on this sahitya and set to a ragasystem. A third criterion has been theexistence or non-existence of a complex

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA125DANCES OF INDIAsystem of mnemonics set to ‘a particularmetrical system, namely the tala. Thefourth criterion has been the existence ornonexistence of a self-imposed limitationof movement in relation -to space. Finally,Paji. The dialogue between the two whichis an amalgam of dialogue, mime andmovement is called the Vidusaka Pranalika,again reminding us of the nata-nasi or thesutradhara and nati of the Sanskrit theatre.there is the last touchstone of therelationship of the word to the note, theword and the note to the rhythm, and theword, the note and the rhythm to thegesture. Mayurabhanj Chhau can beanalysed from all these points of view andalso from the point of view of its owndistinctive principles of movement and withthe question whether or not it responds toany of the criterion enumerated above, andthe final one of the principles andconventions of improvisation.The dance begins with Rangabaja. This canbe performed behind the screen or in fullview of the dancers. It is essentially amusical invocation, almost reminiscent ofthe Purvaranga and the Parvappada ofKathakali. The dhumsa sounds, the dholand the mahoori create the mood; theircollective permeation is both powerful anda necessary prelude to the dance. Todayit is performed in full view of the evidence.This is followed by the instrumentalistsplaying a tune to which the differentcharacters appear on the stage. Thisphase is known as the Chali meaningliterally ‘walking’. The characters appear intheir different dharans or stances. Theparticular stances and gaits establish thecharacter without the aid of masks incontrast to the other forms of Chhau,namely the Seraikala Chhau and. the PuruliaChhau. After the Rangabaja and before theopening of the actual play, there is theappearance of two characters called Kaji-After the characters appear in their specificdharana, the nach begins. The word nachis obviously derived from nritta; in thisportion there is the introduction of thetheme but little dramatic action or thetaking forward of the .story. The dancecontent of the dance style is containedfor the most part in this section of thedance. The first of these is the Rukmaranacli, a close parallel of the Parikhandaexercises of Seraikala. Natki is the finalphase performed to au accelerated tempo,where the dramatic action is heightened.Although there is some wealaccompaniment, sahitya is very thin andminimal: the dance-drama is presented inthe in to the accompaniment of a windinstrument called the Mahoori, a type ofShahnai, a string instrument called Teulaand to a variety of percussion instrumentssuch as the Dhol, the Chadchadi, (a shortcylindrical drum played with two thin sticks)

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKANagada and a Dhamsa, a bowl shaped largedrum played with two blunt and heavysticks. The Dhol leads the drums; themelody is played by the Mahoori, the Teulaand sometimes a bamboo flute. The tunesplayed by these instruments have a greatdeal in common with both the folk tunesand Orissi songs. Some ragas and raginisof Hindustani classical music can also bediscerned. Mayurabhanj artists claim 36raginis, However, there is here no wordnoteand basic tala relationship as in theclassical, what we have termed at the neoclassicalforms. There is only a general typeof relationship between the sung or playedmelody, the tala and the dancer’s gestures.There is, however, great complexity in theplaying of the percussion instruments.There is rigorous system of tala and ofbols maemnonics which arc interpreted andpresented by the dancer. There is alsocounterpointing between the rhythmicsyllables of the dhol and the chadchadi.The dance itself, like Seraikala Chhau canbe broken up into topkas, uflis and bhangis,Like other classical styles of Indian dance,Mayurabhanj Chhau begins with two basicstances or postures. These postures arequite distinctive but have a strong affinitywith the stances of the sophisticatedOrissi. Bharatanatyam can be understoodas a rhombus or a series of triangles inspace, Kathakali as a square or rectangle,Manipuri as a figure of eight and Kathak ata straight line, Orissi as a tribhanga,Mayurabhanj Chhau in contrast, has anopen tribhanga and Chaska (akin to an opengrand plie of western ballet or the mandalasthana) as a basic motif. While in the chaukathe weigh t of the body is equally divided126DANCES OF INDIAalong a central median (the madhya sutra),in the tribhanga it is unequally divided andthere are three distinct deviations from thecentral median. All topkas, uflis and bhangisemerge from these two basic stances.Although there is a close affinity betweenthe Orissi and Mayurabhanj in respect ofthe basic stances the manner of buildingup a movement varies greatly. All the unitsof movements are again classified [fromthe point of view of the nature of themovement, i.e. (i) strong and precise, (ii)quick, terse and cutting and (iii) fluid, liquidand elastic. These are known by expressiveterms such as the Hathiyara dhara (holdingof weapons) Kalikata (softest end of aspring) and bhanga (bending). The firstdenotes stances and open positions andstrong masculine movements of sword andshield, the second the nature of terse orcutting movement with abrupt stops, andthe third fluid liquid torso movements whichare continuous. One type of movement canbe distinguished from the other, even ifthey are poised in a different order. Whileno parallels in terms of tandava and lasyacan be discerned, it may not be too farfetchedto see that Hathiyaradhara andKalikata suggest tandaoa movements andKalibhanga, lasya movements.Thus there is nritta. nritya and natya andtandava and lasya, The torso is used insynchronisation and in counter-oppositionto the movements of the lower limbs. Theleg movements are more definitely brokenup into a few distinct categories judgingfrom their name, the path of movement ofthe lower limb, the foot, particularly, theankles and the toes. Some uflis derive theirname from the functions of an Oriya house-

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAwife, both as she prepares the mud-housefloor and as she decorates herself. Theseare Gobar-koodha (picking cow-dung fromthe floor), (ii) Gobar-gola (mixing cow-dungin water), (iii) Chhadadia (spreading thecow-dung mixture on the court-yard), (iv)Choonchadia (plastering the floor with cowdungand water), (v) Chinchra (scrappingthe earth), (vi) Kharka (sweeping the floorwith a broom), (vii) Thoontida (decoratingthe floor with rice paste as in Kolamas).Others take their name from householdchores, such as:(i) Basan-maja-cleansing utensils(ii) Haladia bata-grinding turmeric on astone slab(iii) Dhan Koota-pounding paddy127DANCES OF INDIA(ix) Thamka-walking lyrically.Those that suggest other functions oroperations are:(i) Kantaka-cutting clown the thorny,shrubs(ii) Kanta-nikala-removing the thorns fromthe path(iii) Batachim-splitting a bamboo in twoThose that represent martial movementare:(i) Antemoda-to kill by trampling on theabdomen: this may well indicate only themovements of the abdomen.(ii) Khanda hana-sometimes also calledJitahana-implying killing with a sword.(iv) Dhan Pachhuda-winnowing the dehusked riceA few relate only to toilet, such as:(i) Gadhua-pouring water on the body(ii) Matha jhada-after the bath drying thelong hair by a jerky movement of the towel.(iii) Moonh pochha-wiping the face with atowel(iv) Sihtaphada-parting the hair with acomb(v) Sindhoor pindha-putting dot of vermilionon the forehead(vi) Jhoontia maja-cleansing the toe-ring(vii) Udhooni chata-putting the two endsof a scarf over the shoulders(viii) Chhalka-walking ecstatically(iii) Habsa-to kill with a heavy instrument.(iv) Uska Janka-to lift up and then to presshard.Lastly, there is a group which suggeststhe gaits of animals. There are:(i) Harin-dian-leaping gait of a deer(ii) Shaula-dian-fish jerking out of water(iii) Baga topka-crane stalking(iv) Baga Machha khoja- crane searchingfor fish(v) Masikadchiti-monkey somersaulting(vi) Hanuman-panipia-monkey drinkingwater(vii) Bagh-panipia-tiger drinking water(viii) Chingdichitika-jerks of a lobster whenpulled out of water

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA(ix) Chheli-dian-goat jumpingIt will be obvious from the groupings ofthese uflis that they can be such as toincorporate agricultural functions, dailyroutine, war-drill and animal gaits: besidesthere are those of the walking of humanbeingsand some emotions. Again layers ofartistry from pure representation toabstraction is seen. When analysed fromthe point of view of movement one findsthat theseuflis are reminiscent of the Charis(Bhaumis and akasaki of theNatyasastm) some sthanas (such asthe mandala sthana) and the specialcategory of karanas described in theNatyasastra as the Vrischika karana,the last two are most significant. Wehad observed a similar pattern in thecase of Seraikala.128DANCES OF INDIAsuggested through the movement. Thisparticular movement is in non-existentstyles.normally called classical. In bothSeraikala arid Mayurabhanj, it constitutesa very important aspect of the style.Indeed the entire movement vocabulary ofMayurabhanj Chhau is based on it.The Mayurabhanj Chhau emphasizes thismovement more than any other dance stylein India and achieves a classical perfectionAs pointed out earlier, the VrischikaKatana is suggestive of a class ofmovement, derived from its descriptivename meaning scorpion legged. Theyare varied such as the Vrischika lata,Vrischika urdhva lata and many others.They are found on the walls of manytemples. They are captured in stone inIndia from the earliest times, beginning withthe Khanda-giri vidyadhara. This is followedby the flying gandharvas on the stupas ofSanchi, Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda,Deogarh, Elura, Ajanta, the medievalmonuments of Virupaksha, Khajuraho,Bhubaneshwar, Konarak, the southernmonuments of Mamallapuram, Halebid, andSarangapani. Here are dance poses whichdepict one extended leg while the other isin folded: an elevation from the ground isdistinctive to it. Without using a sastricterminology the dance style incorporatesmany elements of high classicity. Judgingfrom the many ways in which the extendedleg is used in this style and in the depictionof the dance in sculpture and referencesto it in dance texts it would appear thatthe movement was popular in India fromthe 2nd century B.C. and that certaindance styles must have used it to greateffect. At some point possibly about the13th-14th century it lost popularity. From

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAthe pure visual impression of contemporaryMayurabhanj it would appear that thedance style preserves a movement patternof great antiquity. However, in the absenceof any further textual evidence on thesubject no further deductions can be made.Nevertheless, this feature of the dancestyle gives a distinctive quality whichdistinguishes it from any other style.Whether this is the contribution of tribaldance, or martial exercises, or thereflection of a classical tradition related tothe Natyasastra, its kinetic value isdominant. While many dance posesarrested in stone cannot be identified withany of the contemporary classical styles,they can be seen in Mayurabhanj Chhau.From an initial standing, a tribhanga or achaska, (i.e. the santa sthana, or vaisakhaor the mandala sthana of the Natyasastraterminology,) many extensions of one legand elevations and pirouettes are achieved.Space is covered in figures of eight orspirals, and the sculpturesque pose at theend of a sequence is characteristic.Although there are many common pointsbetween Seraikala and Mayurabhanj, thelatter exhibits a complexity of movementin the treatment of the torso, and the lowerlimbs. While Seraikala is lyrical, Mayurabhanjleaves the impression of a strong, welldefined movement:The repertoire of the dance style is alsorevealing. It extends from simple themes,such as hunting, fishing, as in the dancesknown as the Shabar Toka, Shikari to animaldances like the Mayura nritya, to thosewhich revolve around nature such as MaliPhula to dances which revolve around. mythsuch as Pavan Pootra Hanuman to129DANCES OF INDIANataraja, Parashurama. Epic and puranicstories constitute the theme of groupdance-drama, such as Tamudia Krishna,Garuda Vahan, Kailash Samudramanthan,Ahalaya Uddhara, Gita Upadesha, Kirata-Arjuna, and Kailash Leela. There are twogroups performing these-the Uttar Sahi andthe Dakshini Sahi and their repertoire differssomewhat, although there are manycommon features.In each of these numbers, the evolvedvocabulary of dance movement, along witha clearly identifiable structure ofchoreography both in body movements andfloor choreography is in evidence. While adance like the hunter or shikari is vital andpowerful, numbers like on Phul-Mali aregraceful and lyrical. The number onNataraja is perhaps the most authenticsurvival of the various poses of the tandavadescribed in the Natyasastra and theAgamas and seen on the sculptured wallsof temples. Many dancers of the ‘neoclassicalstyles’ have of late tried toreconstruct the Karanas on the basis oftheir representation in Brahadesvara,Sarangapani and Chidambaram. The resulthas been of academic interest withoutachieving an inner artistic coherence. TheMayurabhanj Chhau Nataraja number isconclusive proof of the fact that theseemingly unplausible poses, with many legextensions and elevations, were no doubtpart of a living tradition which has survivedin the Mayurabhanj Chhau, The transitionfrom one pose to the other through a welldefined path of movement would be alesson in Kinetics for any professionaldancer, and yet Mayurabhanj Chhau isconsidered a folk dance as opposed to the

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAclassical forms. This number along withsome others like the Gita Upadesh is furtherevidence of our hypothesis, that often whatwe have considered as the classical partof high art it survives and is fostered insocio-economic milieu of the contemporarysocio-economically backward groups orlevels of society which we consider as thetribal or rural. As we have said before oneexplanation of this may be that the traditionof the arts was a pervasive traditionirrespective of socio-economic hierarchyand that while the pace of change at themore affluent levels in some matters wasfaster although in adhering onlyintellectually to the texts on the socioeconomicallybackward group it hascontinued over a longer period. It alsopoints to the fact that we must notconsider either the Naiyasastra or classicalIndian iconography an exclusive preserveof the upper classes. As Kosambi haspointed out in his book, ‘Myth and Reality’,tribal elements entered into the making ofmyth and legend which we today identifyas only classical or high. The Nataraja asa number would perhaps also be an eyeopener for many a scholar of Indianiconography whose work has beenrestricted to textual and sculpturalevidence of the nritta murtis. TheMayurabhanj Gander sustains a traditionperhaps unselfconsciously and is not awareof its historical value and aestheticallysatisfying qualities, but this does not makethe quality of this art inferior or of doubtfulscholastic values.The treatment of the theme of TamudiKrishna is similar with many interestinginterlocking patterns of group dancers130DANCES OF INDIAwhich recall the pindi-bandhas of theNaiyasastra tradition. Floor space isfascinatingly divided between the Gopalbalasand Radha and her companions.Diagonals, horizontal and vertical lines withone line moving backward and the otherforward, the formation of pairs in a mandalaand the overlapping of circles makes thenumber a rich piece of choreography. Inthe Gita-Upadesa without the use of thetext of the Gita, the tenth and eleventhcantos become alive with a poignancy andvibrancy which make it clear that the groupof dancers, tribal or schedule castes arenot unacquainted with the moral andethical values of the Gita. Will we say thatthis is the travelling of the high or greattradition to the rural or tribal levels, or willwe call this the continuation of what weterm as the ‘great tradition’ in a socioeconomicmilieu, which otherwise is thepreserve of the little traditions? Also thisand other numbers tell us of a continuumbetween tribal, rural and pre-industrializedurban society, and we do not see that thetribal society is divorced from the sacredmatrix. The vibrancy and vitality of thesecontinuities also tell us that these dancesare not ‘mere messages’ received from highclass society-a point made by manysociologists; instead they speak of acommon inheritance which is fosteredthrough the ritual and the dance insteadof the spoken and the written textual word.The difference is at best a difference ofthe methodology of understanding while theMayurabhanj Chhau, etc., know theheritage through the ritual, the movementof the dance, and the sound of the musicwithout cerebration and intellectualisation,the literature society knows it only through

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA131DANCES OF INDIAthe ‘word written’ and not through the wholerange of the experience of life.area, and with other forms at particularlevels in adjacent areas.The tradition has been maintained by theUstads, whose genealogies can be tracedback to 200 years or more. The genealogiesof the princely states who patronized thearts can also be traced back to a fewgenerations. There was also muchinteraction between Seraikala andMayurabhanj during this period.Thus we have here a complex phenomenonwhere tribal, village and the urban culture,the Margi, the Desi, the Natyadharami andLokadha- rami have come together to makea new whole. Many moments of historicalpast coexist and many processes ofacculturation and assimilation are inevidence.Here then is the problem before us: certainforms such as Chhau cannot be categorisedas purely Margi or Desi or Sastric andprayoga exclusively if adjudged from thepoint of view of only one yardstick of eithersahitya, svara or the bhanga or tala. Allfactors, racial, ethnic, linguistic, culturaland those of content and form of theparticular style have to be taken togetherfor a meaningful understanding of theIndian artistic pattern. Our analysis willhave also shown the interconnectionsbetween this dance style and others inadjacent areas like the Seraikala Chhau andthe Purulia Chhau. From the point of internaltechnique it shares many features withOdissi. Thus as in life, the dance form alsopresents in a very significant manner, adistinctive form, which has connectionsboth with folk and classical styles in theTo go back to our initial analogy of thespheres and the levels of the disc, it wouldappear that Mayurabhanj Chhau stands inan intermediary position like the Lai-Harobaof Manipur. It is connected one side withthe danda nata of the Chhaddiya dancersof the Ganjam and Narendrapura districtsand is also connected with the Gotipuaand the Mahari and Orissi tradition. Whileit sheds some of the characteristics of theChhaddiya, etc., it assimilates or isoverlayered with Indian myth and legend,epic and the puranic content. Howeverwhile incorporating the content andachieving a stylistic form with a structuredgrammar it does not use the sahitya orthe literary word. The Gotipua, the Mahariand now Odissi dance successively chiselthe stylistic features of MayurabhanjChhau, particularly movements derived fromthe tribhanga and the chauka but theyshed the epic dramatic content and becomesolo forms, revolving around only theKrishna theme or Vaishnava cult. The wordsound and meaning relationship absentfrom Mayurabhanj is predominent in theseforms. Together all move around adistinctive regional Oriya axis.This is almost a parallel phenomenon towhat we had seen in the case of Manipur,i.e. of the interaction of the different levelsof the disc. Also the other movement ofMayurabhanj Chhau as a distinct levelhaving connections with similar forms inadjoining areas, such as Serai-kala andPurulia, is clearly in evidence.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA132DANCES OF INDIAKathak Dance As An Art-FormDr. S.K. SAXENAWhat is Kathak dance? It is theart, I may answer, of soperfecting the use of body-asgesture, movement, posture and pace-thatwithin and upon the unceasing flow of laya,the dancer is (in the end) able to work upthe more or less articulate beauty of form,expression and rhythmic utterance indiverse and largely identifiable ways; andis, in addition, free to vary the course ofdance in accordance with both the rasikas’responses and the friendly challenges orstimuli that the drummer may at times offer,Kathak is an art-form.Is it at all proper to speak of Kathak asart? It may seem needless to project thisquestion; for, Kathak is already regardedas one of our major classical dances. But Iwould here say that if we ponder howKathak is an art, we are likely to gain intwo ways. First, it may help us see, if butimperfectly, how creation is to be done inthe region of this dance. Secondly, it couldenable us to discover or refine the criteriafor evaluating dance in this style.Now, Kathak is an art in so far as it sharesthe basic features that are commonly, ifnot unquestionably, ascribed to all art. Ifproperly contemplated, art takes us awayfrom our everyday concern with things, andoffers instead its own inner world forindwelling and disinterested delight. Further,what it comprises is no mere jumble, noteven a mere juxta position of elements,but their intense organization. Now, suchfeatures of import and structure are allfreely present in our experience of Kathak,and even in the essentials of this danceform.Thus, to begin with, the body of thedanseuse does not here seem simply whatit does in everyday life. It is transfigured,carefully adapted to the ends of dance.Our word for the body so adapted is ang.And when the role of ang in dance is saidto be pivotal, what is meant is that theartist has to meet two conditions that areinter-linked: first, that the dancing figureshould look winsome all along; and secondly,that it should never lapse into mere everyday bearing. The first would require theartist to avoid free use of representationsof such gods and goddesses in, say,vandana as do not look good to the eye(as Durga, for instance); and the second,

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAto remain specially careful in respect ofposture during those moments of inactivitythat separate the completion of a patternfrom the beginning of another, or whilewaiting to re-enact in dance an intricatepattern being played by the drummer as akind of friendly challenge.133DANCES OF INDIAThe break-away from daily life is effectedquite early by thhat with which a Kathakrecital often begins, and where the bodilybearing is very different from its every daymanner. As for the rhythmic patterns, theyare not (as a rule) meant to copy anythingin life. And there is an element of makebelieveeven in the basic bols of tatkar.For, as they are danced, the syllables Tha,Pra, Tha Tha, Tehi hardly sound differentfrom one another; yet they are taken tobe different. Nritya, it is true, has to buildupon themes taken from the every dayworld. But here too the Kathak has to keepthe difference between art and mere life.This can be done in three ways at least:The Important ElementsFirst, the distinctive gait of the taala beingused and the moment of its sarna may notbe hidden for too long in abhinaya. (I needhardly add that its rhythm-asaccompaniment and ingredient -is whatquite distinguishes dance from movementin daily life).Secondly, all the elements of a situationfrom life being danced may not berepresented. Thus, in presenting a panghaiki-gat,the dancer need not portray, bydistorting his face, the (actual) strain ofpulling a full, big bucket from the well. Ifsuch restrictions are not heeded, dancingwill forthwith lose its basic abstraction asart, cease to engage our imagination andwill only appear amusing to theknowledgeable.Finally, whatever is taken for treatmentfrom life should be show n with such loving

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAcare for detail, such delicate etching ofline and movement with fingers and armsand,what is more, with such a definiteand expressive use of glances and bodilyturns-that contemplative attention mayyet remain glued to what is shown on thestage, instead of moving away, due to lackof visual charm, to what it indicates in life.If thematic items are danced in the mannerhere suggested, the representationalelement will only help us follow what isdanced, not take us away to matters extraaesthetic.Nor is the inner disposition ofelements any less important in Kathak thanin the other arts. This I may develop asfollows:First, the ang is to blend not only with (a)the meaning of the theme but with (b) thevarying accentuation or flow of rhythm,and the auditory character of its bols. Theformer need is quite common knowledge.But the latter is a subtler requirement. Itis met instinctively by those whose mindsare deeply imbued with the sense of laya,and is not consciously realized by all thosewho profess to know Kathak dance. To134DANCES OF INDIAillustrate, when the basic bols are beingdanced, the eyes-and/or the open palmsmaytend to turn heavenward where thesyllables are Tha, Pra and so be true tothe phonetic openness of the syllables;and the look may quite aptly droop or/andthe arms curve inwards-where thischaracter is replaced by the gently selfgatheringquality of Tehi (I have here inmind what the late Sri Lacchu Maharajactually did, with remarkable effect, in theAll India Kathak Dance Seminar held atJaipur in 1969). But, in a simpler way, therequirement in question is met even byaverage dancers. Thus, where the syllableto be danced is Throm or Kadaan they domanage to produce some semblance of theheard character of the bol (say) by usingtwo hands above the head to work up theeffect of bloom or sparkle, and by regulatingfootwork suitably Or, as is borne out in thedancing of beautiful, little tihayis and bitsof footwork by Birju Maharaj-which he oftendoes quite early in the recital, may beimmediately after the opening invocationangmay be manifest as the direct attuningof the gestures in accordance with thevarying manner of the movement ofrhythm. Here, the intentional avoidanceof a rhythmic stress is also visible joy (ormischief) suffusing the dancer’s visage;and the completion of a dainty patterndanced itself brings about an upward,finalising flourish of the hand. The gestures,in such cases, are not codified mudras;and ang is the body as responding to thefeel of rhythm. The bodily expression, here,is of course identifiable, but it is inwardlyaffirmed and plastic, not rigidly set.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA135DANCES OF INDIAUDAYSHANKARMONI BAGCHEESource: “Bhavan’s Journal”November 6, 1977.It was a memorable occasion. Theyear was 1937 and the date wasthe 12th of July. Uday Shankar hadjust returned to India from his triumphanttour of Europe. A grand reception wasaccorded to him by no less a person thanRabindranath Tagore at Santiniketan. Therewas a select gathering if I remember alright.Tastefully decorated, the wholeenvironment was solemn in the besttradition of the place. The poet welcomedthe dancer with the following words:“Your motherland welcomes you today notwith a garland of victory but with onesanctified with her blessings. Do youreceive the same today again and again,from my hands. You have brought into theopen, Indian dancing from the cloistereddarbar halls of the Maharajahs and templesanctuaries, lifting it to its former dignityof an art form. The spring breeze coaxedthe spirit of the woodlands into multifariousforms of exuberant expression. Let yourdancing too wake up that spirit of springin this cheerless land of ours; let her latentpower of true enjoyment manifest itselfexultant language of hope and beauty”.Uday Shankar did not disappoint the poet,nor his numerous lesser countrymen. As adedicated soul to his Muse, Shankarbelieved that there are no bounds to thedepths or to the expansion of any art,which, like dancing, is the expression oflife’s urge. “We must never shut it”, saidthe great masters once, “within the boundsof a stagnant ideal nor define it as eitherIndian or Oriental or Occidental, for suchfinality only robs it of life’s privilege whichis freedom”. Truly so, culture knows noboundaries. And this is why Uday Shankarcould put India on the cultural map of theworld.A legend in his own lifetime, Uday Shankarwas born in 1900 in Udaipur, where hisfamily, originally from Jessore (now inBangladesh) had settled. The eldest sonof Dr. Shyam Shankar Chowdhury, aneducationist with an average interest inmusic and art (he was for sometime privatetutor to the Maharajah of Jhalwar). Udayspent his childhood at Ghazipur to watcha cobbler dance, and he repeated it athome. Dressed as a girl by his mother whohad no daughter, he danced to whatevermusic he heard. His younger brother RaviShankar is a noted sitarist. Uday was sentto a school at Varanasi and then to the J.J. School of Art, Bombay. In 1900 he wentto England with his father and was admittedto the Royal College of Art, London. Hestarted his training in plastic art under theguidance of Sir William Rothenstein, thePrincipal of the College, and completed thefive-year course in just three years. Hewon the coveted Spencer Prize and manyother awards.A Turning PointJune 30, 1922 was a memorable day in hislife which might have contributed towards

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA136DANCES OF INDIAhis final decision to choose a dancer’scareer. He was asked to do a duet danceat a St. James Park function in aid of ahospital. Amongst the distinguishedspectators was King George V himself. Thesword dance was highly appreciated andhe was congratulated by the King whoshook hands with him saying: “Good, jollyShankar, Devendra Shankar and the sitarmaestro Ravi Shankar (who was then adancer), his cousin Kanakalata, thattalented French woman Simkie, and evenhis uncle, Kedar Shankar Chowdhury. In1935, he met Miss Amala Nandi whom hemarried six years later. After an extensivetour of Europe, Uday Shankar took hisgood. You have done very well”.He tried to master the Western technique,but was dissuaded by Sir William, thecollege Principal, who gave him a month’sleave of absence and sent him to theBritish Museum where a huge pile of bookson Indian art was placed before him. Anew world was opened before him and heemerged from the museum altogether achanged man. He had been deeplyimpressed by the frescoes of dancingfigures. Art was not to remain his first loveany longer. He took on a job as a cabaretdancer but had to leave it soon and searchfor new avenues. The search ended whenhe discovered the Nataraja image in AnandaCoomaraswamy’s book on Indian art.His AchievementsAlthough he faced considerable financialdifficulties and much hardship, Shankarsucceeded in building up a ballet group foran Indian dance show. The firstpresentation of that groupin India was at the Empire Theatre, nowrenamed Roxy, and he was immediatelyhailed as an artiste of exceptional sensibilityboth by critics and public. In the earlythirties, Alice Boner, a Swedish painter,helped him to organise a European tourwith Indian dances and musicians. Thistroupe included his brothers Rajendracompany to U.S.A. and toured that countryfrom coast to coast. It may be mentionedhere that many renowned musicians likeTemirbaran, Krishnachandra Dev (thatimmortal blind singer of Bengal), SachindebBurman, Ali Akbar, Bishnudas Shirali andeven Ustad Alauddin Khan joined him andhe formed an Indian orchestra. He touredround the world with his troupe holding highthe banner of Indian dance and music.He founded the Indian Culture Centre forDance, Drama and Music at Almora in 1939

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAwith the ungrudging help of LeonardElmhurst. It was a residential school wheremusic and dance were taught in an entirelyoriginal and strictly scientific method. Butthe centre had to be closed down duringthe Second World War. It was revived in1965 in Calcutta and with the help of Smt.Amala Shankar. It was around this time thatthe shadow-play “ Ramalila “ was firstproduced and it brought fresh laurels tohim.It was during this period that the seeds ofthe film” Kalpana “ germinated in his mind.Though they hailed it as a landmark in Indiancinematography, it was a colossal financialfailure. In this film we have the motionpicture record of some of the famous danceperformances of Uday Shankar. During theTagore centenary year of 1961, heproduced Tagore’s “ Samanya Kshiti “ inballet form. The following year he was madea Fellow of the Sangeet Natak Academywhich earlier had awarded him the NationalAward for Creative Artiste. Rabindra BharatiUniversity awarded Uday Shankar thehonorary D. Litt. degree in recognition ofhis services in the furtherance of Indianculture. Finally he was awarded the PadmaVibhushan in January 1971. Anna Pavlovadiscovered the talent of Uday Shankar andshe made this prophetic uttererance: “Iarn convinced that he is made for dancing”.As a dancer, he was original, as achoreographer, idealistic. His genius wasstirred, at the end of his career, by theagonies of a diseased era. He was the firstperson to present an Indian ballet with anIndian thellle, accompanied by a musical137DANCES OF INDIAscore in which no foreign instrument wasused. The school of dancing he originatedwas the outcome of a rigorous training inand deep study of classical Indian dancing;combined with his own creative genius. Theresult was a scintillating synthesis. His earlychoreography, it may be pointed cut here,drew much inspiration from Indian templesculpture on the one hand and, on theother, the presentation technique of theWestern ballet. Notable examples of thissynthesis were his famous items like”Shiva-tandava “, “ Gajasurvadh “,“Kartikeya”, “Indira”, and “ Labour andMachine”.His main achievement was the blending ofthe Indian classical style with the variousfolk- dances. “Much of my inspiration camefrom Indian mythology which I have recreatedwith my imaginative ideas aboutdress, decor and music in its manydimensions”. Thus said Uday Shankar onceto the writer of this tribute. That he livedthe life of an artiste is evident as muchfrom his successes, spanning more than40 years, with the world his stage, as fromhis failures. His dance centre at Almora didnot work ; it called for qualities ororganisation he did not have. He made along film “Kalpana” which was brilliant onlyin parts; commercially it was what theycall a flop. He had to work right up to his70th year. He could not help dancing, anddancing was pot work for him in theconventional sense, although his disciplineas a dancer and showman was famous. Hedanced his way through life, and he dancedhis way to death. The stage is empty.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA138DANCES OF INDIATemples As Patrons Of DanceDr. K. V. RAMANThe two institutions whichextended patronage to the artsof music and dance in ancient andmedieval India were the Palace and theTemple-the former in the metropolis andthe latter in rural areas. In the temple, thearts were part of the 64 offerings or Shodasopacharasto the Lord Spiritual and thesame were extended to the Palace andthe Lord Temporal. From the seventhcentury onwards, the temple vied with thecourt as more and more grants came inpouring into the coffers of the temple. Thesimple place of worship became a vastestablishment catering to the social andcultural needs of the community. It isinteresting to study how in South Indiathe temples began to playa vital role infostering and cultivating the fine arts.Because of their economic stability, royalpatronage and the social support, thetemple flowered into a vibrant culturalcentre. That was the time when art andreligion were inextricably intertwined. TheLord was considered as the source of allart and so art was sacred and spiritual. Itshould be performed in His august presenceand should be a humble offering to Him.The art should be a vehicle not only todelight but also to elevate the devoteesto spiritual heights. This was the underlyingbelief in integrating the arts like dance andmusic with the temple rituals. Hence wefind land-grants given by the kings, noblesand the common folk for employing andfostering dancers’ and musicians in thetemples. Special pavilions were built in thetemples for the performance of dances-Koothambalam (or Natana-Sabha), Nrittamandapa, and Natya mandapas. Therewas a dancing-hall at Nagai called Natyasalaiin l062 A.D.A record dated 1425 A.D. from Tiruchendur(Tirunelveli district), speaks of gifts fordancing girls who danced during the Mahapujaand andikkappu. Even during thePallava times, the Mukteswara temple,Kanchi and the Adipurisvara temple atTiruvottiyur maintained a large number ofdancing women (adigalmalar) andmusicians for singing and dancing duringthe puja service and festivals. The womendedicated to dancing were calleddeveradiyal, talicheri-pendugal; kuthis,These ladies on account of their proficiencyin dancing were held in high esteem by thesociety.The practice of employing dancing girls inthe temple increased during the Chola andVijayanagar times. Rajaraja the Great whowas an ardent patron of cultural and artisticactivities employed 400 dancing girls in theBrihadeswara temple he built at Thanjavur—drawn from different parts of his kingdom.He made ample provision for theircontinuous service in the temple anddonated lands, houses and cash. A longlist containing their interesting names andtitles is found among the inscriptions ofthe temple. A number of singers, drummers,dancing masters were also employed to

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAassist in the performance of the dances.The dance masters were respected andhonoured with titles like Nrittamarayan,Nritta-perariyan, etc. The lands grantedto them were called Naituvakkani. The landsgranted to the dancers were calledKuttukani. In the temple at Attur nearTirunelveli, there was a theatrical hall anda troupe of actors to enact dramas(natakas) on the occasion of Avani-tirunal.The hall was called Alagia-Pandyan Kudam.139DANCES OF INDIAThe inscriptions also give details of variousdance models or styles that were practisedby them. Thus at Thanjavur both Aryanand Tamilian models were performed. APandyan record mentions that Sakkai-Koothu was performed in a Siva temple atDalapatisamudram by three women in themonth of Chitrai and Purattasi, At anothertemple (Tiruvengavasal) near Pudukottaiprovision was made for the performanceof Santi-Koothu by a lady. It is also statedthat she could perform nine kinds ofKoothus.In the Ranganatha temple atSrirangam, members of particular familiescalled Araiyars perform even today dancesin the temple. They would wear specialdress and sing Tamil songs with handgestures and mudras. This is popularlyknown as the “Araiyar-Sevai”. Thisparticular practice was in vogue in manyother Vishnu temples also.In the temple sculptures also, we see alink between the temple and dance. Ourartists took delight in depicting the dancinggirls as ornamental friezes in the templestructures. The basement of the templesat Tribhuvanam and Darasuram containseveral sculptures of women dancers, singleand in groups accompanied by musiciansand drummers. The Vishnu temples atTiruvallarai depict scenes of Krishna’s dancewith the gopis. One has only to visit theGreat temple, Thanjavur or the Sarangapanitemple, Kumbakonam, to see theimportance given to the dancing in our artmotif. Why should all the Natya- Karanasof the Natya-Sastra be sculptured on thewalls of the temple and around thesanctum? They are obviously meant todelight the Lord and the devotees who goround the temple.The artistes and the devotees conceivedof their gods as the masters of dance asseen from the beautiful icons like Siva asNataraja (Kuthapiran or Adavallan), Krishnaas Kaliyanardhana or as performingNavanita-Natya (dancing with butter ball),Natya Saraswati (as at Halebid), NrittaGanapati (as at Gangaikondacholapuram).The art of dance swayed the imaginationof the artists in such a profound way thatthe whole temple pulsated with danceforms investing divinity to the art.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA140DANCES OF INDIATherukkoothu-The Folk-Theatre Of TamilnadSMT. SHYAMALA BALAKRISHNANThe most popular form of folk-theatrein Tamilnad is the “Therukkoothu’ orthe street play. ‘Yakshagana’ ofKarnataka is similar to the Therukkoothu.The theme of Therukkoothu is generally apuranic story .The enactment is in typicalfolk-style, by the folk, for the folk. Itcentres round the festivals and ·templesof the villages and is generally staged duringthe warm months, February and August.What began as a pastime or recreation,by the villagers for the villagers developedgradually into a professional art. Hereditaryactors belonging to particular familiesformed themselves into troupes and wentround from village to village, exhibiting theirhistrionic talents and receiving in returnmoney, grain and other articles of utilityfrom the villagers. Like many other folkforms of Tamilnad, the Therukkoothu is anall night show. It is enacted in streetcrossings(and hence the name, ‘Theru’-Street+’Koothu’-Play), or on the threshingfloor in the fields. Nowadays a smallshamiana of, say, 15 feet by 17 feet iserected in some places. No raised dais,front screen, wings or screens, backdropsare provided. Lighting is by two or morebig torches placed at the two frontextremes.Music, of the classical, semi-classical andfolk-types dominates the show, servingdialogues and conversation as well.Occasionally, however, there are proserenderings. Acting is accompanied by danceof the rustic type. Whatever be the story,the inevitable characters are the‘Kattiakaran ‘ (Herald) and ‘Komali’(Buffoon). The theme is usually a puranicstory taken from the Mahabharata,Ramayana, Bhagavatha, etc. Invariably,such themes have some moral and theyemphasise the importance of’ faith in god.Background music is supplied by anorchestral group consisting of a ‘Mukhavina”(a small wind instrument like theNagaswara) a ‘Thuthi’ (a bag pipe),Mridangam and ‘Tala’ (Cymbals).The play usually begins with an orchestraloverture, followed by invocation songsaddressed to various deities and, lastly, tothe ‘Guru’ (Teacher). This part of the playwill sometimes take even an hour.Immediately after this, the ‘Kattiakaran ‘appears and introduces the play in the formof a discussion with the ‘Komali’. Everycharacter of the play appearing for thefirst time on the stage comes behind the“Thirai Cheelai piece of white cloth held bytwo persons. This improvised curtain doesaway with the need for a front curtain.The responsibility for providing indigenouslights and “Thirai Cheelai’ for the playbelongs to the dobhi of the village for whichhe is paid in grain or cash. Nowadayspetromax-lamps are also used. Themanipulation of the ‘Thirai Cheelai’ is donein a skilful, artistic manner, creatingsuspense and thrill in the audience. In thebeginning “closeups”, so to say of the

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAcharacter’s head or feet, as the occasionmay demand, are presented. The cloth isthen removed and the actor is. presentedfully to the audience. This type of frontcurtain is used also in Yakshagana,Kathakali, Bhagavatha mela and KuravanjiNatakas (which are semi-classical andclassical dance-dramas). The ‘Kattiakaran’unlike the Sutradhara of Sanskrit plays whoappears only once in the beginning, appearson the stage till the very end of the plays.It is he who links the scenes and announcesthe appearances of characters and scenesin advance. The actor once againannounces his own arrival in the form of asong and comes out of the “Thirai Cheelai’.He then goes round and round singing andshowing gestures to the accompanimentof loud music in the background. Thedancing, though simple, is brisk, and thegestures very lively. Every line of the songsung by him is repeated in chorus by thoseof the music party. Not only the mridangaand tala players, but his co-actors on thestage also join in the choral singing! Thisis indeed very interesting.141DANCES OF INDIAof the performances. Thus, the play carrieson, from about ten in the night to the earlyhours of the morning. Some plays, like theMahabharata, drag on for many nights.Costume and make-up is an elaborate affair.Important characters like, Hiranyakasipu,Duryodana, Dharrnaputra, Bheema, etc.At intervals, the ‘Kornali’ appears on thestage and creates jokes and narratescomic stories by song, speech, grimacesand dance. While he thus spreads mirthand merriment among the audience, heaffords opportunities for his co-actors torest and get ready for the next scene. Healso helps to break the monotony orheaviness of feeling if the theme is seriousor pathetic. Sometimes an actor known as‘Pala vesham’ (actor of many parts) alsoappears, sings and acts and makes theaudience laugh. These actors besides otherfactors mentioned add to the simple charmwear headgears made out of light woodcalled the ‘Punna’ and lavishly decoratedwith white and coloured mirror pieces andgilt paper. They also wear huge ornaments,all made of the same stuff as the headgears,on the hands, shoulders, neck,chest, etc. Facial make-up is done withindigenous coloured powders known as‘Aritharam’. Female characters are alsoportrayed by men. Gentle characters useyellow and white, decorated with yellowdots. Red is used for the villain and whiteunderneath red with black dots is also

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKApainted. Blue mixed with black is appliedon Bheema’s face. Blue or Green is usedfor Krishna. Thus, they have specificcolours for specific characters which helpboth the actor and the audience in theappreciation of roles. The make-up,costume head-gears and other ornamentsof a therukkoothu performer remind us ofthe Kathakali of Kerala. Short skirt-likedress full of pleats, pyjamas, dhotis, richlyembroidered velvet coats, waistcoats,jibbas are all used. Actors without headgearswear turbans. Masks are occasionallyused as, for instance, in Hiranya Vilasam,for Narasimha. All characters wear anklebells on their feet.The lyrics and dialogues for a play aregenerally written by a learned man of thetroupe. Printed books of such plays areavailable during village fairs and festivals.The tunes of the songs are popular folkmelodieswith occasional touches ofclassical modes here and there. One couldspot out forms of ragas like Nattai,Devagandhari, Chenjuritti and Sahana intheir music. There is no voice lending: thecharacters themselves sing their songs.When an actor sings he holds the figurativecentre of the stage; the other charactersfollow his song in chorus and become apart of audience, as it were. The samething happens to another actor when histurn comes. Only one character dominatesat a time, all others just helping to stressthe importance of the former. This is aninteresting technique in the subjectiverendering of the art.The orchestral party sits on a bench placedbehind the actors. Grand effects areproduced by such simple devices as142DANCES OF INDIAexploding crackers at the time of entry ofheroic characters like Bheerna inMahabharata and by blowing out sparks offire from the mouth (containing chemicalsin a mud-saucer) to denote extreme angeras, for instance Hiranyakasipu in ‘Prahlada’.All these delight the simple-minded ruralfolk and transport them to the land of sheerimagination. They sit gaping at the actorsthroughout the night or nights-the longsummer nights- enjoying thoroughly theiropen-air-theatre with the sky as canopy.The songs though simple, sometime containbig philosophic thoughts and ethicalprinciples. The moral of a play is alwaysthat good will triumph and evil will perish.These rustic plays have a large degree ofdirect elemental appeal capable of movingand uplifting the folk. Good Therukkoothutroupes may be said to be mobileeducational institutions for they try toinculcate, through the medium of Art, inthe minds of the masses, a deep love ofgod, good conduct, social virtues and acapacity to distinguish the good from thebad. Their pent-up emotions find release,against evil-doers and in sympathy withvirtuous characters and in the end theyfeel highly refreshed, elated, and enabled.North Arcot, South Arcot and ChingleputDistricts in Tamilnad are famous for thistraditional art. There are parties in otherdistricts also, differing slightly in regard todetails. A Therukkoothu party generallyconsists of 12 to 16 members. But I shouldmention here of an interesting party inCoimbatore District consisting of only 4members who enacted a drama that neededmore than 10 persons. The accompanimentswere a “Thuthi’ (bag-pipe)

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAMridangam and ‘Talam’ which were playedby 3 persons out of the 4. The fourth onewas dressed in a woman’s apparel and theaccompanists played the other roles evenas they were playing on their respectiveinstruments! I wondered at the crowd thathad gathered and the interest evinced bythem in witnessing such a play which wasa little more than dramatic monologue. Thistiny party somehow kept the audiencespellbound and was earning genuineappreciation from them. On enquiry I foundout that there were several other suchparties travelling from village to village inthe District. The actor and hisaccompanists received gift after gift, inkind, from the audience. The simplicity ofit all was so touching.In the tradition of Indian Art, music, danceand drama always went together. Bharata’sNatyasastra, the oldest extant work onstage-craft, is also a treatise on danceand music. No wonder, therefore, that ourdrama has to this day, largely kept up thecharacter of dance-drama or musicaldrama.(Ballet and opera correspondapproximately to these). While the art ofthe city has succumbed to prosaic ideasof the modernists who champion ‘realism’,the rural stage has, (thank! god!) more orless preserved the poetic nature of theart and has not given up the symbolism ofmusic and dance.Recently, however, a change is noticeable.In a survey of folk arts taken up by theMadras State Sangitha Nataka Sangam ofwhich Therukkoothu forrned a subject, itwas painful to note that most of thetraditional Therukkoothu troupes had given143DANCES OF INDIAup their old techniques and taken todoubtful modern theatrical methods. Themusic being replaced by hybrid film tunes,the dialogues becoming more ‘realistic’ andchanges in their traditional costumes andmake-up too, have become common. It is,however, heartening to find out that thereare still a few who carry on their originaltraditions in spite of the difficulties theyhave to face. One such troupe belongs tothe Purisai Village in North Arcot District,which is perhaps the best of all extantTherukkoothu troupes. The troupe knownas Raghava Thambiran troupe is led by SriRaja Thambiran and Natesa Thambiran,(After the demise of Natesa Thambiran,the troupe is led by his able youngerbrother Kannappa Thamibiran), both ofthem belonging to a family of traditionalTherukkoothu actors. The troupe hasgained high popularity by theirperformances at the Madras All India Radioand at the III Folk-Dance festival conductedby the Madras State Sangitha NatakaSangam in 1961. The Sangam alsoencouraged the troupe by giving them avery decent sum of grant towardspurchasing new dress and make-upmaterials, after which a grand performancewas also held in Madras City under theirauspices.To enjoy such folk-arts, oneneeds genuine love and appreciation of therustic simplicity of the art and the peopleparticipating in it. There may be artificialityin it. But it has to be enjoyed with a childlikefaith in its culture and tradition. Thesearts fully deserve to be preserved for theyhave been partly responsible for theunbroken continuity of our nationalheritage.

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA144CHAKKIYAR KOOTHUDANCES OF INDIAMRINALINI SARABHAIThe first of the sophisticated,stylised and scholastic dancedramasof Kerala, was theperformance of a particular communitycalled ‘Chakkiyars’, who recited the ancientPuranic stories in the temples. These menwere eminent scholars and in theirdiscourses, while quoting from the Sanskrittexts, explained in Malayalam to thepeople, the meaning of the sacred slokasin a particularly witty manner. While Koothuis a solo performance, the Koodiyattam,is a dance-drama closest today to theancient traditions of the Sanskrit stage.Usually the plays chosen are those ofBhasa, but there are also the dramas ofthe Pallava King, Mahendra Vikrama andof Kulasekhara Varman. Though the AharyaAbhinaya is of the same pattern as theKathakali, it is more simple in style, themost marked difference being that theactors of Koodiyattam speak, sing anddance as in the BhagavataMela Natakam of Andhra.One of the importantcharacters of Koodiyattam isthe Vidushaka, who recitesin Prakrit and Sanskrit andthen explains the story inMalayalam. Huge drumscalled ‘mizhavus’ are used asaccompaniment along withcymbals (Kuzhittala) andverses are recited in variedragas, each raga chosen forits sentiment. The idakka is

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA145DANCES OF INDIApart in the plays. They were called‘Nangyars’ and belonged to the Nambiarcommunity. The Nangyars were expertsin music, acting and singing. Many of thedance movements, as in the NatyaShastra, have special names, but thetexts for the mudras are the sameHastalakshana Deepika, as is used inKathakali.After Koodiyattam, the intoxicatinglyricism of Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda sweptMalabar. This devotional poem with itsdeepest roots in ‘Sringara Bhakti’originated in Bengal and became afavourite piece in Kerala, as a dance ofKrishna, Radha and her Sakhi known as‘Ashtapadiyattam’.also utilised along with the Kombu andKuzhal, As in Kathakali, the conch is usedas an instrument whenever necessary.Usually only selected portions of the playsare performed. After the period of trainingthe students give their primary recital.Selections from the Balacharitam arechosen for their first performance on thestage. An interesting fact in Koodiyattamis that women, not only sang but also tookIt was about A.D. 1660 that the Zamorinof Kozhikode, Manadevan Raja, wroteeight plays on the life of Krishna, to beperformed in his own temples, usually atGuruvayur. The dancer’s make-up is similarto Kathakali, though the chutti is smallerand used also by women characters.Beautiful and awe-inspiring masks areemployed frequently. One of the loveliestitems is the dance of Krishna with theGopikas and here the transition of the folkdanceinto the classical form can beclearly visualised. Apparently, this danceis akin to the various Kalis of Kerala, theKolkali, like the tras of Gujarat, theKaikottikali, danced by women during theOnam festival and the Thiruvadirakali, themaiden’s worship of Manmatha God ofLove.

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