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Bharata Natyam, as Balasaraswati puts it, is an artistic yoga (natya yoga), for revealing the spiritual through the corporeal. It is the most widely practised of Indian classical dances in South India, and has its origin in Tamil Nadu. It is the most ancient of all the classical dance forms in India, which are based on Natya Shastra, the Bible of the classical Indian dance. The term "Bharata Natyam" was introduced in the mid-thirties by E. Krishna Iyer and later spread by Rukminidevi Arundale, and is thought to derive from the four syllables, BHAva(expression)RAga (music)TAla(rhythm) NATYAM(dramatic art). Bharata Natyam
Gods and Godesses pleaded with Lord Brahma for another Veda to be created that would be simple for the common man to understand, which is particularly important in Kali Yuga. Granting their wish, Lord Brahma created the Panchamaveda, the Fifth Veda, or NatyaVeda, a quintessence of the main four Vedas. Brahma took pathya (words) form the Rigveda, abhinaya (communicative elements of the body movements, cf. mime) from the Yajurveda, geeth (music and chant) from Samaveda, and rasa (vital sentiment and emotional element) from Atharvaveda to form the fifth Veda, NatyaVeda. After creating this Veda, Lord Brahma handed it to sage Bharata and asked him to propagate it on earth. Obeying the fiat of Lord Brahma, sage Bharata wrote down Natyashastra. Bharata together with groups of the Gandharavas and Apsaras performed natya, nrtta and nrtya before Siva. It became the most authoritative text on the artistic technique of classical Indian dances, especially Bharata Natyam and Odissi. It is also possible that the term "Bharata Natyam" partly owes its name to sage Bharata's. Bharata Natyam
The Natya Shastra reads, "When the world had become steeped in greed and desire, in jealousy and anger, in pleasure and pain, the Supreme One (Brahma) was asked by the people to create an entertainment which could be seen and heard by all, for the scriptures were not enjoyed by the masses, being too learned and ambiguous." "This art is not merely for your pleasure, but exhibits cosmic expression (bhava) for all the worlds. This art has been created following the movements of the world in work and play, profit, peace, laughter, battle and slaughter, yielding the fruit of righteousness to those who follow the moral law, a restraint for the unruly, and a discipline for the followers of the rule; to create wisdom in the ignorant, learning in scholars, afford sport to kings, and endurance to the sorrow-stricken; it is replete with the diverse moods, informed with varying passions of the soul, and linked to the deeds of mankind — the best, the middling and the low — affording excellent counsel pastime and all else." Bharata Natyam
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Another version of the origin of Bharata Natyam is that Goddess Parvathi taught this dance art to Usha, daughter of demon Banasura. Usha handed it down to the Gopikas of the city of Dwaraka, Lord Krishna's birth place. Lord Shiva is himself the Supreme Dancer, and the whole Universe is His Divine Dance. Goddess Parvathi is dances with Him.One can imagine that the Gods and the Goddesses, being dancers themselves, have been passing the art of the heavenly dance through many other human channels, whose aptitude, understanding, and personal idiosyncrasies naturally varied from person to person, and created a number of styles ranging from Odissi to Bharata Natyam.
Bharata Natyam has been undergoing a lot of change over the centuries (click here to read more). It used to be and is still mostly performed by women dancers. Centuries ago the Hindu temples in South India had dancers-priestesses called devadasis who would sing, dance Dasi Attam (old version of Bharata Natyam), play many musical instruments. They were well-versed in Sanskrit and other languages as they had to adapt compositions to suit the audience. The devadasi tradition gradually degraded. Initially, devadasis lead a very strict and celibate life and were not allowed to have a family. As the dance entered the royal courts, the dancers were called Rajanartakis, who performed in the royal courts and gradually became royal concubines. The British colonial rule has completely corrupted the devadasi tradition. Bharata Natyam
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In the first half of the 19th century Bharata Natyam was revitalized and redefined by the contributions of four talented brothers known today as the Tanjore Quartet: Chinniah, Sivanandam, Ponniah and Vadivelu. Styles of Bharata Natyam were preserved in practice mostly by the guru's and performers of the Isai Velalar community of Tamil Nadu. The Tanjore Quartet organized all the basic Bharata Natyam movements of pure dance into a progressive series, adavus. Bharata Natyam
Each adavu is a basic unit taught in systematic order and then combined with others to produce choreographed Bharata Natyam sequences based upon the rhythmic pattern of a musical composition. The brothers composed new music specifically for Bharata Natyam, and introduced a different sequence of items which integrated various aspects of dance and music into a carefully coordinated, aesthetically sound progression. This infusion of creative energy marks the early 19th century as one of the most innovative periods in the history of Bharata Natyam. In the 20th century, the social status and image of Bharata Natyam was restored by Rukminidevi Arundale, the founder of Kalakshetra. Bharata Natyam
Bharata Natyam has undergone much change but is still deeply rooted in the spiritual Hindu heritage. Contemporary classical Indian dancers are both male and female artists. While most learn it as a hobby, very few make it their career and a lifestyle, as it is extremely demanding and complex in terms of dedication and daily practise.
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Most of the contemporary choreographers and dancers may use the formal Bharata Natyam technique or its elements to stage ballets presenting various themes such as nationalism, unity of religions, the sanctity of the environment, the animal rights activism, the greatness of a king or a political party, or even the delightfulness of Coca-Cola. In Vande Mataram, a dance festival organised under the auspices of Natyarangam, a project of Narada Gana Sabha in 1997 in Chennai, there was a host of topics: evils of the current education system, the caste and reservation systems, threat of nuclear weapons, AIDS, the population explosion, corruption in politics, bribery, religious fanaticism, secularism, the greed for riches, the Chinese aggression, the Dandi March, literacy, agriculture, mechanisation, industrialisation. Most recently, some dancers manage to draw their divine inspiration even from Condom Songs. Bharata Natyam
The
true Bharata Natyam, it has to be stated clearly, is not
a vulgar form of entertainment but a sacred ritual that is supposed to bring the
rasanubhava (catharsis, or spiritual upliftment) to the rasika (audience)
and the dancer. Bharata Natyam
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Balasaraswati has said: "Bharata Natyam, in its highest moment, is the embodiment of music in its visual form.... For more than thousand years, the sastra's have confirmed that an individual dedicated to dance must be equally dedicated to music and must receive thorough training in both the arts.. In demonstrating the art of Bharata Natyam abroad, I have made a special point of showing audiences how delicately linked is the realisation of movement to raga expression in abhinaya, including the subtle expression of gamaka's, intonation of sruti, and the unfolding of improvisation in niraval. In the same way that we look for perfect blending of raga and tala and of raga and bhava in abhinaya, so also it is essential that the raga and the sahitya be perfectly matched and in accordance with the necessities of expression in the dance." Bharata Natyam
"Sringara stands supreme in this range of emotions. No other emotion is capable of better reflecting the mystic union of the human with the divine. I say this with great personal experience of dancing to many great devotional songs, which have had no element of sringara in them. Devotional songs are, of course, necessary. However, sringara is the cardinal emotion, which gives the fullest scope for artistic improvisation, branching off continually, as it does, into the portrayal of innumerable moods full of newness and nuance.
If we approach Bharata Natyam with humility, learn it with dedication and practice it with devotion to God, sringara which brings out the great beauties of this dance can be portrayed with all the purity of the spirit. The flesh, which is considered to be an enemy of the spirit and the greatest obstacle to spiritual realization, has itself been made a vehicle of the divine in the discipline of the dance. Sringara thus is an instrument for uniting the dancer with Divinity. Since the dancer has universalized her experience, all that she goes through is also felt and experienced by the spectator".
Bharata Natyam comprises three aspects, Nritta, Nritya and Natya. Bharata Natyam
Bharata natyam
bharata natyam
Nritta are rhythmical and repetitive elements, i.e. it is dance proper Bharata Natyam
Natya is the dramatic art, and is a language of gestures, poses and mime. cf. Abhinaya
Nritya is a combination of Nritta and Natya Bharata Natyam
Nritta can be broadly divided into Chari, Karana, Angahara and Mandala. Bharata Natyam
108 Karanas and
32 Angaharas are defined in Natyashatra. The 13 Nritta
Hastas (see below) are used to perform nritta. The rythmic body movements along
with hand gestures are called aduvus. A number of aduvus constitute
a jati. Jati will generally end with a Muktaya or Teermana. Bharata Natyam
There are diferent types of Aduvus: Tattaduvu, Mettaduvu, Nataduvu, Kattaduvu,
Kudittamettaduvu, Maiaduvu, Mandiaduvu, Jati, Nadai, Ardi. There are 12 aduvus
in each type, making it 120 aduvus in total. Only about 70-80 are generally practised
by an average Bharata Natyam dancer. Aduvus are often confused with the
108 Karanas carved in the Chidambaram Temple in Tamilnadu, India. Bharata Natyam
The entire body is divided into Anga, Pratyanga and Upaanga. Bharata Natyam
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Anga Bharata Natyam
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Pratyanga Bharata Natyam
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Upaanga Bharata Natyam
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| Head, Hands, Chest, Waist,
Bottom, Legs are the Six Angas. Some Bharata Natyam experts distinguish also Neck. Bharata Natyam |
Shoulders,
Arms, Stomuch, Thighs, Knees are the Six Pratyangas. Some Bharata Natyam experts distinguish also Wrists, Elbows and Ankles . Bharata Natyam |
Sight,
Eyebrow, Eyelids, Eyeballs, Cheeks, Nose, Gums, Lower lip, Teeth, Tongue, Chin
and Face are the 12 Upaangas. Some Bharata Natyam experts distinguish also Heels, Fingers, Feet and Palms. Bharata Natyam |
Pratynaga and Upaangas should move along with the Angas. Anga Lakshana, the movements of body parts, are described below. Bharata Natyam
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When all Angas(main body parts) are coordinated (along with pratyanga and upaanga), the Bharata Natyam dancer is said to possess Angashudhi. Anga meaning body parts, and shudhi means perfection or purity. The Natyashastra has shlokas describing how to perform all the above movements. Bharata Natyam
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The Dance performed by Lord Shiva is known as Tandava, virile aspect. The tandava performed with bliss is called Ananda Tandava. The tandava of the violent and destructive aspect is called Rudra Tandava. There are 7 types of Tandava in Bharata Natyam:
When the dance is performed by Goddess Parvathi, it is known as Lasya, where the movements are soft, gentle, graceful and sometimes seen as er otic. Some Bharata Natyam scholars consider Lasya as the feminine version of Tandava. Lasya is of 2 kinds: Bharata Natyam
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Vatsalya
(parental fondling) rasa is also sometimes included as one of the stayibhava. Bharata Natyam
Vibhava (cause of emotion), Anubhava (effect of emotion) and Sanchari bhava (subordinate
emotions) constitute the state of rasa. Bharata Natyam
Bharata NatyamNayika (the Heroine) and Nayaka (the Hero) bhavas: Bharata Natyam
The
Nayika Bhava Bharata Natyam
The shastras have classified the basic mental status of woman, the Nayika, into
8 types, Ashtanayika bhavas. These divisions portray the heroine in different
situations, express different feelings, sentiments and reactions. Bharata Natyam
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The Ashtanayika bhava are Bharata Natyam
Abhisarika - She is the one who
boldly goes out to meet her lover. Bharata Natyam
Kalahantarika - She is the one who is repenting her hastiness in quarrelling
with her lover, which has resulted in their separation. Bharata Natyam
Khandita - She is the one who is angry with her lover for causing her dissapointment.
Proshitapathika - She is the one who is suffering and missing her beloved
who is away on a long journey.
Swadheenapathika - She is the one who is proud of her husband's or beloved's
love and loyalty. Bharata Natyam
Vasakasajjika - She is the one who is preparing for the arrival of her
beloved, by decorating herself and her surroundings to provide a pleasent welcome
for her lover. Bharata Natyam
Virahotkantita - She is the one who is seperated from her lover and is
yearning for reunion. Bharata Natyam
Vipralabda - She is the one who is dissapointed that her lover has not
turned up at the tryst as he promised. Bharata Natyam
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Sweeya
- Married and faithful to her husband. Bharata Natyam
Parakeeya - Married but in love with another man. Bharata Natyam
Samanya - A free woman, who truly belongs to any man for a price. Bharata Natyam
Jyeshta - The preferred one. Bharata Natyam
Kanishta - The other woman. Bharata Natyam
Further classifications are Bharata Natyam
Uttama
- Self-controlled and tolerant. Bharata Natyam
Madhyama - Literally the middle one, who gives as she gets. Bharata Natyam
Adhama - Literally the low one, who has no self restraint. Bharata Natyam
The Companion to the Nayika plays an important role in any padam, javali or Ashtapadi. This Companion is the one to whom the Nayika will convey her feelings, she is the one who will take the message,if any, from the nayika to the nayaka, she is the one who will sort out the differences between the nayika and the nayaka. This companion is usuallly a girl who is close to the Nayika. The classification of the Companion types in Bharata Natyam:
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Another classification is: Bharata Natyam
Further Nayaka classification: Bharata Natyam
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Most of the ashtanayika bhavas are experienced by the Nayaka also though the depiction of ashtanayika is more than the nayaka. Nayaka's Companion plays an important role too. This companion is categorised into Bharata Natyam
These Bharata Natyam elements are also seen as the mystic symbols of Bhakti Yoga. Sringara means love, but this is not confined to rati sringara. There is bhakti sringara and vatsalya sringara besides rati sringara. Even among some of its practitioners, Bharata Natyam is often misinterpreted as being limited solely to bhakti. Balasaraswati believed Bharata Natyam is based on bhakti and that "it is justified in being called a yoga because it is a spiritual discipline perfecting the mind to thought-free serenity". Bharata Natyam
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There are several original Bharata Natyam styles: Bharata Natyam
The distinctive characteristics of the Pandanallur style are Bharata Natyam
The Vazhuvoor style includes: Bharata Natyam
You
can see a blend of Vazhuvoor and Pandanallur styles in these Bharata
Natyam streaming video clips Bharata Natyam
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In the ancient scriptures, a professional danseuse was called "patra". The AbhinayaDarpana has a sloka that describes Patra Prana Dasha Smrutaha - the ten essential qualitiess of the professional dancer:
According to Abhinayadarpanam, one of the two most authoritative texts on Bharata Natyam, a patra must be Bharata Natyam
See more details in Natya shastra (XXVII.97-98). Bharata Natyam
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The ten disqualifying criteria according to Abhinayadarpanam: Bharata Natyam
Classical
Bharata Natyam recitals and arangetram Bharata NatyamA traditional format, margam (path), of a Bharata Natyam performance, especially important in the graduation performance, or Arangetram, is rather rigidly structured, and reflects the different stages of the dancer's consciousness. Bharata Natyam
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Aranga means raised stage and Etram meansclimbing
in Tamil, one of the south indian languages. It is also called Rangapravesha
in Kannada, another south indian language, Ranga meaning Stage and Pravesha
meaning Enter. Ideally this should be the first public appearance of the Bharata Natyam
artist. This is the occation for the guru to present his/her deciple to the public.
This is the testing time for both the guru and the shishya(deciple) as the guru's
knowledge and the deciple's talent both are judged by the public. Hence, the guru
will decide when the deciple is ready for public graduation. Usually, at least
10-12 years of training is necessary before the Bharata Natyam dancer is
ready for Arangetram. Bharata Natyam
Arangetram was known as Gejjepooje in the old Mysore district, meaning
worshiping the jingles in Kannada. For a Bharata Natyam dancer, jingles
are considered divine. Formerly, deciples were not allowed to wear jingles till
their first public performance when they consecrated the jingles, wore them and
then performed. Bharata Natyam
Accompaniments play a major role in the making of a memorable dance performance.Basic
accompaniments comprise a singer, a mridangam player, a violin player and the
Natuvanga. Veena, flute and other instruments are optional. These people sit in
the corner of a stage or in a place in front of the stage which will be in a lower
level than that of the stage. The Bharata Natyam artist wears lot of jewellery,
make-up and a specially stitched dress. Jingles are a must. Usually duration of
an arangetram will be 2 1/2 - 3 hours. To perform for such long hours one must
have good stamina and concentration. This time is divided into two parts. Bharata Natyam
In the first half the Bharata Natyam
artists generally performs Bharata Natyam
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Expressions are given
foremost importance while performing these poems. Needs lot of grace. The Bharata Natyam
artist should be mature enough to understand the lyrics and the situation to show
the rasas. Bharata Natyam
Devaranama Bharata Natyam
This item is a devotional piece where the lyrics are in praise of god, describing
the god etc. This is a pure abhinaya item with almost no emphasis on nritta. These
songs are the Bharata Natyam compositions of great mystics like Purandharadaasa,
Kanakadaasa, Vijayadaasa, Vyasaraaja to name a few. The Bharata Natyam
compositions are popularly known as Daasa Sahitya. It is a devotional
literatures written in simple language understood by common man. It has made remarkable
contribution to the spiritual and cultural upliftment of people by preaching phylosophy
of Love, Devotion and Peaceful Co-Existance. If you are looking for some compositions,
here they are. Bharata Natyam
Tillana Bharata Natyam
This is usually the last item in any Bharata Natyam
performance. Tillana is full of complicated movements and postures. This will
also have complicated Muktayas or Sholkattu, ending of any step
or aduvu. This is mainly a nritta piece which might have a charana, a meaningfull
lyrics for which abinaya is shown. Bharata Natyam
Mangala Bharata Natyam
Meaning ending the performance. Here the Bharata
Natyam artist will again salute god, guru and the audience for making the
performance a success. Bharata Natyam
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A Bharata Natyam recital resembles the structure of a Hindu temple: first, one passes through the gopuram (outer gate) of alarippu, then one crosses the ardhamandapam (midway hall) of jatiswaram, next the mandapam (great hall of worship) of sabdam and enter the heart of the temple in the varnam. Bharata Natyam
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Bharata natyam Bharatanatyam Bharata natyam indian dance Bharata natyam ballet Bharata natyam
Bharata Natyam is an attempt to embody the divine beauty, charm, rhythms and symbols that exist in heaven. Bharata Natyam
Bharata Natyam is a means of spiritual elevation both for the dancer and the audience. Bharata Natyam
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