The Traditional Sanskrit Theatre of Kerala

-] l CALICUT UNMRSITY SANSKRIT I t SERIE,S No. 3 THE TRADITIONAT SANSKRIT THEATRE OF KERATA i Dr. C. RAJENDRAN DEPARTMENT OF SANSKR[T UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT 1989 SANSKRIT DRAMA AND THE STAGE t'The Sanskrit drama," Dr. Keith observes, "may b€ th* h ghest product of Indian p( etr]'. and as summing up io itself the final conception c,f literarr' art achievcd by the very self - conscicus creators of Indian literature". t Vdmana regards the ten Rrlpakas, signifying dramatic literature, as the mosf important of all lrterary genre, as it is perfect with all the essenrial features of good art. 2 Indeed, it has been claimed in the Nafya.Sastro itself that there is no branch of knowledge and architecture, no secular science nor art, no Yt,ga, no action, which is not represented in Ndtya"s The eiaborate trealmeot cf the various aspects of the theatre, from engineering to costu$e, systematically made in the Niryuldsrra itself proves this claim of versatility. This claim has been asserted time arrd agai:n by Indian aestheticians hke Bhaf[a Tauta and Abhinavagupta. legitimately regarded as Sanskrit drania hes a long history. As pr:nted out by Dr. K. Kunjunni Rajr, Indian drama is eenera'iy a combination of dance, music and mimriic re!)re erta1i.,n 4 It is possible to trace the oriqin of these vari..ru. orp3cli of dram.r 'at least even to the Vedic perrod'.5 or for thai matter, to the Indus valley civilizaticn itself. A statue of the Indus valley civilization represents a dancing Girl whictr can be regarded as the earliest clear document of the prevalence of dance in India. Indeed, Indu Shekhar $sems to favr:ur the non-Aryan origin of Sanskrit drama. e Whatever may be the {rurh of this hypothesis, we have to furn to the $.gveda t,* sfe the first references to dance and music. In the highiy poetic hymns of the Rgveda deprcting U9as, we get reference to her as a dancing girl. 7 Dr. Raja points out that the term Silpa was being used in the Vedic literature to denote'musical dance performances consisting of the three elements' of 'dance, song and instrumental music'. 8 We find this defininic'n in lhe Kaulitaki Brdhmaqa" 0 This integral concspt is retarned in the term saflgltaka found in the later literature. ra "Nrttam gitam ca Vidrtram sangltakamudahrhm". The all - comprehensive torm N6!ya, used to denote the theatricol arrs in general .,i ',;,::,,: g roems to suggest the basic dance - orientation of Indian drama stretches to hoary antiquity. lts tradition hence It may be interesting to note that the traditional account of the origin of drama, given in Bharata's Nd.\yaSdstra, taces the Ndlya to Vcdic sources. It is described that Brabmd created Nnfya by taking dialogue from the Rgveda, musio from the Yajurveda and Rasas from the Atharvaveda. Abhinavagupta, commenting on this portion of the Ndlyasastra brings forth the special significance of the various vedas in tho evolution of Ndlya as an art. The term Pdlhya, used in this account to refer to the body of the drama signifies the portions to be recited with proper adjustments like intonation. According to Abhinava, the Bgveda, consisting of three tonal variations is the appropriate source of it. Similarly, Abhinavagupta points out that the appropriate source for theatrical music is Sd.mave.da which gives an important position to four types of musical instruments called Ghana, Avanaddha, Tata and SuFira. The Yajurveda, which instructs the duties of the Adhvaryu priest, hke going rouod the frre with red robes on the head, con' tains the essence of Sdtvikdbhinaya involving mental adjustments, hence it is deemed to be the source of Abhinaya. Further, Abhinavagupta clarifies that the source of Rasa is Atharyaveda since it contains various occult deeds aiming at the destruction of enemies etc, involving an organisation of various mental states in the performance of black magic. tt f rom the Sdmaveda, acting Whatever may be the aurhenticity of this trailitonal account of Vedic origin, it can be seen that Iudian drama certainly contains sorhe elements of the Vedic tradition. Natyasa.sta explicitlv refers to Ndtya as the fifth Veda. 12 Kiliddsa, in the Md.lavikd,gnimitra referc to N6!ya as a 'sort of visual sacrifice to the Gods'.ta The elaborate preliminary rites in the performance of Nalya detailed io the N\tyaidstra as well as the association of Vedic pantheon with these rituats suggest Vedic influences in Nalya. 4 The Kflliyilfim tradition of Sanskrit staee, significanrly enough, has retained a'unique m,de of recitation of prose as well as verse which strongly suggest some Vedic elements. In Ktliyaft6m, it is claimed that tbere are twenty Svaras -Ho*.r.r, (sometimes also called Rdgas) of distinct individuality. as pointed out by Dr. S. Venkitasubramoniya Iyer, ihe so called ,Ragas' do not show any melodic individuality at all; and they strongly resemble Vedic recitation of the Nampttrri Brahmins of Kerala 14 From these also, it could be concluded that Sanskrit tbeatre had iafluences of some Vedic tradition in the past. Modern scholars like Max Muller, Sylvain Levi, $chroeder, Hertel, Kane and Keith have also held the view that Sanskrit drama had a Vedic origin.rs There can be no doubt about the fact that some of the hymns in the f;gveda, especially of the tenth Mandala, like the dialogue between Yama and Yami, PurDravas and UrvaSi, coniain clements of drama, though, as righrly emphasised b-r' Keith, it would be far-fetched to ilssume the elitenoe of any Yedrc drama as such. Gesture or Aogrkibbinaya plays a sigorficaat role in the enactment of the Sanskrit drama, as is vouch-safed by the copious discussion of its various aspects, seen in It,dtyaiastra and other works on dramaturgy It is interesring. in this connection, to note that the Kerala tradition of Vedrc ricitation retains some Mudras to denote the differnce in the pronounciation of the Mantras. t6 It is tempting to assume that this is a historical survival of.an ancient practicc, which must have been probably the souice of the gestures of drama. But this should remain as a mere surmise for want of cvidences. Sanskrit drama and the stage . "The Sanskrit drama of the theorists is", says Keith, "despite its complexitl,, essentially intended .for performance, nor is there tho slightest doubt that the early dramatists 6 rcre anything but composer$ of plays meant only to be rcad",17 However, the Sanskrit theatre as such has to be rcconstructed from other evidences in' the absence of a liviug tradition. Aparr from the stray atlusions in the Vedic literature to actor and' dancing, we have- to turn to PS,nint's A;tadhyd.yi (4th century BC) to find a- clear reference to a i"*t o, acting, entittei Naiaitttras, written by two authors, Sitalin and Kr6idva.ls In the Buddhisr Pd.li Suttas, mention is made of the 'viilage of actors and its chief, Natagrimaqi. Various aspects' of the theatre like the stago (Ranga), the audience (samdja) and the true'cum'false nature of the performance (sajjalika) are also referred to from which it is evident that a full flodged stage was in vogue even before the 3rd century BC.rs Kdtydyana and Pataf,jali, the great grammariaas succeeding Plsini, also make pointed references to dramatic performance. From Pantaijah's elaborate account,. it is very clear t4q!.*Sp^+{ke l$Bsavadha'and-Belibaadhanq were Berfetppd.'.Dr. Keith rnaintains that threetypes of re' pr.e6€station.wereinvogue(a)actualactingbyactorscaHpd< Saubnifas or Sobanikas (b) paintings which represented tho + I I scenery (c) recrtation of the story by granthikas.zo Dr.- Raghavao points out that granthikas were, in later times knoivn as Kathakas.zr It may be pointe { out that recitative drscourse enactment of drama by Srb.,anikas of the Granthikas "oa,t" Kerala tradition of CdkyEr Ktttu find a parallel in the wherein a Cakyar narrates a Purdnic story and Kttiy5'ttam, I tbe enactment of a I Dr,.Raghavan demonstrates that Patafijlli's references lestify to the prevalence Qf an "active-Sanskrit dramawith all iis components: stage, male and - femate actors' dress, acting, text, themes, drfferent types of plays, dance, musiqand spectators and their reactions", at ab.:ut the middle sf the second century 8.C.22 I .-\ T I In Rdmdyana . drama: ar,d Mahd'fiftdrata,especially in the Haiivam6a portion of the latter, further eyrdcnces of the enactment of drama can be seen. VEtsydyana.s KAmasiltra refers to arts, I i : _-,J music, dance and drama as accomplishments of cultured people, and refers to t'he practice of viewing drama enacted fortnightly at the temple of Sarasvati. Recent discovdry of certain inscriptions iir th'e caves of Ramgarh Hill in Lakhanpur have yielded some interesting information of the ancient Indian theatre. According to T Bloch, who has trred to interpret the inscriptions, thiy conclusively show that the Sitabenga cave on the hill represents the Indian theatre of the 3rd century B.C.23 the Coming to the present milleni'rm, we are fortunate in having copious data of actual performance in the works 9f 'ASvaghopa, Kdliddsa and Stdraka. The discovery of fragments from the former's Sdri,putraprakara\a, a play dealing with the conversion of Sariputra by Buddha, from Turfan in Central Asia shows that drama had been used even in the earher times for propogating religious ideas. The close co' rrespondence between the drama of ASvaghosa and the dramatic ideal in Ndtyasdstra is striking.2' Raghavan sums up the information that can be gathered from the plays d Kd,lidisa and others ' ' The stage, the curtain, the gfeen room, the preliminary music, the stage managor or produoor (Sitradh6ra), the use of music and dance, the types of roles, mate and female actors, the method of pre' sentation and technique of action, dialogue and its characteristics, the different modes of address such as the aside, speaking within oneself, speaking in the air - all these are as nuch reflected in the te' xts of the plays themselves as in the Nd'tyaSdstra of Bharata. The prologues to the plays refer to the occasion and place of the production. The stage directions given by the poets in the course. 9f the texts of the plays, for entries and exists and for the drfferent movements and actions of the actors while on the stage, have a direct bearing on the 7 The proloproduction of the plays- -;----'the actofs, on notes inleresting gues also contain and director green room, lthe iheir make-up, tbe that and care the effort his wife er understudy, betparts, rivalry the thetr actors should take with cerfriendqhip,whtch the and ween groups of actors, tain playwrights hke Bhavabhflti enjoyed with actors and Producers" 26 of foreign travellers also cootain some infor' mation about the theatrical practices of anoient Iodia -Fa" trisa ls3tifies that professionat actors brought to the Bu' Accounts ddhrstic monasteries in Mathura performed the play {epicting .the conve4sion of S6riputra' obviously referring to-A6va' rainy season'20 It-sing ' s;or"'t Saripiraprakarana, in the inother Chinese traveller, refers to the staging aqd popularisation of NAgikmda by King [Ilr;a'2? The popularity of this play in nucanistic ciroles p-r9.b.ably explains the currcacy of .it- in- Kerala also, where, Buddhism had been prevalent before the advent of the Brahmins. , Ddmodaragupta's Kulfanimata written at the en-d 9 f eighth ccntury supplies much valuable 'ioformation of the Sanskrit theatre, m its account of the enactdent of the first act of Har;a's Ratnd,vali,. In the detailed account given thero' in,'t-he followrng features of the enactment deserve our spe' cial attention. (l) The troupe cooristed of w rm:n onty, the m{e roles also berng played by actresses' Ihis would seem to be_a total reversal of the ancleot theatre wherein female rolcs were taken by actors, evidenced by the refersnce rn Pati.fijali's Mahd.bhd.;ya, of the term ,Bhrtkunsa, meanrng tho man who plays women's Parts. at the opening cere\2) Instruments like fiute were used of Sttradh6'ra' mooy culmlnatlog in the entrance (3) Dhruvd songs were newly improvised and sung eotrance and exrt of the Sfltradhira, at the -**,, "rt I to important in Vaip..,ava temples. az There was also the signi-ficant practice of presenting dramas together, irrespective of authorship, so as to present a theme in its entirety. Thus, A{caryacfrSamatri, Abhi;eka and Pratimd. werc presented in a series so as to depict the entire story of Rdmd,ya*a. Another practice was identifying the idol with the purdqic character at the time of the performance Thus, jn ancient times, in Vennimala (Kottayam district of Kerala), at the time of the performance of Bdlivadha, the drummer (Nambiydr) was to announce the per' formance of the play outsidethe temple during the day time with loud drumming. Similarly, in the enactment of Strpa4akhdnka of AScaryacfr,d,d.mar.ri, the role of Laklmaqa is not taken by any actor, the belief being the presiding diety himielf assuming the role" Consequently, the scene depicting the cutting of Srlrpanakha's nose and breasts is symbolically pre' sented near the sanctum sanctorum, before the prescnce of the idol of Lakpma{ra. 33 Such conventions show the inti' mate connection between Kerala theatre and the temple. I i I Stage practices of Ktfiyitfam show that it takes mr days to complete the performance of a single act beca of the elaborate Ptsvarapga ritual and accretions to the actual theme by way of long descriptions, Nirvahanas (flashback) and the discourses of the Vidtiaka. Thus it takes eleven nights for the performance of the first act of Subhadrd.dhanafi,iaya. The performance of MantrS.nka, in Pratijfrd.yangandharayanc lasted for forty one nights in ancient times. For the performance of Bilivadhdnka in Abhiseka, five nights are nece' ssary and for ToraBayuddha, there is a six night's schedule. The time schedu'e of other plays are as follows : Srlrpa4akhdrika A i c ar y a c fr, d m ai r.r) : 5 o g h t r ; A ( : k a v a a i k d"ika A € c ar y a c il d m qg i \: 13 nrghts; Second act of Nagd.nanda: 16 nights; Ftrst act o Tapatisamvaraqa 8 nights; Mattavild.sa 3 nights' sa The lcngth of time required for the presentation is strrking and shows that this elaboration was probably a later phenomenon, the origrnal performance being less complex. There are other evidences to corroborate this hypothesis. d. r ( d. 1l The,Vydtigyavyd'khyd' commentari es on Tapatisamv arar'a and ffiradradianiirioyo, the twin dramas of KulaSekhara; contain reference to the perflormance of the dramas' The ailroaymous commentator, in the long introduction of his commentary on Subhadrddhd.nafi,Jayo, maintains that the aspect of performance of the plays was explained to him by the author himself, who assured him to show the plays staged by actors. 35 As per the Kerala oral tradition, 'Kulasekhara is said to have reformed the Kerala stage and adapted many36 of the well known sanskrit dramas to this reformed theatre.' In this venture, a tJrahmin named Tolan had assisted him, who had composed several humorous verses in Malaydlam to be used by the Vidfllaka on the stage' Kodungallur Kunhikuflan Tampurdn identifres this Tolan with the comm' 'entator of Yyaigyavydkhyd.ez lt seems probable that a relatively si,mpler mode of presentation of Sanskrit drama, which existed in the Kerala.stage, -became further impro.''' vised at the time of KulaSekhara and Tola. . ;Dr. A,. K. Warder has enolved a rough outlino of tho ' history of performance of dramas by means of an ingenious ' method. st Nd.tya1asrr4 mentions the actual duration of the petformance of Samavakdra, a three - act play among the ien Rtpakas. According to Ndiyasd'stra, the first act of Samavakara shoutd havo twelve nddikds, the secund four and the final, two. The time o.f a nEdikd being half a muhtrta, .ie., twpntyfour minutes, it c4n be calculated that the por' formance lasted for seven hours and twelve. minutes. Warder. arrives at a proportioq of the timo of performance and the number of printed pages by applying the above framework to Samudramathana, a Samavakdra composgd by Vatsar6'1a : roughly one page took .ten minutes for performance. The size- of regular plays likc Ndfaka and Prakarar.ra is bigger and hcnce they must have taken more tlme for their performance' Warder conjucters three stages ln the evolution of per' formancese(l) the ancient period when a play in complete, was staged wrthm a single day or night,, aud this must have been the origrnal practioo envisaged in the Naryo\asfil (2) an sme t2 intermediate phase between this and the modern with performance confined to one night on a day or during festival seasons, which would last firr ore w( so. Such practices have been referred to in Pd'li Jdtaka' mention is made of the performaace of seven-'day I' 'supposedly in the time of Ktng lk;vdku' and for rit purposes. Rdmacandra and Gu4acandra, in their Nd'tyada; maintain that an act should not be longer than four y (twelve hours) nor shorter than one mubflrta (forty minutes). This also, according to Warder, confirms existence of the intermediate period. (3) The final stago represented by the Kntiyalfam practice where even one t.qoir., t.r.tul nights for its presentadon because of elaborate improvisations and rituais. Unfortunately we are not in possession of any docu which could shod light to the evolution of Kuliyatlam Kerala. However, we can discern several independant in the tradition, each having contrlbuted its 5[n1s +to art form. Buddhism can be seen as the earliest and the popularity Nd.gdnanda enjoyed in Kerala would this aspect. It is significant that Itsing also refers to currency of Nd.gdnanda in the north. during the day Buddhism there. The Matayalam term 'Cd.kydr', as out earlier, is shown as derived from the Sanskrit 'Sdkya', meaning a Buddhist. If, thus, the earliest strl of tLe Kerala Sanskrit theatre is related to Buddhism, next phase was marked by the rise of the Brahmi religion in Kerala inaugurated by the advent of the Na Brahmins. The recurring themes, anecdotes ard disco in the Kulirdtlam exposition point to the feudalistios of Kerala m medieval times when Brahminism was at peak of rts power. It seems that the original dtrect en ment of Sanskr,t drama gave way to a two-dimensio theatre where dramatic representation often assumed the of a regular dlscourse. Thus tbeatre became an instru of elucrdattng, im,provising and commenting on the 13 Evidently the impact of the ancient South Indian Ktttu discourse is the reason for this transformation. It may.be at the time of KulaSekhara that Kfltiyallam underwent this remarkable transformation. lt is belisved, as shown earlier, that Tola, who was probably the commentator of Kulasekhara's dramas had reformed the Kerala theatre' The main innovations supposed to have been brought about by Tolan in Ktli1dflam have been summarised by Ammdman Tampuran as follows.ao (l) The local language Malayllam came to be used by characters like Vidtqaka (2) The custom of Vid$aka parodying the hero by - means of Prati6lokas came into vogue. (3t Nandi came to'be sung the play (4; Enactment of verses assumed in qvery tou*."actofofeducating the spectactc'r' where the meaning iUa oi .u"ry word was conveyed through acting, facial expression and hand gestures. It is singularly interesting, in this conneclion, to note that many practices of the Kfltiyatlrm theatre came to be criticised in the anonvmous Nafd'nkuSa, a medieval work' The elatrorate preliminaries in the Ku!iya!!am, vidftaka's of the regitxal language, the tedrous Nirvaha4a (reof the previous $tory by means of a flashback "oritiog technique) at the commencement of the play, the frequent usage windin! discourses on loosely conneeted matters by Viot;aka' the int-erposition of unauthentic verses to the body of tho textbytheactor,andtheassumptionofdifferentrolesby the same actor who appears on the stage in the costume ofonecharactetare-thesomeofthegroundsonwhich K[!i1a.t!am is oiticised. The Natd'nkuiafwtber points out that the kuliyallam , tradition . wrongly regards verbala' acting as io a detailed exposition of meaning' [t can be equirut# seen that most of these changes relate to the later-day inno-' vations effected in Ku!iya!!am, probably by Tola' The earlier phaso of Ktliya{lam must havo been more authentic with iegard to the original Sanskrit theatre' :l i t4 References 1. Sanskrit Drama, p, 276. 2. Kavyala*kdrasfttrolttti, 1. 3. 30. 3. 1.87. 4. Sanskrit Drqma on the Stage, p:2, 5. Ibid. 6. Sanskrit Drama: Its Origin and Decline, pp 7. 8. 9. pp. 35 45 - 47. Macdonell, I Vedic Reader, p. 92. Kunjunni Raja, Op cit., p.2. trivrd vai Silpam nrttam gitam vdditamiti (29 . 10. Kunjunni Raja, Op. cit., p.3. ll. Abhinavabhd.rati, Vol.I pp. 57 - 67. 5-3 cf. t.4. 13. t. 4. 12. p. 300 - 301. 15. See Tarlekar, Sudies in The Nd.lyasd.stra pp 4 - 5 16. See, f.rr details, Frits Staal, .Vedic Mudras, lgni 14. Sangi.ta\d.straprave|,kd, 1Ed. by Frits staal) 17. Op. cit. p. 358. 18.'PardSarya6ildlibhydm bhik;una!asfrtrayoh'. IV. III. V. Raghavan 'sanskrit Drama in pp. l0 - 11. 20. Op. cit., p.20, 19. See Dr. 21. Op. cit., p.13. 22. rbid. 23. 'Caves and Inscriptions in Ramagarh Hill,, The C, of Indian Theatre. (Ed.) Varad Pande ML. and Subhedav p. 100 1 0.5 .24. Keith, Sanskrlt Drama, p. 82. 25. Op, cit, pp. 15 ' 16. See atso Rajendran. C' 'Kaliddsante |rldfyasarikalpam' Keli, 1983. 26. Kunjunni Raja, Sanskrit Drama on the Stage, p.7. 27. A Record of Buddhist Religion, p. 163 f. cited by Dr' Raia, Op. cit. 28, Yul,lani,mata Ed by Jagannatha Pathaka pp 579 '682 29. Op. cit , P. I '9. 30. D. Appukuttan Nair, Introduction, Ndlyakalpadru*y P' XIX - XX. The reference is contained in the 28th Gatha of Silappadikd.ram- 31 Irinjalakkuda Madhava Cakyar, Kfrtiyd.lI,am in . 32. Temples Margi Souvenir, P. 7. Ibid. : 33. rbid. !4. .For a detailed description of the eventl of' each day, See K. P. Narayana Pisharoti, Kirhampalarigalil, p.20'178 35. See Kunjunni Raia, Contribution of Kerala to Sanskrit Literature, p. 10. 36. |bid., p.ll. 37. Preface to Tapati,samvaraqa, p.III. cited by Dr. Raja, Op.cit., p. ll. Indian Kavya Literaturc, Vol. 39. Ibid., p. 66 - 67. 46. Kir,ttum Kfrtiydllavum, p. 25. 38. I. pp. 64' 66. Dr. Kunjunni Raja, 'Na[5.nkuSam' "'Kald'keli' (Dt. S. K. Nair commemoration volume) p.62-74- 41. See I i ; PERFORMANCE ACCORDING TO NATY Tbe Ndlyatdstru attributed to the mythical Bharata heterogenuous composition which is encyclopaediac in dealing as it. with all the aspects of the theatre in a prehensive way. The text in its present form is far satisfactory, with different recensions having different ment of chapters and verses. Even Abhinavagupta' author of the only extant commentary, records as early the eleventh century that the text has come in two recens Dr. De analyses the text into the survivals of (1) i prose fragments (2) AnuvamSya6lokas in Aryd and Anus metres and (3) passages in Sutra - Bhdgya style as well (4) the present systematic Kdrikds. 2 According to him, original strata of the work consisted of prose to Kdrikds, Sutrabhd.lya portions and explanatory Kdrik6.s added successively. According to P. V. Kane, the ori nucleus of the Natrya|d.stra was in mixed prose and and the first fire chapters were comparatively later additi On the other hand, it has been surmised by some that tbe original kernel of Nd.yyaSd.stra was in Sutra Dr Warder, who subscribes to this view conjectures prose commentary was added to it latsr on; and t parallei versicn in verse Kdrikas was made. The etymolo wbich Dr. Warder believes to be once a separatc lexicon the technical ter.min'.rlogy were incorporated in the Stltra and commentary text. Subsequently, a synthetic book was evolved from the prose and verse versions, a table of content$ at the beginning, which is preserved in the sixth chapter : rasd bhd.vd hyabhinayo dharnnivrttiprayrttayah siddhih svardstathS.todydm gdnam ranga6ca san This text must have extended upto the end of the and the original prose text must have been eliminated dually. Finally the first five chapters, in verse, were along with the concluding chapters. With regard to +!ls5;-"k 1? versions' he suggests date of composition of the various BC20oasthetentativedateoftheprosecommentalyfollowed century later and the synthetic by the verse K6'rrkas a'AD'4 handbook at about 100 nature' we -'t?;Jto this heterogenuous Giving due margir parts of scattered in different have to gather tU" concept the general idea of the Nd.lyaSdstra to formurate a that a noted be of performa"". .*itaata in it' It should nature' may after tert like Natvasastii,i;;-'ii its prescriptorv ovet theatrical practices all all be a compilation'of the vatious allowing free' India. In fact, Bh;;;'-;;ows great flexibilitv rather than pres' 'dom in the various aspects of presentation to be obeyed stricty'.Ueca11^3f cribing hard and iu't an an' 'oft' regarded as this, the Natvd'5dsia;;; ;" legitimatetvthe customs and con' preserving cient aud valuable document past' ,"i,i""r-"f the Sanskrit theatre of the authentic version has The extant Nd'ly tSd'stra in its most a brief outline of to'etv" -'nJerstand "the 't" be pertinent 36 chapters' tt woritd nature and scope the subject-matter "-t" ii"i "t'uot"t' i1 reply tooft-h"--qottl 'of of the work. ro tf'"t "';;;;; u*"tiu" tt'e creation Ndtyaveda like Atreya' anil the first performance by Brahmd out of fn" foo' Vedas' rDhvaiamaha) of Indra' Ooont' fe'tival conducted during '"""'"tin the ttreatre to different 'n"the assignment of who 'f'cesp rcilicaticn of Asuras of Gods to ward oll t'ii"'"d'tf-t" o*pit ing the victory ' were outrased bv ;;; ;;t";"olt chaptJr cnitains a -detailed Devas over them' iuu '""ood third The construction oftheatre itralyagrha)' saees .account of the with th; t't"t of worship of chapter i, o'uiofy "o'"tined a new theatre ?'d Gods at the rime;;;; "p.ning .of chapter depicts the perfor' performance thereof' The fourth emtio*otnono before gods noance of a Sama'ak6ra called for the benefit of Siva"lt also and then on tne Hrmaiuyu'' Tl4dava dance' described in contains a cetailed "*"'"i "f of Siva for the benefit detail by Tandu, ut tt'" instruction an elaborate account of of the actors tn ine fifth chapter' , 1B the preliminary rituals (Pi'varafiga) is given The sixth and Seventh chaprsls descrrbe R:riir and Bhd. a (the emotive ele' ments of the drama). respectively. The eighth chapter, describing the four-fold abhinaya, mainly deals with th: Agfigifauhinaya related to face. The nineth chapter is devoted to Hastdbhinaya, and the tenth, to Sarira'bhinaya' The eleventh chapter deals with Cdri and the twelfth with Ma(Idalas' The next chapter is concerned with the giits appropriateto various types of characters. The fourteenth chapter treats the division oi t<at9ya, (stage) Pravltris and Dharmis' In the fifteenth chapter, the various aspects of VacikEbhinaya are dealt with like vowels, consonants, parts ol speech and metre' The next chapter is an elaboration of the application .of various metres in Nd!;a' The seventeenth chapter deals with thirty-six Lakianas, four Alankdras ten DoFas and teD Gurlas of Kdvya. In the next chapter, the languages appropriate to various types of characters arc brought forth' The features of Vdcikabhinaya constr!ule the subject matter of the nineternth chapter. In the t*entieth chapter, Bharata deals with the ten - fold divisron ol' Rtpakas and tbeir individual features. The next chaoter deals with the various Sandhis and Sandhyangas in the Rupakas. The t!uenty'second chapter treats the four Vlttis, viz KarSrki' Ar,bha1i, Sitvati and Bhdrati. The next chapier is devoted to Ahdrydbhinaya and deals with the vari.rus aspscts of costume and make' up' The twentyfifth chapter d-'als with Sdmdoydbhinaya and the next ooe with the treatment o[ c(rurtesans (Vai5ikop"cira)' In the twentysixth chapter, Bharata deals with varied representation (Cirrabhinaya), and treats miscellaneous topics of representation. The next chapter is devoted to 'success' (Siddhi) in reprssentation. Chapters 27 - 34 are concerned wrth the various aspects of music, especially theatrical' Chapter thirty five elcals w'ith varlous types tPrakrti) of characters. In the next chrpier, the considerations for alloting various roles to actors are discussed. In the last chapter, the story of the descendance of Nd-tya to earth is fecounted. -^-J * 19 t[". rhe brief outline given above wilt i?T, "lrr be "l :::.'^" :'"l::;[ in theI;l#:'\ffi treatment ;i;l,|"T. iuuot,ir. ",l*;.rr" ui"il;"imni "?':f# "l;:T'l';:l j:!l:l"o',,o'ff ::'?#ffi want ot i,fr details o'lfo.;"3i::"-; for of presentation it appears rn " in From the Ndlya€astra' done u3 'that the open'to *i"* peilororiginarw drama was However' since the t'oj"'1"'"Jn'uju"ho were o'-n*' .w be cons ;:i:f ?:,- Jl"":::tT; Nafla(;astra Bharata In the "";':i^":::3"+':',J;ffi"';, iu' 'quu'"' types ')r' ttrL.'rv'' be large, medium or describes three wrich of j1Lr,J"",i'"til*.-it erch is the and the triangular' Bharata However' 'potr ii""rr'"io 'i"l is' m rst':':5lT.i.1l"u"t;'T"X"; medium''vp' tn"utl;';;' and music arewt'"ril,ri" .r"s woutd ue il;; ,..iru,ioo or acting minute facial expressions tdt*" in a large theatre' mad'e'ol# ti[";t]'T' tti Jt': rhe actual theatre was festival seasons as u ct"o m ance w as o bstr t'o. carao o"t-,"n. pr"va, a thJatre il;;,; ill':sI;"',"-;ff '",,i!-1i:ili,'q,!.-:,il',xil;';";l; "lti"'#l o'"i nr'? p., u" a - ao' on i"""o,,ril-'ir nad two spaces :.r Ji:1".1"Jr1T:l lh.l:n"';ll,"u" inJ'';;;;;;t between tot .t*.;.;;;"; arran' }." sta ge-., I i'u', J.* "i.o' space^tRanelllto"l; was n to be ptaced I;r' f"tt"; the stagi p'o^plt The "lo io" drums occupied the iiil."llili:T",il"'";'i{'1i"'i:*:T.J;,Til,i:"J'J[#'; g avers' strin *'*'u' -"t:flt"f pr o'oo"tt':"" ' "? I,"""t6""'d a i"" "igt I ;xlit:l ttt tr::'.","T {{i,f.o"ffi ol "r-' o preci ated bv all seen'1t"i'"ii;;"t"t"''nit #o;ti-o be clearlv vrew wJ theatre' rn his lll,ll,plo' peo potpote' r 20 Keeping in tune with the probable rltualistic origins of Sanskrit dranea. the preliminary ceremonies ofl propitiation i are descrbed in great detaii by Biurata. some prelim,naries had to be performed behind the curtain and some after the curtain was lifted. Ttre former, which mainlv c0nsisted of the ptacement and tuning of musical - instrumen-t: - "oTprised sieps trke Pratyflhdra. Avataraqa, Aranlbha, A6rdva4d' Vattrapaai, Parigha!!ana, Samghotaad, Mdrg'tsdrita, ASeritakriya and Gitavidhi. Then' aflter the curtain was raised' some dances and recitals wero to be performed and some songwastobesungorthemusicaldance'VardhamS'naka' *ur- to be performed along with T6'+dava' These were to be agcompained by all 15e miltical instruments. The ancillaries of the preliminaries immediately preceding the drama proper were to be performed afterwards. These included items like U$hepane, Parivarttan6, Nindi, Sulkd'pakrtld, Rangadvdra' CEri, Mahdclri, Trigata and PrarocanS' As pointed out by Dr. Raghavan, parts of many of these survive in the pre' liminaries of regional theatrs. 6 Though Bharata devotes con' siderable space for the treatment of the preliminaries, he rightly points out that spectators will be worn out if too much of ttme is taken bY them Rasa is the central elcment of Bharata's aesthetics and all the other aspects of drama, like music and gesticulation are meant to enhance it. "Nothing proceeds oo the stage without Rasa", declares Bharata' z As is well known, Rasa is the aesthetic exp:rience grven fortb when a dominant mood of mind like love, valour, , etc. is aroused by moans of Vi' bha.vas, Anubhavas and VyabbtcdrtbhS'vas, presented through the play. In fact, all the irmbs ol Nafya aro so desrgned as to aid the realisatlon of rasa. The nature of the drama presentec also varies acc,trdiog to the priocipal Rasa delineated and thus we lrave rlifferent types of plays like the love play, heroic play, social pley, farce etc' tn the reper' foire of Sanskrit drama. Bharata inciudes ali the acting possibilities urder his comprehen:ive concept of Abhinaya, which is broad enough n 2l of all to comprise not only gesticulations and movements of tie timbs of the UrhV, bui also ariiticial elements make- '{bhineya has been drstinguished ;J ;; d.uir"r. Acccrdrngty, j Vacita (spoken word)- Angrka up) (,nake irlo foor, Airarya limbs of the body) and various tu" or (""1r;,; u"iiol* Sdrvika (invrlunrary roactions)' Make ' up helps the spectator to to identify thE characters at the outset and the actor diof use makes also cbver his identity' Ahdrydbhinaya fferent colours, costumss, ornaments' merks and devices' Bharata minutely details the'features of facial complextion' hairstyle,anddressofvariouscharactersdifferingaccording to sex, age, coun[ry, religion, prof*ssion, status and accord' iog ,o' *[.in"t he is a god, man, sage or demon' Dress and decor vary according to moods also and Bharata em' 8 phasises full riatism here Wrth regard to settings' Bharata mentions mountains, vehicler, charlots, shtelds, armour, ba' nners etc. made of hght material like fibre, spilt bamboo' hide or wax. Hower.i, it must be noted that Bharata did notalwaysinsistuponsuchdevicesandatlowedriversetc. to be represented as people. He says "There is no end to the thingsr required in this world, but it is not possible toe tring ttrim ait, in their proper forms, on the stage"' Abhinavagupta points out that vehicles and aoimals on which one rides are to be prepared in small models and drawings, to be carried by characters like charioteers. Frcm Nd'tyadarpato'a' ai rightty pointed by Dr. Raghavao, it is clear 'that in a ptay oUr"i King Udavana, a replica of ao elephant in Itght 1o fhus on the whole' the maierlal is kept on the stage fo$-fold abhinaya was comprehensive onough to include realistic and , conventional elements. distinction between realistic and stytised elements of representation is implicit in Bharata's demarcation of Nltyadharmi from Lokadharmi. According to Bharata, Loka" dharmi is the natural and realistic representatron devoid of graceful artificial movements of limbs. on the other hand, il6.ryadharmi signlfres representa"ion based on imaginatioq, A I i i 22 consistingofgracefulAngahlras,dramaticconventions'grace. not ful embellishments cf svaras and characters represented presented as are ideas fy. Sometimes abstract not are character near "utoiuf a by characters, and words spoken presentatioo' Ob' heard by other characters in this type of cars are repre' aerial and jects like a mountain, vehicles actor assumes same the sented by bodily movements and with grace' walking or the role of two characters. Dancing the steps' ratsed foi.ou...nts of limbs and with are some other divisioo *g. with various procedure etc. from Bharata'sfeatures "i oi Naivuatarmi.rz Thus it is clear, both the stylisedtreatand ment that N6!ya adopted practices of natural modes of rePresentation' The diviqion of stage (Kak;ylvibh6ga) referred to abovo into variorrs signifies the apportionment of the stage spaco ."itiog, like gaiden, river, hermitage, forest' sea' mountain' in between tho ;;;* palace etc. The drum, which is placed is the central two ioors of the sreen room at the back point is to foiot from which this division commences' This betakenaslastandotherdtrectionsareunderstoodaccords di' iogty. WU"o a character is supp;sed to move to a new tndicatioos ;;;;i"" of place, it is usually conveYed tnrough tr Iike 'I am going to thrs place' and the lire' With regard to the usage of language, NdtyaSd'stra seea' to to havc foll,owed a realistic praatice, assigning Sanskrit Prakrt vernacular the of dialects iU. n,Jn.t characters and to o,o..o and inferior characters. Dr' Raghavan compares this practice with the English play in which along with the used' standard idiom, coltoquiai and slang may also be ta was used Prakpt according to the status of the characters' 'Daruvd) It plays' Sanskrit in iyrics u, u .--diom of song and composed were may be ,re11[ acticrng that such son-gt troupe' added to the drama by musicians of the theatrical inter' in comic The increasing usage oi vernacular language bc may drama ludes etc. in the later presentation of Sanskrit times' iraced back to this practice of eariier 29 i \ \ I i 1*t I I I I I i The text of the play which served as tbe basis of diathe logue was technically cailed Pdthva B'rarata describes regi' vaiious aspects of speech under Pllhya Gu4a' Three sters of voice are mentioned, low, middle and high. correspotrding to chest, throat and head resonation' 15 They are si' io Ue imployed according to the nature of the speaker' from emenating tuation and emotion" Tni high resonation head is to be employed when addressing people at a distance' The throat and chest are the sources of resonation when of addressing people of greater proximity' Another aspect four to refers Bharata Vaciklbhinaya is voicelmodulaiion and types of it, viz. Udatta (rarsed) Anuddtta (lowered) Svarita Bharata assigns lctmbination of both) and Kampita (shaking)' these modes to various Rasas also, viz., Udltta and Svarita for love and laughter, Uditta and Kamprta for heroism' for terror and wonder, and Aouddtta, Svartta and Kampita is 1o recrtation of Another aspect pathos, fear and disgust. nature the to kar, liotonation). Intonation varies according of tho sentence, vlz whether the meaning can be deduced from the cootext or not. Bharata refers to six embellishments (AlaAklras) of sound also, viz Ucca (toud) Dipta (excrted)' Mandra (subdued) Nica ([ow) Druta (fast) and Vilambita (slow). TLe toud is to be used wheo addressing people at a distance or to express wonder, continued conversation' fright otc. and the excited to denote quarrel, assault,- pride' haishness, crying etc. The subdued tone indicates despon' dency, fatigue, anxiety, longing, meekness etc' The fast tone is used in jest, playing wtth children, remonstraoce'17fear' The fever, frigbt, exhaustion or reporting urgent matter' incogitation' pathos, love' for slow tone is appropriate toleronce, jealousy, indistinct speech, bashfulnesq, mental preo' ccupation, distress, surprise, finding fautt with others or su' ffering under lbng illness. Withregardtothespeech,Bharataenumeratessixother points also, suggestive of appropriate context' They aro ticcheda (pause) Arpa4a ('an attractive and swaying delivcry urhich secms to fill the whole stago') visarga ('gradual release g* final') Aqubandha {coatiruity), tne atovo, leading to a break' over aod smoothly.withciut rB g'ua"o;'t;v ('rising Dloana (glidine-down to a low Lev) ;;;i;;; and octaves') three Dip"o" and Prbsamsaa tom ,Among, these, lrpa;;, vi";;J'' tie eroticandthGeomrc to be employeJ"il tht-;;;e'-of the Visarga are to be *Joaiog Jo;;; the All Vicchede seotiments. valour and wonder' used in the case oflutUot' in the case of disgust and t€rrot' and Arpaua a" to i;-;t"d e,rc medium'''Ftos three tempos (laya) also: for -larrght'€r aparopriate mtiium tempo is ansqr' '. Bharata' refers to and fast. me anoil;fastforvalour' and lovc, the stow"?# ;;A; refers to three dff' -''i"ta text wonder, fear aud dffiJ;-Pn'r1e^;1so lhough the Nfuvq€ailru "ls approprt' erent pitchos "t pitches it"ti"alai*ttOiiol of the cxtremely corrupt iiir*o techlique (pause) also is an effectivc ate for.the Rasas. io te used in the delivery of speech' story elements to Bharata nakes a distinction -between which are those tl'ougU action and be directly p'o"olJ are nqt erc' "'i"J"il' sieges' described tutougu i"i1t"*' -@'and are to be repofed on the stage cnaructer'- through interftiilds to be directly p""li"A in ttre "oor"r,ntioi-li-t""tt tw-ofoip !::ott rike pravesak" ";;,oo"-io"ti Yltn Sanskrit dramatist distinction, D'' R""ghu;ull"nu'*tt''rut evelts regard 31^hischaracters' 3f 20 is alwavs io"""Jf, il-tne trit"t themselves"' events ' u"t"ur ffi;"i;#;;1; '! medium of communicatlon m Bodily acting is the real three types: Sarira (of the limbs)' drama. tt is Oiviaed into (movements o[ the Ceqldkrta -cirest' Mukhaja tof tue iuil'-'oO sides' hips uands' "'d -l::: -Jf whole body)' " Tnl-iead' comprrse their movemen{s 6oOv'-and tnp 'face, pu'tt ate the *i" involves The second type, that of tho first category. and 'of eyebrows' nostrils' lips' cheeks 'chin' the movem"ot' invoiving the whole 9odv' tvpt The last "o"ip""#';;i";t Angirabh-inava is called Sania [kc standir, "#:tt';t;'*-i;; g'oo't like the branchos ofle 'tr€e lbtanch) '*n'o ti'';; ' I,i ,l ( 28 due to the movements of the limbs. When actions show on the different parts of the body, to the spoken words assuming the nature of seeds, the themselves as sprotus due facial movements are called Ankura. Sometimes, when action preceds and suggests the coming words, the facial expression is called Stcd. zz Bharata describes sighteen kinds of action of the head and fortynine eye movements corresponding to Stdyibh6.vas, Rasas and Saf,cdribhdvas. The facial expression is a very intricate affair co-ordinating the movements of the eyes, the nose, cheeks, lips and chin" The overall emotional stato expressed by the face (Mukhardga) lras been divided into .J i1l four bl'Bharata, viz &. Svdbhavika (natural), Prasanna (pleased), (flushed) and Sr ama (dism rl) and they vary as per Rakra the mood erpresseJ. zs FLlrther, Bharata enumerates twentyfour single hand poses and thirteen double hand poses, to indicate various objects. Bharata seems to maintain that the number of Hastas is rot definite since any gesture in the world can be convenrently applied to N6"1va at appropriate context. 24 Characters c'f high stature shouli'! not indulge in roo much of gesticulation, the middte characters should be moderate and the lower charac'ors' profuse 2s Moreover, situations like sorrow, fatigrre, penance etc. ar6 1o bs acted with [ess movcments of hands. With regard to the movenr3nts of leg and feet, Bharata distinguishes between thsr;s ruith feet planted on the $ound and raised. When the feet ore raised, there are four types of movements, viz. Cdri (aeriai rnovementi Sthdraka (stancc) Maqdara (circula. mov.l.n,int) a,ri Grti (walking.) The style of walking varies accordrng tr] the sratus of the char"acter. Thus firm, medium ard fart sty1les are to be employed by high, middle and low characters respeciivelv. Summing up Bharata'r treatment of gait, Raghavan says "The gait with which an actor enters reveals him, his character, ancl state of feeling; indeed his whole being". 26 The gait should be also in harmony with the instrumentai music at the background. i r]===.EE]:--., ''--*-r di is ra dt M wl at th th TI lik (b musical instruments should n rt be ailowed to overpower tho song. Hence songs should be sung first without any accom' paniments, to be repeated with musical accompaniment' Tho ,oog, nuara rendered by mcrrbers of the orchestra and not by actors taking the roles' The traditional tndian theatre had a rich ensemble of instruments also. The orchesra called Kutapa included various drums, lute, flutes, and bells' Bharata prescribes the instrumental music appropriate f.'r various occasions in detail' rt The melodic scates, called Jdtis, and their relation with Rasa are also describtd in the Ndtyasastra. lt is clear that in Bharata's concept, instrumental music, apart from embellishing thc performance was also to serve as a ''iller to provide unbroken sequence throughout, for he says that songs' acting 26 ft E tt A U 8C ur al a at w el ct al tc h dr to in lil di is ra dr M wl ar, th th TI lir (b siltvikiibhioava consists of the eight involun'ary physic4l manifestations of omctrons which can b-' expr€sr€d only when the actor identifies with the character and his emotions' They are Sveda (perspiration) Romlflca (hair standing on endj Stambha (limbs becoming stitl) Svarabhariga (voico breaking down) Vepathu (trembling) Vaivarr.rya (pallor) ASru (tearf and Pralaya limmobility) 27 Bharata points out that' at iho ti-" of emotional intensity, gestures and other movements ehould give way to Satvikabhinaya.2s ' Bharata's theatre made use of a highly developcd musical systcm. There were songs called DhruvE' to be sung'on special oecasions. They were of five types: Prdve6iki (to be sun.g tn" entrance of a character/ Nai;kramrki (at the arit) "t (reinfiorcing the mood) Akgepiki (which marks tra' Priridiki . nsition of mood) ani Antara (some sort of 'filler' song to be 2e These 6ung at unforeseen situations like mishap to an actor)' ,oo!, uuty in the employment of syllables etc' appropriate music for their characteristic moods. Bharata maintains that 30 of drama' success the in 'is of pivotal importance Bharata presoibes ceruin rules in thc chanting of the songs. Smce the words of the song are to be clearlY heard, musical instruments should n rt bo allowed to overPower tho soog. Hence songs should be sung first without any accom' paniments, to be rePeated with musical accomPaniment. Tho googs were rendered bY members of the orchedtra and not by aotors taking the roles. The traditional Indian theatre had a rich ensemble of instruments also. The orchestra called Kutapa included various drums, lute, flut6s, and betls. Bharata prescribes thc rr instrumental music appropriate for various occasions in detail. The melodic scales, called Jitis, and their relation with Rasa a* utto described in the Nd'tyd'Sastra' It is clear that in Bharata's concept, instrumental music, apart from embellishprovido ingr thc performance was also to serve as a.filler to unbroken sequence throughout, for he says that songs' acting 27 and instrumental music should be employed [ke tlie 'fiory From the above survey we get the picturo of th3 classigil sanskrit theatre as a meeting point of diverse ; atts like dance, music sculpture and literature. sanskrit dramatic liter' ature itself is versatile and diverse, catering for the intefests of all strata ofi the society. sanskrit theatre employed .'all sortroftechniquesalike;itcannot-be-descrrbedasconvent' ional or realistrc to the exclusion of the other. The actpal porformanceitselfwasasophisticateddenouementfequfii[ig ihe co-ordination of actors, singers, instru6entalists; th6 sta$e got manager and other experts behind the curtain' , It '^is DaJartpakas extolled enthusiastically ,orpririog that Vamana as compositions pcr excellence, since they combined alt sorts of excellence -' . References vol.l. p.7i6 Cf. Pandey K. l. Abhinoabhd,rati 2. Sanskrit Poetics, P. 27. History of Sanskrit Poetics, P 3. 4 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. C' Indior Aesthetics, p' 222. 20 Indian ftdvya Literature, vol. l, p. 20-21, V. Raghavan, 'sanskrit Ibid,p 20 l Drama in Performtangei,p'.20' '. Ndtyasdslra, Ed. by Bntuka Natha Sharma and Baladeva Up6.dhyaya p. 71. Raghavan, Op cit., p.23 Quoted by Raghavan, OP. cit., P. 23. lO. lbid, p.23. 11. Nd.lya dstra, 14 70'81 12, lbid. See also Tarlek at, Studies in Nilrya\Asfia', p' 76' 13. See Raghava\ OP cit , P.24. 28 14. Ibld., O,]5. 15. 40 Natya dstra, 12, See Raghavan' Op cir., p. 26. t6. This is as per the interpretation of Dr. Raghavan (O2. cit", p.26\. The Ndlya{d.stra text (Ed. by Batuke Natha Sharmat reads uddtta in the last group also, which would e;(clude anudatta everYwhere. 17, I lave followed the interpretation of Dr. V. Raghavan (OP.cit. P.26) also Raghavan Op,cit , P,24. 19. NdtyaSiistra Chapter 19. P. 224' 20. Op.pit., p. 29 18. See VIIL 21. Natyddstra. Ch. II 22. Raghavan. Op.cit. p.32-33. 23. |bil, vlil.256 24 Iba., vlll.l54. 25. Ibid., Ylll.l6. See also Raghavan, Op.cit., p.33. 26. Op.cit., p.34. 27'. d ! I a t: t: I ti ( NatyaSAslTs, V1.22. 2t. Natya*asfia,Ix 173 178. 29. Ibid.,xxxll.334-340. 30. Ibid., xxxlr. 457. 31. Ibtd., xxxlll 18-20. 32. Ibid , xxvur. 7. ,- r I I TIIE SANSKRIT TTIEATRE KU7'IYATIAM AS of Sanskrit drama is an ela' The K0fiyaltam enactment H:i";'l;ffi p'euious storv :fr # .t:, ;;; th" .+= calred'the *x'niHffi i"-"^LT;;';;1,;-the : Muti' dt*tti1\:ilt"*"#liii"""h[ti""r*,";ry"1T'r":U '.i"It".ut were enacteil tll"'".i1]tl"-li-ot"ri""t storv and oI i*lJruh: kH;;;m?:";[l'::.xt.:1i'::H,tx '[he oith" proper' ;;";T;;" perforrnance ]s ii"["",t'to tradition' fortyone nights accordrng The preliminaries of the consist of the offstage enactmtl.,:t ',"n;"';;;o'utioo tno of :::f iryI"'.' 1ffi f T?l*fa ;:'-11: ::# 1"il*"fi t'11i",f preparation the actor bath'- He with after purifying htmseu. ltr]O"iittts of tUc the Kirttampalam received ft-:3" as presents to others. is then to wear cloth ceremonial , "**:1, tS "1": J; ril iilT-Hl tnf liai:X[:*: ';-*i'.ll*.,,t",:ll,T,:'#i,-."l,F,i:'i.*.*i"'jl'.,x:lis to be kePt tn I ,ii"ri,,,'iiakru after. T he for m al o p e n in g cere m c nv t tff. : "r'Jitt"?' ""'H lJ:*tJt1 " -e't*'*"id*' Gaqapati' and L'#":::1]:,,1t'.';i"';i*'-TF""'L"r'",'tbe-'temPre ,0,-. authorities i.*orJJo'u.;tT' ". il".r,oi"e^ J'"v. {^';;i;;i'; worshipping,0. T "?"lil l';:'",':::; tiliarticles ;;:' q :nrrfuI mf of cosmetict'- tt'o.goru ^tr'xr,.: the performance and other .T'lJ,:lG':[ nr i'i'"g ":t this Period' He:1i-fu:i:r::**r :L:'i'*'l is I u..t mus' 30 frr D band from his body before the conclusion of the ceremony. After this ceremoDy, the actor takes to his appropriaie costuming. t th br dr The stage decoration consists of the adornment of the Nalyamaldapa of the Kitrampala. The pillars of the stage are covered with unbleached r:lothes and decorated with plantain trees having fruits and bunches of coconut and arecanut fruits. A big lamp (Nitaviiakku) is placed on the forefront and hanging lamps all over the stage. The big drum (Mizha'u) is placed on its wooden stand at the back of the stage and covered with unbleacheri cloth. The lamps also should be covered rvith unbleached cloths. A sheet of cloth is placed on the floor, in front of the Mizbdvu, for the actress (Nairnydramma) to sit. on the right side of the lamp, a measuring pot is placed, full of unmilled rice and coconut flowers lNirapara). Besides light, auspicious things (Agtamangalya) are also piaced in the fronr, on a plantain leave, along wirh the oftirings fcr Lcrd _ Car.re6i. The A5lamangalya is also piaceC rn tire gre-.n _ roJm, and this completes the formal decorarion of the stage. tc in ril di In the next phase, drummer, who is the Ndndisttradhd.ra, comes forward and seeks the formal permission of the authorties of the temple for the p;rflormance of the drama. Thereupon, A ar se us AI al al w er cl al tc is ta dr tv w at tb th T lil (r he enters the stage from the lett side and lights up the lamp with three wicks. Then he retires to the back and mounts on the drum-stand from the right side. He f,rrmaily sounds the drum. in Ekatdla. Ihen the chief priest of the temple comes to the furefront and performs the worship o,f Lord Gale6a for warding off all obstacles. Af'ter this ptl;r, the actress comes and sits on the cloth-mat and sounds the cymbals in accordance with the drum - beat and sings in praise of all Gods. This item is called Go;lhr Ko![uka. After all these rites are over, the drummer comes ciose to be front lamp and places water, f.lowers etc, on his head and goes back to the greeu 8r room. This rite is called Arafiriutali. The preliminaries to a conclusion come with this' proper (Purappddu) of main characters a red curtain is hcld on the stagc to conceal them' The dru' mmer plays a particular rhythm and the actor, facing tho Mizhevu drums makes obeisance to them. The actor then performs some dance to the beats of the drum, also behind This is called Maiayilkriyd. Thereupon, the cur' ih. "ort"io, tain is removed and the character faces the audience. In tho case of the sttradhdra, the actor takes five cercmonial stcps (Pancapadavinydsa), comes foreward and sits in a specific posture. [n the case of other characters, tho actor attains the mood and the specific typc of the character through ccrtain set movements and conventions. Tnereupon, ho introduces the text of the play through some gestures, which however, do not constitute an integral part of tho plays but only an external one. Then some dance moverncn$ follow, tetmed Nityakriyi, whioh are often accomparned by the songr of tho NaririyS.r. [r ts rmp )rtant to note that when these pure movements are performed, the actor doos not the role of the character; it is understood that hs ".rorc does so in the capacrty of an actor. This is indicated by a symbolic change in nis costume- He takes his upper scarf from his waist to his le[t shoulder, tymg it intc two knots, and unties the two ends of hts lower garoent' After tho performancc of the dance, the actor agam assumes the rolo tf tnu character and returns to the temple' In the entry When the prelimrnaries are over' it is customary to preface the dramatrc perlormance by a 'fiash-back' method of narration' of the previous story' It has three parts' l) Anukrama, 12t Samkpepa and (3) Nirvahana' The Anu' krama follows the first part of the text, Biven in the entry previous announcement of the previcus day' In this, the For and amwer questicn story is described by means of 32 fi I tl F a S( u a a a:. w et ci a1 t( br dr tc in til di is ra dr M wl afl thr thr Th tik (br example, in the Abhisekq,tdt ilca of Bhdsa, the first act, Bdlivandhdnka be,: ins wirh tiro ,4nukrama of Sugriva, who poses the questioq througlr gestnrc. "Long ago, in what ma. nner did Sugriva, the son ofl Sun, pralse Rima, seeing him piercing seven trces ? Before that horv di,l Sugriva aiong with Rdma, Lakgnnaqa and Hanumant start for the war with Vdlin?" z etc. ilhis series ,)f questions stops at one juncrure, which refers tc the v jty b;g nning of the whole episode and beginnrng at the verv beginning, a previcus sr()ry is briefly mentioned whrch goes by the name Samk;:pa. This constitutes the second stage. In th: frnal Drtase. answers of the questions posed in Anukrama ar: given, in the reverse order. Thus in the Nirvahana of Balivadhaika, the Anukrama consists of a series ol questions regarding the previous story, the Samkgepa deals with the origin of Vdlin and Su. griva and Nirvahaga answrrs all the other questions in the Anukrama, brin ing the story to the present the piercing of the seven palm trees by Rdma. posed situation, The Anukrama and Samk;epa are presented only through gesture. In the Nirvahar.ra, the verses are sung by the Nannydr, alter therr meaning is represented by the actor. In the course of the play, the eciion rs stopped whenever a major character is to enter and have his Nirvaha4a. In the enactmsnt ol the aclual text, there will be a short introduction to all the prrse and vers;, pr,ssages. This is devoid of speech and simply enacted with gesture. Then the text is recited and enacted, through gesture. An elaboration and interpretation foliow, also only througlr gesture. In order to give ao rmpresslon of cJnrrnurty tr) the text, tbe gesture is followed by a repetrtion of the last lioes of the text. It is the common practice of K0tiyattlm that all rhe characters, including the person adJresse.l, leave the stage when the spsaker is erabrcating his dialog.le. Ttris gives the whole practice an impression of solo actlng. 3 t 33 The final ritual at tire close o[ the performance is ca' lled Muliyakkitta. The Nambvd'r pla,vs r:n his Mizhdvu to announce that the stagc is reaCy frr ihe finai bath (Avabhfta)' The Cdkydr c,)mer to tho stag: with the head-band on' carrying holy water in a beaked vessel" He washes his face and feei and formaliy sips three mouthfuls of water as Acamana, and then touches his ears, eyes, nose, chest and head wiih a particular finger. He declares that he is performing the final Lath, and utters a prayer. He sprinkles water on his head and body and on the stage and audience Taking one wick from tbe lamp, he invokes the Gcd, doscrrbing a circle' Then the wick is dropped on the floor, the gods saluted again and atonement (PievaScitta) prayed for any lapse in the perfora mance. He ends the performance by to rching the ground The bodrly acting in the Kuril'attam is based on the Kerala text Hustalak;anadipiko which is mostly based on the Nalyadstra. The Ktliydtlam makes use of twenty-four Mudrds (hand poses) which can be shown with either or both of ihe hands. They can b: shown at ftve different levels, ie' below the navel, at the nlvel' ch:st, brow and above the brow. The Mudrd should not exceed the range of the vision of the actor on his normal posture with head held erect. In other words, the actor should not have to turn his neck even slightly to have a views of the Mudrd' There are three types of acting, Irunndffam, Patifliittam and Ilakiydffam' *ii.h ut" respectively shown when sitting' standiog and mo' ving The langunge of the gisture is very sophisticated and gendrr' and c-aso is capable o[ conveying even tho numb:r, general meaning The its frrm aplrt relation of the word, impression of an present anC poJes Mudrds are not stetic perpetual movements- 6 The stylised acting in the Kfltiydttam has several stock items like the description of a forest' mouotain' city' move' ment of army, and the description 'rf a person from head to foot. In the ccurre of presentaticn' acting sometimes actor assumes the characteristics of mono'acting when the .34 for the time being, the roles of the other chara' cters alluded to in the text. Thus, the actor in the role of assumes, Arjuna in etc., which is explaining the verse recited by the hero on of Kt!iya!!am consists Subhadrddhanaft,iaya, while 'navakuvalayasnigdham' the Leroine, assumes the role of the damsel, Subhadri, her attendants and so on. Further, the actor has to rcveal the identity of the character repre;ented by him at the out' set. Thus, when the actor representing Sugriva enters the stage in the Abhiteka nd.taka, he demonstrates the identity of being a monkey by holding trce branches, shaking them etc. Similarly, when the actor io the guise of the Vrd$aka is entering, he demcnstrates'Vtd8;akastobha' (characteristic mood) by characteristic movements. There are fixed oonventioos in Kflllydttam for the presentation of the charactcristic: nature of different characters like Brdhmaqas, Niyakas, Ri' seeing k$asas and the like. The Vicrkibhinaya mode of the stylisod of recitation of the text. [t closely resembles chanting of the Vedic Mantrrs. It has been p:inted out that the re' with the chroting of the Yajurveda cfation\bears similarity e by Kerala Brahmins. The Ktliydt{am tradrtion refers to twenty and twenty-four 'Ragas'(as per two versions) by moans of which recitati rn of the text is to be carricd out. Tho Rdgas do irot seem to be distinct melodic entities, since they do not possess the esseotial features of the melodies current in Southern or Northern schools of tn,Jian music. The Kramadipikas of various plays assign dilferent Rdgas to different'. occasions. Diffcrent Tilas are also assigned to the Ragas. In the dialogue proper, the Vidt;aka explains evory seatenco spoken by other characters in Malaydtam, after repeating it. Thc role of Vrdfr;aka in the VdcikS.bhinaya is unique in that he ceases to be a mere character and assumes the rolo of an expounder of the text too. Parodies, anecdotes and lllustrations also characterise his speech, whrch sometimes lasts for hours. The Vdcikabhinaya in Kttiydgfam is very sophisticated aod is aimed at bringing out the full rigoificance of the 35 ,\z meaning of the dialogue. It leaves nothing unexplained in driving home the dialogrre forcibly to the spectator's mind. Sitvikabhinaya is aimed at conveying. the emotive element in the play by meaos of 'delicate movements of the eyes, brows, lips and cheeks' and ls bereft of expressive bodily movements like those of the hands. 7 There are many portions in the performance of Kttiydltam that are expressed only through Sdtvikdbhinaya. Aharydbhinaya comorises costume, make - up and the setting. The costume and make - up of Kt1ti1 6ttam bears close resemblance to tnose of Kathakali and it seems that the latter has been influenced by the former to a great extent. Various types of make-up like Pacca, Pazhukka, Kari and Katti are used for different characters. Generatly heroes are indicated by Pacca and Puzhukka. H:roes iike Arjuna take Pacca while those like Jimritavdhana and Samvara{rr are to use Pazhukka only. Royal characters lilre kings have crowns (kirita). However, Arluoa, not being a king has alsc crown. Demons likc Rivaoa and Ghatotkaca use Katti type of costume. Generally fcmale cbaracters take Pazhukka, but rn the case of Surpaqakhd, the make-up is that of Kari. For the setting, no elaborate arrangements are being made to create any realrstic impression of the sceoe. However for some spccial items, some soprisricated techniques had been employed. Ihe scone o[ Garu{r coming from the sky and taking away ihe brdy of Ji.nttavd,irana in the Ndgananda is an exemple tor such eiabcrate arrangements. It was staged outdoor, and tire actot assuming tho role of Garu{a was to be suspe,ded tiom an,rlher high stage by means of several striogs tied to his bcdy. His movements wero to be manipulatcd bv antt.her pers)n who made ad justments with ihe strings. Another instance is that of the heroine in Tapati,samvara?.ta wh,r jumps into the river and is carried away by the current. This has also to be showed by placing thc actresi ln a n,lt o[ stringi m tnipulated pro' porly. However such realistrc teclnrques are exceplions and 36 generally speaking,-_the stylised Krlfiydtlam does aot attempt have to of y11it effect. vrrvv!. a; As pointed IJurureq out earlier, the presen@ other characters on the stage is not"*rf"., insisila--rr.rn upon AvFn even when the characrer is supposedr.r, engaged io .oou.rl"tion with others. The materials of make:op ]o Kiitiyattam are easily avai. lable and are light items like flowers,' wooden articles etc. The main iustru.ments providing accompahiments are (l) Mizhavu which is a por oror-iru.rJ-;;.;;#" ol", the entrance to the green_room (2) cymbals (Kuzhitalaft) ptaved bv the Ninnv,r for keeping in" u.ut r:l ."o'"i-is-"oliil which is souoded at rhe .o,ruoi oi J -ii"ri",,h;;-;J,,Ji characters. r+j a-djustable strings fo1, everl beat ',."t;rt i#i#l ffjJ.,i:: and (5) Kurum kuzhal, the whioh is the ontv mstodv ilst'um.nt io tng kn- *lH: It is siguificant that mslody is almost absent in Katiyiiffam, while rhvthm is very proooro.rd. The Kurumkuzhal does not have anu .l-c:i1"1, i"1r-a pr.y and no spocifrc melodres have been attached to it. There are two M zhiiyu one e. compticated rhyinm aod the orher fllr;1r: Keepmg the .ptavin_g bedt. Itakka and cymbat, ur" to them. The rhythm is ptayed ".*r;;; eoactmetrr except when the dialogue rs deliveredtui*g['in. References l. See Mani'Madhava Chakyar, 3. p. 14, Prajna Thakkar Enros, .producing Sanskrit plays in tho Tradition of Kflfiydtt am,, Sanskiit-;;;*, in performance p. 280. Ibid , p.283. 4. Ibid., p. 283. 2. Nd.lyakalapadntmam Kunjunni Raja, .sanskrit Drama on the stage, , p. 21. 6. D. Appukkuttan Nair, Introduction to 5. 7. p. XXXVI. Kunjunai Raja, Op. cit,, p.30, Ndtyakalpadrumami r CONCLUSIONS Kerala acquires The prevalence of a Sanskrlt theatre in NdtyaSd'stra the of understanding spa"iui-i*portance in the Kttiydqlam The lndia' ancient of and the actual stage practices Many India' of theatre g'-ianstrit of Kerala is u ,otui"o Hariadeva' of Bhd'sa' famous plays of sun't'ii fift" th.ose Saktibhadra and Bodhdyana' Mahendravikrama, foi.jttf''utu' -uttKirtiyS'ttam' The stage practices Nilankandha were "iu"tea ";;;;;; in in the stage manuals of the Kttiya!1am "oiifitd preserved bI--'1" called Alfaprakdra, uia Kramadipikas' called the Cdkydrs' The K[1itraditional acting from "orn,ntrnlty seems to deriate significantly ydttam theatre, h";; improvisatioit Bharata's tradition because of many thorough A i:|-^i:T time' latter a at introduced probablv rituals of the background the study of the K'r:it;t;;;- 'tu*nt in n lCtf ic-rtions from the NdtyaSistra onll' clr sLft tire al3r theatre' moie traditional elements of tne Kerala where Sanskrit The Ktttampalam or the temple theatre much similarity have drama was staged in Kerata does not Sd'stra' Kerala l{atv with the types of theatrt mentii'rned in texts hke i'-rtlow to theatre, rectangular in shape seems feafures pcssess not dr I Tantrasamucrorr. urd-'ittiororro and Nd'tya\d'stra in like Rangas;rsa a,Jfuftt'uuatu+i describeri religious dimenKttiylffam has assumed riturlistic and to be regarded came of some plays sions in Kerala. Staging was not "*"?'n'p' drama The. Sanskrit as even a form J case of the in e{cept performed outside the it*p't precincts in Nr?ga-nanda" More' outdoor scenes fitt tf'" Parakkumt<uttu over, even ..tfou'-piuy* likg Bhdsa's .Pratiifidl'augandhardy'aua in the. Kerala stage with elaborassume religious ti*'"ifit"""" find a more secular tradi' ate rituals., Coorrr?i'io 1frit, -'*e it clear that a drama tion in Nd'tyasdsr'ra' Bharata has madethere is no restriction can be performed-ao;;;t;t and-.thatto the Ndtyagrha' about the p.rtor-uoce being confined the Sanskrit theatre The Kntiyaltam does not represent performed there plays Tne rnoia if it'-io[ottt' of ancient 38' are only a few and even the works of great dramatists like KilidS.sa. Bhavabhtti, Stdrak a, V iSdkh adatta and Bh attantrrtryarla are teft out. Even in the case of the playS actually presen' ted, the performance is often limited to some select aq!s' But internal evidences in the Nilya|d'stra suggost thatin.the to be performed in full at one stretch, as one night's programme' This tradition mus! have been replaced by the prevalent practice of elaborating select portions into the performance of one or more nights. Among other things, long rituals in the beginning aad at the end of the performaoce, tbp narration of previous story and the long discourses of the Vidtqaka on worldly matters must have contributed to this elaboration. beginnings, plays were intended Music occupies an important position in Bharata's Nalyasdstra. Bharata maintains that no performance is 'rer' plendent without music. Ndlya{d.stra enumerates six types of bhruva songs to be sung, duriog various occasions in tho performance. Some of them were spontaoeously created for ihe occasion by the actors. Kutlani,mata, a late work of Dimodarag'rpta, suggests the presence of such improvisations in the enactment of Ratnavali. But the Dhruvi songs cannot bo seen in their exact traditional form of Kfltiyaltam. Ao item called the Aldma Sloka' sung by the Nariyir at thc entrance of the character bears distant resemblance with Pr6.ve6ikl Dhruvfl. The Akkitta ilokas sung at the commence' ment of the preliminaries also bear some resemblanco with the musical tradition of the Nd.lya{astra. But the songs as they are recited now do not show any telationshrp with the musical systems of India, the Carnatic or the Hindustani.3 Coming to instrumental music we see a striking variety of musical instruments detailed in the Ndlya€d'stra. They arc broadly classrfied into Ghana (solids) Avanaddha (covered) Susira (hollow) and tata (stringed). The Nalyasdsrra mentioris various instruments like cymbals vil6s, flute, Tripu;kara, Mydanga, Pa4ava and Dardura' Specific.instruction asto thc g9 is also givgn, r f8!iomploymoat of thc vatious instruments vl"ttam also has its musical ensemble, oonsisting_of !l: -169" vt'znavu, the cvmbals called the Kuzhilllao' ;;';";-;atfi and the pipe the percursrioo iort,'*"nt etatta' tne conch genetal galled the Kurumd;i;i inougn there is sooe instrumelnts ' of the Kttiydtlam and ,resemblance netween-ine absence of rielody thosc mentioned in ths Ndtydsd'stra' the in rulilatFm'which does not make \e is striking usc of VI+d. and tueialsa' in KfiliYaflam music' ! il;;;t ' b Tho Nd.tyaid,stra refers int to taru element is moro maqked two Gramas (the sagrdm-a and to--.T: the ma gramal and 18 Jatis' The Jdtis t"-lt::P"-i9 mustc Kt!i'r6!!am Rlgas of tU, later musical system' The describes Kntiydlfam pattern. this from differs oonsiderably chara' of types twcnty 'Rlgas' o. i'"t"t, assigned tovarious ;; i. o"-o,o different msads' Tbooghof-tol* :f 'h:1aT: ald Kerala music same as those' 'of thcrc ,Rigas *-iil the 'Rdgas' !1 not ;t d tamit music, in actual practice, bear resemblance "f;k; "Ay ..toai" cnaracteristLs' They between distioction the is Nor with the chanting of Vedas' hearing' Hence thg mysical different Rigas .uiif""ty clear on asna .1"i.. .f t[e futiyattam cannot be traced back to Ndrya traditioo. realism in costume and Niityasdctra seems to emphasise implements and setting in prescribing the dress' .ornaments' symbolism are. also o-,i*o-pitpJrties, tho"ugh conventioo * --i-*-- "l$ thc accent of permitted ,o ,o-" .*i.nt' Contrary [o this' and stylised tbc Kf,tiyatlam seems to be on conventional some produced also are e-ffecl realistic i.pt*i"tit,Jn, thoit Nagdnanda' of p"inttoorflttu staging the in timcs as in the hcadinu-oriog of rice n*,. in facial decoration 'the red sho-w eto flowetrs in' band, and tue croii made of Tecci that fluenco of Kerala-fJt-"ot'o*tt' It has be-en.sggBested tley may havs been derived from varloug folk performances G From and rituals like Yd'trakkali, Niigapf,ja' and Tlydllam' modi' all this, it is only reasonable to conclude that local 40 fications must be of considerabre weight in the evorution of ff::'J'rffi ::*ffi ,xi,..:,,,."f_#'Tft ";;;;;;;;;d): !j:r,I: :*l',::': l^" h: K v6! m oecificar rv fo r ws f#:;*::#*,y^::h_1{.*ii;'#i'.#;-"T;";:il[J",:"ffi r1 t i t !a s o {J""r{f,1i,1{";r::*::*r'Ei"'"r"il;.'TJ'i#f Hili,"T; :::,T#:'","',1,:=l'i;i;;e;;";;"':::i3"*l1if ffi; fr?t;:'#"r1,,llll,"i-T,.,t-'-0"^u-J"'r"t.r'ilJffi ;::ffiT ,n-ffi:I',T.:l:,:yg_:l:^:;;[#",i11"."]1"#]# ;:Tli,;.ffffif; :T*T-fif distinct' from'ff: the i-",,:*,yut.#;: iatydastra tradition. A croso studv of K[dyeffam in the background of the Niitya$iistrq would leaO one i" rnr"-r".fusion that the former fepreseats a styre of representation rtoted in the tradition of the rndian theatre. provio.iui -1'a,rrcations caused by 'art the intermingling of-with fork f;;;,li"uut"rt in Kerata. In tbe Ndryu*dsrra it11fr, wnicn.is larr",'r'" descriptive treatise than prescriptive, local variatior, concept of pravrtti. "'r"'u"counted for as in thc -Many features-i, ,t" Kntiydlfam art form are not altoqeth", ,iotoori-io iraaitional ,jramaturgy. Thus the etaborate speech of the vidugaka in the Maraviram Ianguage caunot tr" iega.oeJ ;;' ili, iooou"ti6n, of Kfrti_ yaffem in the ,rur1 ani"rirtZ) statem"nt. .parihd,sah :1.1" prayoktavyah de6abhisduniranvitaf,,.;';;, many, pracrices in the Kfitiya.tfam are supposed to b, th" innovations jester the in the court of folus.tirru In the of Totan, recohstrucl ion of the ancienr sanstrii--s;;;;" ,;r" modificarions have to be accounted rr.., rirri"urr,'io" basic featureswi, -or,.ililo]'lor"u.r,rarion, of Ktdyegfam viz. its Ouo.. rituatistic preliminaries, acting, expression of sentiments etc. are the basic features of the Sansirit tueatre itreii. r. cr. Kunjunni Raja ,:::r:r";rama on the 2. See Mantrdika p. K. Narayanan Nambiar,stage,p.20. p. 133. :41 3. Venketasubtaooniya lyer S' $rllts't'sas1rlaprawiika' 300-301' 4. sangitopakarana*hal"Keli' Raiendran C''NdlyaSfr'strattile 1980. s. ;; Ir:l%,frffi.,:'3ffiXi the Tradition oI Pras.11 f:#-,i';':'; 300'p' ;' p' Iver s' op' cit'' u.*iy;'"1*ill;,",*" 'Kfrttufl K&tiyafiavum" 7. Ammamman Thampuran p' 283'284' toi*' .Enros' op' cit" 8. Cf Pragna ;. Ct' foojoooi 10. Rajeadran vol' 9' (A) p' Raja' Op' cit'' 31' Bhashasdhiti' ' ,a,rofrfial' Bhashasdhit' '-'-'* vvativd'nafrnal' "'')ffi"1iu"t '' cr BIBLI*,RAPHY "" Sowkrit BIIARATA: uu' z N d t y as a dstr wltb Abhin 1:t!#i:: - ffil1'J ^:":fi Hindu :{''"iri;:;Ililff"i;q:r'i*H*"fi"};; *'1';l iuoniu' :1.fl'J'3:1,1*,:$ii uiive,sitv, tg'7t' ; ;;' ;-"0' 4e',irt".tJr"ff:"I1";'ffi *.":l1,:L*T,i-ffi,1 t'"1'.1til1 ;iio-soo't.itsaosthap' Calcutta, l95t' DH AN AN IAY l.' ?::':y:oi,:;:i'rl' :!:: :""ff"'J'n'Jjl "d: i;^:,{:"X{ri!Wi";:'*i;:..:mf "i J;";; Bffl*'ff -ffil"," ff{ il;.\{1,":'l-e'ff}::,?rr ]'" ni'fTi#:; ":"::lili L,a.,- A,tuu"uoo' p Au o o e. fifi :''ll##:,t*,.ollittffiT";f, Prakashau Pvt' ^1",.'. *nntn iiug' ^ .----il, I 4t '' rlillotsubramoniva 4. Iver s''sansita(d'straprovesikd, p. Rajendran C.,Nd,tyaSd.strafiile sangitopakaranairial,, Keli. 1980. 5. Cf. Pragna Thakkar Bnros .producing Sanskrit Pldj,s in the Tradition of Kfftiyitfam,, Sanskiit Drama in Performance, p. 6. 7. Venketasubramoniya Iyer S.Op.cit., p.300. Ammamman Thampuran 'Kilttum Rfrfiydttavum,, 285. 8. Cf Pragna Thakkar .Enros. Op. cir., p.2g3-2g4, 9. Cf. Kunjunni Raja, Op, cit., p. 2g. Rajendran C. .Krtrivttattite Vyatiydnaririal, I r0. I Vot. 9. p. 66. I Bhashasiihiti, SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY (A) Suskrit: BHARATA : Ndtyafi.stra with Abhinavabhd.rati. Commentary of Abhinavagupta, Ed. by Satritvacarif iluoor. sudana Sastri, Vol. I and lL grol;", ill.u University, 1971. Ed. by Batuka Natha Sharma _ and Batadeva Upadhyaya, Chowkhambha SanskriiSurrtU.p" te80. -1 I English Translation by Manmohan M.A., ph.D. Asiatis Socicty Calcutta, 1951. of Ghosh. Bengal, DHANANJAyA : Dailarfr,paka with Avatika Commentary Dhanika and Laghulika sub- oo*..o,-# of ,fiJoi by T. Venkatacharya, Adlar Library and Research Centre,iieg.--DAMODARAGUPTA i Kuttanimata Ed. by Jag6nnath pathak, Il{itra prakashan Pvt; Ltd., Allehabad. Bha-tfanysinha, Ed. 42 KATIDASA : Works (Vol. Delhi, NANDIKESVana : t Dramas) Mgtilal Banarsidass, 1927. AbhinayadarpaTta Ed.Manmohan Ghosh Manisha Granthalaya pvt. Ltd., Caloutta, 1975. PANINf : Astddhydyi (tn 2 nslation by volumes) Ed. with Engtish Tra- Srisa Chandra Vasu, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, ]977. RAGHAVAN PILLAI Dr. K. Gd) Abhiindnasdkuntalacarcd, +l University of Keraia, 1961. SRIHAR$A z Ndgdnanda Ed. by pt. Ramanatha' Tripatii Sastri, Clowkhamba Amarabharati p;akashan, Varanasi, 1976. VAMANA z Kdvydlankdrasfrtravrt i with Kamadhenu Sanskrit Commentary, Chowkhambha Amarabharati Prakashan, Varanasi, 1977. (B) Engltsh z DE, SK. Hlstory of Sanskrit poetics, Firma KLM pvt. Ltd., Calcutta. I976. KANE, P.Y. Htstory of Sanskrit poetics,' Motilal Banarsidasr, Delhi, 1971. KEITH, A.B. fhe Sanskrit Drqrna, Oxford University Press, London, 1970. KUNJUNNI RAJA, Dr. K. Contribution of Kerala to Sans- krit Literature, lJniversity of Madras, 1980. Katiyd,llam, Sangeet Nataka Akademi, New Delhi, 1964. MACDONELL, A.A. A Vedic Reader for Students, Oxford University Press, Madras, 1976. PANDEY, K.C. Indian Aesthetics, Tbe Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Offica, Yaranasi, 1959. ,49 RAEHEL VAN M. BAUMER AND JAMES R. BRANDON. Sanskrit Drama in Performance. The University Press of Hawaii, Honalulu, 1981. SEKHAR, INDU : Sanskrit Drama: Its Origin and Decline Munshiram' Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Delhi, 1977. TARLEKAR, G.[I. Studies in the Nd.tyaSd,stra, Motilal, Banarsidass, Delhi, 1975.. UNNI, N.P. New Problems in Bhasa Plays. College Book House, Trivandrum, 1978. VAROD PANDE M.L. and Dr. SUNIL SUBHEDAR (Edn.) : The Critique of Indian Theatre, Unique publications, Delhi, 1981. VATSYAYAN, KAPILA : Classical Indian Dance in I;iteratnre, Sangeet Natak Abademi, New'Delhi, 1977. WILSON (C) II.[I. and Orhers : The Theatre of the Hlndus, Indological Book House,' Delhi, yataaasi, 1972, Malayalom: AMMAVAN THAMPURAN: Kil,ttum KrtfiyAfiavum, lodayam Press, Trichur, (M.E. 1ll0). Kera- KRISHNACHANDRAN, V.R. : puru;anhakkfrttu,Kerala Sa. hitya Academy, Trichut, 197t. KUNHAN PILLAI, SIIRANADU (Ed) : Asokavonikd.nkam (Affaprakdram) Manuscript Library, Trivandrum, 1957. MANI MADHAVA CHAKYAR : Nd.tyakatpadrumam, National Book Stall Kottayam, 1975. MENON K.P"S. Kathakaliyd.\laprakdram, Kerala Kalamanda. lam, Cheruthuruthi, 1970. NARAYANAN NAMBIAR. p.K. Mantrd.rikam, Kerala Sa, hitya Academn Trichur, 19g0. & NARAYANA PISHAROTI, K.P. Ascaryacilddmarti Kramadiplka, Auaprakaram, Kerala Sangeet Natak Academy, Trichur, 1967. i,Kfrttampalangali/, National Book Stall, Kotta- yam, 1981. PISHAROTI, K.R. Narnmute drsyakala, irational Book StalL Kottayam, 1957. K.T Ammannilr Cdccucaykar, Vatlathol Vidyapitham, Sukapuram, 1981. RAMAVARMA, VENKITASUBRAMONIYA IYER, S. S dngitasdstro prawslkaKerala Language Institute, Trivandrum, 1974. Arttcles : AMIVIINI BHATTATIRIPPAD:'KEfiyaffam' Margi Souvenir, Trivandrum, 1976. APPUKUTTAN NAIR, D. Introduction. Nd.lyakalapadrumam, National Book Stall, Kottayam, 1975. :'Tilav6.dyaririal Keraliyadr6yakiilakalil', Ma. rgi, Trivandttm, 1974. KUNJUNNI' RAJA, Dr. K. 'sanskrit Drama on the Stage'. Journal of Madras Univbrsity, Vol XLVII, 1975 'NatinkuSam' Dr. S. K. Nair Commemor ation Volume, D. C. Books, Kottayam, 1985 MADIIAVA -: :'Pratimdndlakam Araririattu' Margi Souvenir, Trivaodrum, 1976. CAKI/AR, IRINJALAKUDA : .Kri!iy6!{am Kgetranialil, Margi Souvenir, Trivandrum, 1976. MANKAD D. R.'Hindu Theatre', Indian Historical Quarterly, VIII, 3, 1932. MANMOHAN GHOSH, M. A. 'Hindu Theatro', lndian Historjcal Quarterly, IX - 2' 1933. 45 NARAYANAN NAMBIAR, P. K.'Ktltiydttattile Tnlamelarial'' Margi Souvenir, Trivandrum, 1976' NARAYANA PISHAROTI, K P., 'Kttiydttatile Vidt;akan Margi Souvenir, Trivandrum, 1976' RAJAGOPALAN, N S' 'Mizhavu,' Margi, Triradrum, 1974' RAJENDRAN, C.'Nd(ya6lstrattiie Sangitopakarananlal' Keli' Trichur, 1980 :'Kfitiyi!!attile Vyatiy6.nannal,' Bhashasahiti, Vol. 9, Trivandrum, 1985. :'Kd.lidS.santc Natyasankalpaar, Keli, Trichur, I 983. STAAL, FRITS. 'Vedic Mudras', Agni,Yol.II, Ed. by Frits Staal, Asian Humanrties Press, Berkely, 1983. UNNI, N.P.'Vyangyavyikhya'. Margi Souvenir, Trivandrum, 1976. ? I .r{'r43\lrf.