Bharatnatyam

Art  is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or performing artifacts (artworks), expressing the author's imaginative or technical skill, intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power. That is why art involves several aspects of our lives and society.  An art work contains not only the mental state and emotion of the artist but it also involves several other socio-political factors. From the close observation of an art work we can understand the contemporary situation of the society. so, preservation of an art form in its original form is important, not only from social perspective but also from historical perspective. But any art form is never stagnant. It is dynamic. It enriches itself with constant changes with time. Bharatnatyam is also not exception. This dance form also has changed itself and incorporated new elements with the changing needs of society. But it should be taken care that the changes do not disto...

There are some veteran dancers of Bharatnatyam who worshipped dance as religion. Their hard effort helped bharatnatyam to be an art of the people. Bala Saraswati: Tanjore Balasaraswati also known as Balasaraswati was a celebrated traditional Indian dancer.  Image courtesy: Google She was awarded the  Padma Bhushan  in 1957 and the  Padma Vibhushan  in 1977, the third and the second highest civilian honours given by the  Government of India . In 1981 she was awarded the  Sangeetha Kalasikhamani  award of The Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai. After witnessing her performance Uday Shankar became an ardent promoter of her performance. Her performance recreated the interest of people in traditional dance. Her performance also gained reputation internationally.  In a review in 1977, the New York Times dance critic  Anna Kisselgoff  described her as one of the "supreme performing artists in the world...

Natyashastra states that Karanas are the unit of dance. Guru Padma Subrahmanyam attempted to reconstructed all the 108 karanas. Karanas are the brief body movements describing leg, body, arm accompanied by hasta mudras. Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam had a thorough research on Karanas and written a book named as - "Karanas-common dance codes of india and Indonesia.". The research mainly based on five temples which are Prambanan, Tanjavur, Kumbokonam, Chidambaram. Karanas are considered as mere poses earlier. In the 20th century she has state that karanas are not only postures but a total series of dance movements. Devdasis used to perform all 108 Karanas but now a days in most contemporary Bharatnatyam practices small number of karanas. Many of  Padma Subrahmanyam disciples such as Sujata Mohan, Uma Sriram, Janaki Rangrajan, Rashmi Bandopadhay and others are teaching the 108 karanas based on Dr.Padma Subrahmanyam's research. Natya shastra states karanas are created by Lord S...

Bharatnatyam is the perfect combination of music, song, rhythm and emotion. Shlokas are very important part of Bharatnatyam performance.  Shloka/ Shlok/ Shlokam in sanskrit means a verse, hymn in praise of or a proverb.  They are usually two lined verses or a collection of such individual verses are then called as stotrams. Shlokam form a part of Hindu prayers.  They are the most common verses sung in every house hold in our country. Now, dance in our country is not only mere presentation. It is used as a process of self actualization. Dance is also involved with religion and prayer from beginning. Indians consider it as a form of prayer also. That is why shlokas are very important in the dance. Through the shlokas the dancers offer their prayer to God.    Some very common shlokas that are used in performances of Bharatnatyam are: Saraswati Bandana: Saraswati Namas thubyam varade kama roopini Vidya-rambham karishyami Shiddhir bhavatuma...

Mudras are hand gestures that used in Bharatnatyam. The hand gestures are major part of Angika Abhinaya. Dancers speak via body movements rather than orally , in this way mudra is the main tool of dancers to convey their inner feelings or some activities they want to express .  There are two classifications in Indian traditional dance – Image courtesy: Google   Asamyukta hasta Asamyukta hastas are done using single hand. Natyasatra mentioned 24 asamyukta hastas in this sloka. Four new mudras are added to the list later which are  Kataka, Vyagraha, Ardhasuchi and Palli. Patakas tripatakascha tathavai kartarimukhaha Ardhachandra haralashcha sukhatundaka tathaivacha Mushtischa shikharakhyascha kapitha katakamukhaha Suchasya padmakosha sarpashira mrigashirshaka Kangulo alapadmascha chatura bhramarastatha Hansasya hansapakhsashcha sandamso mukulastatha Urnanavas tamrachuras chaturvingshatiririta.   Image courtesy: Google   ...

There are four types of abhinaya in bharatnatyam- angik, bachik, swastik, and aharya. two dharma- lokdharma and natya dharma,five asanas- padmasanam, singhasanam, yogasanam, veerasanam and sidhasanam, three vangees(gesture) - sama, lalita and balita.and three types of "angaveda"- "karana", "angahaar',and "mudra". In this dance format main rasa is "shringaar""Tandava" and "lassya" of this dance came from the 'shringaar" rasa. there is also a great deal of visual evidence of this dance form in paintings and stone and metal sculptures of ancient times. In the Chidambaram temple, there is a series of bharatnatyam poses, inscribed in stone as it were , by the sculptor.                                   Music plays an important role in Bharatnatyam. The chief musical instruments used in Bharatnatyam are the Mridangam and a pair of Cymbals. The cymbals provide the timing and the Mridangam provides frac...

At present Bharatnatyam is an immensely popular classical dance form of India. This means generally the dance forms consists ‘allaripu’, ‘jathiswaram’, ‘sabdam’, ‘barnam’, ‘padam’ and ‘thillana’. These forms were added from many years later. The present form of Bharatnatyam dance was evolved by Poniah Pillai of Tanjore and his brothers. Allaripu is the first form which came from the Telegu word “Alarimpu”which means to adorn with flowers. There is an invocation song combining pure dance with the recitation of sound syllebles. This dance continued from five to eight minutes. In this dance form simple and fluent gestures are followed. In the next item jathiswaram, instruments like mridanga and mandira was used. Image courtesy: Google  After the jathiswaram the item Shabdam is performed.the accompanying song is generally in adoration of supreme being. these songs are written in Telegu and religious in nature.  Barnam is performed after the Shabdam. This is the most...

At early ages there are four processes in Bharatnatyam – ‘Sadirnattyam’, ‘Vagabatmela natak’, ‘kunuvanji’ and ‘Kuchipudi’. Sadirnattyam dance format were popularly known as dasiyattyam because it was performed by devdasis in the temples and courtyards along many country. This is a pure fundamental form of dance also known as chinnamelan, bhogmelan and tanjornach. Nritya and Nritta are qually implicated in this dance form. Bhagabatmela natak is a dance drama of conservative Brahmins. Generally the story of dance drama written on the basis of Mahabarata. This ceremony is a medium of worship of Bhagabata. One of any Brahmin family had to perticipate in this dance drama. this perticipation is seemed to be honourable social ritual in the society. Kunuvanji is a dance has many similarities with ballet dance.Six to eight women dancers participate in this dance. famous dancer Rukmini Devi gave it a new life with help of the artist Kalakshetra. Kuchipudi dance was performed by the brahmi...