PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 1 Bharatanatyam, The Dance Of Bharata-India

India has several dance forms - classical, folk, tribal, ritual, film,
contemporary and modern. Classical dance is considered a higher
form of art. The major classical dance forms of India are
Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam, Manipuri, Sattriya,
Odissi, Kathakali and Koodiyattam. Folk dance forms are practiced in
groups in rural areas as an expression of their daily work and rituals.
They are performed on religious or seasonal festivals. Some popular
dances are Bhangra of Punjab, RasLeela of Uttar Pradesh, Garba of
Gujarat, Ghoomar of Rajasthan, Bihu of Assam, Lavani of
Maharashtra, Pulikali of Kerala, Devarattam and Karakattam of Tamil
Nadu, Matki Dance of Madhya Pradesh, Dollu Kunitha of Karnataka.
For ceremonial or ritualistic dance, what comes to mind are various
kinds of Theyyam of Kerala, Kavadi Attam of Tamil Nadu. The
presentation of Indian dance styles in old as well as new films has
exposed the range of Indian dance styles to a global audience, the
most popular now being the Bollywood style with fast contemporary
choreography.

The most widespread, learnt and performed from among classical

forms is Bharatanatyam. It is pan Indian and global now. It is danced
by those who understand its music (Carnatic) or language (Tamil,
Telugu, Kannada and Sanskrit) or even by those who don’t. It has a
1
vast repertoire and outreach. It has a long history since 2nd century
B.C, with earliest reference found in Silappadikaram / शिऱऩददकारम.

The earliest period known to Indian history of which we have

recorded evidence is that of the Vedas and dancing was practiced at
that time. Dance finds mention right through Vedic literature and the
references reveal that not only was it a part of ritual – so common in
early societies – but also a popular mode of creation and a coveted
accomplishment. The next period that stands as a milestone in the
pageant of early Indian history is that of the two great epics
Ramayana and Mahabharata. Here too, we have ample evidence of
the existence of dance as an art, as an activity and as an adjunct to
ceremony. Next in importance are the Puranas whose compilation
began 1000 years before Christ and concluded about the 10th
century AD. Dancing was a well developed and systematized art even
in the time of the early Puranas. It was held in such high esteem that
there is a story in the Vishnudharmottara Purana which maintains
that to be a good sculptor or carver, it is necessary first to have a
thorough grasp of painting and to be a good painter, it is equally
necessary first to acquire mastery of dancing. Important among
other Puranas, which make mention of dancing are the
Brahmavaivarta, Skanda and Bhagavata. The Bhagavata Purana
merits particular attention for it carries a singularly elaborate and
vivid description of the pick of Krishna’s dances, the Rasa Lila.1

Bharata was a sage who postulated the fifth Veda, also called Natya
Shastra. One of the very early texts on whole range of Indian
literature, it is a monumental work devoted to drama, dance, music
and related arts and crafts and aesthetics. Written about 2nd century
AD, this contains in its 37 chapters, exhaustive material on practically
2
every aspect of the performing arts – technique, presentation and
appreciation. The material has all been scientifically analysed and
systematized and presented in a thoroughly organized manner. This
obviously implies that the arts of dance, drama and music in India
must have evolved, developed and reached a high degree of
perfection and standardization even prior to the compilation of the
Natya Shastra. Technical treatises such as Abhinaya Darpana /
अशिनयदऩपण, Dasarupaka / दिरूऩक and Sangeeta Ratnakara /
संगीतरत्नाकर followed. Kalidasa who flourished about the 5th century
AD, delineates in his Malavikagnimitram / माऱविकाअग्ननशमत्रम on how
a dancer should perform – her deportment, her sense of timing, her
involvement with the rendering, her communication with the
beholder. Sudraka / िूद्रक wrote one play Mrichchakatika / मच्ृ छकटीका
(The little clay cart) where the principal character is a courtesan
Vasantasena, who by virtue of her profession, is also a dancer. Panini
/ ऩाणणनन (700 – 600 BC) wrote the Ashtadhyayi / अष्टाध्यायी, the
earliest manual of grammar and while commenting on the root
nrit/नत
ृ (to dance), refers to Silalin / शिऱाशऱन and Krisasava / क्रििासि,
said to be the authors of certain vital and codified postulates of
dance. Kautilya / कौदटल्य (4th c BC) wrote the first work on stagecraft,
the Arthashastra / अथपिास्त्त्र, and from this we learn that arts such as
dancing, acting, singing, playing on musical instruments and painting
were then under State control, which implies that it was the
responsibility of the State to maintain professionals in these fields.
All these authors and texts belong to northern India.2

3
Turning to the south, the oldest among Dravidian languages is Tamil
and it has a literature that dates from the dawn of the Christian era.
The Sangam / संगम Age lasted from 500 BC to 500 AD. The
Tolkappiyam / तोऱकाग्पऩयम, Kuruntogai / कुरुन्तोंगाई and Kalitogai /
काशऱतोगाई reveal the existence of a number of dances, practically all
of which are of ritual nature. To the same period belong the great
epic Silappadikaram and its sequel Manimekalai / मणणमेखऱाई. Both
carry references to dancing, the former copiously, touching every
aspect of the art – technique, teaching, presentation, repertoire. In
fact, the story of Silappadikaram revolves around the infatuation of
Kovalan, a wealthy merchant, for a dancing girl Madhavi. Their
illegitimate daughter Manimekalai provides the theme for the
second epic named after her.3

The earliest architectural evidence of dance is found in Jaina rock cut

caves. Jaina prince Ilango Adigal / इऱांगो अडिगऱ of the Chera dynasty
is credited with composing the Tamil epic Silappadikaram. The story
of the anklet, with the central character of a dancer, Madhavi, is a
treasure trove of information on dance. The Natya-Ganikai / नाट्य-
गणीकई, as the dancer is called, is mentioned as having mastered
dance and the allied discipline of music for seven years before her
debut (arangetram / अरं गेत्रम) on a stage of prescribed measurements.
The stage is a simpler version of the stage mentioned in the Natya
Shastra, the oldest treatise on Indian theatre, of which dance was a
part. Even hand gestures are mentioned, not to speak of categories
like secular dance as differentiated from ritual dance, abstract dance
as separate from interpretative dance and of graceful movements as

4
differentiated from their more vigorous counterparts – all of which
points to an actively evolving art. Santi Koothu / िांनतकूथु being the
equivalent of classical dance, while popular forms of entertainment
like gymnastics, puppetry and clowning were clubbed under Vinoda
Koothu / विनोद्कूथ.ू Dance was always referred to as Attam / आट्टम or
Koothu and in later years, Nataraja, the king of dance, came to be
known as Aadavallaan / आििल्ऱन or Kuthan / कुथन – a direct
derivation from those terms.4

Some scholars concur that Bharata was not one single person but
many who knew Bharata, India. And thus, these wise men
collectively prescribed the art of dramaturgy (natya, not nritya alone)
to all who would become its practitioners or followers. The word
Bharata also encompasses Bhava (Bha), Raga (Ra), Tala (Ta) thus
leading many proponents to believe that Bharatamuni was more a
concept than a person, though conclusive proof exists otherwise.
Bharatanatyam was thus born as a divine form meant for auspicious
celebration of divinity through dance and music. Unless all three
ingredients – shastra / िास्त्त्र (literature), sangeeta / संगीत (music) and
sahitya / सादित्य (poetry) came together dance could not be
performed that would be understood.

The foundation for present day Bharatanatyam was laid when Tulaja
II / तऱ
ु जा || (1763 – 1787) invited Mahadeva Nattuvanar / मिादे ि
नट्टूिनार, a guru from Tirunelveli, to the Thanjavur court. He came
with two dancers Vanajakshi / िनजाक्षी and Muthumannar / मथ
ु म
ु न्नार
who presented the varnam ‘Ghosala Tulaja Rajendra Raja / घोंसऱा
तऱ
ु जा राजेन्द्र राजा ’ dedicated to the king. The dance was at this time
5
called Sadir / सदीर or Dasi Attam / दासीआट्टम, Bharatanatyam being a
later appellation. During Tulaja’s time lived the epoch making
Carnatic musical trinity – Thyagaraja / त्यागराज (1761 – 1847),
Muthuswami Dikshitar / मुथुस्त्िामी ददक्षीतार (1775 – 1834) and Shyama
Sastry / श्यामा िास्त्त्री (1762 – 1827). Their compositions still form a
major part of Carnatic music.5

The two nattuvans / नट्टूिन, as the dance gurus were called,

Gangaimuthu / गंगईमुथु and Subbaraya Oduvar / सुब्बराया ओिुिर , also
arrived at Thanjavur and were allotted a building opposite the main
temple known as Nattuvan Chavadi / नट्टूिन चािड़ी. After Tulaja came
Amarasinghe / अमरशसंघे (1787 -1789) who shifted his headquarters to
Thiruvidaimarudur / थथरुवििैमारुदर, another famous centre for dancers
and musicians like Ghanam Krishna Iyer / घनम क्रिष्ण आयर and
Gopalakrishna Bharati / गोऩाऱक्रिष्ण िारती . Their compositions still
form the musical / textual base for Bharatanatyam. Defying the ban
on court dancing imposed by the now powerful East India Company,
the court patronized sadir performances. Subbaraya Oduvar
produced four great sons, Ponniah / ऩोंनैया, Chinniah / थचन्नैया,
Sivanandam / शििानन्द and Vadivelu / ििीिेऱु who became the
legendary quartet (Naalwar / नाऱिर) that designed the entire format
of present day Bharatanatyam. The Quartet’s concert format of
alarippu, jatiswaram, sabdam, varnam, padam, javali and tillana is
still followed though the jatiswaram and sabdam have become less
common.6

6
Serfoji II / सरफ़ोजी २ was the Maratha ruler of Thanjavur from 1798 to
1832. He was a great patron of Bharatanatyam and himself wrote
many Nirupanams / नीरूऩण for dance in the Marathi language but in
Carnatic ragas. In his time, there were eighteen items in a
Bharatanatyam performance and these were Jayastuti / जयस्त्तत
ु ी,
Sharanu Sharanu / िरणु िरणु , Alaru / अऱारू (This was perhaps
Alarippu), Sollu / सोल्ऱु, Shabdam / िब्दम, Varnam / िणपम, Padam /
ऩदम,् Swarajati / स्त्िरजती, Abhinaya Padam / अशिनय ऩदम ् , Tillana /
नतल्ऱाना, Jakkini Padam / जक्कीनन, Geetham / गीथं, Prabandham /
प्रबन्धम, Triputa / त्रत्रऩुट, Shloka Varnam / श्ऱोक िणपम , Kavuthuvam /
कौथि
ू म, Mangale / मंगऱे. Serfoji patronized the Tanjore Quartet, who
reduced the eighteen items to eight and introduced the margam /
मागपम which is now in force.
7

Many of the principal compositions that make up a margam, the

complete suite of dances in a concert program were first composed
specifically for dance in the early 19th century by Ponnaiah Pillai
(born 1804) one of the Tanjore Quartet, who was both a musician
and dance master. The repertoire in modern Bharatanatyam can be
said to date from that period, their repertoire being regarded as the
most traditional. The full classical Bharatanatyam recital is divided
into 6 or more discrete pieces, each of which belongs to a well
defined category on the basis of its music, and the content of the
dance. The name of each dance piece usually identifies the musical
form to which it is set. For example, varnam, jatisvaram, sabdam,
padam, javali and tillana are the names of the musical forms and
also of the dances choreographed to that music. These pieces are
7
identified on the basis of their musical content and the
choreographic conventions to which dances are set. All these are
generic terms; for example, there are many jatiswarams, varnams
etc. While the dances have the same name the choreography for
each of them varies. There are numerous options, but dance steps
must be structured to conform to the established general patterns.
Within each category, the musical compositions can have a different
tala (rhythmic structure), raga (musical structure) and sahitya (lyrics,
where they are present). The songs are generally in Telugu, Sanskrit,
Tamil or Kannada. Recently songs in various regional languages such
as Marathi, Hindi and Bengali have been set to dance. Naturally,
audiences are more appreciative if the songs are in languages that
they understand.8

The margam carefully prepares the dancer and audience for a

gradual increase in tempo, emotion and exaltation, creating a
wonderfully complete and symmetrical art. Traditionally performed
solo, the dancer leads the audience through an entire spectrum of
experience, creating an intimate conversation between the observer
and the observed. Each element of the margam can be viewed from
the most mundane and relative orientation-mere details of day-to-
day life-to the most profound and absolute expressions of the
dancer’s love and longing for undifferentiated communion with
divinity.9

The alarippu, which marks the dancer’s entrance, is a crisp

introduction to the basic grammar of movement in Bharatanatyam.
Rendered to a recitation of rhythmic syllables, it has kinetic
symmetry; movements fan out from and converge on to the centre
of the body, with the weight balanced on both feet. It is a warming
8
up process, like the worshipper entering the temple gateway with
the mind uncluttered by the mundane concerns of life. The
jatiswaram introduces melody and abstract rhythms get an
extension, the patterns being dictated by the solfa music
arrangements. This is like moving on to the agramandapa / अग्रमंड़ऩ
(fore hall). Then comes the mandapa / मंिऩ entry, which is
symbolized in the sabdam, where the interpretative part appears
along with music and rhythm. When one enters the ardhamandapa /
अधपमंड़ऩ and the sanctum, one is in the presence of the deity. The
varnam, the central part of the recital, in which both interpretative
and rhythmic dance attains full flowering, marks this moment. This is
the acid test for the dancer, testing her stamina, skill and proficiency.
After the varnam’s climax, the dancer is in intimate communion with
god, the quietude of the moment signified by the padam, which is
purely word based interpretation without rhythmic flashes. The
padam and javali are conceived in shringar mode. Finally comes the
thillana, a blaze of rhythmic aplomb.10

Balasaraswati compared the structure of the performance to that of

the journey a devotee takes through a temple. “The Bharatanatyam
recital is structured like a great temple: we enter through the
Gopuram / गोऩुरम (outer hall) of alarippu, cross the Ardhamandapam
(half-way hall) of jatiswaram, then the Mandapam (great hall) of
shabdam and enter the holy precinct of the deity in the varnam. In
dancing to padams, one experiences the containment and the simple
and solemn chanting of sacred verses in the closeness of God. The
tillana breaks into movement like the final burning of camphor

9
accompanied by a measure of din and bustle.”

While the dance form is 2000 years old, the codified margam
structure is just about 200 years old. Thus we see that the Thanjavur
Quartet, musicians under royal patronage and platform, set the
format where a presentation began with alarippu and ended with a
tillana. In between, set course of compositions (items) could be
performed to show both nritta (technique) and nritya (expressional
aspect) of dance. Each served a purpose of warming up, energizing
various chakras from head to toe and activating energy cells, thereby
leading to culmination or joyous release through the divine art of
dance. Bharatanatyam thus was not mere dance but yoga set to
music.

Thus, over centuries of evolution, Bharatanatyam hailing from the

Tamil region (which encompassed modern day Andhra-Telangana
and Mysore regions) has become India’s most known classical dance
form. Many gurus shaped this form and many nattuvunars
(conductors) and musicians shaped its content. Thus were born
various banis or schools, each ascribed to different provenance,
where each hailed from.

The Pandanallur / ऩंिनल्ऱुर style of Bharatanatyam is mainly

attributed to Guru Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai / गुरु मीनाक्षी सुन्दरम
वऩल्ऱई (1869–1954), who lived in the village of Pandanallur in
the Thanjavur district in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. After
him, his son-in-law Chokkalingam Pillai / चोकशऱंगम वऩल्ऱई (1893–
1968) became the guru of the Pandanallur style followed by his son
Subbaraya Pillai (1914–2008) who has trained dancers Alarmel
Valli, Meenakshi Chitharanjan and others.
10
- The Thanjavur style stems from the Thanjavur Quartet who worked
in the early 19th century Thanjavur royal court as musicians and
dance composers.
- The Vazhuvoor / िज्िुिूर style was evolved by Ramaiah Pillai / रामैया
वऩल्ऱाई (1910-1994) who studied abhinaya from devadasi
Madhurantakam Jagadambal / मधुरंताकम जगदमबाऱ , and trained in
dance under Manika Nattuvanar / माणणक नट्टूिनार , the son of Samu /
सामू Nattuvanar.
- In the erstwhile state of Mysore there was a resurgence of all art
forms under the Wodeyar Dynasty. Bharatanatyam in Karnataka
reached its peak during this period. During Krishnaraja Wodeyar's /
कृष्णराजा िोिेयार reign (1811-1868) a distinct style to emerge came to
be known as Mysore Bharatanatyam style. It is similar to the
Pandanallur, Tanjore, Vazhuvoor styles and is based on the art of
rajadasis / राजदासी and is exoteric in nature. Dr. K.
Venkatalakshamma / के.िें कटऱक्षम्मा was a fine proponent of the
Mysore style of Bharatanatyam.
Smt. Rukmini Devi initiated the Kalakshetra style of Bharatanatyam
from her training under Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and
Muthukumara Pillai, adding aesthetically pleasing elements.
- Balasaraswati trained in dance under Guru Kandappa / गुरु कंिपऩा
Pillai of the Thanjavur lineage and evolved a signature style.
Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, who was originally trained in
the Vazhuvoor style, did research on karanas in early sixties, and
labeled her style of Bharatanatyam as Bharatanrityam / िरतनित्यम.

11
Historically, Bharatanatyam is the dance form christened as such by
the Music Academy of Madras in the early nineteen thirties. It was
known earlier as Dasiattam, Sadir or Karnatakam. It thrived in the
south of India. Then it spread to other parts of the country. Now it is
a world art and heritage, flourishing particularly in the Indian
diaspora. Its grammar and aesthetics are today traced by many to
Natya Shastra and to later works like Abhinaya Darpana. However,
while we do not properly know what the dance was like before early
nineteenth century, what we know today as Bharatanatyam has
developed from the shape it was given by the Thanjavur Quartet.
And this legacy was preserved in practice mostly by the gurus and
performers belonging to the Isai Vellalar / इसाई िेल्ऱाऱर community
of Tamil Nadu.11

Bharatanatyam today is the most learnt classical style within India

and abroad, wherever Indian dance is learnt and taught. It has many
adherents and exponents. It has a vast repertoire that has resulted in
mass appeal. It has come to be performed on all occasions, and on
all types of stages, indoors or outdoors. It has been used extensively
in films, in fashion and in foreign branding. Bharatanatyam has come
to be recognized as India’s most popular and practiced classical
dance form and this is why it is the dance of Bharata, India.

12
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 2 Devadasi And Nattuvanar

In India, in the past, the devadasis were a very important functionary

of Hindu society. The functions of devadasis were a part of religious
services in a long history of temple institution. These practices
originated and developed during the early medieval period. There
are a large number of inscriptions which offer extensive information
regarding the existence of the institution of the devadasis. Several
south Indian inscriptions prove the association of dancing girls with
temple service from about the 9th century C.E.1

It is believed that the class of temple dancing girls came about due to
expansion of the temple system and growth of the bhakti
movement. Traditional forms, borne out of divinity, were performed
for the divine in formal settings of temples. Dancers thus dedicated
primarily for propitiating gods – devas - were dedicated to god,
hence called devadasis. These were women of complete knowledge
in sahitya, sangeeta and shastra and knew many art forms pertaining
to the alankara shastra / अऱंकार शास्त्र , and hence were complete
artistes. They danced in temple precincts on special occasions,
worshipping and celebrating god.

The temple artistes had different duties:

Rajadasis danced before the sacred flagstaff.
Alankara dasis danced at the social functions.
Deva dasis danced regularly in the temples.
Swadasis danced on special religious occasions.
Pushpanjali dasis danced while flowers were offered to the deity.
Others fanned the image of god, lit the lamps, performing many of
the duties of the priests.2

Musicians, who accompanied them in the main hall, conducting the

performance with cymbals to maintain rhythm and overall
presentation, were called nattuvunars. Belonging to the Isai Vellalar
community, they were the fulcrum of the group and as head,
maintained structure and substance. We learn from inscriptions that
a thousand years ago nattuvanars used to train the Chola princess
Kuntavai / कं तावाई. During the time when dance was performed in
the temples by devadasis, the music instruments nadasvaram and
tavil were used and to this day, they are played at religious and
auspicious ceremonies in South India.

The first reference to dancing girls in temples is found in Kalidasa's

Meghadhootam / मेघदतम. Most of the Puranas contain reference to
dancing girls, so most probably the custom of dedicating girls to
temples was common during the 6th century. Puranas even
recommended enlisting the services of singing girls for worship at
temples.

In her book Nityasumangali / नित्यसमंगऱी: Devadasi Tradition in

South India, Saskia C. Kersenboom-Story says: “When a girl would
reach the age of 16, an application to be allowed to become a
devadasi would be made to the king of Karvetinagar / कावेनतिगर;
such a petition would have to be counter signed by ten priests and
ten devadasis. After permission was granted, an auspicious day
would be fixed for the air branding function ... Five days before the
actual muttirai / मत्त्तरई, a gejje / गज्जे puja would be held to
conclude the girl's training in dance. From the temple they would
bring the kattari / कत्तारी (the sword, spear or trident) to the home of
the girl. All traditional marriage rituals would be performed. The girl
would then give a dance performance. The girl would be
accompanied to the temple. There she would dance the pushpanjali,
followed by a full dance concert. Hereafter the mark of trisula / त्ररशूऱ
would be branded on her upper arm... After one month, the devadasi
was free to decide about her future.”

Devadasis were trained artistes, so apart from their temple duties

they also performed dance and music at private functions like
marriages. Bharatanatyam (developed from Sadir dance, Chinna
Melam / चिन्ि मेऱम and Dasi Attam) and Odissi (developed from the
gotipua / गोटिपआ and mahari / महारी dances) are both modern
incarnations of the dance of the devadasis of Tamil Nadu and Odisha
respectively. The contribution of devadasis to music is also
significant. Some famous singers like M.S. Subbulakshmi, Lata
Mangeshkar and her sister Asha Bhonsle trace their lineage to the
devadasi community.

In Tamil Nadu, those who danced in Siva temples were called

devadasis. Local kings often invited temple dancers to dance in their
courts, the occurrence of which created a new category of
dancers, rajadasis, and modified the technique and themes of the
recitals. Those who gave dance performances in festivals elsewhere
came to be known as sevadasis. A devadasi had to satisfy her own
soul while she danced unwatched and offered herself to the god, but
the rajadasi's dance was meant to be an entertainment.3

Kerala history has many examples of beautiful and attractive ladies

of the devadasi sect being accepted as consorts by kings. It is said
that devadasis Cherukarakkuttatti / िेरुकराकूतट्टी, Kandiyiu Tevitichi
Unni / कंडीयीऊ तेववनतगऱ उन्िी and others had been queens. Famous
dancers like Unniyacci / उत्न्ियािी, Unniyati / उत्न्ियती, Unniccirutevi /
उत्न्िचिरुतेवी and others are described as expert exponents of the
devadasi art, attached to Siva temples and residing in their
precincts.4 Most of the stone inscriptions containing references to
devadasis in Kerala have been discovered from Siva temples.
Kulasekhara Perumal / कऱशेखर पेरूमऱ , the ruler of Kerala in the 9th
century AD dedicated his own daughter to the Srirangam temple. So
it was not uncommon for maidens from royal or even Brahmin
families to become devadasis. 5

By the end of 10th century, the total number of devadasis in many

temples was in direct proportion to the wealth and prestige of the
temple. During the medieval period, they were regarded as a part of
the normal establishment of temples; they occupied a rank next only
to priests and their number often reached high proportions. For
example, there were more than 400 devadasis attached to the
temples at Thanjavur and Travancore.6

Devadasis reached height of glory under Chola kings between 9th

and 12th centuries AD. There were 430 dancers in the Thanjavur
temple. Their names and addresses have been recorded in the
inscriptions. They were paid out of a corpus fund. During the five
pujas in the temple, all 430 dancers danced and worshipped Lord
Siva, accompanied by 150 musicians.7

Some devadasis were named after saints, while others were given
the title Talaikkoli / तऱैकोऱी to denote that they were experts in
dance. There were even instances of kings being so pleased with
their dance so as to name a village after a devadasi. Innumerable
inscriptions from Chola times tell us of the philanthropy of devadasis.
They erected new shrines, rebuilt old and crumbling ones, plated
some of the roofs with copper, gold and brass. They commissioned
master sculptors to make gold and bronze images of gods, goddesses
and saints to be installed in temples. Devadasis, who had specific
roles to play in the festivals and processions of temples, donated
lands to ensure these celebrations. The wealthier devadasis donated
jewelry, lamps, plates and bells made of solid gold for temple
service.8

When Maharaja Sayaji Rao married a princess from Thanjavur in

1883, two devadasis came as part of the dowry to the Baroda Darbar
along with a full troupe of musicians.

Since devadasis were dedicated to temples, they were understood to

be married to god and hence could not marry ordinary human
beings. If they wished an alliance to continue their art, they could
have liaison with either with the temple priest, i.e., representative of
god on art, or the temple patron/local zamindar since he too paid for
and maintained all services to god.

Male offsprings generally born out of such union were trained in

music, hence became musicians and nauttvanars and female
offsprings were trained in dance. Thus the twin system of devadasi
and nattuvanars continued under the patronage of temples and local
zamindars. Their world was the temple and after entertaining gods,
they entertained the patron and other important dignitaries.

In initial years of this parampara / परं परा, the women were of great
repute and intellect. They were treated as sumangali / समंगऱी –
always married, hence auspicious, since they were never widowed
being married to god who never dies. The devadasis were treated
like quasi-royalty and put on a pedestal by the society, for their
learning and wisdom. Many famous temples had famous dancers
attached to them. Thanjavur, Chidambaram, Kumbakonam, Madurai,
Kanchipuram were famous temples of learning and had leading
practitioners for dance and music.

The term devadasi is of Sanskrit origin. Though it was commonly

used, the institution and the women in profession were known
locally by different terms. In Tamil Nadu they were known as
devaradiar / दे वरटदआर or dasis, meaning slave servants of God or
slaves respectively; In Travancore region as kudikkars / कटदककर,
those belonging to the house; In Andhra Pradesh as dogmas / दोगम
and sanis / सािी; In Kannada speaking areas as basavis / बसावी and
jogatis / जोगिी; In Goa and Western India as bhavins / भाववि or
bhavinis / भावविी, meaning beautiful wanton women; In Maharashtra
(other than coastal area) as muralis jogati / मरऱी जोगनत or jogtinis /
जोगनतिी or aradhinis / अराचििी; and in Marwar as bhagtanis / भग्तािी
or bhagtan / भगतण, wife of a bhagat or holy man. Devadasis are also
known locally by the names of Nayakasani / िायकसािी, Rangasani /
रं गसािी, Gangasani / गंगासािी, Muttukattikondavlu / मत्तकात्त्तकोंदाव्ऱ,ू
Davara Sule / दावर सऱे , Kasabi / कसाबी, Patradavalu / परदावाऱ,ू Jogti /
जोगती and so on.
9

The rise and fall in the status of devadasis can be seen to be running
parallel to the rise and fall of Hindu temples. Invaders from West
Asia attained their first victory in India at the beginning of the second
millennium CE. The destruction of temples by invaders started from
the northwestern borders of the country and spread through the
whole of the country. Thereafter the status of the temples fell very
quickly in North India and slowly in South India. The temples became
poorer and lost their patron kings, and in some cases were
destroyed, and the devadasis were forced into a life of poverty.10

Towards the 18th century, patronage to temples started to decline

due to colonial rule and many small temples could not afford to
maintain artists of excellence. Zamindari system was also abolished
and further marked the death knell of this tradition because, in
absence of patronage, artistic activity suffered. Slowly, devadasis fell
on bad days and had to seek other trades to survive and some also
took to the oldest profession in the world, thus gaining ill repute not
only for themselves but their art. Soon, the entire devadasi system
came under legal disputes owing to colonial, especially British
prudery.

The first anti-nautch and anti-dedication movement was launched in

1882. "Their main aim was to do away with this system. Reform
lobbyists were drawn mainly from missionaries, doctors, journalists
and social workers. They urged the abolition of all ceremonies and
procedures by which girls dedicated themselves as devadasis of
Hindu shrines. They organized seminars and conferences to create a
public opinion against the devadasi system. In the later part of 1892
an appeal was made to the viceroy and governor general of India and
to the governor of Madras. This appeal also defines the position of
the anti-nautch movement.”11

Some journals and newspapers like The Indian Social

Reformer and Lahore Purity Servant supported the reformist or
abolitionist movement. The movement initially concentrated on
building public opinion and enlisting members to refuse to attend
nautch parties as well as to refuse to invite devadasis to festivities at
their homes. Around 1899, the anti-nautch and puritan movement
turned its attention to stopping dedications. The anti-nautch
movement paved the way for anti-dedication movement. Prominent
social thinkers questioned the practice of devadasi system and
pleaded for its abolition. 12

In 1929, a member of the legislature Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy

launched an anti-nautch campaign demanding the demolition of the
devadasi system. Despite protests by E. Krishna Iyer and the art
lovers of Madras, Dr. Reddy and her anglicized women’s leagues
managed to effect crippling legislation against the devadasis in 1927
followed by total abolition in 1947. On January 27, 1948, the Fort St.
George Gazette carried the Madras Devadasi Act XXXI in the legal
section. Excerpts from it: “ Dancing by a woman, with or without
kumbhaharathy / कम्भआरती (pot – shaped temple arathi lamp), in
the precincts of a temple or other religious institution, or in any
procession of a Hindu deity, idol or object of worship installed in any
such temple or institution or at any festival or ceremony held in
respect of such a deity, idol or object of worship, is hereby declared
unlawful … Any person who performs, permits or abets (temple
dancing) is punishable with imprisonment for… six months … A
woman who takes part in any dancing or music performance is
regarded as having adopted the life of prostitution and becomes
incapable of entering into a valid marriage and ... the performance of
any (marriage) ceremony … whether (held) before or after this Act is
hereby declared unlawful and void”. When the Madras Devadasi Act
took effect, 35,000 temples of Tamil Nadu barred all women
performers whether they were devadasis or not. 13

In 1930, with effort of Muthulakshmi Reddy, the Madras Legislative

Council banned the pottu ceremony (the processes of the dedication
of the devadasi to the particular deity) in Madras Presidency
(modern Tamil Nadu). The first legal initiative to outlaw the devadasi
system dates back to the 1934 Bombay Devadasi Protection Act. In
1947, the year of independence, the Madras Devadasi
Act (Prevention of Dedication) outlawed dedication in the
southern Madras Presidency. The Karnataka Devadasis Act of 1982
(Prohibition of Dedication), Andhra Pradesh Devadasi Act
(Prohibition Dedication) of 1989 were implemented to abolish the
devadasi system in India. The devadasi system was outlawed in all of
India in 1988.

Saride Manikyamma / सररदे मानिक्यम्मा was initiated into the two

temples of Madana Gopalaswamy / मदि गोपाऱस्त्वामी and Rukmini /
रुत्क्मणी in Ballapadu at the age of 11, but left in the lurch by the
Devadasi Act of 1947, she struggled for 25 years in poverty till she
and a few other devadasis were discovered by Nataraja Ramakrishna
at a convention in 1972 and brought to his institute to teach
abhinaya.
In the 19th century and the early years of the next, it was customary
for Doraikannu / दोरै कन्ि, the hereditary devadasi of the
Kapaleeswara temple to accompany the procession at the annual
festival. She would be dressed as Bhikshatana and a large group
would follow her as she danced at particular points in the procession.
Doraikannu's daughter was the famed Mylapore Gowri / मयऱापोर
गौरी/गोव्री who continued the dance tradition at the temple and during
the Bhikshatana procession. Gowri was guru to Balasaraswathi and
later taught Rukmini Devi too. Following the disenfranchising of
devadasis and the revoking of their hereditary rights, Gowri was
evicted from the house given to her by the temple. She managed to
make both ends meet by teaching dance to people whom she felt
would benefit by it. With that ended what must have been a colorful
adjunct to the Bhikshatana procession.14

Realizing that Hindu dance and music faced extinction, the Music
Academy of Madras reacted to the Devadasi Act by getting Sadir
renamed as Bharatanatyam and started sponsoring public
performances for devadasis expelled from temples in 1931. Gowri
Ammal danced at the Music Academy in 1932 and 15-year-old
Balasaraswati danced the following year.

Pioneers like Madam H.P. Blavatsky and Colonel H.S. Olcott, the
founders of the Theosophical movement, undertook an extensive
tour of South India and propagated the revival of devadasi
institutions and the associated art of Sadir. In 1882, the Theosophical
Society of India set up its headquarters in Adyar, Chennai with the
set goal of working towards the restoration of India's ancient glory in
art, science, and philosophy. The revival of Sadir as Bharatnatyam by
the Theosophical Society was largely due to the efforts of Rukmini
Devi Arundale, an eminent theosophist, and E. Krishna Iyer. Rukmini
Devi changed the dance repertoire to exclude pieces perceived as
erotic in their description of a deity. The product of this
transformation was Bharatanatyam, which she then began to teach
professionally at a school she established in Madras called
Kalakshetra. It was her endeavour to remove the devadasi dance
tradition from the perceived immoral context of the devadasi
community and bring it into the upper caste performance milieu.15

The revivalists tried to present the idealistic view of the institution of

devadasi. According to their view, it was the model of the ancient
temple dancer as pure, sacred, and chaste women, as they were
originally. They stressed that the dance of devadasi was a form of
"natya yoga" to enhance an individual's spiritual plane. The
revivalists wanted to preserve the traditional form of Sadir dance by
purifying it. As a consequence of purification, some modifications
were introduced into the content of the dance, which was strongly
criticized by dancer Balasaraswati and other prominent
representatives of the traditional devadasi culture. The revivalists
mostly belonged to Brahmin dominated Theosophical circles. Many
Brahmin girls started to learn the dance from devadasis. 16

Devadasis as temple singers and dancers were prevalent in the

temples in Goa, Thanjavur, Puri, Mathura, Mysore etc. Even till
recent times post-Independence, some devadasis taught music and
dance in South India. Towards the decline of this system, many
prominent dancers of today learnt from T. Balasaraswati, Mylapore
Gowri Ammal and Swarna Saraswati.

The term nattuvanar connotes a man who accompanied the devadasi

dance in the capacity of a dance-master, music conductor and vocal
percussionist. In pre-modern South India, particularly among the
Tamil-speaking devadasi communities, the nattuvanar would train
the dancer and would also join her during the performance by
reciting vocalized rhythms (sollukattu). The primary visual marker of
the nattuvanar was the talam, a pair of small hand-cymbals that he
would beat in consonance with the footwork executed by the
dancer. Some of the most famous nattuvanars served in the
Thanjavur court. The ancestors of the Thanjavur Quartet, for
example, had been serving as nattuvanars in the Thanjavur court
since the seventeenth century. The nattuvanar tradition, however, is
not the only instance of male involvement with devadasi dance.
Ritual specialists, such as otuvars (men who recite the hymns of the
Tamil Shaiva poets), as well as court poets and other upper-caste
composers regularly interacted with devadasis, especially in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The nattuvanar community
also became stigmatized as a non-Brahmin community of performers
during the social reform movement, but unlike the devadasis, they
continued to receive patronage from the new community of urban
practitioners who approached these men (and not the devadasi
women) for technique and repertoire to create the contemporary
form known as Bharatanatyam.”17

Some of the traditional nattuvanars could trace their lineage to the

days of the Cholas of Tamil Nadu a millennium ago. Many family
members of nattuvanars were musicians. Among Vazhuvoor
Ramaiah Pillai's ancestors were veena, nagaswaram and mridangam
experts. Govindaraja Pillai of the Rajarajeswari School was a vocalist,
mridangam and nagaswaram exponent. The traditional nattuvanar
had to sing as well as conduct the recital and was also a
choreographer. Since the nattuvanars did not perform on stage,
there was no fear of competition or being upstaged, so they could
focus their energies on their star students through whom they
gained fame.

The term nattuvanar connotes a man who accompanied the devadasi

dance in the capacity of a dance-master, music conductor and vocal
percussionist. In pre-modern South India, particularly among the
Tamil-speaking devadasi communities, the nattuvanar would train
the dancer and would also join her during the performance by
reciting vocalized rhythms (sollukattu). The primary visual marker of
the nattuvanar was the talam, a pair of small hand-cymbals that he
would beat in consonance with the footwork executed by the
dancer. Some of the most famous nattuvanars served in the
Thanjavur court. The ancestors of the Thanjavur Quartet, for
example, had been serving as nattuvanars in the Thanjavur court
since the seventeenth century. The nattuvanar tradition, however, is
not the only instance of male involvement with devadasi dance.
Ritual specialists, such as otuvars (men who recite the hymns of the
Tamil Shaiva poets), as well as court poets and other upper-caste
composers regularly interacted with devadasis, especially in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The nattuvanar community
also became stigmatized as a non-Brahmin community of performers
during the social reform movement, but unlike the devadasis, they
continued to receive patronage from the new community of urban
practitioners who approached these men (and not the devadasi
women) for technique and repertoire to create the contemporary
form known as Bharatanatyam.”17

Famous author and jurist K.M. Munshi describes the life of a

devadasi at the temple of Somnath in his famous historical novel
Somnath. Mahabharata Chudamani has a section entitled "Nattuvan
Lakshanam" (characteristics of a nattuvanar). There are nine verses
enumerating them. They are so lofty that no nattuvanar can ever
aspire to reach that standard! 18
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 3 The Oral Tradition Of Passing On The Art Of

Bharatanatyam

In traditional Bharatanatyam families (i.e. devadasis) training began

from birth. A girl child was inducted into basic music and dancing
from the time she could start some understanding of the same, say 5
to 7 years of age. In fact, by the time these girls were in their teens,
some like K. Bhanumati / के. भानुमती and her cousin K. Varalakshmi /
के. वरऱक्ष्मी became full-fledged dancers of repute.

Down the ages, the devadasis traditionally took to dancing Sadir or

Bharatanatyam, whatever one may call it, with the transmission
occurring from mother to daughter. They performed in temples and
outside. The chain of preservation was maintained by them alone,
until others entered the arena.1

Unlike most married women who did not have economic control, or
even their own children, devadasis were economically independent.
They managed their own finances. The head of a devadasi family was
the oldest female member known as the Taikkizhavi / तैक्कीज्हावी
(Thurston 1909). The Taikkizhavi also exerted her control over the
artistic training of members of the family. Sons of devadasis being
dependent on their mothers rather than their fathers were generally
regarded as inferior to daughters. Women made all major decisions
regarding the household including controlling the finances (A.
Srinivasan 1984). In a joint family, the earnings of all its members
were shared. Because family wealth lay in artistic knowledge as well
as the beauty and attractiveness of the women, men were often
required to give artistic support to the female members of the
family. This usually meant being part of the musical accompaniment
for their dance. The sons of devadasis became dance teachers or
musicians. Many of the men in the devadasi community could not
marry either because of shortage within the community (because
well over half became dedicated devadasis) or because they lacked
the financial security. A significant number had to postpone their
marriage till they were established as dance teachers or musicians.
Some of them became independent enough to move out of the
female dominated joint family and establish a separate residence. It
was rare to find a devadasi family with a married son still living with
them. This was in contrast to the male dominated households of the
nattuvanar families where sons often brought their wives to live in
their ancestral home. These women were then obliged to help with
the housework and contribute to the common good of the family
with home making skills rather than artistic ones. Here too,
financially secure males preferred to move out of the joint family and
establish separate households. 2

Although connected with temples, devadasis were not Brahmins.

They formed as it were, a caste unto themselves. The daughters of
devadasis followed their mothers’ profession and the sons became
nattuvanars, musicians and dance teachers. Many nattuvanars took
the surname Pillai or Mudali, which were regarded as respectable
adjuncts to a name. These musicians and dance teachers have
jealously guarded and preserved the art of music and dance through
the centuries. Many of them were illiterate and so had no access to
the literature connected with the arts. However, some families held
on tenaciously to the theoretical background and set a standard for
both the practice and theory of music and dance.3

An aspect of the historic role of the traditional community that

deserves special attention is the methodology of teaching. The
approach was holistic and the aim was to prepare the dancer as a
complete artist. Virtually each member of a parampara family could
fulfil more roles than one. A singer could do nattuvangam, a
nattuvanar could play the mridangam, a dancer could sing for
another dancer and so on. The members of the family were so
trained that interchange ability of roles was possible.4

The System was codified though unwritten. It was an oral tradition

passed down from generation to generation. The system meant all
stayed together as a nuclear family and thus each had an assigned
role. The system implied the male members take to conducting and
teaching dance while female members take to music and household
duties. This led to clear division of labour and work. The system of
such teaching and performing meant being bound to one person or
place. Much later, these nucleus families broke up and went their
ways. It meant nattuvanars became gurus in cities and later their
students became teachers. It also led to separating music from
dance.

Why has the individuality of the past given way to the sameness of
today? Perhaps the answer lies in the hereditary teaching
methodology developed over centuries by certain families in Tamil
Nadu. Sadir, the precursor of today’s Bharatanatyam was practiced
by members of a particular community (Isai Vellalar / इसाई वेल्ऱाऱर).
Its male members eschewed performance to sharpen their skills in
nattuvangam / नट्टूवंगम, a composite term for teaching the classical
dance genre and conducting its performance. They were the
nattuvanars who trained the women (devadasis) to dance at temples
as part of the daily and festive rites. In the royal courts the ritual
became art. Sadir was indispensable at the family functions of well-
to-do officials and land owners. Social status was determined by the
number and quality of the performers on such occasions. The
community of dancers and dance gurus was nurtured by multi-level
patronage. They were entitled to payments of cash and kind from
the temples they served. We hear of the appointment of the
Vazhuvoor nattuvanars a thousand years ago to teach the Chola
princess Kuntavai. There were impulse gifts at courts. A monarch,
pleased with a bravura performance, would shower the dancer with
costly gems and land grants. The nattuvanar too came in for praise
and gifts. The scales were balanced – one group could not survive
without the other. 5

What is the difference between a nattuvanar and a dance teacher?

Ask the dancers themselves and they will say that it starts with the
nattuvanars being treasure troves of knowledge, not book learned or
theoretical, but with the heritage of a practical methodology and
wisdom. Their cultural matrix and racial memory made them
intuitive in teaching. They taught their students as much by what
they said as by what they did not say. As the repositories of centuries
of accumulated knowledge and experience, the nattuvanars were
greatly sought after during the renascent phase of Bharatanatyam in
this century. They became indispensable guides to the women of the
so called ‘good families’ who took up this art for the first time
without any background or exposure to it. There was no other access
to the art except from this singular stronghold of an oral tradition
which could be imparted only in practice. 6

During the British rule, Sadir has been looked down upon as immoral
and bawdy. Social reform banned ‘nautch’ from the temples. The
devadasis suddenly lost their livelihood. The nattuvanars too fell on
evil days. But when nationalism fired in Indian culture, women like
Rukmini Devi were inspired to take up Sadir in its avatar as
Bharatanatyam and stage it in a different context and milieu. The
devadasis dwindled in number, gave up the struggle and lapsed into
anonymity. There was one Balasaraswati to win worldwide acclaim
and one Gowri Amma to teach the techniques of abhinaya.7

The System had its advantages and disadvantages like any other. It
meant while roles were clearly defined they could also be rigid.
Though the nattuvanars found they were in great demand, the social
stigma did not vanish at once. The fear of losing their self-respect
made the nattuvanars clannish and touchy. The least
misunderstanding would become a major issue. They would pack up
their cymbals and desert a growing institution like Kalakshetra.
Chokkalingam Pillai was ready to face the struggle of starting his own
classes rather than accept what he deemed loss of face. Students
who strayed or took help from other teachers for reasons however
valid were dropped forthwith. No amount of pleading could make
the nattuvanar relent and take the errant back to the fold.8
Before 1940, it was uncommon for a woman to perform
nattuvangam. In 1943, traditional nattuvanar A.P. Chokkalingam
Pillai withdrew his services for important Bharatanatyam recitals –
the arangetram of Chinna Sarada and Rukmini Devi’s performance at
Music Academy – and left Madras. So, Rukmini Devi, Radha Burnier
(both dancers) and S. Sarada (musician and Sanskrit scholar) took the
plunge into this hitherto male domain. Necessity became the mother
of invention and forced the women to break with tradition and study
and perform nattuvangam. Bhairavan Pillai who used to play the
mridangam at Rukmini’s dance recitals, came to the rescue and
taught Sarada and Radha to do nattuvangam with cymbals. Rukmini
Devi soon mastered the art. She said, “One great new thing that has
come as a result of these difficulties is the complete separation of
our work from the dance teachers. It is well known that they are a
small clan of people who have never believed it possible for anybody
to conduct a dance performance. I have always had a determination
that this should go. They used to think that except for the usual class
of people no one else would be able to dance. Now there are so
many girls from good families who are excellent dancers.” Other
dancers including Isai Vellalar women soon followed their example.
Today, women from a wide variety of backgrounds perform
nattuvangam and there is an increase in the number of actively
performing dancers who now run schools and conduct recitals.9

The trauma of being beholden to the whims of the male nattuvanars

from the Isai Vellalar community, together with the newly attained
confidence that they too could perform this function meant that
from 1943 onwards, Kalakshetra, one of the major dance institutions
where Bharatanatyam is taught, never again employed a nattuvanar
from the Isai Vellalar community. Between 1943 and 1980, only one
Isai Vellalar student (T.R. Devanathan) was trained to become a
nattuvanar at Kalakshetra. The 1943 incident and subsequent
decisions, whether conscious or unconscious, were regarded by
many as the first major step in loosening the hold that hereditary
male nattuvanars exercised over female dancers. No longer would
non-hereditary dancers be dependent on a professional community
of nattuvanars. Within the traditional community however, little
changed. Hereditary dancers who continued to perform after the
revival continued to depend on nattuvanars from their community.10

The system also led to banis. Place and provenance decided banis.
The three main schools of nattuvangam (and banis) to have come
down to this century were evolved in the villages of Pandanallur,
Vazhuvoor and Thanjavur town. The first and the last share many
stylistic features. Both claim descent from the Thanjavur Quartet.
Disciples of Muthuswami Dikshitar, the brothers Ponniah, Chinniah,
Sivanandam and Vadivelu won fame for their prowess in music and
ability to compose. Today their compositions are rarely sung on
stage, but still form the backbone of the rich repertoire of their
nattuvanar descendants. Later when gurus travelled, the banis went
with them, and no longer remained insular or place specific. Most
exponents of the Pandanallur style are not from Pandanallur but
Madras…ditto Mysore.

Not all the early nattuvanars retained their connection with their
native place. By and large, older teachers returned to their villages,
sending their younger relatives to the urban centres to continue the
work they had begun. In order to study with these teachers,
particularly Meenakshisundaram Pillai, many dancers during the
1930s and 1940s lived in the temple towns where the dance had
once flourished. Most of the non-hereditary dancers had some of
their training either in Pandanallur or Tanjore (K.P. Kittappa Pillai).
Later, dancers relied on dance teachers who migrated to the major
cities.11

The nattuvanar adapted the choreography according to the

individual ability of each dancer, incorporating varying sancharis /
संचारी, theermanams / ततरमानं and nritta passages, so the same item
was differently performed by various dancers. The abhinaya of the
devadasi performers was informed by their daily exposure to the
temple ambience and touched with exquisite depths of emotion.
They also had the luxury of learning abhinaya for shringara items
from their family members. Post revival, the male nattuvanars could
not convey the shringara quotient to their pupils. So, after Mylapore
Gowri Amma and other devadasis like Jatti Thayamma / जत्ती थायम्मा
and Venkatalakshamma / वें कट ऱऺम्मा, this gave rise to early learners
of Bharatanatyam turning abhinaya teachers to the present
generation of dancers and dance teachers. This in turn led to sahitya
being taught linear by the new age teachers with line to line
meaning, not intrinsic. It meant the shell remained and substance
was changed as in the case of Kalakshetra.

Scholar Terada suggests that “in order to account for the present,
justify it, understand it and criticise it, the past is selectively
appropriated, remembered, forgotten or investigated”. It is possible
that this is what happened to Bharatanatyam. The traditional past
was selectively appropriated by post-colonial nationalists by
reinventing the history of the devadasis in order to justify a ‘revival’
of the dance form. While a part of the ‘revival’ meant the invention
of a tradition, the simultaneous adherence to tradition in terms of
learning from the traditional masters, keeping the traditional
repertoire, while simultaneously reinterpreting it, and making
monumental modernist changes is consistent with the concept of
traditionalism, and therefore with modernity. In addition to the
removal of traditional nattuvanars, and the focal shift from Krishna’s
sensuality to Nataraja’s purity, other major changes include the
spatial shift from temple to proscenium stage, and a change in
pedagogy. Indeed, dance underwent a profound metamorphosis
from Sadir to Bharatanatyam, from “untouchable to national art
form and finishing school for young women of marriageable age. The
revival of South Indian dance “involved a revivification or bringing
back to life, it was equally a re-population, a re-construction, a
renaming, a re-situation, a restoration,” says Matthew Harp Allen.
Finally the presentation of Bharatanatyam was also modernized –
the costumes were changed, and the musicians were placed on the
side of the stage, rather than behind the dancer as was traditionally
done. 12

Most of the outstanding names in the field of Bharatanatyam are the

students of different traditional nattuvanars. Like Rukmini Devi from
non-traditional family and Balasaraswati from traditional family.

The Kalakshetra bani (some like historian Khokar aver Kalakshetra is

not a bani in the strict sense but mix of many teachers who taught
there; Shanmukha, 2011) is an example of a school that was founded
on the training of devadasis and Isai Vellalar teachers, but was
‘liberated’ from the control of the traditional masters when the
school began to train its own dance teachers and nattuvanars. The
artistic vision of the founder Rukmini Devi has been the paramount
influence. Rukmini Devi took several Bharatanatyam banis which she
studied from several hereditary practitioners and evolved her own
interpretation based on those elements which she felt were most
aesthetically pleasing. Essentially she selected dances and themes
from the traditional repertoires, but made adjustments according to
her perceptions of how the dance should be taught and performed.
These reflected her own aesthetic criteria. The standardized
repertoire of Kalakshetra has been taught and disseminated all over
India by teachers and nattuvanars. This is an advantage for dancers
who travel away from Madras because it was relatively easy to
assemble an orchestra that is familiar with the Kalakshetra
repertoire. 13

“I am sure Rukmini Devi had a lot of admiration for someone like

Balasaraswati. But publicly, people drew lines between them saying
that one stands for sringaram, and the other for bhakti, and the two
don't meet. Did they think that Balasaraswati had no bhakti or that
Rukmini Devi with all the work she did in her dance dramas had no
sringaram? It depends on what your idea of sringaram is,” says Leela
Samson.14

Balasaraswati was a ninth generation descendent born into a

devadasi family whose traditions of music and dance were the focus
of life for generations. Her grandmother's grandmother,
Kamakshiammal, danced and sang in the court of Tanjore, her great
grandmother Sundarammal was a musician, so too her grandmother
Veena Dhanammal, and mother Jayammal. Most of the artists in
Bala’s family in recent generations have been musicians rather than
dancers. Veena Dhanammal was trained in the musical styles of
Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri. It is her interpretation of
their music which has been perpetuated through Bala’s family and
her training which has influenced her interpretation of her padam
repertoire. Balasaraswati herself began her life in a world of music
and made her public debut at seven. Her relatives were almost all
musicians. Therefore, the child who became the world's most
revered dancer of Bharatanatyam was immersed in the finest
musical atmosphere from the beginning. In her later years, Bala
devoted her time and pleasures to singing. Bala sang, accompanied
and taught her daughter Lakshmi her own immense repertoire, spent
her time exploring, researching, learning new items and generally
surrounding herself with her music. She received honours as a
musician from the established societies in India. If the world knew
her as a dancer she was, first and last, a musician as well.15Her
grandson Aniruddha Knight continues the Balasaraswatibani.

In this creation of new styles, one example is Padma Subrahmanyam,

who initially trained under Ramaiah Pillai. After several years as a
professional performer, she started to develop her own style of
Bharatanatyam using the karanas as they are carved on the gateways
of temples of south India and described in the Natya Shastra. She
calls her style Bharata Nrityam. Another dancer who included
karanas in her dance is Swarnamukhi, daughter of nattuvanar
Sampati Bhoopal.

The revival of Bharatanatyam marked a watershed in the

presentation of classical dance in south India. Popular conception
today is that a defunct art was snatched from the brink of extinction
by the “revivalists.” The position of Bharatanatyam as a national
treasure has led to intense pressure to conserve the dance in what is
perceived to be its ‘traditional’ form. The opposing desires of
Bharatanatyam dancers to preserve and innovate have led both sides
to seek historical justification for their positions. The two extremes –
innovators who equate art with creativity, and the traditionalists
who wish to preserve it completely unchanged are in the minority.
The majority has taken the middle road and combine traditional
repertoire with new compositions in their programs. The gradual
divorce of dance training from training in musical accompaniment
creates a tendency towards greater emphasis on movement and less
reliance on musicality. The increased concentration on movement
and rhythmic complexity has resulted in a diminishing emphasis on
abhinaya. Because Bharatanatyam has moved a long way from its
origins, geographically, socially and artistically, there has been some
recreation involved in the establishment of the dance that we now
see. Bharatanatyam today has assumed many of the characteristics
of an “invented tradition.” 16
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 4 The History, Role And Duties Of The Devadasi-s

The word “Devadasi / दे वदासी” in Sanskrit or “Devaradiyal /

दे वराददयऱ” in Tamil means servant of God. They were dancing girls
dedicated to the service of God in temples. Detailed studies show
that the system was prevalent in the continents of Asia, Africa and
Europe. It is believed that Mesopotamia was the original home of
this institution. There are references to it dating back to 2090 BC
during the first dynasty of Babylon. In India, studies show, that the
system dates back to the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Employment of Devadasis in the temples were an integral part of

the religious services. Temples were the essential part of the
medieval society Temples during this period emerged as huge
organisation with vast lands, properties and employed many
religious and non-religious functionaries. The growth in the
economic resources of the temple led to the increase in rituals
and festivals of the temple. The association of Devadasis in the
temple was materially beneficial to the state and the temple.

The inscriptions and literatures throw light on the history, growth

and development of this system. Kautilya / कौदिल्य, the Sanskrit
writer of the 4th Century BC mentions about the Devadasis

1
engaged in temple services. The Ramgarh cave inscriptions of King
Ashoka refers to a young girl named Satmuka / सत्मख
ु , a servant of
God. There are references to devadasis in the 12thcentury
literature of Kashmir. It states that King Jalanka, son of Ashoka
gave hundred girls of his kingdom, who were well versed in dance
and music to serve in the Siva temple. Rupinika / रुपऩननका, was a
dancing girl employed in the temple of Mathura. There were
hundreds of dancing girls attached to the Somnath Temple in
Saurashtra. Assam and Bengal had many girls as devadasis in their
temple establishments. Kalidasa’s works have reference to
resounding of ankle bells of dancing girls at Mahakali temple at
Ujjain. A reference of the 8th Century AD states the employment
of Patras (dancing girls) of the Jain Temple in Karnataka. In Orissa
the dancers dedicated to temples were called Maharis. This
practice was prevalent in some form or other in Tamil Nadu during
the Sangam Age and it became popular in the medieval period
(600 to 1800 AD).

It is evident that the history of the Devadasi system was very

ancient. It was practiced all over the world in different forms
according to the nature and culture of the region. In India it
appears to be more pronounced in the Siva Temples.
Subsequently it found acceptance in Vishnu temples too.

The earliest mention of a dancing girl is found in Rig Veda, where

goddess of Usha (dawn) is compared to a richly clad dancing girl.
The sacred courtesans were known as pumchalis / ऩुमचाऱी and
they played important roles in the rituals .They were gifted to the
Rishis by the kings.The Atharva Veda describes them as having the

2
qualities of Gandharva and were known as Gandharva-grihitas /
गंधवव ग ृ दित. Upanishads mention about the women attenders on
king who help him in grooming and entertaining. According to
Tantric literature women and religion are inseparable.

Courtesans played important role in the esoteric rites of the

Tantra. In Natyashastra it is said that when Bharata was
summoned to direct a dance drama to please the Gods he needed
women actors and dancers. Hence Brahma created Apsaras, the
dancing nymphs who were the ancestors of the devadasis. Later in
medieval Tamil Nadu, it became one of the dominant socio-
religious institutions.

Towards the end of the 5th and 6th centuries under the patronage
of the Pallavas / ऩल्ऱवा and Pandyas / ऩांड्या, who were influenced
by the Bhakti movement and Agamic / आगममक tradition, it
extended throughout Tamil Nadu under the liberal support of the
Cholas and the later Pandyas. Even though the institution suffered
during the Muslim invasions, it reappeared with greater vigour
under the Vijayanagar and Maratta emperors in south India. It
lasted till the beginning of the 20th century in this region.

The Devadasi system was prevalent in ancient India along with the
temple culture. The Agamas describe the different offerings to the
deity during the daily or annual rituals. Geetha / गीत (music),
vadya / वाद्य (instruments) and nritya / नत्ृ य (dance) are very
important among the offerings. For this purpose musicians,
instrumentalists and dancers were employed by the temple.

3
The music and dance performed in the temple were ritualistic in
nature. It was considered auspicious when girls performed dance
in front of the deity. They were compared to the heavenly
nymphs (apsaras / अप्सरा) and gandharvas / गान्धवव (heavenly
musicians). Mythical stories traces its origin to Urvasi, one of the
celestial nymphs. The historical theory traces its origin to the
courtesans and the captive women of the Kings.

MYTHICAL ORIGIN

The earlier Tamil works believed that they descended from

heaven and called them “Vanarul Magalirs / वनारुऱ मगमऱर ”. Post-
Sangam works address them as “Vanavar Magalirs” (nymphs of
the devas) and “Katarent Kannikal / कतारें ि कन्न्नकऱ” (divine girls).
Later they were called Arambhaiyyar / आरमभैयार (descendant of
Ramba). The devadasis believe that they are the descendants of
the mythological dancers Urvasi / उववशी, Rambha / रं भा, Menaka /
मेनका, Vipula / पवऩुऱा, and Thilottamma / नतऱोत्तम्मा. Rudra in order
to please the sage Kausika / कौमशक created Apsaras. Her
descendants were called Rudra-ganikas. The Rudra-ganikas / रूद्र-
गननका have a very ancient family line. Socially they were on a
higher level and did not mingle with lower caste people. The
Kamikagama / कममकागम mentions about the origin and functions
of Rudrakanyas / रुद्रकन्या, who had received initiation from Lord
Siva and were reborn in this world to serve in the temples.The
Rudraganikas and Rudrakanyas perform Suddha nritta for various
rituals and functions in the Siva temples. These mythical stories
attribute a Puranic origin to the Devadasi system.
4
HISTORIC ORIGIN

Silappadikaram / शीऱप्ऩदीकरम mentions about the initiation and

the first dance appearance (arangetram) of a devadasi. Just as
kings employed armies, artists and courtesans for enhancing their
pomp and pleasure, the temples engaged them for singing and
dancing before the deities for ritualistic purposes. According to
classical works in Tamil, these women were qualified in singing,
dancing and playing musical instruments. Some of these girls were
captured by kings after a war and brought to the kingdom.
Subsequently temples were built after a victorious campaign and
these girls were employed in the temple services.

The girls attached to the temple is said to have married the

temple deity where she offered service during the temple rituals.
Since she was married to the God she was not allowed to marry
anyone. The Rajadasis who were attached to the court
entertained the courtesans, royal family members and were
allowed to be the concubine of the court officers and ministers.
They performed dance and music in weddings and state
ceremonies.

DEVADASI SYSTEM IN MEDIEVAL PERIOD

During the7thand 9th century A.D South India was swept by the
devotional revolution by the Saivaites and Vaishnavaites. The
Saivaite Nayanmars / नयन्मार and the Vaishnavaite Alwars / अऱवार
propagated the Bhakti movement interspersed with music and
dance. It was easy to reach the philosophy of the religion to the
mass through the medium of music and dance. The music and
dance rituals performed in the temples are prescribed in the
5
agamas. The Agamic and Bhakti movement brought a drastic
change in the Society. Devotees took pride in dedicating their girls
to the temple services to serve the God for a sure means of
salvation. Convinced by their devotion and dedication, Princes,
priests, and the people joined them in their endeavour to bring
about a socio-religious change in the society. This change slowly
led to the development of a community called the devadasis in
Tamil Nadu.

In the Agamas the duties of the devadasis are prescribed. Assisting

the priest in the temple rituals was considered a very important
duty. Negligence in observing rituals were considered as the onset
of bad luck. Proper worship was considered important to the well-
being of the devotees. The Devadasi cult had the approval of
society hence there was a widespread belief in the positive
aspects of the system. The kings of the Pallava dynasty who ruled
South India during the 8th century A.D. were strong followers of
these Agamic traditions and laid the foundations for ritual worship
in the temples. According to the Agamas the duties of the
Devadasis were in accordance with the time cycle of each day.
Four ritual sessions of worship were performed in the temple and
the Devadasis took part in all of them. They cleaned the temple,
sang and danced in the praise of God, lit the lamps at the specific
times. The Kumbha Aarti / कंु भ आरती (pot shaped lamp) was
performed only by the devadasis in the temple. During this Aarti it
was mandatory to perform dance to the accompaniment of tavil
(drums) and nadaswaram / नादस्वरम.

Besides the daily puja, auspicious months had special rituals. The
temple Brahmotsavam (annual festival) which lasted for ten days

6
and concluded with the procession of the temple car (Ther). The
movement of the temple car in procession would synchronise
with the music of nadaswaram/नादस्वरम, tavil / तापवऱ and dancing
of the devadasis.

Talented girls in fine arts like music and dance were dedicated to
the temples. They were known as rishibataliyar / ररमशबतामऱयर,
devaradiyar / दे वाराददयर, talacheripendugal / ताऱाचेररऩें दग
ु ऱ and
kootis / कूदिस. Dancers attached to the temples were classified
into the following seven categories.

Dattai / दत्तई-voluntary dedication

Virutai / पवरुतई-sold herself to temple service

Prethyai / प्रेथयाई-dedicated by the family

Bakthai / भक्तई-devoted to the deity

Hrudayai / ह्रदय-presented to the temple

Alankarai / अऱंकरै -selected for temple service

Rudraganikai / रुद्रगाननकई-salaried employee of the temple

The girls performing in Siva temples were called Rudraganikas or

Rudrakanyas. The Agamas prescribe Sudha nritta / शुद्ध नत्ृ त to be
performed during rituals. Rudraganikas were adept in performing
Sudhanrittam. Kamikagamas mentions two classes of
Rudraganikas and their origin and duties in the temple. They were

7
believed to be the descendants of Apsaras and their families were
called Rudrakanigakulam / रूद्रकननगाकुऱम.

During the medieval period both royalty and the nobility

considered it meritorious to dedicate girls to temples. During
Chola time it was believed that this would ensure a long life for
the king, queen, and their children. Inscriptions read that four
hundred dancing girls were dedicated to Brihadeswara temple at
Tanjore. Musicians recited sacred songs and the dancers danced
and performed their duties hereditarily which is evident from an
inscription at Siddalingamantapam / मसद्दमऱंगामंिऩम. This
inscription reads that after the performer’s death her descendent
or a qualified dancer from her family should continue the tradition
of dancing before the processional deity. In case none is qualified
the nyayathar / न्यायाथर (supervisors of the temple) can elect an
eligible person to perform. The dancing girls were marked with
symbols to indicate their affinity to the temple. The temple
dancers in the Banapuram Siva temple were marked with sulams /
सूऱम (a symbol of Siva) during the time of KulotungaІ / कुऱोतुन्गऱ.
The different types of kootus / कूिू such as tamilkootu / तममऱकुट्टू,
aryakootu / आयवकूिू, santikootu / शांनतकूिू were performed by
different categories of devadasis. Santikootu, both in solo and
group, were performed by Rishabataliyars / ररशबतामऱयर. The
descendants of Srikantakamba / श्रीकंठकम्बा (attached to
Thirunallar temple) and the brothers had the right to perform
different varieties of kootu during the temple festivals. It is quite
interesting to know that these artists were provided with

8
 sufficient provisions for the make-up. A grant named sakkaikani /
सक्कैकानी was allotted for the supply of rice flour, oil, beetle
leaves, arecanut, ghee, collyrium and turmeric, which were used
in the makeup of the artist who performed the kootu.

According to inscriptions the best performer was called talaikoli /

तऱैकोऱी (prima donna). Talaikol / तऱैकोऱ is the sacred staff
representing Jayanta, would be handed over to the dancer after
several rituals. The talented awardee becomes a talaikoli.
Categorization and classification on merit had also come into vogue.
An inscription assigned to the period of Parantaka I (10th Cen. A. D.)
refers to Mummudi Chola Talaikoli / मुम्मुदी चोऱा तऱैकोऱी . Besides
the royal court It is evident that trade organizations like nanadesi /
नानादे सी had also taken interest in promoting the art and conferred
title to the best dancer asnanadesitalaikoli / अस्नानदे शीतऱैकोऱी.
Temples particularly took interest in promoting the art and
conferring on the artist their own chosen titles. For example the title
Iyaran Sundara Talaikoliiyara / इयरण सुंदर त ऱैकोऱीयारा was always
attached with the temple Iyarappan / इयारप्ऩन. A commentary on
Takkayagapparani / तक्कयागाप्ऩरानी says that it was conferred on
those rudraganikayar who performed the sokkanritta / सोक्कानृत्त in
front of Lord Shiva (sokkan). The expert dance master, received the
greatest honour tallaikolasan / तल्ऱैकोऱासन and the experienced
dancer was called talaikolarivai. The dancers were given titles like
nakkan / नक्कन to be prefixed with their names. A dancer named
Nakkan Thillaialagiyar alias Panchavan Mahadeviyar / ऩंचवान

9
मिादे पवयार held an honoured position in the court of Rajaraja I (A. D.
1001). His son Rajendra Ι built a pallipadai (temple)in her honor.

TRADITION OF THE DEVADASIS

Girls born into a Devadasi family were entitled to be dedicated to

temples. This event was done between the age of six and nine. The
girl’s mother already attached to the temple would recommend the
girl to be accepted by the temple authorities to serve the temple. On
an auspicious day the girl would undergo fasting, and be escorted to
the temple by the eldest Devadasi. In the evening, the girl would be
dressed like a bride in a sari with jewels and taken in a procession
with nadaswaram / नादस्वरम accompaniment. After the procession
and puja rituals the girl would be seated near the sanctum
sanctorum. The priest would perform puja for the sacred yellow
thread with the gold thali / ताऱी. The thali would be handed over to
the girl’s mother to tie around the neck of her daughter. This
symbolises that the girl is ‘married’ to the deity of that particular
temple. This ceremony was called Pottu Kattaradu / ऩोट्टू कत्त रादडू.
Then the girl would be taken to the mandapam / मंडऩम, a hall at the
outer precinct of the temple. This marriage ceremony would last
three days and the expenses for this would be borne by the temple
treasury. The girl’s upper arm would be tattooed with the symbol of
the temple and would end the wedding ceremony. The girl would
then exhibit her talent through a performance. If she is a dancer she
performs Salangai Puja / सऱन्गाई ऩूजा, (Gajja Puja / गज्जै ऩूजा) and
Arangetram / अरं गेत्रम. If she is a musician she will perform a Kutchery
/ कचेरी Arangetram – a formal professional concert. It is common that

10
the priest would have the first claim on the girl, but in many cases a
rich merchant in the society would be the girl’s patron. Followed by
an elaborate feast the Pottu is removed and kept in a safe place till
she comes of age. If she belonged to a Siva temple then she would
be taught the Panchakshara / ऩंचाक्षर and if to the Vishnu temple, she
would be taught Om Namo Narayana. The Guru, who taught her,
would be gifted with flowers, fruits, money etc. The Guru played an
important role in moulding her artistic talent. After her puberty, it is
announced to the public. This event would be celebrated as a ten day
festival. The priest gifts her with a sword or spear, with which a
formal wedding would be performed. She would retire to her private
chamber along with this symbol, pronouncing her union with God.
Her formal arangetram in dance would be conducted at the temple,
after which she would perform the Kumba Aarthi to the deity. All the
ten days she would perform for the public in different costumes.
During these days a number of prospective men would be invited for
her attention so that she may choose one of them as her life
companion. This relationship was only for her financial security.
Children born of this union would not inherit the father’s name.
Some Devadasis had only one such relationship all their life.
Devadasis were known as Nitya Sumangalis as they were wedded to
God, the immortal.

Legendary dancers have carried this legacy in many prominent

temples. To name a few, Paravai Nachiar / ऩरवाई नाचचअर , Sangali
Nachiyar / सांगऱी नाचचयार , and Manikka Nachiar / मननक्का नाचचअर of
Tiruvarur temple have been praised in Periapuranam of Sekizhar
(12th century A.D.).

11
ROYAL DYNASTIES AND DEVADASIS

The fame and fortune of dancers and courtesans rose and fell with
the royal dynasties of the region. The early Pallavas / ऩल्ऱवा, Cholas /
चोऱा, and Pandyas / ऩंडया who ruled between 7 to 13 Centuries laid
th th

the foundation for a great civilisation. Great temples were built and
every kind of intellectual and artistic activity flourished.

The Sanskrit text Samrajyalaksmipitika / साम्राज्यऱक्ष्मीऩीनतका of the

Maratta period (Samrajyalaksmipitika ed. By K. Vasudeva Sastri and
K.S. Subramanya Sastri, TMSS Library, Tanjore) mentions the court
dancers as Lasyakala / ऱास्यकऱा and their dance to bring prosperity
to the king and kingdom. The dance hall was called the Lasyasala /
ऱास्यशाऱा or Natyasala. The Natyasalas were adorned with the
sculptures of Apsaras / अप्सरा and Natyadi-devata / नाट्य आ दी-दे वता.
The dancers offered kusumanjali / कुसम
ु ांजमऱ to Natyadi-devata
before the commencement of the performance. According to this
text the distinction between temple and court dancers continued up
to 19thcentury A.D.

After the decline of the Tamil dynasties the devadasi system faced
the struggle for existence. The wealth from the temples and courts
were taken away by the Muslim invaders from North India. Due to
lack of patronage the professional communities suffered. The
emergence of the Vijayanagar rule in south marked the
reformulation of the system. The system flourished even during the
Maratha period. The political instability in the states with the
intrusion of the British rule showed a steep decline in the system.
There were frequent transfers of devadasis between the temples and

12
were distracted from their sacred principles of divine services. There
was no royal patronage and many of them faced poverty. They were
criminalized as prostitutes and the system was totally degraded. The
devadasis were not organised as a separate caste. The system had
an accumulation of girls from different castes, regions and customs.
Within the system they had the hierarchy of caste. For example girls
from higher caste were allowed to perform ritual roles and others
had only the secular. They were called by several names as
tevanarmakkal / तेवानामवक्काऱ, tevatachi / तेवताचच, patiyilar / ऩनतनयऱर,
adikalmar / अददकल्मार, mannikatar / मंननकतर, kannikayar / कन्न्नकायर,
koyilpenngal / कोनयल्ऩें न्गऱ and emperumanadiyar / एम्ऩेरुमानाददयर.
The community called themselves as Isai Vellalars / इसाई वेल्ऱाऱर्.

By the end of the 19th century many of them detached themselves

from the temple since it could no longer support them. Some of
them became music, dance teachers, professors, worked in the
government and private administrative sectors, and others
prostitutes. Reformists stamped the devadasi system as a social evil.
The collapse of the temple system, the lack of patronage and social
negligence all together put an end to the devadasi system in South
India.

13
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 5 The Fight For And Against The Devadasi System

Legal battles and dance seem incompatible! But this happened in

early part of the 20th century, due to colonial politics, changed
patronage systems and concern from connoisseurs.

The devadasi was the female servant of the gods - a girl dedicated to
serve the presiding deity of the temple in various ways. This included
the performance of dance and drama. For the worship through
performing arts, she was thoroughly trained in ritual dance, drama
and music. Though the devadasi system as an institution came into
vogue after 700 AD, its origin may be traced to girls associated with
rituals performing dance and music in literature, epigraphs and
sculptures of earlier period. (Ibid) 1

It appears that as the consort deity of the temple, the social status of
the devadasi was originally quite high. She was one of the honorable
members of the temple functionaries and her deep knowledge of the
dramatic arts earned respect from connoisseurs of the field for her.
But as her position in the temple degenerated, her status in society
also degenerated and she was treated like a temple prostitute. Thus
she was dragged down from an elevated position to the level of a
commoner – an ordinary courtesan. Several reasons led to this fall,
the prime one being a financial cause. During the good times of this
system, devadasis / दे वदासी were employed by the temple and
received definite endowments for maintenance. Their financial
status was raised and some of them had their personal property. But
gradually with the decline in the popularity and sanctity of the
system, generous earnings became rare. The proceeds from the
offerings of the devotees gradually became meager with the result
that the food received by them from the bhog / भोग of the deity was
so much reduced that it was impossible for the numbers of devadasis
to be sustained. Hence she was forced to seek other means to
substantiate her income when not engaged in her legitimate duties.
They acted in stage shows, danced and sang in social functions held
in well-to-do households and the more accomplished were paid
highly. So gradually they turned into temple prostitutes. Thus either
due to financial problem, vulgarity in performance or loose morals,
performing artistes gradually lost that respect which they had earned
with great difficulty. But the artistes appointed in the royal court or
those who received royal patronage in some way or the other still
held respectable status and were honoured for their art. (Ibid) 2

The temples were the preserve of classical arts and the large number
of musicians, dancers and poets in a king’s court was a symbol of his
status. With the arrival of Colonists the rules of patronage changed.
They had no taste for dance and dubbed it as “nautch” equating it
with the dance of the “fallen” women. The royalty was affected
which in turn affected the fortunes of local landowners who
supported temples and later, over a period of time, the very climate
for indigenous arts changed.
While it is easy to blame all ills of India on foreigners who did
contribute to changing tastes and values, one cannot forget the role
of some native rulers in trying to emulate Western masters (read,
British!). If ballroom dancing became popular, it must be owing to
the local rajah's penchant to emulate or “feel one” with his masters.3

When the government of India stopped its grants to the royal courts,
the kings could no longer afford to maintain the court dancers and
musicians though they were still invited to perform on special
occasions. The fall of kingdoms and courts led to decline in
patronage and left the artistes with no support.

What led to the anti-nautch movement was not the dance in the
temples but the performances in private spaces. When the devadasi
had fallen on ill repute, owing to decline in patronage, which had
itself suffered at hands of colonial culture, the devadasis were slowly
marginalised and shunned by polite society. Some lawyers and
activists took upon themselves to fight for rights to abolish this
ancient art system. Such activists and proponents felt that devadasis
were a corrupting influence and its practice should be stopped.
Pitted on the opposite side were others who felt there was no need
to throw the baby with the bath water. Thus, arose two sides that
fought heated legal battles over an art form!

The earliest court cases involving devadasis appear in the 1860's -

mostly petty grievances with temple management over the
devadasis' temple land grants and their selection rights regarding
new devadasis. A statement by Bombay's Chief Justice Holloway in
1864 typifies Britain's cautious legal policy of avoiding, whenever
possible, any legislation on matters of Hindu religion that might
inflame the Hindu populace. He wrote: “This (devadasi custom) is not
at variance with Hindu law; our courts are therefore bound to
administer to them that law, uninfluenced by a fastidiousness
founded upon Western views of morality.” Social activists however
insisted that girls dedicated to temples were inducted into lives of
prostitution and demanded the courts ban the practice. (The Indian
Penal Code, established in 1861, allowed for prostitution but made
"trafficking" illegal.) Pressured by an Indian elite who felt
embarrassed by a tradition that Westerners had convinced them
“violated international 'moral' standards,” the Central Government
in 1872 requested an official report from each of its provinces on the
extent and nature of its devadasi tradition as well as the Hindu
public’s opinion relating thereto.4

In 1912, legislation to “protect female minors” aimed at banning the

devadasi system, was again introduced by a Parsi and a Hindu, Mr.
Mudholkar. Mudholkar presumed: “Neither Hinduism as now
practiced, nor Hinduism as it was inculcated by our rishis, recognized
this devadasi system. It was to them a most abhorrent thing.” Moral
indignation voiced by the male sector of Hindu society was new.
Associate Professor of Asian Studies at Mt. Holyoke College, Dr.
Indira Viswanathan Peterson, explains this phenomenon: “In reaction
to the British, Indians acted in two contradictory ways: they became
great reformers; but also suppressed some of the more erotic and
sexually liberated aspects of women's culture, thus turning Indian
society more rigid and conservative. Devadasis, or temple dancers,
were now considered obscene prostitutes, whereas earlier they were
not. This was because Indian men had to prove to the British that
they were moral, moral in a Christian, and Victorian sort of way.”5
In 1929, a Brahmin woman and member of the legislature, Dr.
Muthulakshmi Reddy, launched a furious anti-nautch (dance)
campaign, demanding wholesale demolition of the devadasi system -
a “revolting custom, calling for immoral trade of women,” she raged.
“The dharmakarthars (temple heads) and general illiterate public
imagine that the Gods in the temple want these dasis for service!”
she added. “The Gods in the temple do not want any dancing or
music,” thundered Mr. K.R. Karant, a Hindu. “It is a sacrilege to say
that religion requires all this nonsense.” Throughout the 60 years of
legal assault against them, the devadasis remained silent. But Dr.
Reddy scared them out of that shy profile. Overnight, scores of hand-
written pleas and protests - personally signed by devadasis - poured
into the Madras Legislature. One stood out. It was signed by the
“Deputation of the devadasis of the Presidency of Madras” and
“Devadasi association of the Tinnevelly District.” In eloquent
language, they pleaded for their survival. They denied being harlots,
and lamented this cruel stigma attached to them. They confessed a
minor degree of prostitution had crept into their society and
sincerely invited that such women be dealt with in accordance with
existing laws. They maintained: “Our institution is similar to the
mutts presided by sanyasis for the propagation of religion. We can
be compared to female sanyasis who are attached to respective
temples. We marry none but god and become devotees of god.”6

They averred Dr. Reddy's proposed abolition of their tradition

punished the many for actions of a few, and painfully assessed: “In
proposing this legislation, the legislators attempt to do away forever
with our sect. Such legislation is unparalleled in the civilized world.”
They asked for more soulful training: “Give us education - religious,
literary and artistic - so we will occupy once again the same rank
which we held in the past. Teach us the Thevarams of the Saivite
saints and the Nalayaram of the Vaishnavite acharyas. Instill into us
the Gita and the beauty of the Ramayana and explain to us the
Agamas and the rites of worship.” This would, they argued, inspire
devadasi girls to model themselves after female saints like “Maitreyi,
Gargi and Manimekalai and the women singers of the Vedas that we
might once again become the preachers of morality and religion...
You who boast of your tender love for small communities, we pray
that you may allow us to live and work out our salvation and
manifest ourselves in jnana and bhakti and keep alight the torch of
India's religion amidst the fogs and storms of increasing materialism
and interpret the message of India to the world.”7

The anti-nautch supporters, largely educated professionals and

Hindus, began their attack on the devadasis’ dance in 1892 using the
declamatory and journalistic skills at their disposal to full effect.
Collective public action took the form of signature protests and
marches to the homes of the elite who refused to heed the call for
boycotting the dance at private celebrations. … The vigor of the anti-
nautch campaign led to the complete suppression of Sadir and its
secular performance much before formal legislation was enacted
against temple dedication in 1947. 8

The Reformist or Abolitionist movement was supported by some

journals and newspapers like “The Indian Social Reformer” and
“Lahore Purity Servant.” The movement initially concentrated on
building public opinion and to enlist members to refuse to attend
nautch parties as well as to refuse to invite devadasis to festivities at
their homes. It was around 1899 that the anti-nautch and purity
movement turned its attention to stopping dedications. The anti-
nautch movement paved the way for anti-dedication movement.9

On one side were new intellectuals and activists like Dr.

Muthulakshmi Reddy, who wished to cleanse the system. At the
other end of the spectrum was lawyer-activist E. Krishna Iyer, a
concerned dance devotee, who loved dance and thus took up
cudgels on their behalf. Both fought in various ways like organizing
shows, talking about it on all public occasions and writing feisty
letters to the editors and articles in press.

In an article titled ‘Indian Dance Galore,’ E. Krishna Iyer wrote in

Indian Republic dated Oct 21, 1949 that, “If the national heritage
which had been preserved and developed for over two thousand
years fell into disrepute and neglect for a time in the past, it was
partly due to the inferiority complex of our so-called educated
countrymen steeped in western culture and glamour of everything
alien….”10

However the main legal issue was: continuation or not of devadasi

tradition. While E. Krishna Iyer and others felt the tradition itself was
not bad, Reddy and lot held that the root cause was the practice
itself. E Krishna Iyer and his band of lawyer activists were further
supported by other national artistes indirectly, who, by just taking to
dance and publically performing (Ram Gopal, Uday Shankar,
Gopinath-Thankamani, Madame Menaka, Rukmini Devi ) made an
important statement that dance wasn’t bad but maybe the devadasi
system needed cleaning.

E. Krishna Iyer himself occasionally dressed up as girl to show dance

was beyond gender, stigma or system. He wanted to prove that
dance art was not confined to women of ill-repute. When the
Madras Music Academy, a bastion of brahminical arts shunned
devadasis from performing there, Krishna Iyer showcased
Bharatanatyam by devadasis Raja Lakshmi and Jeevaratnam (Kalyani
sisters) on March 15, 1931 and Balasaraswati on 26 August 1933
when she was still a teenager. She later retorted famously through
dance with “Yarukkagilum bhayama!” As its Founding Secretary,
Krishna Iyer had no qualms about using his position. His skirmishes
with the establishment were intense but that did not deter him in
the least. He also had the power of the pen.

The Maharaja of Bobilli, who was then also the Governor of Madras
Presidency further enhanced the battle by presenting twin sisters
Varalakshmi and Bhanumati at his investiture ceremony, though at
the same time decreeing “if girls from good families take to dance…”
thus opening flood gates of demands for banning the devadasis.

Muthulakshmi Reddy shot off angry letters to the Hindu and The
Mail criticizing him for associating himself with the nautch party. Her
ire was laced with pain because on the committee of hosts for the
celebration were some of her friends who had given their unqualified
support to her goals. Even if they had not known that nautch was to
be presented, they had not protested or walked out. Dr. Reddy was
upset too that nautch was performed at another public function, a
garden party given in honor of M.A. Muthiah Chettiar, Kumararja of
Chettinad. The letters published in The Hindu drew response from
Krishna Iyer and the issue blossomed into a full-fledged controversy.
Krishna Iyer was not against the right kind of reforms. He agreed that
dance should not be used to lure clients for immoral purposes. But
he wanted the art to be preserved. He noted that 50 years of the
anti-nautch movement had nearly killed the art even while failing to
eradicate immorality. In the ensuing debate in the press, few
supported Dr. Reddy while many sided with Krishna Iyer. Those who
wished to save Sadir from extinction came to be identified as Pro-
Art.11

At the same time, fight for India’s independence was on and thus
there was nationalistic fervor and the whole environment was
charged with energy for newness. Sometimes such invisible trends in
society and its evolution also contribute to such causes.

From political platforms, dancers and musicians sang about their art.
At large Congress led gatherings, many leaders like Rajaji, Sarojini
Naidu and Gandhi extolled the beauty of Indian arts and traditions.
This helped the cause of arts and artists too. M.S. Subbulakshmi,
another talent hailing from devadasi tradition, sang at such platforms
and dancers like Mylapore Gowri Ammal and Nagaratnamma
danced.

In the end, Muthulakshmi Reddy fought hard and just as India

became independent, the Devadasi Act was passed and a whole
tradition was banned. That Bharatanatyam has survived and how
shows the strength of the form. Muthulakshmi Reddy died soon
thereafter. In Adyar, a road today stands named after her for her
efforts!

E Krishna Iyer and others continued to serve Bharatanatyam and

wrote, spoke, lectured about its content thus enabling many young
girls from good families to take to art like Rukmini Devi, Kamala
Lakshman, M.K. Saroja, Vyjayanthimala. Rest is history!
It was his work in revival of Bharatanatyam that makes us honor E.
Krishna Iyer the most. In 1932/33 he helped stop a government
regulation banning the art of the devadasis. His constant articles,
rejoinders, speeches, presentations – all contributed towards the
dance form’s survival until 1947 when India became independent
and many others had joined his efforts and thus saved
Bharatanatyam for posterity. Without E. Krishna Iyer, the art of Sadir,
Bharatanatyam as we know it today, would be poorer. Though no
one individual can make or mar an art form, Krishna Iyer played the
role of a lighthouse Madras so badly needed. If there was a Bharat
Ratna for dance, EKI deserves it the most.12

A genuine do-gooder, Krishna Iyer’s life needs celebration because

he was fully and totally devoted to dance. He made Bharatanatyam
popular and also helped revive Kavadi / कावडी, Karagam / करागम,
Bommalattam / बोम्मलात्तम and Poikkal Kudhirai Attam / पोइक्कल
कुधिरै अट्टम . His contribution is immense in revival and survival of
Bharatanatyam as a form, in the context of his time and clime.
Bharatanatyam as a dance form had been languishing with little
patronage and direct support, in cities. By raising issues, being pro-
active and taking up its cause, Krishna Iyer gave it a renewed mission
and vision. By his vociferous pen and motor-mouth abilities, he saw
to it that this form did not fade away. Many benefited by his actions,
though they may not give him direct credit.13

In his eventful life, Krishna Iyer received many honors, awards, titles
and tributes. The best compliment he received was from
Muthulakshmi Reddy, the erstwhile leader of the anti-nautch
movement and in this capacity, his one timer opponent. Sending a
message for his 61st birthday celebrations, she said that EKI had
done a great service to the south Indian art of Bharatanatyam by
regenerating and restoring it to its original purity and dignity. She
noted that it had become a popular art not only in every household
but also in all educational institutions. 14
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 6 Legal Battle Of The Devadasis

Devadasi / दे वदासी women were charming, intelligent, cultured with

an ethnic style and an attractive personality. They were
accomplished artistes who were dedicated to sing and dance in the
temples. Devadasis believed the ultimate manifestation of Bhakti is
to serve God as a slave and performed certain functions as part of
their worship that fulfilled both artistic and social needs. Their talent
and flair for music and dance were natural. They were proud of their
artistic legacy. They were allowed to lead the God’s procession in the
temples they were associated with because they were considered as
auspicious omens. The kings, priests and the noblemen enjoyed their
performances and gave them a respectable position in the society.

The Nayaks / नायक and Marathas in South India supported the best
of the devadasi artistes. The decline of the court dancer began as
early as 18th century when British presence became strong in the
South. Royalty declined in power and prestige. All artistes,
craftsmen, scholars and poets were affected by this political change.
They were deprived of their very emotional, social and economic
sustenance. Only a few of them managed to survive because of their
courage and extraordinary talent.

1
As the years passed the position of the devadasis saw a slow decline
in the society. With the fall of the royal patronage their arts suffered
an eclipse. When they were forced to satisfy the vulgar passions of
their patrons, their arts also acquired a disreputable character and
became synonymous with prostitution. The community was abused
and there was a clamor to abolish the system. Over the years, dance
and devadasis became synonymous to such an extent that reformers
targeted to abolish all kinds of dance along with the devadasis. Most
of the devadasi families moved to Madras Presidency and some to
the other parts of Tamil Nadu. The men from the community became
dance teachers and the ladies married and settled as housewives.

The Battle

The first anti-nautch blow was struck in 1893. The newspaper ‘Hindu’
condemned the practice of nautch / नाच performances held for
visiting dignitaries to the Madras Presidency. The paper appealed to
the dignitaries to boycott such nautch parties. The anti-nautch
movement started was on the way to achieving its goal through the
complete abolishing of the practice of dedicating girls to temple
service and performance of dance in temples and other public
places. An organization known as the Hindu Social Reform
Movement handed a memorandum to this effect to the Governor.
This move was highly condemned as nautch was flourishing as the
only colorful entertainment available.

In 1927, the Council of State in Delhi debated the motion of a

Madras member that sought a ban on this practice of dedicating girls
in temples to serve as devadasis. In spite of the opposition from
some members, The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act

2
(HR & CE) was amended in 1929 to allow temples to do away with
the duties of devadasis in temples.

The temples were forced to take back the lands (maanyam / मान्यं)
that were given to devadasis. As a chain reaction, wealthy patrons
also disowned all association with devadasis. This put the women
into a great crisis. Bangalore Nagaratnamma / नगरत्नम्मा, a devadasi
was then an eminent personality with high level contacts. The
devadasis came together and put up a fight under her leadership and
formed the Madras Devadasi Association. This move eventually
failed due to Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy’s strong opposition. Dr.
Muthulakshmi Reddy was the first woman from this community to
enter medical profession. She strongly felt that girls of her
community should be relieved from slavery and get educated. She
demanded a ban on dancing in the temples. This was opposed by E.
Krishna Iyer, a lawyer who pleaded for the preservation of the
artistic tradition of music and dance. E.Krishna Iyer took the bold
step of organizing a dance performance of young dancers from
Thanjavur to prove his point that dance needed public support to
survive as an art form. Gradually many dancers got opportunity and
recognition from the sabhas / सभा. Thus dance moved out of the
temples and away from ceremonial processions. The new wave and
bold step gained popularity against the rapid reformative zeal led by
Dr. Reddy.

Viscount Goschen, the Governor of Madras, and Baron Irwin, the

Governor General, gave their assent to the Bill on 13th May 1929.
The Provincial Government was entrusted with the responsibility to
have control over the management of the temples for the good of
public. With the help of the Bill, the devadasi community developed
3
a sense of self-respect and dignity and the community itself
understood the evils of the system.

The abolishing of the system

Public opinion was in favour of the abolition of the devadasi system.

Muthulakshmi Reddy introduced the Prevention of Dedication of
Hindu Temples Bill in the Madras Legislative Council on 24th January
1930. After making certain modifications by the Select Committee,
the Bill was circulated for the purpose of eliciting public opinion. At
this juncture, the press in Tamil Nadu got involved in the
propaganda, for creating awareness and generating public opinion in
favour of the Bill. Newspapers published and circulated leaflets,
which contained the articles of Muthulakshmi Reddy. Tamil
newspapers published the supporting stands of various organizations
and associations for the Bill regularly to seek their support and boost
the passing of the Bill. The Tamil Dravidian political parties endorsed
their full-fledged support to the Bill. The Dravidian parties published
an article based on spiritual research. In the article, it revealed that
Sundaramurthy Nayanar, a Sivaite leader of the past, himself
recognized the abolition of women’s dedication to the temples, and
it raised a question why modern Sivaites were not ready to accept
the reform. This article created an overwhelming response among
the public.

At the same time Margret Cousins, Secretary of Women’s India

Association felt that there was no need for the circulation of
the Bill. In support of this Bill, the Indian Ladies Magazine made
public the resolution passed in the fifth All India Women’s

4
Conference held at Madras in November 1930. It pleaded for the
boycott of those temples where the devadasi service was still
practiced and to prevent the dedication of girls to temples by
punishing the culprits. The announcement for boycotting the
temples was a revolutionary move.

The efforts of the press created support among the public for the
passing of the Bill. The government was thus prompted to take an
urgent and effective step. In the mid-half of 1930, the Government
of Madras issued an order to the effect that the dedication of
women to the temples was abolished by law. The dedication of
minor girls to the temples was considered as a crime. In the same
year, Travancore State also abolished the evil system. Even after the
orders it was not completely uprooted. With the support of the
temple trustees it was surviving in some areas. All India women’s
Conference appealed to the Hindu Religious Endowment Board of
Madras to call upon all trustees of the temple under its jurisdiction
totally to eradicate the devadasi service and the ceremony of
dedication of girls in such temples by issuing an order. The
newspapers wrote that the devadasi system was a bad omen for the
Hinduism. The existence of the evil would result in moral
degeneration of the youth and this evil would bring shame to our
country in the international arena. Before the issue of the order
Muthulakshmi Reddy resigned from the Council due to the arrest of
Mahatma Gandhi. But she continued her work of the Council for the
above purpose. She wrote a letter to C. Rajagopalachari, the leader
of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee. In the letter, she expressed that
“the dedication of girls to the temple was a social sin exactly
as growing palm trees for the production of toddy.” The Anandha
Bodhini newspaper published this letter. Rajagopalachari wrote that

5
he was burdened with the Independence movement and was unable
to help in this effort.

In the meantime, Maharaja of Bobbli, the Premier of the Madras

Presidency attended a public meeting, in which the devadasi women
performed dance feast. Muthulakshmi Reddy criticized this
occurrence. E. Krishna Iyer, targeted her for her efforts through
reports. He said that the system should be allowed to exist until
other girls would be trained to perform the dances. Hearing this, she
criticized his view and questioned if he was willing to transform other
girls to devadasis. The Anandha Bodhini paper supported her efforts
and requested the public to support her. The paper appealed to
parents not to force their girls into the evil. On the other hand, the
temple trustees did not care for the law; they continued with
pottukattuthal / ऩोट्टूकट्टुथऱ ceremonies in rural and far-flung
areas. The paper advised the public to leave the evil, which was
hated by Gandhi and eminent leaders of the country. It further
added that to restrict many venereal diseases, strict measures should
be taken against the evil.

Movaloor Ramamirtham Ammal / मोवऱूर रामाम्रिथम अम्मऱ, born in a

devadasi family, came out from the evil and bravely fought for the
abolition of the system. She worked for the well-being of those
devadasis who were exploited by the system and had managed to
escape. She wrote a book ‘Dasikalmosavalaiallathu Mathi Petra
Minor / दाम्रसकल्मोसवाम्रऱयाल्ऱाथू माथथ ऩत्रा म्रमनोर ’ (The Treacherous
Net of Devadasis or the Minor Grown Wise). In this book, she dealt
with the lives and struggles of devadasis. This book was a novel,
based on self-experience. It explained how and why the escaped
devadasis came forward to establish a social organization for the
6
benefits of other devadasis. The book brought mass awareness
among the public. In an article in the newspapers, she asked a
question, why were dances and songs would be necessary for Gods
in the Temples while the orthodox Brahmins and priests argued that
such ancestral arts should continue in the temples. With the
constant awareness created by the papers, public support increased
for the abolition of the evil.

In the Princely State of Pudukottai / ऩुदक्

ु कोटट्टइ the devadasi system
was abolished by amending the Hindu Laws of Inheritance so as to
benefit the female heirs in the family. The public in general
wholeheartedly welcomed the abolition. Soon a similar Act was
passed in the Madras Legislative Council as an amendment to the
Hindu Religious Endowment Act. In spite of the law it was very
regrettable that even in some city temples, the devadasi system
continued. This was partly due to the non-interference policy of the
government, and partly due to the ignorance of the masses and the
apathy of the so-called educated class. Thus the papers asked its
readers to be aware of the existing laws regarding female
emancipation.

The press reproduced the presidential address of Muthulakshmi

Reddy in the Andhradesa Kalvanthula Conference held in Tenali on
13th August 1932. Her address elaborately discussed the evils and
the devadasi system, the Legislative efforts taken to abolish the evil
and the role of the public to be played in this issue. She strongly
suggested that without the public support a reform could not be
made. She appealed to the mothers not to dedicate their female
children to the Hindu temples.

7
On 7th of August 1939 a new Bill related to the abolition of devadasi
system was introduced in the Madras Legislative Council by Mrs.
Ammanna Raja. She requested to send the Bill for the consideration
of the Select Committee. But C. Rajagopalachri, the Premier of
Madras Presidency announced that the Bill should be circulated for
gathering public opinion. This opinion was widely criticized by the
press. The Bill had the provisions for the abolition of dedication of
women, reorganization for the marriage of devadasis, the property
rights of the children on the devadasis, and the arrangements for
receiving their due share from the temple revenue even though they
left their service. After public circulation, the Bill was sent to the
Select Committee consisting of three women and five men.

Muthulakshmi Reddy pointed out that the dedication of girls over

the age of eighteen years was performed secretly; it exposed the
failure of reform acts. She sought the support from the parents of
girls until the evil was thoroughly abolished. She noted that the
legislations would create the external changes only, whereas the
internal change could be created only by awareness.

Several newspapers brought out stories with photographs about the

pathetic situations of young girls forced into pottukatuthal /
ऩोट्टूकटुथऱ ceremony and then to prostitution and later becoming
victims of several diseases. This created a strong opinion against the
evil. Most of the people expected that the bill would be passed
earlier but the Second World War put a hurdle on the way. All the
efforts ended in vain. During the Ministry of O.P. Ramasamy
Reddiyar, another Bill was introduced by Dr. Subbarayan on 9th
October 1947 in the Madras Legislative Assembly to abolish the
8
devadasi system. The Bill was sent to Select Committee under the
chairmanship of Mrs. Ammanna Raja. After the committee stage,
the Bill became Law on 17 January 1948 and called Act No. XXXI of
1947. It was also known as Madras Devadasis (Prevention of
Dedication) Act, 1947. According to the Act, all forms of devadasi
system were henceforth abolished in the Madras Presidency.

This Act, popularly known as the Devadasi Abolition Act, is an

important social legislation in the history of emancipation of Indian
women. The reformers found a lot of difficulties to enact this
legislation and implement it with success. Even though the
conservative press made negative efforts against the Legislations;
the majority of the papers defended them with social conscience.
Thus, the press justified the right things, persuaded the government
for them and stimulated the public for the noble cause regarding the
emancipation of women.

The situation was very difficult for existing devadasi families. Many
of them had no choice but to leave the temple town where they had
lived for generations. Some families migrated to other temple towns
in search of patronage. Several small towns quietly employed them
for temple service. For example, Muthukani Ammal / मथ
ु क
ू नी अम्माऱ
of Viralimalai / ववराम्रऱमऱाई performed duties in that temple as well as
danced during the festivals even after the Bill was passed. Most
devadasis, however, moved to Madras in the late 19th century.
Madras was the center of commerce and trading where prospects of
new temples being built were high. They were allowed to live near
the temple to become professional dancers and musicians,
continuing their traditional lifestyle and seeking patronage from the
rich and famous. The dance and music programs of the devadasis
9
became an integral part of the official and social gatherings of the
British officials. The resourceful composers came up with lyrics
combining Telugu and English or Tamil and English. Composer
Sivarammayya / म्रिवराम्म्या composed a javali / जावऱी in Telugu and
English in Karaharapriya raga / करहरविया राग. The last of the
devadasis were left only with their dance art. The court dance was
stopped with Indian royal territories attached to the British rule.
Ritual dances in the temples were banned. The only alternate was to
perform on the stage as kutcheries like the music kutcheries.

Many of the business aristocrats from George Town, Madras, rebuilt

the temples and established traditional rituals in them. Many
devadasi families with long cultural lineage survived the 20th century
at George Town, Madras. Veena Dhanammal / ववणा धन्नम्मऱ with
eight generations behind her, Kanchipuram Dhanakoti Ammal /
धनाकोटी अम्मऱ with five generations to boast about, were some
example families who made the best of the new patronage.

The revivalists tried to present the idealistic view of the institution of

devadasi. According to this, it was the model of the ancient temple
dancer as pure, sacred and chaste woman, devoted only to the lord
of the temple. They stressed that the dance of devadasi was a form
of natya yoga that enhanced an individual's spiritual plane. The
revivalists wanted to preserve the traditional form of sadir dance by
purifying it. As a consequence of purification, some modifications
were introduced into the content of the dance, since the revivalists
mostly belonged to Brahmin dominated Theosophical circles. Many
Brahmin girls started to learn the dance from devadasis and
nattuvanars / नट्टूवनार.

10
Pioneers like Madam H.P. Blavatsky and Colonel H.S. Olcott, the
founders of the Theosophical movement, had undertaken an
extensive tour of South India and propagated the revival of devadasi
institutions and the associated art of sadir. They gained support from
some sections of the native elite. In 1882, the Theosophical Society
of India had set up its headquarters in Adayar, Chennai, with the set
goal of working towards the restoration of India's ancient glory in art,
science, and philosophy.

The Theosophical Society, Adayar provided necessary funds and

support to Rukmani Devi Arundale to revive the spirituality of the
dance art. She re-appropriated the devadasi dance traditions to a
respectable position. For this she brought in changes in the dance
repertoire by excluding items perceived as erotic in their description
of a deity. She also systematized the dance in a way that
incorporated the extension and use of space associated with dance
traditions such as ballet. The product of this transformation was
Bharatanatyam, which she taught professionally at a school
established by her in Madras called Kalakshetra.

E. Krishna Iyer, the votary of dance, learnt the art and performed on
stage in a female costume. He defended the dancer in an article
published in a Tamil daily called Dinamani on 28th February 1948. He
used every avenue to support the dance of the devadasis. E. Krishna
Iyer had his training in Bharatanatyam under Natyacharya Melattur
Natesa Iyer. He founded and nurtured two leading institutions in
Madras. He has to his credit the resuscitation of folk dances and
music which due to long neglect were in danger of extinction. He
conducted two folkdance festivals in Delhi and took the Tamil
tradition to the capital. S.P.S. Sarangapani Iyengar with the help of

11
Chockalingam, founded the institution of fine arts to give training to
youngsters in dance. P. Sambamoorthy / ऩी. साम्भामुर्ति and V.
Raghavan / वी. राघवन, occupants of the chairs in music and Sanskrit
respectively at the University of Madras carried on an untiring
propaganda through books and monographs, to elevate the taste of
the audience. In this task they received considerable support from
several organizations. The pressure of the social changes made the
devadasis withdraw from the stage. They could not make careers as
teachers or performers. Many of the business aristocrats from
George Town, Madras, rebuilt the temples and quietly re-established
traditional rituals in them.

The devadasi community was never a caste. The ladies were the
mistresses of men from different castes. Their offspring, later called
themselves as Isai vellalars / इसाई वेल्ऱाऱर , meaning those who
nurture music. Some women of the devadasi community married
musicians, dance teachers, politicians and businessmen and led a
peaceful life. They never wanted to be reminded of their art nor did
they teach dance to their children. Very few of them retained their
art and passed it on to younger generations in their families.

Balasarswathi / बाऱासरस्वती, Mylapore Doraikannu Ammal / मायऱाऩोर

दोरे कन्नू अम्मऱ , Mylapore Gowri Ammal / मायऱाऩोर गोवरी अम्मऱ ,
Kumbakonam Banumathi / कुम्भकोणम भानम
ु ाथथ, Pandanallur
Jayalakshmi / ऩंडनल्ऱरु जयऱक्ष्मी, Thanjavur Rajalaksmi / तंजावुर
राजऱक्ष्मी, Tiruvarur Tilagam / र्तरुवारुर र्तऱगम, Tiruvarur Gnanam /
र्तरुवारुर ग्नानम , Ammani Ammal / अम्मनी अम्माऱ , and Veena
Dhanammal / वीणा धन्नम्मऱ were some of the courageous and

12
talented dancers who passed on their art to many students for
posterity.

Any art, especially music and dance, depends heavily on its patrons.
In the yester years, it was the royal families, and now it is the public.

13
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 7 Abolition Of The Devadasi System And Transition To The

Art Dance

The rise and fall in the status of devadasis can be seen to be running
parallel to the rise and fall of Hindu temples. As the temples became
poorer and lost their patron kings (and in some cases temples were
completely destroyed), the devadasis were forced into a life of
poverty, misery and in many cases, prostitution. The problem of the
devadasi system is that it continued in spite of centuries of decline of
temples, absence of patron kings and without the related social
support systems.1

Coupled with the active support of colonial rulers, the antagonism

felt by the men of the community (of performers and dancers) for
the more successful women contributed towards the success of the
reform movement. “The extraordinary success of the reforms was
not unconnected with the fact that the community men folk stood to
gain by the legislation. The reform campaign forced the devadasis to
acknowledge the moral supremacy of grhasta / ग्रंथ values. Even
more importantly, it obliged them to relinquish all rights to temple
service and its privileges. The men on the other hand continued to
perform both in the temples and in people’s homes. The immense
patronage they received from the DK/DMK (regional party in Tamil
Nadu) organizations favored them financially. The Nagaswaram
today is even performed as a concert art. With respect to land rights
as well, the abolition of the devadasi system benefited the men of
the community over the women – in direct contrast to the historical
situation.2

With the anti Devadasi act of 1947, a system which took centuries of
perfecting was abolished. The provisions of this Act also stipulated
that dance not be performed in temples and dancers not be kept in
temple service. While this sanitized the system at surface level, no
one thought of the fate of dancers or their future. In such a scenario,
it was but natural that all kinds of issues were faced by the dancers
and musicians and their families.

The irony was that the devadasi, who was a non-Brahmin, became a
victim of the politics of anti-Brahmanism of Dravidian parties on one
hand and of the Christian missionaries and colonial rulers on the
other hand. The support to devadasis came from two unexpected
quarters – Brahmins and Theosophists.

The espousal of the dance by Brahmin dominated Theosophical (and

Congress) was used by the British Government officials to play up
suspicion in non-Brahmin circles against not only the dance but also
against the movement of Indian nationalism. The political lines were
now drawn very clearly. On one side were British officials, Christian
missionaries and ‘backward’ non-Brahmins. On the other side were
the European (unofficial) Theosophists, Congress and Brahmins. The
former used everything in their power to kill the dance and its
community of performers (devadasis). The latter tried to preserve
and promote the dance as a national art. The efforts of the latter
helped the emergence of an elite class of amateur performers. But
the efforts of both sides led to the demise of the centuries old
professional performers known as devadasis. (Based on Amrit
Srinivasan, 1985 and Jogan Shankar, 1990)3

Dance had been a vital element of temple worship in South India

until the Devadasi Bill was passed in 1947. This law made it illegal to
dance on temple grounds, in effect destroying all support for the
devadasis to continue learning and sharing their art. During the
British occupation of India, confusion and fear had taken hold, and a
group of influential elite pushed the law into effect the same year
that India gained independence from Britain. A small number of
dedicated artists continued to carve a place for the dance to survive
amidst the extremely charged political landscape. During that time,
Balasaraswati, an extraordinarily brilliant dancer and musician,
brought public attention to the importance of maintaining dance as a
sacred communion with god. Others, such as Rukmini Devi, founded
schools that promoted a revised version of the dance that was more
suited for the stage as its venue rather than the temple.4

With the abolition of the devadasi system and dance services in the
temple, the parampara / परं परा practitioners were seriously affected.
Suddenly, an ancient art form was displaced and usurped by a class
of practitioners who knew nothing about its intricacies and
etiquettes. The new practitioners wanted to learn the art and had to
from the same devadasis and nattuvanars.

The revivalists wanted to preserve the traditional form of Sadir dance

by purifying it. The new name was given as ‘Bharatanatyam.’ As a
consequence of purification some modifications were introduced
into the content of the dance style. The revivalists basically belonged
to Brahmin dominated Theosophical circles. Many Brahmin girls
started to learn the dance from devadasis. Hence the dance
technique remained unchanged. The only change was change in the
class of clientele. The themes were picked up from Sanskrit texts,
higher caste girls learned the dances and put them in new settings
which excluded devadasi traditions, and the dance form became
individual-oriented from the community-oriented. (Jogan Shankar /
जोगन शंकर).
5

The traditional dancers and nattuvanars had to move where new

patronage could be found. Thus, there was a procession from
Thanjavur to Madras city, but only a few artistes and gurus could
make the relocation. Very few dancers survived it. But for the fact
that parampara dancers were featured in the historic series at Music
Academy during 1931- 40, the nattuvanars would likely not have
come to Madras. It is frightening to imagine what would have
happened to the art if the (Music) Academy series had not been
conducted.6

If the sixth conference of the Music Academy in 1932 was epoch

making, the seventh in 1933 was a conference of consolidation. It
was presided over by vidwan / विध्िान K Ponniah Pillai, Professor of
Music at Annamalai University and the descendant of Sivanandam of
the Thanjavur Quartet. This conference had the unique distinction of
having many doyens of the dance world as its expert participants. On
its third day, Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai presented a
paper in which he explained the nature and future of south Indian
dance. On the last day, another famous exponent of dance held the
floor. Bharatam Nallur Narayanaswamy Iyer gave a lecture on the
‘Art of Bharata: The Indian dance.’ He explained at length with
numerous examples, the three branches of art, namely bhava / भाि,
raga / राग and tala / ताऱ. Scholar Dr. V. Raghavan seems to have
taken an active part for the first time in this conference. He moved as
many as six resolutions which were passed without discussion. The
following is the text of one of them: Resolved that the Academy do
represent to Hindu Religious Endowments Board that steps should
immediately be taken to see that Tevaram, Vaishnava
Prabhandhams. Bharatanatyam, Nagaswaram and other temple
musicals are again made a part of the daily offering to the god in all
temples.7

On the whole, the 1933 conference was noteworthy for the

recommendations for reviving and refining the dance which were
mooted and accepted. In the years that followed, dance recitals
rather than discussions about the art and its future held centre stage.
Artistes from families which considered dance as a hereditary
profession dominated the stage until 1936. The first non-professional
dancer at the Academy was a Brahmin girl Balachandra in Dec 1938.
In the following year, two other girls Lakshmi Sastri and Kalanidhi of
similar background danced. Since the prestigious platform at the
Music Academy could not be made available except to a few
outstanding artistes, many who had taken up Bharatanatyam in right
earnest and wished to perform in the public had to stage their
recitals under the auspices of various sabhas and associations.
Among those who danced were disciples of the many nattuvanars
who had gone into hibernation, in a manner of speaking, during the
time the dance was under a cloud.8
According to E. Krishna Iyer, who was closely associated with the
revival of Bharatanatyam, the date 1 January 1933 (the date of the
second dance recital of the Kalyani daughters) was to be taken as the
date of the renaissance of Bharatanatyam. In one of the most unique
cultural restorations of dance encountered anywhere in the world,
everything about the dance changed. From being a fragment of
history shriveling in the margins of impoverishment, Bharatanatyam
empowered itself to become the ubiquitous Indian classical dance.
From a surreptitious caste bound practice, it became a wondrous art
form that tore its caste and regional definitions to capture the entire
nation's popular and critical imagination. From being a fragile
ritualistic dance that had originated in the temples of South India, it
became a vehicle for flagrant performance. From a secluded and
sacred art, it became public. From temple lintel to proscenium stage
it became an object of celebration, and some abuse.9

Those who did not belong to the traditional community drew

inspiration from the beauty of the dance as performed by the
members of that community. Even Rukmini Devi was inspired to
learn Bharatanatyam only when she saw some of the traditional
dancers perform at Music Academy and she learnt the dance from
traditional nattuvanars, not from text books. In this respect, the
series at Music Academy organized by E. Krishna Iyer with the active
collaboration of dancers of the traditional community played a
critical role indeed. Four individuals played a crucial role in the
renaissance of Bharatanatyam: E. Krishna Iyer, T. Balasaraswati,
Kamala and Rukmini Devi.10

Regression analysis shows that if E. Krishna Iyer had not campaigned

for saving the dance from extinction, and if he had not arranged the
historic series at the Music Academy, the dance would have failed to
gain respectability and hence would not have survived, or survived
long enough for anyone else to try and play the role of savior. It also
shows that without the cooperation of the dancers of the traditional
community, Krishna Iyer would not have been able to convey the
beauty of the art to the wider public. Rukmini Devi clothed the dance
with her exquisite taste and added new dimensions to it. Kamala
inspired hundreds of others to learn and perform Bharatanatyam
because as a talented dancer who was also young, she became a role
model others could not be.11

Bharatanatayam’s best specimens Ram Gopal, Bala, Rukmini Devi did

not question tradition when they came center-stage as early as in the
1930s. Why? Because they were “reviving and resurrecting” an
almost dead art. Or, they were proud to continue the art of their
masters as taught to them. This was the basis of much tom-tommed
Guru-Shishya parampara / गरु
ु -शशष्य परं परा , or the technique of
transmission of art, orally, from a master to a pupil and so the chain
continued.

Remember, most masters were men. Why? Because belonging to the

caste of devadasis who were by inference “women of loose morals”
(from a prudish Victorian point of view), their offspring, born outside
wedlock were illegitimate, simply put. To change their status and
standing in society, they were trained and equipped in the art of
their families, i.e. teach and conduct dance recitals. Hence, most
such men became venerated masters, nattuvanars or conductors of
such stars of the form as make legends today. 12
Instead of going to villages and temples to learn the art of the
devadasis, slowly the art was patronized in the city. Several gurus
and nattuvunars had to leave their villages and come to try their
fortune in the city. Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Muthukumara Pillai
were first teachers at newly established school started by a Brahmin
from Madurai in Madras, under the enlightened aegis of world
Theosophical Society (called Temple of Arts in 1936, then renamed
Kalakshetra). Many next generation gurus were born from within the
devadasi families. Thus Kittappa Pillai, Ellappa Pillai and Ramaiah
Pillai, Dandayudhapani Pillai all flocked to biggest city in south –
Madras – in the 1940s and established base there.

The coming of several institutions in the decade after the visit by

foreigners of note led to creation of many major institutions like the
Kerala Kalamandalam, Kalakshetra, and Santiniketan, to specifically
teach and nurture traditional Indian dances that happened after this
decade, i.e., the 1920s. The offshoot of this was an engagement of
traditional teachers who left their rural moorings and came to teach
in big cities like Madras and much later, Delhi. Chief amongst these
were Muthukumara Pillai (who travelled maximum and helped
propagate Bharatanatyam in two cities: Madras for twelve years;
Ahmedabad for two), Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai (six months at
Kalakshetra) and Ramaiah Pillai (thirty years in Madras). Gurus
Ellappa, Kittappa and Subbaraya Pillai, all based themselves in
Madras and taught many. It is through these early and pioneering
figures that Bharatanatyam got its style and structure, form and
content, as we mostly see today. In modern times, few gurus who
have distinguished themselves are the Dhananjayans in
Bharatanatyam, Kalamandalam Ramankutty and Kalamandalam Gopi
in Kathakali and Pt. Birju Maharaj in Kathak. While alive, Guru
Kelucharan Mohapatra did a lot for Orissi, Vempatti Chinna Satyam
and Nataraja Ramakrishna in Kuchipudi, Guru Amobi Singh and later
Bipin Singh in Manipuri. All males! These are our national icons, who
have furthered parampara of abhyaas / अभ्यास mode of teaching and
learning and acquiring natya.13

Most taught at Kalakshetra but some also taught dance for films as
Madras was also centre for films before Bombay came up. Many
productions needed and used classical dances, especially
Bharatanatyam and thus many nattuvanars like Ramaiah Pillai got
foothold in the film industry and they discovered talents like Kamala
Lakshman (originally a disciple of Muthukumara Pillai), Bhanumati
and Vyjayanthimala. Film directors like Subrahmanyam (Padma’s
father) also made dance films and gave many dancers an opportunity
to show their talents. Uday Shankar was based in Madras in 1940s to
make iconic film ‘Kalpana / कल्पना’ (which discovered the Travancore
Sisters - Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini - and Guru Gopinath).

Dance was now popular thanks to sudden opportunities in films and

on stage. Within a decade, the baby had been thrown and bathwater
used! The last devadasis like Mylapore Gowri Ammal attached to
Kapaleeswara temple, Madras, taught expressional dance to some
first generation dancers like Rukmini Devi, Kalanidhi and others.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the merchant community
of Chettiars and Mudaliars support the arts when many displaced
artistes moved to Madras. Slowly, sabhas were set up and shows of
dance and music (Chinna / छिन्न and Periamelam / पेरीअमेऱम) were
held in these thatched roofed sit out sabhas. Around 1899-1900, the
first sabha / सभा came into existence in Madras. The hundred-year-
old Triplicane Parthasarthy Sabha is one of the oldest. These sabhas
were not involved in presenting dance. Founded in 1927, the Music
Academy was the only sabha which took up the fight for saving
Sadirattam, thanks to enlightened members like E. Krishna Iyer and
others. However, it was not till the late 70s and early 80s that sabhas
started dominating the dance scene. Stages were built and dance
moved from temple to proscenium stage. The influence of dancers
who had travelled to west or come from west also aided this process.

From 1920s, many foreigners like Anna Pavlova, Ted Shawn, La Meri,
Louise Lightfoot and travel writers like Beryl de Zoette and others
came and saw and wrote about Hindu or Oriental dances. Artistes
like Ram Gopal and Uday Shankar, having travelled west before
1940s also brought in western stage sense, costumes, lights and
colours. Indian arts met western aesthetics of stage.

When the dance performances left the precincts of the temple to

that of the court, a change in content was observed. The songs used
were now in praise of the kings or the patrons of the day. The kings
and the patrons, the present nayakas / नायक of the lyrical content,
were eulogized as devotees of Lord Shiva and Lord Rama in their
varied forms and some bhakti / भक्तत content was sustained. Till the
end of the nineteenth century both temple and court performances
prevailed. In the twentieth century, when dance entered the
proscenium stage, margam / मागग was continued by the revivers of
this art form.14

The transition seemed seamless as Indian artists were very adroit

and adaptable, while maintaining traditions, they could infuse new
directions society and times demanded. The dancers and musicians
who were unexposed to world outside village temple were now in
mainstream city life. Important devadasi families like Bala and M.S.
Subbulakshmi moved to Madras. Swarna Saraswati moved to Delhi.
Thus dance moved from temple to the global stage.

While Indian dances have reached out to most corners of the world
now, thanks also to Indian diaspora, the original catalysts were a few
pioneering foreigners and traditional gurus who inspired many
Indians to re-look at their own dance traditions. They played a
significant role in shaping the fortunes of Indian dances. Male
dancers and gurus and teachers helped shape Indian classical dance
in first phase of revival (1920s-1950s). Some forms were also all-male
like Kuchipudi, Sattriya, Kathakali and Yakshagana. Today, we see
many changes and fewer males. Most teachers and gurus are
females and most forms have more female dancers, than male. In
last fifty years, this is the main transition. What next?15
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 8 The Mahari-s And The Nautch Girls

MAHARIS

Maharis / महारी were a class of dancers in eastern India, dedicated to

singing and dancing for gods, as one of 64 forms of worshipping at
Puri Jagannath temple and Lingaraj temple in Orissa. The practice
arose out of benevolent expansion under Ganga dynasty kings from
12th century onwards.

The earliest reference to the dedication of dancing girls in Orissa is in

the form of an inscription belonging to the time of Udyotta Kesari /
उद्योग केसरी (9th c AD). The King’s mother Kolavati Devi / कोऱावती
दे वी dedicated temple dancers to Lord Shiva in the Brahmeswar
Temple, Bhubaneswar. The earliest performers of Odissi were these
dancers and they continued to be its chief repositories for centuries.
So, the history of Odissi dance is largely the history of these
devadasis or maharis as they are known in Orissa. The Kesari period
saw the decline of Buddhism and ascendancy of Brahmanism in
Orissa. This in a way paved the way for emergence of the Jagannath
cult, or recognition of Vishnu-Krishna as Lord of the world, which was
later to play a vital role in the shaping of the dance tradition of the
Maharis.1
After the Kesaris, the Ganga dynasty came to power. Chodaganga /
चोडगंगा (1077-1147) began construction of the Jagannath temple at
Puri and also employed Maharis for service in this temple. In 1194,
Anangabhimadeva / अनंगभीमदे व became the ruler. He built several
temples and constructed the Hall of Dance (nata mandir) as an
annexe to the Jagannath temple, for performance of the Maharis and
musicians who were in the service of the temple. Celebrated
composer Jayadev lived at this time and his Geeta Govinda later
became an indispensable part of the rituals at Jagannath temple.
Towards the close of the Ganga rule, King Rajarajadeva / राजेन्द्रदे व
appointed about 20 dancing girls for service in the Jagannath temple.
2

In 1435, Kapilendradeva / कपऩऱेन्द्रदे व established the rule of the Surya

Vamsa / सूयव
य ंश (Solar Dynasty). He introduced the custom of having
the Mahari dance twice a day at Jagannath temple, once at the time
of bhog (Lord’s midday meal) and at the time of barha sringar / बरहा
श्रंगार (Lord’s ritual adornment before being put to bed). He also
started the tradition of having the Geeta Govinda sung everyday as
part of the temple’s daily rituals. Kapilendradeva’s son,
Purushotamdeva / ऩुरुषोत्तमदे व, defeated Narasimha Salva of
Kanchipuram and married his daughter Rupambika / रुऩाम्बबका, who
was renamed Padmavati / ऩद्मावती. 3

Of her own accord, Padmavati enlisted herself as a Mahari and the

temple honored her with the Gopa Sadhi / गोऩा साधी award for her
services as a dancer in the Jagannath temple. The temple chronicle
Madala Panji / मदाऱ ऩंजी records the act. This suggests that Maharis
were held in respect at that time and that a woman considered it a
great honor to be permitted to serve the Lord as a dancing girl.
Reference to dance rituals at Jagannath temple can be found in the
Skanda Purana (10-11th c AD).4

After Purushotamadeva died in 1497, his son Prataparudradeva /

प्रताऩरूरदे व ruled that only Geeta Govinda should be sung in
Jagannath temple. Ramananda Pattanaik / रामानंद ऩटनायक, the
governor of Rajmahendri, met saint Chaitanya who lived around this
time and relinquishing his post, lived in the service of Jagannath at
Puri. He is credited with having introduced abhinaya / अभभनय in the
dance of the Maharis and was also the first to engage them to take
part in drama. Till then, the performers in dramas had been
exclusively men and boys. 5 Ramananda Pattanaik wrote the
Jagannath Ballav / जगन्द्नाथ बल्ऱव , a beautiful synthesis of poetry,
music and dance. The Maharis of Jagannath temple assumed the
dancing and singing roles in the play which was staged in the temple
in the presence of the king.6

The word ‘Mahari’ has several connotations. Some say it is Mahan

Nari / महान नारी – great woman. Others opine the name could have
been derived from Mahaprasadi / महाप्रसादी or sacred offering,
Maharani or the principal queen. Scholar Sadashiv Rattasarma /
सदाभशव राथशमाय opines the word ‘Mahari’ must have been derived
from the word ‘Mahanagari / महानगरी.’ According to 14:1:63 sloka of
Atharva Veda, professional dancers were called Mahanagari.7
When Jagannath temple became the matrix of the religious and
cultural life of Orissa, the role of the Maharis in the daily rituals and
festivals was clearly defined. It is said that in the 12th century King
Chodaganga Deva / छोड़गंग दे व established seven colonies for temple
adjacent to the temple and the place allotted to the Maharis was
known as ‘Anga Alasa Patna/अंग अऱस ऩटन ’, the “place of bodily
gestures.” Maharis are the holy brides of Lord Jagannath. A piece of
cloth taken from the idol is tied around the head of the initiate
danseuse by the temple priest to symbolise her marriage to the deity
of the shrine. Maharis are vowed to chastity and their sacred duties
and daily life are supervised by the Mina Nayak / मीन नायक and Sahi
Nayak / साही नायक , temple servants appointed by the king. A
valuable manuscript Neeladri Archana Chandrika / नीऱारी अचयना
चम्न्द्रका written by a Mahari of Jagannath temple describes the ritual
dances of Maharis and their daily life and customs.8 Only a devadasi /
दे वदासी who stayed faithful to her Lord up to the end had the
privilege of having her body, after death, covered with the same sari
she received during the ritual of the marriage with Jagannath and
having the embers for the cremation brought from the temple itself.9

Maharis are richly attired for temple service. After bathing, fragrant
sandalwood paste is applied to the body. A colourful silk sari of
traditional pattern is draped around the body and tied at the waist.
A tight bodice covers the breasts. The face is decorated with the
sacred ‘tilak / ततऱक’ mark between the brows and delicate pattern of
white dots are applied above the brows and on the cheeks. Finger
tips, palms and feet are tinted crimson and eyes are lined black with
collyrium. The hair is parted and knotted in a chignon wreathed with
flowers and adorned with a golden curved disk pierced with a peg of
ivory and gold. Beautiful gold ornaments decorate the head, neck,
arms, ears, nose, waist and ankles. Covering her head with a veil, the
Mahari goes to the temple accompanied by the Mina Nayak. She is
escorted to the inner shrine by the Rajguru / राजगुरु, who bears a
gold-mounted staff as a symbol of the king’s authority. He is always
present at the dance rituals. The Mahari bows first to the lord, then
to the Rajguru, before she begins to dance.10

There are different types of Maharis according to their service. The

Bhitar-gani Mahari / भीतर-गानी महा री perform in the innermost
sanctum, dance and sing at the time of the Lord’s ritual adornment
before being put to bed. The Bahar-gani Maharis / बाहर गानी, though
excluded from the sanctum sanctorum, perform in the nata mandir
or near the Garuda pillar in the temple courtyard. Other temple
servants who render daily service are the Gaudisanis / गौडीसानी,
temple maids who fan the idol with chamaris / चमारी, Gita-ganis /
गीत-गानी (singers) and musicians who play veena / वीणा, drone,
drums, flute and cymbals to accompany the dance.11

Early Maharis performed mainly nritta / नत्ृ त (pure dance) and

abhinaya (interpretation of poetry) based on mantras and slokas /
श्ऱोक. Later, Maharis especially performed dance sequences based
on the lyrics of Jayadeva’s Geeta Govinda. They were ordained to
perform 5 times a day. The Maharis performed during the nine days
of the ‘ratha yatra / रथ-यात्रा’ during June-July and during the birth
anniversary of Lord Krishna celebrated at the Jagannath temple.
These Maharis were of pedigree and learning.

According to temple records there were 20 Maharis serving Lord

Jagannath in the 15th century, each dancer taking her turn in the
daily rituals and all of them participating in religious festivals. There
are 62 annual festivals in honor of Jagannath and in 2 of these; the
Maharis have an important part – in the Chandan Jatra / चन्द्दन जात्रा
and Jhoolan Jatra / झूऱन जा त्रा. The Maharis as a community of
Jagannath were exclusive teachers of their art. It was a custom for
Maharis to adopt daughters and train them for dance service in the
temple. Thus the dance retained its artistic purity and sanctity for at
least six hundred years.12

By the end of the 16th century, Orissa had lost her independence
and came under the rule successively of the Bhois / भोई, Pathans /
ऩठान, Moghuls / मोगऱ, Marathas / मराठा and finally the British. For
over 300 years, the political condition of the region remained in
turmoil, which affected the religious, social and cultural aspects of
life. Many times during this period, the seva / सेवा services to Lord
Jagannath had to be suspended.13

After Orissa was annexed to the Mughal Empire of Akbar in 1592,

Ramachandra Deva (the Raja of Khurda) was appointed
Superintendent of the Jagannath temple. The Maharis who were
exclusively appointed to temple services, were now employed to
dance at the royal court of Khurda and from that time on, they lost
their religious status.14 The Maharis ceased to be respected as
servants of the lord and came to be associated with moral depravity.
The devadasi system suffered a grievous blow when royal patronage
in the form of land grant, etc. ended. Some devadasi families were
forced to sell their rights to perform seva to others able and willing
to pay. The transaction had to be registered with appropriate
authorities. Once a devadasi family sold its rights to another, it could
not regain them. Another survival tactic employed by some was the
sale, within the precincts of the temple itself, of the prasad received
by them. Yet many of the devadasi could not survive with the
proceeds of selling the prasad as their only income. Compelled by
circumstances, they had to relinquish the devadasi status and take to
other service professions like nursing and teaching. Marriage to a
mere mortal was another way out.15

Some of the last surviving Maharis known to us are Haripriya/हरीपप्रया,

Shashimani / शभशमणी, Kokila Prabha / कोककऱा प्रभा and Parashmani /
ऩारसमणी. Kokila Prabha used to sing Geeta Govinda every night at
the temple to Jagannath at bedtime. After she died, this service was
discontinued. Now there are no Maharis left to continue the rituals.
The once vibrant Mahari tradition has gradually faded into oblivion
and is already a thing of the past.

NAUTCH

Nautch / नोच was a term the Britishers used as a colloquial for naach
/ नाच (to dance). Essentially, these were north and central Indian
dancers, not necessarily attached to temples like in south India.
These were general entertainers who served the society in many
ways, including serving men in the world’s oldest profession. As they
became slowly part of British or Mughal concubines, the term itself
became derogatory.
Nautch girls were soon associated with houses of ill repute; and
Mughal etiquette and court culture, combined with British prudery
and Victorian morality didn’t make it easy for such artistes. They
were relegated to a low position in society and generally lived off
patrons.

Their training and upkeep was the charge of either someone

employed by the nobility under whom they served or by the court.
Many examples abound about this tradition and Lucknow, Meerut,
Ambala, Benaras and Jaipur became the main centres. The Mughal
Courts also supported and slowly Hindu courts had such dancers.
Thus arose two distinct cultures: those supported by Lucknow and
those by Jaipur. Thus two main styles of Kathak also got structured
and named after these schools. Nautch partook of Kathak loosely in
styling and moorings. Nautch as dance form was not distinct but an
amalgamation of many north Indian folk and classical traditions then
prevalent in society.

Nautch represented cultural interaction between the native and the

early English settlers in India. Its professional exponent, the nautch
girl, held the white sahib spellbound for nearly two centuries.
"Delicate in person, soft in her features, perfect in form," she
captivated the hearts of ordinary Englishmen by her grace and
charm, enthralled the more sophisticated among them by her
conversation and wit and enraptured the elite with her nautch which
some of them found "superior to all the operas in the world."1

Professional nautch girls and their performances have been

described in numerous journals, travelogues, memoirs and diaries
left by European visitors, missionaries, and civil and military officials.
The fare provided by nautch girls fascinated most viewers and many
a sahib was captivated by their seductive charm. The post-Plassey
British nabobs who had made quick fortunes emulated the
ostentatious lifestyle of native princes and omrahs. They even
maintained their own troupes of nautch girls and musicians for the
entertainment of their guests. A dinner in the community was usually
followed by a nautch performance. So were other festive occasions,
such as the celebration of a King Emperor’s birthday and visits of
dignitaries to civil and military stations. Nautch girls would also
accompany the British army whenever it was on the move,
entertaining the soldiers on the way. At times they were also
engaged to welcome arriving guests on the highways. An army
officer in his journal (1783) states "he was met by his friend Major
Mac Neal who was preceded by a troupe of nautch girls. The latter
encircled his palanquin, dancing until he entered the Major’s house
in Arcot."2

Nautch girls catered to a mixed society but it was men who got into
the spirit of the nautch. Encouraged by the men’s applause of wah /
वाह, wah they would shed their stiff reserve and cool propriety,
displaying their seductive charms. James Forbes in his Oriental
Memoirs (1813) pays this compliment to nautch girls: "They are
extremely delicate in their person, soft and regular in their features,
with a form of perfect symmetry, and although dedicated from
infancy to this profession, they in general preserve a decency and
modesty in their demeanour, which is more likely to allure than the
shameless effrontery of similar characters in other countries."3

The quality of the nautch and the class of nautch girls varied from
place to place as did the reactions of the British spectators. In an
early 19th century account, Captain Mundy describes a splendid
nautch party held in honour of the Commander-in-Chief by the
company’s political agent, Captain Wade in Ludhiana where 46
nautch girls entertained the guests, only to be surpassed by the
British Resident at Delhi who honoured the Commander-in-Chief
with a performance by 100 nautch girls. The nautch became a
common form of entertainment in the mansions of the English
merchants turned rulers in Bengal and other parts of India.4

The immense popularity of the nautch can be judged by the fact that
at times a dance performance would begin in the evening and last
until daybreak. Among the prominent and most colourful British
residents of Delhi at that time were Colonel James Skinner, known as
Secunder Sahib and Sir David Ochterlony, nicknamed Loony Akhtar,
who lived in royal style and held lavish nautch parties to entertain
the English community. Colonel Skinner, a great patron of Delhi
artists, would give away miniature paintings of nautch girls to his
guests, sometimes of the very same dancers who were entertaining
them. One finds that "One of the most popular numbers in the
repertoire of the nautch -girl was the Kaharka nautch or Kuharwa,
the bearer’s dance, usually performed before a male audience.
Another popular number considered graceful was the kite dance
performed to the rhythm of a slow and expressive melody. The
dancers would imitate in their gestures the movements of a person
flying a kite.5

The dances performed by the nautch girls were simple. They did not
follow any one classical style but borrowed liberally from three
dance traditions – kathak, dasi attam / कथक, दासी आ ट्टम and folk.
The nautch of early nineteenth century was simple. The repertoire of
toras and tukras was limited, and primary focus was on storytelling.
Kathak had not yet been transformed into an elaborate school of
dance by Bindadin Maharaj and Kalka Prasad Maharaj. It was
aesthetically pleasing and elegant but not intricate and complex. Dasi
Attam was more complex but lent itself easily to use in the popular
dance of nautch girls. Folk dances added a charming and local flavor
to the nautch. It was up to the nautch girls to masterfully incorporate
elements of all three styles of dance into their performances. The
mor ka nach / मोर का नाच (dance of the peacock), patang nach / ऩतंग
नाच (the kite dance) and the qahar ka nach / गहर का नाच (the
bearer’s dance) were considered essential items in every nautch
girl’s repertoire.6

In South India, the dance tradition continued to be associated with

the temple. While Kathak flourished in North India, dasi attam / दासी
आट्टम, also referred to as sadir nautch / साददर ना च, dominated the
nautch scene in the South. It was far more than mere visible
expression of a sung melody. It had a life of its own with a direct
appeal to emotions. Often the dance was in itself the pantomime of
a whole story. Dr John Shortt, in his account of Dancing Girls of S.
India (1870), noted that their dance movements were marked by
agility, ease and gracefulness, and the turning and twisting of their
hands, eyes, face, features, and trunk were in complete harmony
with their nimble steps whilst they beat time with their feet. Their
dance was more feminine and suited to solo performances in
temples and later in a court and at other public functions. There was
greater emphasis on pure dance and abhinaya or expressions as they
recited songs which were generally in praise of the gods but could
also be interpreted in human terms for the benefit of their patrons.7
The songs of nautch girls had as their themes either the amorous
escapades in the lives of gods or conventional romantic tales, usually
about the lover’s yearning for the beloved. Until the end of the 19th
century, songs in Persian were as popular as those in Hindi. The one
Persian ghazal / ग़ज़ऱ by Hafiz which dominated the nautch scene for
over a hundred years and invariably evoked roaring applause both
from the natives and from the Europeans was Tazah ba Tazah nu ba
nu / तजह बा तजह नु बा नु (Fresh and fresh, new and new). A
mirthful melody in which the poet recommends applying the
principles of fresh and new to all he does, whether in drinking,
making friends, or making love. This finds mention in numerous
foreign accounts of the nautch. There are even references comparing
the singing style and the rendering of this ghazal by different reputed
nautch girls of the day. When a nautch girl addressed a patron with
whom she had a liaison, the song would convey a meaningful
message to him.8

Nautch dancers were quasi servants of British Masters too, who

often used and then abused their services. Some famous nautch
dancers were Umrao Jaan, Mallika Hassan, Anarkali and a spy called
Mata Hari.

Nautch dance also got popularized when early western travelers and
dancers came and found it very exotic. Artists like Ruth St Denis,
Anna Pavlova and others made short items called nautch Dance and
they swirled and twirled in circles emulating Kathak dancers of the
times. Ruth St. Denis created the ‘East Indian nautch Dance’ around
1932. She took basic movements from street
dancers in Coney Island, adapted them into
her own complex choreography with whirling arms, drumming feet,
and swishing skirts. She developed a variety of nautch dances with
different costumes and themes, and they were popular not
only in America and Europe, but in India as well.

As the 19th century wore on, the spread of English education

brought in a new petit bourgeois class which, influenced by western
ideas, got alienated from the art and cultural traditions of the
country. This educated group was also swayed by the writings of
some foreign observers who, without understanding the origin and
nature of the Indian dance and mistaking it for a representation of
erotic temple sculptures, condemned it as “repulsive and immoral.”
They made no distinction between an accomplished professional
nautch girl or a devadasi and a common prostitute, dubbing both as
fallen women. In their drive against nautch, the missionaries were
also joined by a powerful group of educated Indian social reformers
who, influenced by western ideas and Victorian moral values, had
lost pride in their own cultural heritage.9
 PAPER: 3
CHAPTER - II
Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And
Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 9 Contribution Of Thanjavur Maratha Court To

Bharatanatyam

Tanjore / तंजोर (Thanjavur / तंजाळुर) entered into another epoch-

making stage in its cultural history when Ekoji / इकोजी (A. D. 1676)
was succeeded by Sahaji / ऴाहजी in A. D. 1684, of the Maratha
dynasty of Tanjore which lasted about 675 years. They had wealthy
people to rule over, and a rich province to support them. In Tanjore
the period of economic dislocation and political fragmentation
were simultaneously seen, and were not characterized by cultural
crises. In spite of everything there was continuity in the field of
culture. If the Nayak / नायक period is the first stage in cultural
florescence, necessarily the Maratha / मराठा period is the second
stage of the phenomena. In the Nayak period there was an
expanding agrarian economy, trade and cultural growth. The real
process of perfection of this cultural production is witnessed under
the Maratha rulers of Tanjore. Thus there was a powerful cultural
continuity, though the economy of the Maratha period showing a
declining trend. Maratha court culture assumed the pleasing
burden of the Nayak culture and the king was still identified as an
avatar (incarnation) of the Lord. In this period, though, the king
who was personified as Rama was turned into Siva. The courtesans
still continued to sing padams celebrating the king as her God and
 lover. The king even composed Telugu dance dramas for the court
in a striking assimilation of cultural medium, with the conceptual
contents. But the Maratha ruler could spend much less on these
CHAPTER - II
than his Nayak predecessor, since the political scene was almost on
the edge of bankruptcy and crisis.

Cultural energies that were conserved were more powerful than

economic ties, and they reasserted themselves with greater vigor.
Very few literary works on dance were written during this period.
Many new items in dance were introduced and extensive
performances were organised. The dancer followed a strict discipline
of gurukula / गुरुकुऱ system, where the technique of dance was
concentrated upon more than its oral and practical aspect. This
tradition was passed on to generations of dancers.

Chronological Table
The Tanjore Marathas
(Reference: K. M. Venkatramayya -‘‘Administration and social life
under the Maratha rulers of Thanjavur” Tamil University, Tanjore
1984)

History
Ekoj established the Maratha empire in Tanjore in A. D. 1676-1684.
He was a renowned scholar in Sanskrit and Telugu. He wrote the
Dvipada Ramayana / द्वळऩद रामायण in Telugu. He encouraged arts
and culture just like the Nayaks.
Shahaji II (A. D. 1684-1712) ascended the throne when he was very
young. He was a scholar in sangitha and sahitya. He was a linguist.
His works in Sanskrit available are -
1. Chandrasekara Vilasa / चन्द्रसेखर वळऱास
2. Sabdaratha Samanvaya / ऴब्दाथथ समन्द्ळय
3. Sabdartha Sangraha / ऴब्दाथथ संग्रह
4. Sringaramanjari / श्ींगारमंजरी

He wrote a Tamil drama called Vishnu Saharaja Vilasain. The script

available is written in Telugu. Many Tamil natakams like Manuniti /
मनुननती, Nala / नऱ, Prahlada / प्रहऱाद, Meenakshi Kalyanam / मीनाऺी
कल्याणम, Harichandra / हररश्चंर were enacted by the Tamil dancers in
his court.
Serfoji I / सरफ़ोजी १(A. D. 1712-1728) succeeded his brother and
continued to maintain the cultural traditions. He gifted a village
named Sarabojirajapuram / सरबोजजराजऩुरम to eminent scholars.
When Serfoji died at the age of fifty three, his youngest brother
Tulaja I (A. D. 1728-1736) inherited the throne. He is remembered as
a linguist and scholar. He wrote Sangitha saramritham / संगीत
सारामत
ृ which dealt with rasas / रस and melas popular in his period.
He promoted lots of padams, darns and svrajatis. He donated liberal
gifts to scholars, musicians, dancers and poets. Apart from Carnatic
music he gave scope for Hindustani musicians in his court. He
strengthened the Maharashtrian tradition of bhajans and kirtans. He
composed a Telugu dance drama Sivakama Sundari Parinayam /
शऴळकाम सुंदरी ऩररननयम in the Yakshagana style.

The darus and slokas are excellent in this dance drama. He also
composed a Sanskrit nataka titled raja ranjana vidhyavilasa nataka /
राजा रं जन वळद्यावळऱास नाटक . The darus dvipadas / दरू द्वळऩद reveal
his mastery over music. Besides work on music, Tulaja wrote the
following Sanskrit works on dance and medicine.
1. Natayavedagamam / नाटयळेदगमम
2. Dhanvantrivilasa / धन्द्ळंतरीवळऱास
3. Dhanvantrisaranidhi / धन्द्ळंतरीसारननधध

The distinguished Tamil composers Arunachala Kavi / अरुणाचऱ कवळ

and Marimuthapillai / मारीमुथा वऩल्ऱाई were his contemporaries.

Ekoji II / एकोजी २ (A. D. 1736-37) came to throne when he was forty

years old and ruled only for a year before he died. His brother Sayaji
/ सयाजी ruled till the end AD 1738 and passed it on to Pratap Simha /
प्रताऩ शसंह. He is ranked with the eminent scholars of his time. He has
composed eighty five padams in the category of nitipadam /
नीनतऩदम,् srigarapadam / धश्ंगारऩदम,् bhakti keertan / भजतत कीतथनs
and maratti padams / मराजतत.

Pratap Simha / प्रताऩशसंह (A. D. 1739-1763), the son of Tulaja I, came

to throne in very confused political atmosphere and anarchy. He was
a great ruler of the Maratha period. He was a scholar and wrote
many padams and plays. He composed twelve plays in Marathi
selecting themes from puranas. The musical form tarana / तराना
from north was popular in his court as tillana / नतल्ऱाना. His court
musician Mellatur Veerabdraya / मेल्ऱातुर ळीरभर was the pioneer in
introducing tillana. He was the follower of the Advaita philosophy.

On Pratap Simha’s death Tulaja II (A. D. 1763-1787) ascended the

Tanjore throne. Like his predecessors he was also competent in
literature, music, dance and poetry. He was also proficient in playing
veena. His court was filled with galaxy of musicians and dancers.

According to Tulaja II's wish after his demise Amarsingh / अमरशसंह (A.
D. 1787-1798) ruled over Tanjore till Tulaja'’s son Serfoji II attained
the powder of governing. After crowning Serfoji II on the Tanjore
throne he moved to Madhyarjun and set a small court. He
encouraged musicians and dancers in their innovative works.
Gopalakrishna Bharati was a contemporary of Amarsingh. He wrote
songs and dramas in Marathi.

Serfoji II / सरफ़ोजी २ (AD 1798-1832) like his uncle honoured

scholars, composers, musicians and dancers. Serfoji II established
the Saraswathi Mahal / सरस्ळती महाऱ library at Tanjore with his own
collection of books and palm leaf manuscripts. The archive will speak
for generation of the excellent patronage and contribution of the
kings of the two dynasties which ruled over Tanjore.

Shivaji II / शऴळाजी २ (A. D. 1832-1855) was the last emperor of the

Maratha dynasty at Tanjore. Like his predecessors he showed great
interest in the development of literature and culture, especially in
the growth of Tamil language and Tamil compositions. The Maratha
rule offered a peaceful atmosphere for the art to grow and nourish
which reached the highest point. They left behind for the
generations a scientific base for music and dance tradition
transcending the barriers of language.

Literature
There are many dance dramas and yakshaganas available during this
period from which the technique of performing these items can be
traced. The artists followed the grammar from already existing
dance texts and the tradition of gurukula system.
The literary works available are:

Sahendra Vilasam / सहें र वळऱासम - Sridhara Ayyaval

Sangita Saramritha / संगीत सारामत
ृ - Tulaja
Rukmangatha Caritra / रुतनन्द्गाथा चररत -Venkatagiri (1684 - 1711)
Abhimayadarpana / अशभमायादऩथण- Venkatagiri (1684 - 1711)
Sangitasampradaya / संगीतसनप्रदाय
Pradarshini / प्रदऴथनी- Subbaramadikshidar
King Sahaji who was conferred the title Abinavaboja / अबबनाळबोजा-
अशभनळभोज, was a great patron of art and letters. A perusal of
Sahaji's work on sangita shows that music and dance had reached a
high level of excellence. Sahaji was a great scholar in sangita and
sahitya. He patronised distinguished composers of padas,
Yakshaganas and dramatic works and made Tanjore the seat of
pada sahitya. He was the author of a number of works on drama,
poetry, prabandha, padas and the scientific work on ragalakshanas.
Of about twenty such literary productions onl y t he musi c of
Sankarapallaki seva prabandham / ऴंकरऩाल्ऱकी सेळा प्रबन्द्धम is
traceable today.

The four famous prabandhas of Sahaji are Vishnu Pallaki Seva

Prabandham / वळष्णु ऩाल्ऱकी सेळा प्रबन्द्धम , Sankara Pallaki Seva
Prabandha, Pancharatna Prabandha / ऩंचरतन प्रबंध and Tyagaraja
Vinodha Chitra Prabandha / तयागराज वळनोद धचत्र प्रबंध . These are
prabandha natakas with beautiful padas in rakti ragas and gana
ragas - depicting bhakti, sringara and vairagya / ळैराग्य themes.
Padas of such themes, collectively called Tyagesa Padas / तयागेऴ ऩद
are in Sanskrit, Marathi and Telugu languages. These collections of
padas are classified as bhakti, bhava, vairagya, sringara, hasva
padas, neethi padamulu / नीनत ऩदमेऱु and mangalamulu / मंगऱमुऱू.
The padas of Sahaji so far identified and available reveal his mastery
over the languages and his deep scholarship in music and sahitya.

An important landmark cognizable during the reign of Sahaji is the

musical opera known as geyanatakas. The birth of geyanatakas
brings in new vistas to many musical forms. For example the four
prabandhas (Sankara pallakiseva, Vishnu pallakiseva, Pancharatna,
and Tyagaraja vinodha chitra) represent a new class where the
dramatic, literary, musical and dance elements are happily blended.
It is clearly evident that Sahaji was the innovator of a new variety of
prabandha compositions to highlight musical and dance significance.
Raghunatha Nayak's work like Valmiki Charitam / ळाल्मीकक चररतम
and Raghunatha Ramayana / रघुनाथ रामायण were also examples of
prabandhas. But Sahaji combined together the tradition of the
literary prabandha and the Yakshagana tradition. He created a
fusion of the two and produced what are known as drishya kavyas /
दृश्यकाव्य. A harmonious blending of Sanskrit and Telugu with plenty
of scope for dance both in its nritta and nritya aspects are found in
these drishya kavyas. Sahaji conveys a dramatic story through song,
dialogue, abhinaya and nritta in these dramas.

The Pallaki-seva prabandham is one of the earliest geya natakas in

Telugu. The opera is developed around Tyagesar, the presiding deity
of Thiruvarur. The rhythmic movements of palanquin bearers are
described in this opera. It is admirable that a Maratha king had such
a fine command over the Telugu language. There are 22 darus and
varieties of musical forms like churnika / चूर्णथका, kandapadya /
कन्द्दऩाद्य, sesapadya / सेसाऩाद्य, utpalamala / उतऩऱमाऱा,
champakamala / चनऩकमाऱा and dvipada / द्वळऩद. These serve as
connecting links to the chain of events. The darus contain
swanamamudra / स्ळनाममुरा of Sahaji. His conception of the whole
idea is splendid and it is very pleasant to note Sahaji describing the
Goddess as sangita rasike / संगीत रशसके. It was the custom of the
palanquin bearers to sing the Pallaki-seva prabandham while
carrying the king from Tanjore to Thiruvarur / थिरुवारुर.

The Vishnu pallakiseva prabandha has Goddess Lakshmi as nayaki. It

consists of sobhana / सोभना, pavvalimbu / ऩव्ळशऱनब,ू daru / दरू,
dvipada / द्वळऩद, padva / ऩडळा, dodhaka / दोधक, davalambu / दळऱानबू
and melukoluku / मेऱुकोऱुकू. Rhetorical beauties like vrittyanuprasa /
ळतृ तयानुप्रास, muktapadagrasta / मुततऩदग्रस्त, chekanuprasa /
चेकानुप्रास and latanuprasa / ऱतानुप्रास are abundant in this nataka.
Pallcikiseva therefore is a kind of temple service, very much popular
in the district of Tanjore. The deity is taken out in procession
followed by music and dance. A remarkable point is the description
of such processions is made in elegant Telugu. The pancharatna
prabandha gives a wonderful treatment of dance and music, in
which a band of five artists consisting of two dancing girls,
nattuvanar, chenchu kuravas / चें चू कुरळ, and a servant to help the
artist, form the group. They visit the court of Parameswara and
pleased with their talents in dancing, the Lord honours them. This
work is noteworthy, because it consists of ghananatya / घननाट्य.
This dance is full of jatis and korvais in different talas. The sequence
of korvai, jati, ganapathi kautuvam, daru, etc. present novelty to
this production. It also shows a high degree of perfection of the art
where sahitya is given secondary importance and the emphasis is on
music and rhythm. Pancharatna prabandha stands as monumental
evidence to Sahaji's proficiency in music and dance.

Vinodhachitra prabandha is a manipravala / मर्णप्रळाल prabandha in

which the songs are composed in Sanskrit, Marathi, Telugu and
Tamil. This contains six acts and Sahaji himself calls it a nataka.
Sahaji is the devotee of Lord Tyagesar whom he has conceived here
as the Lord of dance Nataraja. He dedicates the works to Him for His
delight (vinoda). This work is also called Sankarakalinatana Samvada
Natakam / ऴंकरकाऱीनटन संळाद नाटकम . In this nataka a
conversational bout between Goddess Badrakali and Lord Tyagesar
leads to resurgence of the form of Lord Nataraja. Incidentally the
nature of Devanatya / दे ळनाट्य, Rajanatya / राजनाट्य and Desinatya /
दे ऴीनाट्य (heavenly, court and popular dance) becomes one of the
topics of the interesting debate that goes on between Tyagesar and
Badrakali where both of them finally settle for Desinatya, since it has
a wider variety of dance forms.

The darus in Sankarakalinatana Samvada Natakam are very unique

in nature. Sahaji has composed darus which explain in detail the
different types of flowers, birds, animals, society, people etc. Here,
the dancer while choreographing has opportunity to incorporate
different hastas as defined in the dance texts, or even innovate new
hastabinayas / हस्ताशभनय. These types of dance compositions give
scope for improvement in hastabhinayas. A daru in this natakam
describes thirty varieties of talas and its usages. A unique item in this
nataka is called Svara sabdartha tala diavaratna prabandha / स्ळर
ऴब्दाथथ ताऱ दै ळरतन प्रबंध. This is filled with jatis and svaras and is in
raga todi and dhruva tala. This natakam has varieties of such songs
which demand great experience and knowledge of dance on the part
of the composer and dancer. It speaks volumes of king Sahajirs
literary and music accomplishments.

The term prabandha denotes any work based on purana or a piece

of literature. A prabandha is a composition with four angas (parts)
and six types of dattus / दततु (elements).6 The dattus include svara /
स्ळर (musical note), pada / ऩद (lyric), biruda / बबरुद (ornamentation of
the pada) pata / ऩट (rhythmic syllables) tata / तट (beat) and teneka /
तेनका (words like om, nam, tam etc.). In the light of the textual
knowledge, it is clear that different types of prabandhas were
produced by including or omitting any of these angas or dattus.
Prabandha is a poetical composition or kavya.
In this sense the Nalayira Divyaprabandham / नाऱनयरा ददव्यप्रबन्द्धम
in Tamil and Telugu Mahabharata are also referred to as prabandha.
But in the beginning of the 16th century, prabandha came to mean
"a kavya of erotic type”. It must contain varnana / ळणथन (description)
of a king, capital, mountain, river, sunset, love, marriage etc. The
prabandhas are classified as prakyata / प्रतयात, where the theme is
taken from an epic or purana. Uttpadya prabandha / उततऩद्या प्रबंध,
in which the story is the result of the author's own imagination and
misraprabandha / शमस्रप्रबंध where the theme is borrowed from
puranic or epic and mixed up with interesting incidences, born out of
the authors’ imagination. This variety of misraprabandha gained
popularity during the 16th cen. A. D. The innovation of kriti and
keerthana replaced the old prabandha form of musical
compositions. As evidences prove’ the prabandha form was popular
during the time of Sahaji and at this point of time it denotes a set
form of rhythmic musical composition. Sahaji has invested the
elements of Yakshagana into the literary form of prabandha and
thus gave plenty of scope for natya and nritta aspects. As mentioned
earlier the prabandha of Sahaji is a compilation of various types of
darus. For example: Vigneshwara daru, Sringara daru, Leela daru,
Abhinaya daru, Jakkini daru, etc., The darus have no thematic link
and this makes the prabandha different from the nataka or
Yakshagana which is expected to have a single theme. Each daru is
mentioned with the appropriate names of ragas, talas, svarajathis
and sollukattus. Wide varieties of darus suitable for dance
presentations abound in Sahaji’s prabandhas. Sahaji was the first
composer to have composed sringara padas in Marathi. It is a
compiled work under the name Rasikakarnamirtham. He has
explained vividly the nayika lakshana and nayika beda in this work.

Sahaji’s Sringara Padas: 147

No. Name of Padas Raga Tala
1. Nandi Pada Surati Adi
2. Svivalakshana Pada Mukari
3. Poorvoktamugdalakshana Brindavana ••
Pada Saranga
4. Agayathayovanalakshana Nadananua Ata
Pada Kriya
5. Gayathayovanalakshana Sankara Adi
Pada barnam
6. Navodalakshana Pada Ahiri "
7. Visabdranavodalakshana Surati or
Pada Nayaki
8. Madhyalakshana Pada 148 Pantuvarali
9. Prakalpanalakshana Todi "
10. Sugrathenanda Asaveri "
mohalakshana Pada
11. Praudadheeralakshana Begada Ata
12. pada
Adheeralakshana Pada Bhairavi Adi
13. Dheeradheeralakshana Bhairavi "
14. Praudamanavathilakshana
Pada Begada Ata
15. Pravudalakshana Pada Huseni
16. Anutakanyalakshana Pada Nayaki of
Kanada
17. Vmthasurathagopana Surati Adi
Lakshana
18. Vadivadagdhalakshana ... ...
19. Pada
Kriyavidagdhalakshana Atana Ata
20. Lakshithalakshana
Pada Pada Bhairavi Ata
21. Kulatalakshana Pada Ahiri 66
22. Anushayanalakshana Pada Kalyani Adi
23. Mudhithalakshana Pada Malhar Ata
24. Samanyalakshana Pada Asaveri Adi
25. Prathamaproshithapathika Gantarava Adi
lakshana Pada
26. Dudariproshitapathika Gandamath Ata
27. Kandithalakshana Pada ar
Kapi "
28. Kalaliantaritalakshana Pada Gumma Adi
kambodi
29. Vipralabdalakshana Pada Gowri Ata
30. Ukthalakshana Pada Todi Adi
 31. Vasakasadlalakshana Pada Gowri Adi
32. Svadinpathilkalakshana Subapantu Rupaka
Pada varali
33 Rakiabhisarikalakshana Madhya Adi
Pada mavathi
34. Divabhisarikalakshana Pada
149 Mohanam Adi
35. Jyosthrabhisarikalakshana Dhanyasi Adi
Pada
36. Uttamalakshana Kapi "
37. Madhyamalakshana Kalyani Ata
38. Adamalakshana Begada "
39. Swapradarshinilakshana Todi Adi
40. Chitradarshinilakshana ... ...
41. Sakshadarshini Gowri Adi
42. Sandesh Pada Kambodhi ...

In the context of prabandha, pada signifies the word content of the

composition (mattu / माट्टू). At a certain stage pada came to denote
all compositions with a meaningful sahitya (dattu / दाट्टू). Padam in
modern parlance is synonymous with a particular form of lyric that
gives ample scope for expression of emotions. The padams of
Kshetrayya (17th century) which are filled with madhurabakthi on
Muvvagopala / मुव्ळगोऩाऱा, depicts various types of nayika. King
Sahaji seems to have been inspired by these padams. The Tyagesa
padas are classified as bhakti and are most appropriate for
performing abhinaya. Sahaji has given some of the best padas of this
variety.

A new format of dance was introduced by Raja Serfoji in the name of

Nirupana-s / ननरूऩण. They are narration of a story with vivid themes
possessing all the features of a dance repertoire. Nirupana literally
means the amplification of a theme. The root seems to have been
from the Maharashtra keerthan, popularly known as
Kathakalakshepam / कथाकऱाऺेऩम. Serfoji's Nirupanas present a
single theme woven into a series of eighteen different types of
dance compositions. The eighteen items figuring in one Nirupana
are: 150
1. Jayajaya 2. Pada 3. Geethi
4. Saranu 5. Swarajathi 6. Prabandha
7. Alaru 8. Abhinayapada 9. Triputa
10. Sollu 11. Tillana 12. Sloka varna
13. Sabda 14. Arjitapada15. Kautta
16. Varnam 17. Jakkini 18. Mangala.

Serfoji was the first composer to introduce a single theme concept.

All these original titles of the eighteen varieties are in Sanskrit and
Devanagari manuscripts. Serfoji's Nirupana, in short, includes
compositions which relate to the repertoire of the past as well as the
present. An important aspect is that the composer has prescribed a
single raga and tala for the whole series of eighteen compositions.
This is rather impractical, judged from the point of view of the
present day connoisseur. Perhaps this was accepted by the audience
of Serfoji’s time since the performance went throughout the night.

All the Nirupanas are condensed in a book by the name of

korvayanche Sahityache Jinnah by late Acharya Parvati Kumar. This
contains sixteen varieties of Nirupana compositions based on puranic
epic and kalpitha kathas. All the Nirupana-s begin with the
invocatory item jayajaya / जयजय and end with mangalam / मंगऱम.
This can be danced as a solo performance. The performance conveys
all features, emotions and moods of different characters. The
compositions end with saranudaru / सरणुदरू. What is to be noted in
his work, is the existence of seven different types of allarippus in
different talas. The seven sets are of the nature of Ekartha / एकाथथ i.e.
particularization of a subject. Several items in the programme are
gradually introduced in due course of the performance,so as to
enable the audience to understand 151 the thematic subject and
succeeding sequence by excellent exposition through gestures and
abhinayas.

Nirupanas of king Serfoji:

No. Name Raga Tala

1. Parvathopakyana yadukulakamboji adi
2. Saripatachadava kalipitha poorvikalyani adi
katha
3. DandaneethiNirupana sama adi
4. Mahadevachi prarthana sudhasaveri ata
5. Sakhine nayakis srama arabhi adasow
Nayakas kalavoon
sankatopaya karana
6. Sakine nayakis Pantuvarali surafacta
buddhiwada Sangayanchi
7. kaliptha katha
Suladi Saveri rupaka
Though these Nirupanas are in Marathi language they are
set to Carnatic mode of raga and tala. This forms a good
background for sadir dance. The dance items present in
these Nirupanas are alaru, sabdam, sollu, var nam, padam,
tillana, kavutha, svaraJati, jakkini and mangalam. This type
of dance performed by a solo dancer depicting or
dramatizing a completeplay was called bhedyaka. Apart
from these Nirupanas, Serfoji has composed a suladi / सूऱादी
in ragamalika / रागमाशऱका and talamalika / ताऱमाशऱका and
salamachi jinna kalpitha katha / सऱामाची जजन्द्न कजल्ऩत कथा
in raga attana and aditala. This dance piece explains very
colourfully the various kinds of salaams / सऱाम, salutations,
ramram / रामराम, namaskar / नमस्कार, mujaras / मुजरा,
offered to Raja Serfoji in his durbar. The method and
practice of various communities and people of India and
their respect to the king are vividly presented.
A novel form, patronised by Serfoji II was the enactment
of kuruvanjis in Marathi language. His Devendra
Kuravanji / दे ळेन्द्रकुरळंजी and Tristhalliteerthayatra Lavani
/ बत्रस्थाल्ऱीतीथथयात्रा ऱाळणी are interesting compositions.
Devendra Kuravanji in the Marathi language deals with
the wanderings of a kuruva woman who describes the
heroine and qualities of the hero in melodious songs.
The Kuravanji reflects Serfoji’s indepth knowledge of
music. The Lavani singing was popular in his time which
is of folk variety. Serfoji authored many kathas and
natakas as well.
 PAPER: 3
1

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 10 Dance And Music From Thanjavur Maratha Court

Composers
Many composers have composed varieties of songs suitable for
dance. Some of them held coveted positions in the court. Among
them, mention should be made of Uttukadu Venkatasubbier and his
compositions. He lived from 1700 to 1762. A great Bhagavatamela /
भागवतमेऱा exponent, his compositions fall under the kirtana / कीततन
classifications, and are also called rasa sahda kirtana / सहदा कीततन.
Some call them as uttukadu padams / उत्तुकाडू ऩदम.् He has
composed nearly two hundred songs in Tamil and Sanskrit. The
excellent jatis / जाती interwoven in the songs are very apt for dance
choreography. The main theme of his compositions is Krishna and
his pranks, and the theme is bhakti / भक्तत. There is no evidence to
state whether dancers during his period used his compositions for
dance. But within a span of fifty years Needamangalam/
Krishnabhagavathar / नीदामंगऱम कृष्णभगवाथर has brought to light
many of Venkatasubbier’s compositions. The musical content, jati
pattern and the different gatis in the same song is a challenge for
dancers to perform. In the present day Bharatanatyam recitals many
of his compositions are danced.

2
Somakavi / सोमकवव is another poet who belonged to the galaxy of
court composers. His productions reveal poetic talent and
intellectual profundity. Special mention must be made Vasudevakavi
/ वसुदेवकवव, who adorned the court of Sahaji and composed padas /
ऩद in Tamil. More than one hundred padas are assigned to him with
Sahaji as the hero of all the compositions. Vasudeva Kavi adopted
fine and scholarly style of writing in both Tamil and Sanskrit.
Ramabarathi is another composer who adorned the court of Sahaji
II. His compositions portray Sahaji as the Keertinayaka / कीर्ततनायक.
There were others like Pattabhiramaya, Seetharamaiya, Vasanthapa
whose compositions display originality and indigenous orientation.
Among the composers who flourished in the first half of the 18lh
century, Melattur Veerabhadraya (A. D. 1739-1763) has contributed
many compositions for dance. Kavi Mathruboothaiya is a celebrated
author of natakas / नाटक like Parijathapaharana natakam /
ऩररजाथऩहरना नाटकं . Papavina Samudaliar / ऩाऩववना समद
ु लऱअर a
contemporary of king Tulaja composed the famous Kumbesa
Kuravanji / कुम्बेसा कुरावंजी in Tamil. He has also written many
sabdams / सब्दम and padams / ऩदम ् in Tamil which are used in
today’s Bharatanatyam / भरतनाट्यम recitals. Kuppusamyayya who
was in the court of king Amarasing composed many sringara padas /
श्ींगार ऩद and devotional kirtanas / कीततन in Tamil.
Gangaimuthupillai (A. D. 1760) was the paternal uncle of the Tanjore
quartette. He composed the navasandi
3 kavutuvam / नवसंदी कवुतुवं
and panchamurthi kavutuvam / ऩंचमूर्तत कवुतुवं to be danced in the
Tanjore temple during the Brahmotsava / ब्रह्मोत्सव festival. He
included in his book Natanadivadhyaranjanam / नाटनादीवध्यारं जानम
all the kavutavams / कवुतवं which were popular during his time and
the salam sabdas / सऱाम सब्द in praise of king Tulaja.

The Tanjore quartette, Chinnaya / चचंनाया, Ponniah / ऩोंणण्,

Sivanandam / लसवानन्दम, and Vadivelu / वाददवेऱु were the sons of
Subbaraya nattuvanar of Mannarkudi (Tanjore District). They learnt
music from one of the music trinities -- Muthuswamy Dikshidar. The
brothers later became court musicians and nattuvanars in Mysore,
Tanjore and Travancore. They set music for Sarabendrabhupala
kuravanji / सरबेन्रभुऩाऱा कुवंजी which was enacted in the big temple
at Tanjore. They composed many dance items like alarippu/अऱाररऩू,
jatiswaram / जर्तस्वरम, sabdam / सब्दम, padavarnam / ऩदावनतम,
padam / ऩदम,् javali / जावऱी, tillana / र्तल्ऱाना, daru / दरू, svarapada /
स्वरऩदा, kavuttuvam / कवुत्तुव,ं etc. The contribution of the brothers
to the formation of adavu / अदावु scheme in its technical and
developmental aspects is invaluable. A graded exercise pattern was
evolved as a preliminary adavu exercise to provide a proper
foundation for rhythmic perfection in dance. According to them
there are ten adavus each having twelve varieties which give a total
of hundred and twenty adavus. Only after completing the practice of
the adavus the dancer is taught the items in the repertoire.

The basic exercise of footsteps with

4 body movements are called
Adavus. Adavus are the basic foundation of dance which is the major
factor influencing the style or the quality of a dance. The text
Sangitasaramrita / संगीतासरालित by Tulaja vividly describes the
adavus. The following eighteen adavus are described in Sangita
Saramrita.
1. That Adavu / थाट अदावु 10. Simiradavu / लसलमरादावू
2. Kuttu Adavu / कुट्टू अदावु 11. Kadasakal / कदासकऱ
3. Nati advu / नाती अद्वु 12. Thatikattaradu / थार्तकत्ताराद ु
(nagabandham / नगबंधम)
4. Dhi dhi thai / धी धी थै 13. Parikra adavu / ऩररक्र अदावु
5. Dhigi dhigi adavu / चधगी चधगी अदावु 14. Endi Kattrdu / अंडी कट््द ु
6. Kudichu / कुददछु 15. Veechi kal / वीची कऱ
7. Kudichu 16. Vlzhinduveechi / व्ल्ल््हीदव
ु ीची

8. Thati Mettu / थाती मट्टू 17. Chakkara Chutu / चक्र चट

ु ू

9. Anukur Adavu / अंकुर अदावु 18. Mandi Adavu / मंदी अदावु

Tulaja classifies the adavus into 18 groups. He mentions four

karanas which are acrobatic in nature. There are more movements
under the titles brahmari / ब्रह्मारी and padashikshavidhi /
ऩदालिऺाववचध. The Tanjore brothers simplified and reused the
varieties of already existing adavus. They systematized the adavu
system. Of the many varieties mentioned in Sangitasaramiritha /
संगीतसारामीरीथा, 25 varieties are already obsolete. Some of the new
adavus which are in practice in present day dance, do not appear in
the text. This shows clearly that dance has changed over the
centuries in the shape and form. Presently
5 Padma Subramanian has
attempted to notate the available adavus into the staff notation
pattern.

In the dance department at the M. S. University Baroda, notation of

adavus are drawn in line sketches. These records help, to a certain
extent, the students and choreographers to remember the dance
patterns. (see page 168). Lately, the adavu system has been
recorded in video tapes and CDs for posterity. The individuality of
presenting the adavus has given way to different padhathis. The
prominently known styles are named after the village namely,
Vazhuvoor, Pandanallur, Kanchipuram and Tanjore. This is because
the teachers who popularised the style hailed from these villages.
The way of teaching, classifying and performing the adavus vary
from teacher to teacher. Each master has his own strong point and
the style depended on the teaching of the gurus.

Sollukattu / सोल्ऱुकट्टू is a distinct feature of the classical dance.

Combination of adavus is danced to the recitation of sollu / सोल्ऱू.
These give a colourful rhythmic touch to a dance item. According to
the format of an item sollukattus are danced. It could appear in the
beginning, middle or at the end of a dance item. Sollukattu /
सोल्ऱुकट्टू is a Tamil word meaning a group of syllables tied together.
Jati is another name for sollukattu. The words tha, dhi, tom, nam
are the basic syllables for the sollukattu during this period the word
jekina and jamtari were added to already existing syllables. The ja
sound when uttered with the accompaniments gave a resonant
sound that was very appealing to the listener. King Sahaji, in his
Ramayanasuladi Prabandham / रामायानासुऱादी प्रबन्धं , which is a
ragatala malika / रागताऱा मलऱका has
6 incorporated several patterns

of jatis. The jatis prolong to several avatars.

These are vilambakala jati / ववऱाम्बकऱा जाती, malaipujati / मऱैऩुजती,

nilakatnajati / र्नऱाकंत्त्नाजाती and teermanams / तीमतनम्स.
Teermanam is the set of rhythmic syllables recited at the end of a
sollukattu. The oldest reference to jati is found in Thakayagaparani /
थाकयागाऩरानी of Ottakootar / ओत्ताकूतर. For example, "Kara talari
taruntama ruga jati podhi kazhal purain 'dasempari puravoliyodu
kala kalakalan kalanenavarumone kariyagan sugan
kazhalinaikanuduvour”.
“करा तऱारी रुगा जाती ऩोधी क्हऱ ऩुरें ‘दसेम्ऩरी ऩुरावोलऱयोद ु कऱा
कऱकऱन कऱानेनावारुमोने कररयागन सुगन क्हलऱनेकनुदव
ु ौर”
Many composers have incorporated jati patterns in their
compositions. Arunagirinadar’s thrupugazh is embedded with jatis
set to variety of talas. Muthutandavar’s padams are very apt for
dance because of the jati patterns set in them. For example, the
padam in todiraga and chaputala with the starting verse “adiya
vedikai pareer aiya / आडडय वेददके ऩरीर एय” has long passage of jatis
after the pallavi / ऩल्ऱवी and between the three charana / चरण
passages. These jatis give an opportunity to dancers to exhibit their
nritta ability.

In the dance dramas the introduction of the characters is highlighted

with jatis. Intricate Jatis are performed by the main characters and
the simpler version is danced by the other characters. Jatis are used
in Bhagavata mela natakas. Uttukadu Venkatasubier, a bhagavata
himself has woven jatis in most of his padas. This gives a colorful
picture to the dance. The text Nandiswarabharatam
7
describes Lord
Siva’s dance and gives description of different varieties of dance in
terms and jatis incorporated in them. They are salkyanatya /
सल्तयानाट्य, saska natya / सस्का नाट्य , titiripakshinatya /
र्तर्तररऩक्षऺनाट्य and mahaodaidnatya / महोदै दनाट्य. The laya or the
jati is prominent in the following natyas:

1. Salyakanatya / सल्याकंत्य set to aditala / आददतऱ –

Jeham tatjakanam jamtajjanam jakanam takanam taka jam
ta jakana takanam tamta jakanam taomtadinginam / जेहम
तातजाकानम जमता्जनम जकनम तकनम ताकाजैम ता जकाना
तकनम तमता’ जकनम तोम्ताददक्न्गनाम This is called the gait
of a varaha (pig)

2 . Sasakanatya Jati set to aditala

Tinagati tinaagati dimitakhitatan tam takaha dimita dimi
dadmikitataka / र्तनागर्त र्तनागर्त ददलमताणितातन ताम
तक् ददलमता डडमी दार्िककताताका (repeat twice)
This is called the gait of a rabbit.
3. Sikroda natya Jati / लसक्रोदा नाट्य set to
aditala Tajamjam tadiginam tatidigitata
jamta jamata dikinamta digitata / ताजम्जम
तददचगनाम तार्तददचगताता जमता जमता
ददककनामता ददचगताता This depicts the running
 of a squirrel.

4. Manduganatya jati / मंदग

ु ानात्य जाती set to misra
chaptutala tala gina giva taritajamtan
8 takajanakita
kumumta tarikutku takku dingkuku tahatatanatana
dimita dimidimi / चप्तत
ु ाऱा ताऱा चगना चगव तररताजम्तन
तकजनाककता कुमम
ु ता तररकुत्कू ततकू ददन््कुकू
टहतातानाताना ददलमता ददलमददमी This depicts jumping of
a frog.
5. Bramarakrida natya jati / भ्रमराकक्रदा
नाट्य जाती set to ata tala Jemmmmm tari taaaaam
ta naaatadeem dimitaaa takuntaaari tana giva
jenutha / अत ताऱा जेम्म्म तरी ताआम ता नातादीम
ददलमता ताकुन्तारी ताना चगव जेनुथा This gives an
effect of a hummingbee.

6. Titipakshi natya jati / र्तर्तऩऺी नाट्य जाती set to sankirna

triputatala tajam takajam takajam tajam tajam takajam
tarijam tarijam tajam takajam takajam tajam tarijam /
संकीणत त्रिऩुताताऱा ताजम तकजम तकजम तकजम अररजम
तररजम ताजम तकजम तकजम ताजम तररजम
This is gives an effect of a koyal / कोयऱ.

7. Mahodadi natya jati / महोदादी नाट्य जाती set to aditala

tamta ritanatiakinam taritajam ta gathinatari jam ta dimi
tom ta / तमता ररतनर्तअककनम तररताजम ता गचथनातरी जैम
 ता डडमी
This is called the taranga gati.

During this period the dance performance was presented very

colorfully by incorporating several patterns of jatis set to different
gaits. One such example is the naragejam jati / नारागेजम जाती
which is set in ata tala.

Naragejam Jati Ata tala / नारागेजम जाती अत ताऱा

1. dinnagedi dinnagedi dittinna - a tidatinna

gedi gedija gediyaka - takgedigetiya - atakagedi gedija
- takgedikkeya gedigediya tak gedi geja takgodi
gediyaka / ददन्नागेदी ददन्नागेदी ददक्त्तन्ना – अ र्तदार्तन्ना
गेदी गेददजा गेददयाका – ततगेददगेर्तया – अताकगेदी गेददजा
– ततगेददतकेया गेददगेददया तक गेदी गेज ततगोदी
गेददयाका.

2. takgedigediyam - gedigediyam - gedigediyam

gedigedi - taku diku tnagedigediyam tattadika tinna
tadimitataka – tinna / ततगेददगेददयम – गेददगेददयम –
गेददगेददयम गेददगेदोयम – ताकू ददकु त्नागेददगेददयम
तत्ताददका र्तन्ना तददलमताताका – र्तन्ना

3. tarikita kinangatom - kinangatom - kinangu

tattadid dimiku takajam - atadimi dimitajam
atadimitajam – atadimitatinna / तककतता ककनान्गातोम
– ककनान्गातोम – ककनंगु तत्ताददद ददलमकू तकजम –
 अताददमी ददलमताजम अताददलमताजम –
अताददलमतार्तन्ना

This is also called sasakanatya sabdam

10
(Reference- T. M. S. S. M. Library, Tanjore)

The Tanjore brothers simplified and reused the varieties of already

existing adavus. They systematized the adavu system, and the
repertoire of the present day Bharatanatyam recitals. What they
have systematized seems to be a sadir katcheri taking into
consideration the circumstantial and historical evidences. The
compositions used in sadir are narasthutis / नारास्थुर्तस of a
sensuous and voluptuous nature. It has been used to kindle the
erotic emotions of man.

Abhinavagupta in his encyclopedic commentary on Natyasastra

mentions a similar variety of dance called dombika / दोक्म्बका. This
dance was meant to please the king and his friends. It used to be
performed solo with songs of sringara / श्ींगार in the lasya / ऱास्य
style. There are several examples in sringara of the lower variety. In
huseni / हुसेनी raga svarajathi / स्वराजथी the dancer invites King
Pratapasimha to enjoy her company. Translated into English, the
composition means "Oh! Your majesty Pratapasimha, is it fair on
your part to refuse my invitation, when I am afflicted by an over-
powering love. When I volunteer to kiss you, you show signs of
resistance and anger and even turn away your face (gramudav
Pratapasimha vajira / ग्रामुदव प्रताऩलसम्हा वजीर , prema viraha
nannuchera / प्रेमा ववरह नंनुचेरा, iti emir a taguna / इर्त अमीर अ तागुना
etc. etc...). Perhaps the sadir is the continuity of this tradition. The
composition invariably depends on the characterization for its
content. For example, the item padam gives scope for
sancharibhava / संचाररभाव and is based on jeevathma / जीवात्मा,
pramathma / प्रमात्मा
11

ikya rahasya / इर्त रहस्य. Many Tamil padams composed by the court
poets are influenced by Kshetraya / ऺेिय. But the padams of
Muttutandavar / मुत्तुतान्दावर are of an entirely different nature. For
e. g. The todi raga padam / तोड़ी राग ऩदम ् “yar poi cholluvar / यार ऩोई
चोल्ऱुवर”, in charana / चरण, the lyrics are: nalukkunal / नाऱुतकुनऱ,
annamum / अन्नामुम, muppaium verukude / मुक्प्ऩयम वेरुकुदे ’’. Here
muppal / मुप्ऩऱ is aram / आराम, porul / ऩारुऱ and enbam / एन्बम. And
the implication is that day by day my yearning has been only veedu
(moksha / मोऺ) whereas other purusharthas / ऩुरुषाथत are not in my
favour. Ultimately it all depends on the interpretation that the
dancer gives to the song -- the powerful expressions of facial bhava
to bring out the inner personality is very important.

The term Bharathanatyam encompasses almost every major and

minor classical art form as revealed by the evidences at our
command. The word 'sadir' is not mentioned in the literature of the
16th, 17th or 18th centuries. According to Tamil tradition sadir seems
to have its roots in vediyal / वेददयऱ and not poduviyal / ऩोदवु वयऱ.
Sadir seems to have been an entertainment in the courts and has
very little to do with the ritualistic dances of the devadasis. The
nartaki performs a sadir in a sadas (assembly of rich people) that
belongs to the category of special enactment, and the dance of
devadasis performed in the temple was probably for pleasing the
Gods only. Sadir katcheri / साददर कत्चेरी is sometimes arranged
during marriages in rich households of recent past. The explanations
attempted on the word imply the use of the eyes intended for both
the artist and the onlooker.
12
The beauty of the spectacle is meant for aesthetic enjoyment. In
short it is art for art's sake and not for a religious purpose. Hence a
sadir dancer is a rajanartaki / राजनततकी. But the techniques are
similar to both devadasis and the nartakis. A sadir was a self-
projected art with glamour of displaying both beauty and skill.

Dancers

Dance Troupes were attached to the temples till the beginning of

last century. To cite a few examples, Padayapatti / ऩद्यऩत्ती is a town
in Ramnad district that had devadasis attached to the temple. The
girls danced during the festivals when the idol was taken in
procession. In Arumugamangalam, a village near Yeral in Tirunelveli
district, the devadasi of the temple even in her old age performed
before the God which was taken in procession. As a custom she wore
a yellow-colored saree / सारी drenched in saffron water (a sign of
good omen) while dancing. In Viralimalai near Trichy sixty girls were
attached to the temple. Muthukanniammal, a devadasi who
performed in this temple, is in her13 late sixties. She told in her
interview that duty was allotted in turns to each and everyone
attached to the temple. They had to decorate the entrance of the
temple by drawing kolam / कोऱम. They prepared the rice flour and
drew designs with that on the plate and lit lamps, with which they
took harathi / हरथी of the God and this was called muthalarathi /
मुथाऱाराठी. They performed abhinaya items during the noon pooja.
On festival days dancers performed allarippu, kavuttuvam, varnam
and tillana in the adjacent hall near the temple. Later in the night,
when the deity was taken in procession they danced before the ther
(chariot) -- padams, kolattam, kummi and karanams (somersaults).
On invitation these dancers performed in houses on the occasion of
marriages, child’s naming ceremony, etc. However every day they
assembled in their nattuvanar's house for practice. They were
donated agricultural lands for revenue, and to earn a living.

Devadasis preserved the rhythm and melody of the sacred hymns

and prayer songs for posterity. They thus became experts in modes
and melodies, techniques and varieties in singing and dancing. Their
legacy to the arts of music and dance was direct, while they enriched
painting and sculpture in particular, mostly indirectly. With the fall of
royal patronage, their arts also suffered an eclipse. When they were
forced to satisfy the vulgar passions of their patrons, their arts also
acquired a disreputable character and became synonymous with
prostitution. Their legacy to the preservation of the art is
praiseworthy. It cannot be denied that the devadasi system led to
abusive exploitation of women; but what also cannot be denied was
that the disappearance of the system also sounded the death knell of
certain precious art traditions too. Good art forms should not be
considered as museum pieces to preserve and admire. During the
Maratha period, the art of dance entered
14
into the life of the people,
invigorated and enriched it.
 PAPER: 3
1
Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And
Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 11 Journey From Prabandha, Nirupana....

There were many dance varieties performed in group and solo by the
court dancers specially to please the king. The nautch / नाच dance is one
such variety which is the combination of classical and folk dances. During
the period of Serfoji, the following items were danced in the court under
the name of nautch.

1. Jakkini / जक्किनी 2. Gondhal / गोंधर

3. Perani / ऩयानी 4. Goph / गोप or garba / गयफा dance
5. Dhrupadnautch / ध्रुऩदनाच 6. Sangitamelam / संगीतभेरभ ladies
nautch.
7. Desi / दे शी navpadh / नवऩध nautch / नाच 8. Tippri / टिप्ऩयी
9. Kanchin nautch / िंचचन नाच 10. Chitra natya / चचत्र नाट्म

Kanchin / िंचचन, Garba / गयफा and Tippri / टिप्ऩयी are at present

danced in Gujarat, Maharashtra and northern parts of India. Tippri
and Goph dances are equivalent to the kolattam / िोरािट्भ and
pinnalkolattam / पऩन्नरिोरािट्भ of Tamilnadu.
Kuravanji Natakam / कुरवंजी नाटकं
2

Kuravanji dance dramas became extremely popular during the

Maratha period. Over 100 Kuravanji dance dramas seemed to
have been composed in 18th and 19th centuries. Many of them
are still available in manuscript form. This composition is a lyrical
poem sung to suitable music and interpreted appropriately in the
language of gestures. It combines in itself the three aspects of
Tamil literature – iyal / इमर, isai / इसाईं and natakam. There are
different kinds of names to this musical form like Kuravanji cindu /
ससन्द,ू Kuravanji sandam / संदभ, Kuravanji natakam.

Other than Yakshagana / मऺगान and Bhagavatamelas / बागवतभेरा

there were innumerable dance dramas performed on various topics.
In these dance dramas both male and female dancers participated.
The dance dramas during the Maratha period were mostly enacted
in the nrittamantapas / नृतभंडऩ situated in the palace. Most of these
dance dramas performed during this period were in praise of the
king. King was portrayed as the God and he was the hero of the play,
whose valour was eulogized. Such dance dramas were composed in
Telugu, Tamil and Marathi and inevitably all dance dramas had the
influence of the other language in them (viz. Tamil, Telugu and
Marathi).

The two main characters in these dance dramas are Kattiyakkaran /

िट्टीमािायन and the Sutra Dhari / सूत्र धायी. The Sutra Dari gives the
synopsis of the play and the Kattiyakkaran introduces the characters
of the play. Sometimes he cracks jokes and tells hilarious small tales
or anecdotes pertaining to the 3 characters to be introduced.
Kattiyakara could be the same as the Vidusaka / पवदष
ू ि in Sanskrit
plays described by Bharata / बयत. The main role of Vidhusakas is to
create misunderstanding between lovers and unite them ultimately,
make the hero forget pangs of separation by diverting his attention
and convey the lighter aspects of life in a tone that brings the hasya
rasa / हास्म यस into the play. The kattiyakkaran is short and funny
looking. The lines from Bhuloka devendra vilasa natakam / बूरोि
दे वेन्र पवरास नाििं in Tamil explains the entry of kattiyakkaran as:

“Velli pirambum kayyil kondu Vellai pallaiyum

kattik kondu Vellai namam sathik kondu
Kullan kattiyakaran vandane”
“वेल्री पऩयाम्फुभ िक्यमर िोन्दू वेल्रई ऩल्रैमुभ
िक्तति िोंदु वेल्रइ नभभ सटिि िोंदु
िुल्रन ििमाियन वन्दने”
This song is in raga sourashtra / याग सौयाष्ट्र. The dance dramas of this
period always commenced with todaymangalam / तोडमाभंगरभ
starting with Jayajaya / जमजम followed by a Mangalam and a song
with starting words Mahaneya / भहानेमा. Then the viruttam / पवरुट्टभ is
danced, followed by Vinayaka daru / पवनामि दरू starting with the
words vandesivanutham / वन्दे सशवानुथभ. The Vinayaka darus are the
special features of the dance dramas of this period. This is a
tradition introduced by the Maratha composers, for Lord Vinayaka
(Ganesha) is the main deity in the land of Maharashtra.

After the prayer songs, the introduction

4 of the Kattiyakaran, and of
the other characters dancing for different darus, padams / ऩदभ,
helapadams / हे राऩदभ, shobanam / शोफनभ etc. follows. Even in the
Tamil drama of this period the first three songs are in Sanskrit and
Telugu. Each dance drama consists of not less than thirty darus. The
Tamil dance dramas are: Bhulokadevendra Vilasanatakam /
बुरोिदे वेन्र पवरासनाििभ, Chandrahasaivilasam / चंरहासैपवरासभ,
Vishnusaharajavilasam / पवश्नुसहयाजपवरासभ, Sahajiraja Kuravanji /
शहाक्जयाजा िुयवन्जी and Kaveri Kalyanam / िावेयी िल्माणं.

Some dances of the Maratha period are of an expiatory nature. One

such dance is Lavani / रावणी, the Marathi folk musical form. It
became popular in the Tanjore district during 1684-1855 -- over a
century. The last of the Maratha princes of Tanjore, Shivaji II, was a
great lover of Lavanis. He himself figures as a hero of few Lavanis.
The famous Bharataramela Ragamalikai / बयतायभेरा यागभासरिा (72
Melaragamalika in Maratti language) is authored by Lavani
Venkatarao. Shivaji Maharaja has acted as judge for several Lavani
contests. The term Lavani in Marathi means an offshoot. It refers to
extempore music during the course of the performance. In Tamil it is
called nilavani and is performed during Vasantha panchami / वसंत
ऩंचभी and Rangapanchami / यं गऩंचभी. (a particular day of the
auspicious month)

Lavani singing is a collective affair and never rendered individually.

The chief is an extempore composer. The theme may be either
philosophical, historical, devotional or erotic, but all the navarasa
are effectively evoked. Some groups5 are dedicated to sing the glories
of Lord Siva, while other groups glorify the greatness of Vishnu.
When there was a musical contest between the two, it is reported to
be a thrilling experience. Lavani sung by one group and imitated by
another group was called the geer. The six groups of Lavani singers,
patronised by the Maratha kings, are Tukund geer / तुिुंद गीय ,
Mukund geer / भुिुंद गीय, Savayi / सवाई, Mouja / भौजा, Kalgi / िरगी
and Tura / तुया. The singer also performs abhinaya with hand
gestures corresponding to the words in the song. Sant Samartha
Ramadasa is the earliest known Lavani composer, Tukaram, Ekanath,
Anandhapani, Madavamuni, Amirtarai are other great composers of
Lavanis. There are many varieties of lavanis like sringara lavani, note
lavani (salute tunej sampathsara lavani / सम्ऩथ्सया रावणी, barakhadi
lavani / फायाखडी रावणी , panchabhasha lavani / ऩंचबाषा रावणी ,
vedanta lavani / वेदांता रावणी , palna lavani / ऩरना रावणी (cradle
songs), Serfoji's teerthayatra lavanis / तीथथमात्रा रावणी , mangalam
lavani / भंगरभ रावणी , nowks lavani / नोवि रावणी , etc., Nowka
Lavani had inspired the great saint composer Tyagaraja / त्यागराज of
Tiruvarur who immortalised nowkakrida (Krishna’s pranks in the
boat) in his opera entitled Nowkacharitram / नौिाचरयतभ, Kavi
Venkasuri later produced a nowkacharitra in Sanskrit. It has a lilting
rhythm and attractive rural charm.

Serfoji's Tristhalayatra Lavani is a magnum opus which describes the

pilgrimage of Serfoji to Benares touching enroute various kshetras
(important religious places). The last of the three sections of the
lavani contains the name of the king and also refers to the group of
lavani singers as savayi. 13 Lavani 6in Tamil were produced in large
numbers and Tamil lavani singing became a very popular form of
entertainment in the districts of Tanjore, Trichy and Madurai.
Lavanis in Tamil were performed by the villagers during the months
of February – March.

Instruments

Many new instruments were included in the orchestral troupe.

These troupes were known as the sangitamelam / संगीतभेरभ, which
became very popular during Maratha period. The dance troup which
was called the cinnamelam / चिन्नमेऱम. comprised of dancer,
vocalists and instrumentalists. Apart from sangitamelam troupe,
there were instrumentalists who played as a accompanist for dance
recitals. Mridamgam / भद
ृ ं गभ, conch / िोंच, vina / पवणा, mukhavina /
भुखपवणा, talam / तारभ, flute were the common instruments for
dance. Raja Serfoji was the first to introduce fiddle (violin) an
European instrument in Carnatic music concert. This was used later
in dance concerts too.
The tuntina / तुनतीना and deeh / दे ह were the accompanying
instruments that provided the drone and the rhythmic background
for Lavanis. Morsing / भोससिंग was a new instrument in the orchestral
group. The earliest reference to morsing as an accompaniment in the
dance dramas is found in the Mohini-mahesha-parinayam / भोटहनी-
भहे श-ऩरयणमभ which was enacted during the period of Serfoji II.
The dance figures were painted colorfully on the walls of the dancing
hall in the palace and in a few places
7 in the temple walls. Some
paintings of dance on the temple walls depict a colorful pageantry of
a dance troupe. The dance performance in painting is depicted as a
troupe consisting of the dancer, the singer and the musicians.
Dance varieties
The dance pieces in Marathi composed by Raja Serfoji (A. D. 1798-
1833) give a complete picture of the items of the present
Bharatanatyam recital. Jayajaya and saranu are danced as the
dedicatory pieces to the chosen deity, the third item is seva or allaru
(now called allarippu) consisting of sahityas / साटहतम conveying the
dancer's salute to the audience. Then follows a series of jatis,
svarasahitya / स्वयसटहतम or combination of svara / स्वय and tala / तार
without any theme called jatiswaram / जततस्वयभ. This is also a part
of the invocation. The sabdam / शब्दभ that follows constitutes the
genesis of the story convened through abhinaya / असबनम and nritya
/ नृतम in a slow tempo. This is followed by Varnam, which is the
chief attraction of the whole performance. Partaking of nritya and
abhinaya padam or sahitya follows. In order to bring out the bhava
and rasa, this item is rendered in a slow tempo, ending with the
svarajathi / स्वयजती. The tillana / ततल्राना or Tirana / तयाना is
followed. Next jakkini / जक्किनी is performed. This is followed by
geetam / गीतं which indicates the delicate mode of raga. Then
danced the prabandham / प्रफन्धं an old composition bearing on a
theme is and then triputam / त्रत्रऩुिभ or tripitam / त्रत्रपऩतभ which is
classified as desi nritta followed. Then slokam is danced where in the
verse is rendered with abhinaya and kavutuvam is a terminal song in
praise of a deity and the mangalam 8
forms the last piece. Some of
the dance items which became very popular during this period are
dealt with in detail here:

Svarajati

This dance - musical form came into practice from Maratha period.
Svarajati, as the name signifies, is a composition with alternative
rhythmic syllables (i. e. Jatis and svaras) in the song. Melattur
Veerabadraya (18th century) is the architect of svarajati
compositions. His huseni svarajati / हुसेनी स्वयजती is the earliest
example of this variety. There are three types of svarajatis.
A) Dance svarajatis - having sollukatus / सोल्रुिट्टू in its musical
structure. For example e mandayanara / ए भन्दमानया, e mayaladira /
ए भामराटदया.
B) Those which have no Jatis but comprising svaras and sahityas /
साटहतम. For example, Shyama Sastri’s svarajatis in todi, bhairavi /
बैयवी and yadukulkamboji / मदि
ु ु ल्िाम्फोजी ragas.
C) Those that belong to the abyasa gana. These are simple without
jatis meant for music students or beginners. For example,
ravemaguva / यवेभगुव in anandabhairavi / आनंदबैयवी raga and
sambasivayanave / सम्फससवमानवे in kamas raga.

The earlier counter part of this form could be the Kaivara

prabandha / िैवया प्रफंध.
Padavarnam / ऩद्वर्णम
This form sets a milestone in the innovative discovery of new items
in the classical dance repertoire. As9 the name denotes it is sung in
chauka kala (slow tempo) in contrast to the tana varna which is
sung in different speed. Varna was named for a prabandha / प्रफंध in
the time of Someswara / सोमेस्वर (12th Cen.) Someswara in his
treatise Manasollasa / भानसोल्रास refers the form of varna as
‘‘karnata bhashya yasthu bhikadaishraya samanvithi, geete
Varnatatena sa thu Varna prakir thisthaha”16 / कनणता भाष्य यस्तु
भभकादै श्रय समंववथी , गीते वर्णतातेना सा थू वर्ण प्रकीर स्स्थत : which
means varna prabandha is composed in karnataka bhasha having
angas, birudas etc., and is sung in varna tala. Sarangadeva in his
treatise Sangitaratnakara (13th cen.) speaks of varnasvara and varna
prabandha. Varnasvara prabandha is set with svara, pata, pada and
tenaka. Prabandhas are classified into three categories namely
sudha / सुध, alikrama / असरक्रण and viprakirna / पवप्रिीणथ. The varna
prabandha comes under alikrana prabandha. The later varnams are
modelled on after bhavabhinaya prabandha such as padas,
sabdams, etc. The pada varnam format which is practiced till date
evolved as dance compositions only during the 18th century.

The entire varna has sahitya. The mattu of a padavarna is composed

of words, svaras and Jatis (sollukattus). The songs open with the
rendering of the first line of the pallavi which is followed by nritta
sequence. The lines of pallavi and anupallavi are followed by Jathi
Korvai, mostly in panchanatai / ऩंचनडै. The anupallavi is set to not
less than four avartas and is succeeded by chitasvara with sahitya
and sollukattu. Muktayi svara and its sahitya occurring at the end of
anupallavi is the salient feature of this form. This feature has made it
a fine piece of dance music providing 10
elaborate scope for footwork
and exquisite abhinaya.

Muktayi / भुकतई signifies the conclusion and this ends purvanga /

ऩूवािंग section of the varna. The charana / चयण is known as ettukadai /
एततुिडै. The ettukadai svaras in two, four and eight avartas follow in
sequence, each concluding in the etukada pallavi. Some Vamas do
not have sahitya for muktayi svaras and ettukada svaras for
example,

Song Raga Tala Composer

Rammanare Hindolam Ata Ramaswamy
Dikshidar
Rupamujuchi Todi Adi Muthuswamy
Dikshidar
Dayaj udavetayani Huseni Adi MelatturveeraBadra
yya

Govindaswamayya of Karvetnagar / गोववन्दस्वामैय्या and Melattur

Veerabadrayya were the earliest composers of padavarnas.
Ramaswamy Dikshidar / रामस्वामी दीक्षितार, Sonti Venkataramayya /
सोंती वें कट रामय्या, Gangaimuthu / गंगेमुथू Nattuvanar, Subburaya /
सुब्बूराया nattuvanar, and Tanjore quartette have contributed many
padavarnams. Modern Padavarnam composers include
Balamuralikrishna, Lalgudi Jayaraman, Madurai Krishnan, Papanasam
Sivan and many more.

The theme of the sahitya may either

11
be devotional, sringara or in
praise of a patron. The slow music resembles that of the padas
giving scope for detailed abhinaya. Since the tempo is slow, the
descriptive exposition of raga is brought out. Pada varna gives
ample scope for elaborate nritta and abhinaya aspect of the dance.
Padavarnas were further decorated adding more ragas thus evolving
ragamalika, talamalikas and ragatalamalikas.

This form is well appreciated and included even in present day

Bharathanatyam repertoire. Initially this item was performed in
detail for more than an hour. At present, because of time restraint it
is shortened to thirty minutes. Still it is the piece de resistance of a
dance recital. Many well-known composers have tried varieties of
pada varnas.

Tillana / ततल्ऱाना

This is an attractive and lively dance musical form sung in the art
musical concerts and Harikatha kalakshepam / हरयिथा िराऺेऩभ .
Nritta is the speciality in this dance form. It is a profusion of
rhythmic sounds, svaras / स्वय and sahitya. It is said to be the
improvisation from konnugol / िोंनुगर (recitation of jatis) orally with
laya and tala. It must have derived from karna prabandhas / िणथ
प्रफंध. Patas are integral part of nritta prabandhas. The improvisation
on this item must have resulted in tarana and tillana.
A parallel story is also told that Gopala Naik from Tanjore court went
to North India as a captive to Muslims. There he popularised the
South Indian musical tradition. lt 12 is believed that he taught Amir
Khusru (North Indian musician) to play chitra veena and also taught
karna prabandhas, which came to be known as tarana and later
tillana. The earliest tillana available is in panturavali raga and
aditala composed by Veerabadrayya. The inclusion of tillana in a
sadir concert was during the reign of Pratapsimha and gained
popularity during Tulaja's period. In the jakkini variety the word
ellilam / एरीरभ ellam le / इल्रभ रे is used frequently. Similarly,
dirtillana / टदततथल्राना is used profusely in tillana. The syllable tillale /
ततल्रारे is used in folk music. Tiliana darus are used in musical
operas. Different varieties of tillanas with ragamalika / यागभासरिा,
ragatalamalika / यागातारभासरिा and in rare talas like simhanandana
/ ससम्हानन्दन are composed and performed. The sahitya of tillana is
mostly in praise of a deity and sometimes on the kings and are
composed in many languages. Raja Pratapasimha and Tulaja made
the tillana an item in the natya performance. Melattur
Veerabadrayya set it to Carnatic music. Maharaja Swathi Tirunal has
composed many tillanas on Lord Padmanabha. His tillana in danasri
raga / धनश्री याग has Hindi sahitya and is very popular in present
day Bhartanatyam recitals. This item is performed after the padam
or as the final item in present day Bharatanatyam recitals. This is the
most applauded item. The beautiful sollukatus and svaras
interwoven in rhythmic foot pattern give a colorful picture to this
piece.
Javali / जावऱी
This dance music form became popular only a 100 years ago. The
attractive compositions are generally composed on erotic themes
13 catchy music. The rakti / यक्कत
with esoteric meaning and tilting and
ragas used are effective in expressing sringararasa e. g. Kamas /
िभास, jinjoti / क्जन्जोती etc. The rhythm is very lively unlike the slow
tempo of the padam. The emotional content of the raga and the
erotic theme of the sahitya find an adequate expression in the
abhinaya. Javali consists of pallavi, anupallavi and several charanas /
चयण. As regards the name, javali, it is borrowed from a Kannada
term javadi meaning a kind of lewd poetry.17 In Marathi javali refers
to the gesture of the eyes in the language of love. Many North
Indian musical forms like thumri / िुभयी, khayal / खमार and tarana /
तयाना were performed in the Maratha court. This led to the
popularity of Hindustani musical forms. On the model of the love
songs in Marathi, which became an important item in the court
dance, arose a class of erotic songs in other languages in honor of
the king, zamindars and chieftains. Javali is perhaps one of the
surviving examples of court music forms of Tanjore. The javalis are
composed in languages like Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and nayaka or
the hero of this poetry is always portrayed as a deceitful person.
Javalis are included in the present day Bharatanatyam recitals in the
second half of the programme. This is performed only to reveal the
dancer’s ability in abhinaya and does not convey any value or
message other than erotic.
Palana / ऩऱना

Palana are cradle songs or lullabies14sung in homes during the name-

keeping ceremony of the child. This ceremony is called barsa in
Marathi. It comes from the Marathi word for ‘cradle’ which is
‘Palana’. Women participate in great number and sing in chorus or
solo. Similarly, during the festivals of Ramanavami / याभनवभी and
Gokulashtami / गोिुराष्ट्िभी the baby idol of Rama or Krishna is laid in
the cradle at the temple. The singers sing palanas in praise of the
deity and the dancers perform for the same. The word jo jo is
repeated after every line of the song. In Tamil Nadu these songs are
popular as thalattupattu / थराट्टूऩाट्टू. Sometimes these songs are
included in the Bharatanatyam recitals in the second half of the
programme.

Salam Daru / सऱाम दरू

The dance item named Salam Daru is an integral part of a dance

drama. Salam is a typical Urdu name for Namaste / नभस्ते or anjali /
अंजसर. The salam was mostly done to solicit kings and chieftains.
This became a fashion among the court dancers to bow or do salam
before the audience. The compositions bear the term salam several
times in the beginning and at the end of the composition. This piece
was included in the dance drama format of Maratha period. This
piece does not exist in present day Bharatanatyam recitals.
155 Salam Daru Compositions
Kalyani raga King Sahaji
Sahitya Adi tala
15

Madinapura desure - Manju Meenakshina du re Maduravani mi

dehire-Mampahi sundareswarare
Svara / स्वर
Dnsr - srgm - pdnd - pdpm - gmpdnsrs – ns Dpdpm
धतनसारे - सारे गम – ऩधतनध – ऩधऩम - गमऩधतनसरे सा
– तनसा धऩधऩम

- gmnd Dpm - ggpmggrrs - salamu salamure

- गमतनध धऩम – गगऩमगगरे रेसा - सऱामू सऱामुरे

Solu
Jemu jenutha - tanatanata - tirukututaka tadimi –
जेमू जेनुत – तनतनत – ततरुकुटूतक तचधमी

dimitataka - tatankuta - takita tadimitaka –

चधभमततक – ततंकुत – तककत – तधीभमतक

tirukudutanutaka - tadimi dimitataka tatanku takaditta–

ततरुकुदत
ु नत
ु क – तचधमी चधभमततक ततंकू तकददत्ता

sallamu sallamure
सल्ऱामु सल्ऱामुरे
Svarajati / स्वरजती
1. Rsssygr - ymppm - gmp - myrs
16
2. gmpdpmg-ppmyyrs
3. SsSsgr - ymMm - pm - DpPdd - pm- gmpmP -
ssgrgmpm pdnd - nsrs - nsdd pdpm-gmpmGrs
Sollu
tatdidimitataka - tatjemtarita - tatotonguta tatanguta -
tanathajenuthata - dimiehimi - Jenuta tanata tatana Jemu
takkitata dimitadimi Jemi jemi - tanataka - tadimidimita taka
tatangutaka ditta.

(Reference: T. MS. S. M. Library. Tanjore)

Mangalam / भंगरभ
This is the valedictory item of the dance programme. In the form of
prayer, a blessing from God is invoked
17 for the successful termination

of the performance and for the participants in it. Ragas like surati /
सुरुिी, madhyamavati / भध्मभावती are sung for mangalams / भंगरभ.
The dancer stands in samasthanaka / सभस्थानि with anjali hasta /
अंजसर हस्त, beating the feet to the tala. Mangalam is an essential
item at the end of the dance performance.
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 12 Bani-s (Schools) Of Bharatanatyam

Bharatanatyam, like any classical form, has evolved over centuries. It

is akin to an ocean that surrounds India, called Bay of Bengal in
Bengal but in Kanyakumari the same ocean is the Indian Ocean! So,
while the form, its language, musical mode and overall appearance is
one, on closer examination each guru or region brought in special
features or characteristics, leading it to be named after that village
(like Pandanallur or Kattumannarkoil) or school name (Kalakshetra,
Kalamandalam).

While many gurus and dancers, musicians and teachers contributed

to its enrichment, some made it to distinct style or banis, called
schools in English. The word does not mean school as in studying but
School as in different stream. What makes a stream? Clear distinctive
features and some marked characteristics like stylization. For
example, when we talk of Kalakshetra style or school, or bani, it
means certain angularity and firmness. It means doing
Bharatanatyam in a manner that others don’t, thus making it same
form but different from others.

In Bharatanatyam, banis or schools arose in the last century due to

mainly four reasons or circumstances: First, individual villages where
gurus hailed from or resided. Two, ambitious and powerful lobbies of
students and parents, who were well-connected to promote one
guru over another. Three, clear stylized differences of torso, hand
movements and posture. And lastly, the number of students, i.e.
popularity.

“The importance of the bani / बानी in which a dancer is trained, the

dance ‘lineage’ that one inherits from one’s gurus is a vital factor in
shaping one’s creative growth. A dancer may be exceptionally
talented and the guru may be totally painstaking. But if the bani or
vazhi / वज्ही to which one belongs is impoverished, flawed or shallow,
one’s artistic evolution may well be stunted. The qualities that make
each bani distinct from the other, stem from the individualistic
manner in which the dance alphabets are woven together, the
specific ways in which the technical dimensions are interpreted and
not in the least, from the aesthetic principles, ideals, perceptions and
artistic vision of the gurus, who shaped their banis and directed their
evolution. The dance bani is like a vast, majestic banyan tree. The
gurus are the branches that send down many roots, so that the tree
grows and spreads, vital and vibrant,” says Alarmel Valli.1

We have 4 or 5 main banis starting with fountainhead Tanjore

(Thanjavur), the cultural capital of Tamilnadu. The word Thanjavur
Quartet refers to the four brothers – Ponniah (1804-1864),
Chinnayya (1802-1856), Vadivelu (1810-1845) and Sivanandam
(1808-1863) – who served the Tanjore court of Maharaja Serfojis,
Maratha kings who ruled south India. To this lineage, came many
musicians and dancers like Nayana, Dhanammal and Balasaraswati.

Born into a nattuvanar family, the Quartet learnt music from the
great saint poet Muthuswami Dikshitar. They were court composers
in the early 1800s and went on to adorn various royal courts of south
India. The brothers set the margam pattern (from Alarippu / अऱाररप्ऩू
to Tillana / तिल्ऱाना) and gave a chiseled structure to Sadir dance
appropriate for the concert stage. They composed an impressive
number of alarippus, jatiswarams / जतिस्वरम, kautuvams / कौिुवं,
sabdams / शब्दम, varnams / वर्णम, padams / ऩदम,् javalis / जावऱी,
kirtanais / कीिणने and tillanas / तिल्ऱाना and brought remarkable
artistic changes and innovations to the tradition. The Quartet’s
sringara rasa / श्ींगार र स based dance compositions constitute the
majority of dance compositions used even today.

Thanjavur Kittappa Pillai / िंजावुर ककटट्ऩा पऩल्ऱाई (1913 – 1999) was a

descendant of the Thanjavur Quartet and many present day dancers
take immense pride in calling themselves his disciples. He had his
lessons in music from Natesa Sastry / नटे शशास्री and later from his
father K. Ponniah Pillai. He learnt dance from his maternal
grandfather Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai.

The Thanjavur bani ideally treats dance like visual music. A relaxed
attitude makes it possible to execute adavus in a leisurely tempo
involving a full body swing with curves which bring out the true
grandeur of this bani. Kittappa Pillai had a special method of
composing jathis. His sancharis / संचारी came more through his
musical expression than through body language. The musical
variations which he developed had a special audio visual quality
which is very essential in the rendering of a dance composition. He
always took into account the rhythmic aspect of words present in a
lyric. Kittappa had an impeccable sense of laya and his kalapramana
never wavered even a bit during the course of a composition. His
choreography of adavus was always in madhyama kalam / मध्यम
काऱम. Sometimes he combined it with sollus in a faster tempo. His
sollus form a beautiful dialogue with the adavu patterns. His jathis,
especially in the varnam, were never too long except for the first
trikala jathi. His jathis never sound complicated but when one starts
reciting them with the talam / िाऱम, one realizes the clever weave of
the pancha jatis / ऩंच जािी and the korvais / कोरवै. For him dance
should be beautiful to see and to listen.2

Although Kandappa Pillai came from the same family, he departed

from the traditional Thanjavur style in a few ways. He implemented
certain stylistic changes which emphasized the role of music and
rhythm in a performance. For example, during jathis/theermanams /
िीमाणनम, the singers continue singing and instrumentalists continue
playing the melody, while the nattuvanar / नट्टूवनार recites the
sollukattu / सोल्ऱक
ु त्िु. some notable practitioners of Thanjavur style
3

are Kanchipuram Ellappa Pillai, Vyjayanthimala Bali, Sucheta

Chapekar, Sudharani Raghupathy, Padmini Rao, Narthaki Nataraj,
Srividya Natarajan and Hari Krishnan.

Pandanalllur, another important village arose in prominence due to

many great gurus like Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai (1869 – 1954) who
hailed, married, lived and taught there but for brief spells in Madras
city. Many first generation star dancers (Ram Gopal, Mrinalini
Sarabhai, U.S. Krishna Rao) went to this village to learn. The
Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam has a rich and diverse adavu
vocabulary, complex rhythmic permutations, emphasis on symmetry
and harmony, intense musicality, purity and precision of line and
shunning of anything pretentious or gimmicky.
In the evocation of mood and metaphor, the emphasis was on
natyadharmi / नाट्यधमी rather than lokadharmi / ऱोकधमी, on lyricism
and understatement rather than on overt drama. The kulukku nadai /
कुऱुक्कू नडै (lilting gait), was a consistent element in all the abhinaya
segments, a sort of substratum layer, over which the abhinaya was
constructed. Clarity of hastas and the wide sweep of the arms while
performing abhinaya were also key characteristics. Meandering
digressions in the name of sancharis were anathema for these gurus.
In their interpretation of padams and javalis, vulgarity in any form
was eschewed. The focus was always on content rather than
packaging. Unwanted prolonged poses and acrobatic renderings of
nritta were innovations eschewed by the Pandanallur gurus.4

Veteran gurus Chockalingam Pillai (Periya Vadyar) and Subbaraya

Pillai (Chinna Vadyar) laid stress on anga suddham / अंग शुध म and
aramandi / अरै मंडी. Even at age 75, Chockalingam Pillai's dedication
was such that he guided not only advanced students but also
beginners, teaching for hours. Tala was marked by thattu kazhi /
िट्टूकज्ही more often than finger counting. Beauty in azhutham / अज्हुथं
and fluidity in forcefulness were among the Pandanallur ideals.
Covering the stage was important too, with supple, graceful
movements, not too many leaps. To relax and smile was a must.5

The Pandanallur gurus favored the Margam / मागंम format over

thematic presentations and a gentler approach to footwork. Some
prominent teachers/performers of the Pandanallur / ऩंडनल्ऱुर style
are Pandanallur Jayalakshmi / जयऱक्ष्मी, Sabaranjitam / सबरं जजिम,
Pandanallur Pandian / ऩांडडयन, Alarmel Valli / अऱरमेऱ वल्ऱी ,
Meenakshi Chitharanjan / ममनाऺी चचिरं जन, etc.

In Kattumannarkoil / कत्िुमन्नकोइऱ and Chidambaram, another giant

guru Muthukumara Pillai (1874 – 1960) lived and taught there
including mentoring boys from other banis like Dandayuthapani Pillai
(known for laya intricacies and introduction of lengthier jathis), and
Ramaiah Pillai who branched off to create the Vazuvuhoor bani.
Muthukumara Pillai also taught in many cities like Chennai,
Bangalore and Ahmedabad but spent the last 10 years of his life in
his hometown.

“Although I learnt from Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, he could not

stand and show all the postures. Thus I benefitted from learning
from Muthukumaran Pillai, who even at 70, could stand and show
each posture,” said Rukmini Devi.6 Kumari Kamala (Laxman) who
originally trained under Muthukumara Pillai and later with Ramaiah
Pillai, maintained that her adavus were all Kattumannar
Muthukumara style and only her items were taught by Ramaiah
Pillai.

Rukmini Devi pointed out in her SNA monograph of 1964 that,

“Muthukumara Pillai’s system of adavus was somewhat different
from the Pandanallur style. The fundamental difference was that in
his style, there was more footwork and less utplavanas / उत्प्ऱवन. In
Pandanallur, the body had to lean forward from the waist upward.
Guru Muthukumara Pillai did not like this. He preferred an erect
posture to keep the spine straight. His abhinaya was more detailed
and he followed the sastras. Muthukumara style was very pure, with
clear arm movements which were firm without being rigid and soft
and rounded without being sloppy.”

“He wanted clean lines – no dazzle and no hurly-burly. He wanted

dance to look smooth, not jerky. His dance was the mirror image of
the man – always calm and composed. He wanted the movements
to appear firm and effortless. In nritta, he insisted that the
termination of one adavu and the beginning of the next should be
marked by a subtle overlapping, giving the suggestion of continuity,”
observed Mohan Khokar in his monograph in 1964.7 Some of his
famous disciples include Ram Gopal, Mrinalini Sarabhai, M.K.
Selvamani, M.K. Saroja, Nala Najan, Janak Kendry and Rukmini Devi.

Vazhuvoor bani / वाज्हुवूर बानी created by Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai

(1910 – 1979) is more feminine emphasizing lasya / ऱास्य over
tandavam / िांडवं. Most traditional performances begin with a
Thodaya Mangalam in praise of Gnana Sabesa, the reigning deity of
Vazhuvoor town. Vazhuvoorar would infuse life in a jati with nine
beats. So the jatis were very fast and all the three speeds would be
performed. He also emphasized sollukattu to create a powerful
effect. With regard to abhinaya, Vazhuvoorar incorporated a lot of
storytelling. He did not like to repeat the same movements as in
some other banis. The Vazhuvoor bani adopts more rigorous adavus.
Then arm movements stretch all the way down to touch the toe. He
added a lot of poses to aesthetically transit between jathis, rather
than letting the dancer stand there with arms at the waist, breathing
heavily. His approach to abhinaya was very much in natyadharmi
style. He followed everything prescribed in the Natya Shastra / नाट्य
शास्र, javalis and padams are taught to only those above 18 years of
age.8

In the Vazhuvoor style of Bharatanatyam, static postures are

inserted, most often in the tillana, to break the monotony and to add
variety of rhythms; the adavus flow smoothly, with rare abrupt
movements, and deep sitting positions. The dancer's body from the
waist up is slightly bent forward, the jatis have more korvais and
leaps are introduced into every jati. Some prominent gurus of the
Vazhuvoor style are Swamimalai K Rajaratnam Pillai and KJ Sarasa,
performers are Kamala Lakshman, Rhadha, Chitra Visweswaran,
Priyadarsini Govind, Ramya Ramnarayan, Vidya Subramanian,
Sandhya Sree Athmakuri.

Mysore, under royal patronage partook of another bani, more

circular for court dancing and some key gurus like
Venkatalakshamma, Nagamani, and C. Radhakrishna got associated
with it. The sadir of the Thanjavur Quartet got assimilated into the
already existing mode of dancing in Mysore as Chinnayya lived at the
court of Mysore for a while. Therefore, most of the Bharatanatyam
items performed were of the Thanjavur Quartet. But the abhinaya
numbers showing the lyrical beauty of great composers were
different, innumerable and special. Even in the adavus, the lyrical
beauty of movement can be seen. The Mysore bani was known for
flowery hand gestures using alapadmas / अऱऩद्म and more than
geometrical and linear ones like pataka / ऩिाक and tripataka / त्ररऩिाक
katakamukha / कटकामुख. Historically, it was a king of Ganga dynasty
who had won over Orissa in the 12th century. Jayadeva lived in the
court of Ganga king Lakshmana Sena. Hence, the Mysore dancers
rendered ashtapadis / अष्टऩदी and slokas / श्ऱोक of Gita Govinda / गीि
गोपवंद much before anyone else did. There are a lot of similarities in
hand gestures and movements between Mysore style of abhinaya
and Odissi abhinaya. The tribangi / त्ररभंगी is also employed to
enhance the beauty of rendering in the Mysore school. 9

Jatti Thayamma was a great abhinaya artist. Her disciple K

Venkatalakshamma was the only court dancer of Mysore who did
not belong to the devadasi community. She belonged to the Lambani
community. She was appointed as court dancer of the Mysore court
when she was 22 years old. She retired from that post when she was
55 years of age. C. Radhakrishna and his disciples like Padmini
Shreedhar, Pulakeshi Kasturi and Veena Sridhar carry on the style in
India while D Keshava, disciple of Venkatalakshamma, propagates his
art in Switzerland along with his dancing family.

A disciple of Kandappa, a sixth generation nattuvanar of Thanjavur

Chinnayya line, T. Balasaraswati believed deeply in the margam
based performance of the Thanjavur Quartet which she said involved
the right order and sequence for this art, revealing the spiritual
through the corporeal. In this style, nritta is disciplined within the
prescribed adavu / आडवु groups. Rhythmical segments have a simple
setup yet are innately rigorous in nature. There are no glamorous
movements or glossy poses. In nritta, dancer is to be serene and not
smile broadly to retain the seriousness that goes with the tradition.

Angasuddham / अन्गशुद्धम, neat araimandi / अरै मंडी, with the back

upright and not protruding, clear hastapada distribution, well
defined adavu structures, kalapramana suddham, rhythmic patterns
that contain intricate laya / ऱय nuances without outward display,
nattuvangam / नट्टूवंगम technique that is devoid of any show and
magic and the clarity and completion of adavus with firm stamping,
each one landing with precision, are all important features of this
tradition. The linking of adavu patterns with musical segments forms
a lively coordination. Abhinaya here was musically visualized.
Leisurely singing, sangati oriented or raga elongations blending with
the hand and the eyes that follow to create a wholesome picture
with an innate beauty were hallmarks of this technique. Nuances of
abhinaya are couched in subtlety and dignity; even in the depiction
of sringara, the force of the feeling is intent within while the dancer’s
outward display is subdued to suit the stage. Depiction of role
reversal in episodic narration is not employed.10 Bala’s grandson
Aniruddha Knight is carrying on the family legacy. Smt. Medha Yodh
of LA, Nandini Ramani and her sister Priyamvada are Bala’s foremost
disciples. Their disciple, New York based dancer Jaan Freeman is
propagating the Bala style in the US.

Rukmini Devi (1908 - 1984), the founder of Kalakshetra in Chennai,

created the Kalakshetra style that is a simplified form based on
Pandanallur and to some extent, Thanjavur bani. Kalakshetra is
combination of several masters like first guru Muthukumaran Pillai,
then Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai – all gurus who taught there and
then some pioneering Kathakali gurus came too, who gave it
exaggerated eyebrow and eye movements and hastas.

Rukmini Devi did not change the actual itemization of a

Bharatanatyam recital because she wholly believed in the progress of
items as laid down by the Thanjavur Quartet. Apart from existing
items, she incorporated Thyagaraja kritis and Gopalakrishna Bharati’s
verses into her repertoire. A major change Rukmini Devi
incorporated in the dance was in aharya abhinaya or expression in
costumes, stage and décor. She studied the scriptures for reference
to the attire of the dancer and the bas reliefs on temple walls to see
how the dancers were draped. She was the first to use dark blue
curtains as a backdrop instead of the painted sceneries that were
popular. She was the first to move the musicians to a seated position
upstage to the right of the dancer from where they could view the
dancer and the audience could also view them. While the
Pandanallur bani is perhaps the most demanding, the Kalakshetra
bani goes a step further with its emphasis on correct technique.11

Kalakshetra style’s salient features are its linear and geometric

movements, there is minimal lasya and a virtual absence of rechakas,
and there is less emphasis on overly sringara-based items. The
movements are stiff and controlled. It is specifically suited for group
performances.
Rukmini Devi’s treatment of the mudras / मद्र
ु ा, the body positions and
movements used to enhance their message, the tremendous
expansion of basic movement vocabulary according to the system of
‘unfolding’, in increasingly difficult and variegated patterns, the use
of stage, the specific use of the spine, the tautness of form, the
delicacy of expression - all these may be attributed to her vision,
intuition and sensitivity. She renewed, she changed, she added, she
composed and created movements till then not seen on stage in
such dimension, so that today the young dancer has a vocabulary far
richer than her predecessor. The Kalakshetra bani was a natural
evolution – a linguistic expression translated into movement out of
Rukmini Devi’s desire to express herself in a richer medium.12
Famous Kalakshetra gurus include Peria Sarada, Chinna Sarada, Smt
Anjali Merh, VP Dhananjayan and Shanta, Balagopal, A Janardhanan,
Jayalakshmi, CV Chandrasekar, Savitri Jagannath Rao, Neila
Sathyalingam, Narasimhachari and Vasanthalakshmi, Leela Samson
to name a few.

Bharatanrithyam propagated by Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam can be

described as the confluence of the marga technique of the Natya
Shastra and desi technique of present Bharatanatyam. She
synthesized the karanas into the existing system of Bharatanatyam,
thus creating a unique style. The neat straight lines and angularity of
the Bharatanatyam adavus combined with curvaceous hip
movements, serpentine arm movements, leaps and extended throw
of the legs of the karanas of Natya Shastra became the characteristic
features of her style of dance. She christened her style as Bharata
Nrithyam as what was performed was nrityam (dance) and not
natyam (drama).13

Melattur / मेऱात्िरु style was created by Mangudi Dorairaja Iyer, who

revived Shudda Nrittam and Perani (dancing on clay pots). His style
eschews items praising living patrons (thus most of the Thanjavur
Quartet repertoire) and encourages dancers to stamp the floor
softly, with a complex variety of sounds produced by ankle bells.
There is emphasis on sringara bhakti. His student Revathi
Ramachandran is the torchbearer of this style.

Many further schools of styles came from the main tributaries like
smaller rivers flowing out of one big river, Ganga. These can be called
by their provenance, like Mumbai, Baroda, Pune, since they use local
languages and poets as materials. Thus while schools are many,
mother source is same ocean of Bharatanatyam.
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 13 Pandanallur Bani

Pandanallur / ऩंडनल्ऱुर is a village in Thiruppanandal Taluk in

Thanjavur District of Tamil Nadu State. It is located 65km towards
East from district headquarters Thanjavur, 9 Kms. from
Thiruppanandal, 267 kms. from State capital Chennai. Kumbakonam /
कुम्भकोणम, another major temple-town where the divine nectar fell
in ocean churning duel between the asuras / असुर and devas / दे व
(manthana / मंथन, hence Kumbha / कंु भ) is nearby. Pandanallur /
ऩंडनल्ऱुर is a village in Thanjavur district, the main bani / बानी is called
the Thanjavur bani. As Pandanallur is but a small village on Tanjore
district, the main bani is Tanjore. Tanjore was the cultural capital of
Tamil region. It was where maximum temples were built in 9th -11th
centuries, including Raja Raja Chola’s Brihadeeswara, where the
karanas / करण of dance too are depicted. The other important
temple and bani and karana depiction is at Chidambaram (hence the
importance of Kattumannarkoil). It is so called because of four
brothers Chinniah, Ponniah, Sivanandam and Vadivelu forming the
Tanjore Quartet. They were court musicians under Maratha ruler
Serfoji II (1798-1832). Their descendants and marriage alliances led
to creation of what is called Thanjavur bani of which Pandanallur is
but a popular branch. Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, his son
1
Chokkalingam Pillai and grandson Subbaraya Pillai are the creators
and repository of the Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam. These
three gurus had a direct access to the Tanjore Quartet compositions
as part of their family heritage.

The Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam is mainly attributed to Guru

Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai (1869–1954), who lived in the village
of Pandanallur. Often hailed as the ‘Father of Bharatanatyam,’ he
learnt from his aunt’s son, one Kumaraswamy nattuvanar and later
went to Tanjore to learn from Mahadevan, the son of Sivanandam of
Tanjore Quartet fame. Meenakshi Sundaram married his teacher
Mahadevan’s daughter to cement the bonds, as sitar maestro Ravi
Shankar did with his guru Ustad Allaudin Khan (marrying his daughter
Annapurna Devi) and thus got further linked to the legendary Tanjore
Quartet. Meenakshi Sundaram’s father was Satyamurthy nattuvanar
and his mother, the daughter of Ponniah Pillai of the Tanjore
Quartet. Thus, both by birth as well as marriage, Meenakshi
Sundaram was closely associated with the Quartet. This gave him a
head-start in propagation of Bharatanatyam far and wide. His name
and fame spread quickly and soon he started teaching many star
dancers.

He had the good fortune of attracting prized pupils who had already
acquired some fame, like Ram Gopal (who had learnt first under
Kattumunar Koil Muthukumaran Pillai ) and Rukmini Devi (in whose
institution later – Kalakshetra- Kattumunar Koil Muthukumar Pillai
was the first Bharatanatyam guru to teach). This made other talents
like Shanta Rao, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Tara Chaudhry, U.S. Krishna Rao
and Chandrabagha Devi, flock to him. His sojourn at the celebrated
Kalakshetra lasted a bare six months but in that short time, he
attracted all these stars of the style. He did not feel well in the humid
2
climate of Madras, due to its proximity by the sea. His enamoured
pupils then followed him to his village Pandanallur, where he trained
them. Meenakshi Sundaram’s tradition was continued by A.P.
Chokkalingam Pillai and his son P.C. Subbaraya Pillai, K.P. Kittappa
Pillai, P.S. Swaminathan. Between them they accounted for the
grooming of a third of all the Bharatanatyam dancers of their period.
Pichaiyya Pillai, son-in-law of Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai,
represented another branch of this lineage and his disciples T.M.
Arunachalam and Vasudevan, Sikkil Ramaswamy and K.J.
Govindarajan added body to the heritage.1

When Rukmini Devi wanted to be his disciple, the maestro was

hesitant to take on a Brahmin student, especially someone who was
already 30. She was on her honeymoon trip to Australia, with her
husband George and in the next cabin was Cloe Nordi, chief
instructor of the famed Anna Pavlova. To pass the boredom of the
long ship journey Rukmini thought she could learn some steps of
western classical ballet but Cleo Nordi chided her by pointing out
that India being so rich in its own traditions who learn western form?
This brought Rukmini to a resolve to find a Bharatanatyam guru upon
her return. She found her Master. It took her a year to finally
convince him to agree to train her. Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai broke
a taboo as he shared his treasured hereditary knowledge with non-
hereditary dancers. He also trained several devadasis such as
Pandanallur Jayalakshmi / ऩंडनल्ऱुर जयऱक्ष्मी, Thangachi Ammal /
थान्गाची अम्माऱ and Sabaranjitam / सबरं जजतम. Thiruvallaputhur
Swaminatha Pillai, also known as T.K. Swaminatha Pillai, learnt
Bharatanatyam for 10 years under Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai.

3
The Pandanallur bani reflects the lofty values of its gurus. Its name
has always been synonymous with uncompromising classicism and
commitment to excellence. Some of the hallmarks of this style are its
rich and diverse adavu / आडवु vocabulary, the complexity of its
rhythmic permutations, its purity of line, power and precision, its
emphasis on symmetry and harmony, its lyricism and musicality and
its emphatic rejection of anything remotely smacking of the
gimmicky or the pretentious. Intense musicality has always marked
the bani where melody and movement flow hand in hand, as
inextricably linked as a word and its meaning. Subbaraya Pillai always
emphasized that music needed to be internalized before it could
flow as movement and he would sternly warn against pre-composing
adavu structures and grafting them on to the song. Pandanallur
theermanams are habitually crisp and short, crystallizing beauty and
perfection of movement and solkattu / सोल्कट्टू with complexity of
rhythm in small capsules – complex art in miniature. The adavus
faithfully mirrored the rhythmic structure as the Pandanallur gurus
frowned on the practice of uttering cascades of solkattus that were
all sound and fury, while the dancer’s feet merely picked out the
rhythms. The emphasis was on natyadharmi / नाट्यधमी rather than
lokadharmi / ऱोकधमी, on lyricism and understatement rather than on
overt drama. The kulukku nadai / कुऱुल््कू नडै (lilting walk) was a
consistent element in all the abhinaya segments, a sort of
substratum layer over which the abhinaya was constructed. Clarity of
hastas and wide sweep of the arms while performing abhinaya, were
also key characteristics. Meandering digressions in the name of
sanchari bhava were anathema for these gurus. In their
interpretation of padams and javalis, vulgarity in any form was

4
strictly eschewed. In fact, their keen sense of delicacy often led to
some of the more explicit charanas being omitted from their
choreography. The focus was always on content rather than
packaging, on substance rather than sensationalism. The frequent
lapsing into unwanted, prolonged poses or acrobatic renderings of
nritta were innovations eschewed by the Pandanallur gurus. If at all
any ornamentation took place, it was strictly endorsed by the
context and aesthetics of the dance.2

After Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Chokkalingam Pillai (1893–1968)

became the guru of the Pandanallur style. Chokkalingam
Pillai’s leading disciple was Mambalam Geetha, who not only
maintained the purity of the Pandanallur style, but was also known
for her brilliant technique as well as her portrayals of the dramatic
roles in the Tanjore Quartet varnams. She is said to have performed
actively in the 50s and 60s. He also trained other leading dancers
such as G. Kausalya, Sucharita, Indrani Rehman and others. He
moved to Madras to teach. His son Subbaraya Pillai (1914–2008)
grew up in the village of Pandanallur and was an apprentice under
his grandfather and father. He has trained dancers Alarmel
Valli, Meenakshi Chitharanjan, Prema Satish and others.

Chokkalingam Pillai and Subbaraya Pillai laid stress on anga suddham

/ अंग सद्ध
ु ाम and araimandi / अरै मंडी. Even at age 75, Chokkalingam
Pillai's dedication was such that he guided not only advanced
students but also beginners, teaching for hours. Tala was marked by
thattu kazhi / टट्टू कज्ही more often than finger counting (the thin
supple kazhi is whittled from guava wood).3

Subbaraya Pillai began training with his father first and continued
with Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. He started accompanying the

5
students of Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai at a young age, as a vocalist
and assisted in nattuvangam. His proficiency as a vocalist was widely
known and he was respected equally for his expertise in
nattuvangam, which had an innate musical quality, bringing forth the
unique touch of the great master. “Composing adavus based on the
musical pattern of the swara / स्वर segments without exploiting the
rhythmical frame too much in pure dance sections, keeping in mind
the importance of the link between music and the adavu patterns is
an important feature of this tradition,” said Subbaraya Pillai in his
interview to The Hindu, a few weeks before his demise in May 2008.
He was a dedicated adherent to the values imparted by his
forefathers in the field of Bharatanatyam, focusing on aspects of
proper paddhati with perfectly aligned rhythmical nuances set to
intricate musical elements that are integral to this tradition.4

With the support of Sarangapani Iyengar, Chokkalingam Pillai and

Subbaraya Pillai pioneered the concept of the 10-day Natya Kala
Conference in December 1947, where demonstrations in the
morning and performances in the evening were conducted with
many outstation artistes participating. Subsequently, Subbaraya Pillai
(Vadyar) headed the Lalitha Subramaniam Natya Palli for many years.
Revered for his gentle ways and total dedication, Vadyar was also
known for his generosity of spirit. His students affirm the fact that
though he did the choreography, they were free to develop their
individuality. He would often say, “I have given you the foundation,
now build on it." While bemoaning the decline of items like Alarippu
and Jatiswaram, Subbaraya Pillai stressed on the importance of
music in dance. “Adavus must be set to music first. Dance is one; the
style differs only due to different creative minds. Talam / ताऱम is

6
important, but music is the sole inspiration for choreography... My
grandfather used to compose while singing."5

Non hereditary lineage of Pichayya bani spread to T.M. Arunachalam,

younger brothers Vasudevan / वासुदेवन and Govindarajan /
गोववंदराजन. Each distinguished and taught many students and
provided musical support. While Arunachalam and Vasudevan
remained south bound, Govindarajan went to Delhi and sang for
Sikkil Ramaswamy, Indrani Rehman and M.K. Saroja, before teaching
Kiran Segal and Jamuna Krishnan. The Pichayya school became a full-
fledged college named after this illustrious guru in Tanjore. This
college contributed significantly to the teaching and enrichment of
Bharatanatayam in Tanjore, when other gurus and masters had
flocked to big cities to teach and get employed in institutions. In the
claims of revival of the form, this migration was important in that
period and helped further the fortunes of both the gurus and the
form.

The Pandanallur style is renowned for its masterpieces in

choreography: some of the main gems in its repertoire are the
Tanjore Quartet pada-varnams / ऩद-वणणम (Sakiye, Sami Ninne,
Mohamana, Danike, Adimogam, Yemanthayanara, Yemaguva, Sami
Nee Ramanave, Sarasijanaba) choreographed by
Meenakshisundaram Pillai. Also, part of their heritage are the
valuable jatiswarams (in ragams Vasantha / वसंता, Saveri /
सावेरी, Chakravakam / चक्रवाकं, Kalyani / कल्याणी, Bhairavi / भैरवी),
which are miniature masterpieces of elegant abstract
adavu choreography.6

7
Thematic presentations, which had already started gaining popularity
in the early 1970s were not adopted as an alternative performance
by the Pandanallur gurus and the margam was mandatory. Central to
the extensive Pandanallur repertoire were compositions of the
Tanjore Quartet including treasures like pada varnams tana
varnams, sabdams, jathiswarams and thillanas. The performances of
the Pandanallur gurus always opened with an alarippu, and the
jatiswaram was a must. Kautvam and todaya mangalam, or even the
pushpanjali did not feature in the Pndanallur repertoire of those
early years. The post varnam segment of the performance would
include padams and javalis / जावऱी of great composers, as also
compositions of Gopalakrishna Bharati and Bharatiyar amongst
others and include items like Natanam adinaar / नाटनम अददनार and
Natanam seiyum paadanar / नाटनम ससयुम ऩादनर. There were also
songs in a lighter musical vein like Dikku theriyaadha kaattil / दद्कू
तेररयाध काजटटऱ, Teeraadha vilayattu pillai / तीराध ववऱायाट्टू वऩल्ऱै as
also occasional songs from the Kutrala Kuravanji.7

Pandanallur Jayalakshmi and Pandanallur Sabaranjitham from

hereditary families were among Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai’s famous
students. One dancer who captured the majesty of
the Pandanallur style was Pandanallur Jayalakshmi. Born in 1930,
she learnt many varnams, padams etc. from her guru.
Meenakshisundaram Pillai was to be honoured for his amazing
choreographies by the Raja of Ramnad, Shanmukha Rajeswara
Sethupati. For the occasion, he composed a special varnam for
Jayalakshmi in ragam Vachaspati in praise of the raja. When her guru
took her to perform this in front of the raja, they fell in love at first
sight and she became his queen in 1946. After a glorious dancing

8
career of about 15 years, Jayalakshmi retired gracefully. She gave her
first public concert at Music Academy and her orchestra was one of
the first to be seated on a dais. This was a change since till then the
musicians would stand behind the dancer and play. She was famous
for her dazzling technique and understated abhinaya. During his
apprenticeship, Subbaraya Pillai watched Meenakshi Sundaram
Pillai teaching her and accompanied her in performance during his
youth.
Among the dancers of Pandanallur, Sabaranjitham (1916-2000) was
an outstanding dancer of her times. It is said that by age 9, she had
mastered a whole margam. Her vocal accompaniment to the recital
of Thangachi of the same place at Tiruppanandal Mutt impressed the
pontiff so much that he requested the veteran nattuvanar to present
her in her maiden Bharatanatyam performance then and there,
contrary to the custom of conducting the arangetram at Lord
Pasupateeswara temple in Pandanallur. Sabaranjitham gave such a
brilliant performance that Meenakshi Sundaram himself was
astonished at her skill and maturity. Later, Sabaranjitham had her
formal arangetram at Pasupateeswara temple in Pandanallur with
Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and Chokkalingam Pillai conducting the
performance. The Madras Music Academy featured Sabaranjitham
with her cousin Nagaratnam in 1935 and her solo in 1936. Probably
these were the early performances of Bharatanatyam artistes on
stage. A mesmerized Rukmini Devi requested her to accompany her
guru and train her in nritta, her forte. A refined artiste, she assisted
Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai when he taught Mrinalini Sarabhai. At
Kalakshetra, she met her life partner Sadasivam and retired in 1940
against her husband’s wishes. Sabaranjitham / सबरं जजथं’s daughter
Balachandra also danced at the Music Academy.8

9
Kalyani Ammal / कल्याणी अम्माऱ of Thiruvalaputtur was one of the
famous exponents of the Pandanallur style. Her daughters
Rajalakshmi / राजऱक्ष्मी and Jeevaratnam / जीवरटनम known as the
‘Kalyani daughters’ were renowned artistes. Jeevaratnamala
commenced her training from age 5 with her uncle T.K. Swaminatha
Pillai, disciple of Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. After 3 years, she was
blessed to come under direct tutelage of ‘thatha / ताता’ under whom
she learnt for 8 glorious years. She blossomed into a fine artiste and
in a span of 15 years, presented over 200 performances all over
India, including Madras Music Academy in 1953. Regarding her
training under Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, naatyarambham /
नाट्यारम्भ started off on the basic “teiyaa tei / तैया तेई” on the spread
out paddy grains, while a long stick was held by two other traditional
dancers on either side, with the teacher and the taught in the centre.
The sadir vilakku / साददर ववऱा्कू was lit throughout the session.
‘Thatha’ taught both nritta and abhinaya but he never conducted the
recitals. It was always his son Muthiah Pillai who conducted
nattuvangam for her recitals accompanied by her maternal uncle A.
Krishnamurthi Pillai on violin. At least ten variations were taught for
each hasta viniyoga / हस्त ववननयोग . Radhika Pillai, the niece of
Jeevaratnamala continues the family tradition.9

Nirmala Ramachandran was a disciple of Pandanallur Chokkalingam

Pillai and Tiruvalaputtur Swaminatha Pillai. Travelling widely to
spread the art form, Nirmala carried forward the Pandanallur
tradition for five decades and more. During her six-year stay in
Russia, many Russian girls trained under her.

10
Alarmel Valli is trained under Pandanallur Chokkalingam Pillai and his
son Subbaraya Pillai. Music is of paramount importance in the
Pandanallur bani. It is also a style, which attaches great importance
to the purity of lines in dance movements. Valli's dance is all this and
much more with the additional fragrance of her own sensitivity and
inputs thorough her knowledge of Carnatic music of the Veena
Dhanammal tradition. Valli says, “Dance is not only seen but heard as
well, where a dancer sings with her body.” Over the years she has
evolved her own style where there is “an effortless synchronization
of apparent contradictions–linearity and lyricism, symmetry and
sinuosity, precision and poetry.” She explores many complex layers
of meaning in the poems and lyrics, giving them visual and melodic
dimensions.10

Alarmel Valli, on whom film director Meshram made a fetching film

that captures the beauty of the Pandanallur form and brings out its
quintessence says: “While Chokkalingam Pillai (Periya Vadyar / ऩेररय
वडयार) was a formidable figure, who would brook no nonsense and
would not suffer incompetence or casualness lightly, Subbaraya Pillai
(Chinna Vadyar / चचन्न वडयार) though exacting in his standards, was
also the gentlest of gurus. These great masters were repositories of
the collective consciousness of many generations of dance gurus. My
gurus taught while seated, never actually dancing the adavus. Even
in abhinaya, Subbaraya Pillai would demonstrate a line of a song
with the subtlest flicker of an eye, just suggesting the flow of the
arm, or turn of a hasta. The beauty of this method of teaching was
that it stimulated the imagination and compelled the student to
internalize the lessons taught, so that a creative student could evolve
a strongly etched individual style within a style. Central to the
extensive Pandanallur repertoire were compositions of the Tanjore
11
Quartet with focus on songs steeped in classicism. I remember
Subbaraya Pillai speaking of sarakku / सर्कू (substance) and minukku
/ समनु्कू (glitter) adavus, stressing the fact that sarakku adavus had
to be the bedrock, so to speak, on which the composition rested –
adavus like the suttradavu / सूत्रडवु, kudittu mettadavu / कुददटत
मेट्टूआडवु, tat tai ta ha / तत तै ता हा – that emphasized the
natyarambha. The ‘curved straight line’ of the natyarambha is
infinitely difficult to maintain precisely.”11

Meenakshi Chitharanjan, daughter of an IAS who became Secretary,

Culture Dept., pays tribute to her gurus Chokkalingam Pillai and
Subbaraya Pillai. “Subbaraya Pillai was extremely tradition bound
and reluctant to make any changes. He believed small changes lead
to big changes and very soon the form will be lost. However he never
tired of creating many new versions of old compositions which
helped in maintaining novelty and freshness to the items. His unique
talent was in composing nritta patterns. In this area his creativity
flowed with so many complex, intricate and interwoven patterns of
movement. He never composed by working arithmetically with the
tala. He would just sing the melody, while wielding the stick and
simultaneously created patterns which would just fall into place with
the music. Music and movement merged effortlessly which was a joy
to watch. He always remarked that music and movement should
walk together hand in hand like lovers in a park. In the field of
abhinaya he strongly advocated minimalist approach, clarity in
thought and subtlety in expression. Do little to convey a lot
effectively. No frills, fancies, storytelling and drama. When
questioned they would always say the art form had seen bad times
and just been revived and children from good backgrounds were

12
coming forward to learn. It is the duty of the teacher to maintain
high level of dignity and restraint. However he also believed with age
and experience the dancer could then explore and develop ideas
with certain maturity. As a person, he was very simple in habit and
disciplined in his diet which I think was responsible for his good
health, well-being until the age of 94. He was never commercial and
the fee structure was just nominal for him to lead an adequate life.
The only thing they insisted was being treated with respect, insist on
their name being bolder and bigger than the student! And make sure
of a reserved seat on the train when travelling! He had strong
principles and would never accept another guru’s student or take
back a student who had gone to any other nattuvanar or guru.12

The son of renowned mridangist Pandanallur Srinivasa Pillai,

Pandanallur Pandian hails from a traditional nattuvanar family. He
had rigorous training in understanding the nuances of nattuvangam
from Pakkiriswami Pillai. Later, he had advanced learning under Indra
Rajan. For the last 20 years, he has been a Bharatanatyam instructor
in Kaladiksha, the dance school run by Meenakshi Chitharanjan. He is
also the director of Pandanallur Natyalaya in Chennai and
Udumelpet.

If Bharatanatyam is known today worldwide, the credit goes to many

pioneering gurus and nattuvanars of whom two reigned supreme -
Guru Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and Guru Muthukumara Pillai – two
different banis but same form because under them, most of the first
generation of front ranking Bharatanatyam dancers were trained.
These two gurus singularly created a path for others to follow. While
many benefitted from the path shown, they branched out to their
own journeys, as is only natural with real talent.

13
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 14 Thanjavur Bani

The cultural and political capital of Tamil land is Tanjore, variously

called as Thanjavur / तंजावुर. It is also the rice bowl of the region,

providing food and sustenance for millions. Thanjavur bani / बानी is

so-called because it hails from the region wherein were based four
brothers Chinniah, Ponniah, Sivanandam and Vadivelu forming the
Tanjore Quartet. They were court musicians under Maratha ruler
Serfoji II (1798-1832). Their descendants and marriage alliances led
to creation of what is called Thanjavur bani of which Pandanallur is
but a popular branch.

Bharatanatyam is an ocean; banis are streams or rivulets that flow

into that sea of ocean. Banis are not independent of the form itself
but either enhance it or identify it. While zealous students nowadays
tom-tom their gurus and banis, each vying to highlight their own, the
pioneering gurus themselves had no point of view on such banis and
freely gave and took from each other These first generation gurus
did not need such nomenclature because their main aim was to
establish the art form long neglected and sidelined; win new
adherents and they were not interested in turfs. They were the
originators and creators of these banis and wisely knew that art was
bigger than individuals.

1
The four brothers collectively heralded and shaped what was
perhaps the most glorious flowering of the dance form that was then
called Sadir / सददर or Chinna Melam / चिन्नमेऱम. Each of the
brothers was an undisputed musical genius; between them they
made definitive moves to codify the dance, to develop a pedagogy
starting with the basic adavus and culminating in the concert
repertoire, to bind the temple performance of dance to agamic
ritual.1

The celebrated brothers were born into a nattuvanar / नट्टूवनार

(choreographer and composer) family and were educated in music
by the great saint poet Muthuswami Dikshitar, one of the members
of the Trinity of Carnatic music. The four brothers flourished under
royal patronage and went on to become court musicians at various
South Indian courts. Chinniah / चिन्नेय्या (1802-1856) took
Bharatanatyam to Wodeyar court at Karnataka, Ponniah / ऩोन्नेहा
(1804-1864) and Sivanandam / शिवानंदम (1808-1863) stayed on in
Tanjore under Maratha patronage and Vadivelu / वडीवेऱु (1810-1845)
modified the violin for use in Carnatic music which accompanies the
dance.

Vadivelu introduced and popularised violin in Carnatic music

concerts along with Baluswami Dikshitar / बाऱुस्वामी दीक्षऺतार. He was
also responsible, along with Swati Tirunal / स्वाततततरुनाऱ, the
Maharaja of Travancore, for the popularization of Mohiniattam
providing opportunities to women dancers. Until then Kathakali, the
male preserve, dominated the dance scene in Kerala. The brothers

2
composed a large number of varnams and kritis, including
the Navaratnamala / नवरत्नमाऱा, a tribute to their guru. Dikshitar
called Vadivelu an ekasandhagrahi / एकसंधगहृ ी - one who had the
ability to reproduce a song after hearing it only once.2

The Tanjore Quartet codified the basic Bharatanatyam adavus (dance

units), designed the margam, (the configuration of the contemporary
Bharatanatyam performance from alarippu to tillana) appropriate for
the concert stage. The brothers composed an impressive number of
alarippus, jatiswarams, kavutuvams, sabdams, varnams, padams,
javalis, kirtanais and tillanas and brought artistic changes and
innovations of matchless exquisiteness to the tradition. Their
masterpieces of compositions are unparalleled and honored in the
world of classical music and dance.3

Margam evolved by the Quartet in a structured manner

introduced nritta and nritya, including abhinaya, to make the
transition from one to the other easy and smooth for the artiste and
the viewer alike. It was the standard fare offered by dancers till
about the third quarter of the last century after its great revival in
the earlier quarter. Its heyday was reached during the 25 years after
Independence when great gurus like Pandanallur Meenakshi
Sundaram Pillai / ऩंडनल्ऱुर मीनाऺी सुन्दरम पऩल्ऱाई, Kattumannarkoil
Muthukumara Pillai / कट्टुमन्नारकोईऱ मुथक
ू ु मार पऩल्ऱाई,

Tiruvidaimarudur Kuppaiah Pillai / ततरुपवदे मारुदरु कुप्ऩाईआह पऩल्ऱाई

and Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai / वज्हुवूर रामैया पऩल्ऱाई strode the field
like giants and groomed many students who later became
international stars.4

3
It must be emphasized that the Thanjavur bani is unique within the
Isai Vellalar / इसाई वेल्ऱाऱर community as it did not have any
hereditary dancers, only musicians. Until recently, it has not had any
hereditary dancers (devadasis) in their family tree. It also did not
allow until 19th century, its women to have professional artistic
status in public domain. It is the male members of this group who are
associated with music and teaching dance. This feature makes it
uniquely different from all others at that time. Which means, while
they could be gifted and perform on family occasions, they were not
public performers.5

In the 20th century this bani got two streams represented by two
popular heads: Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and Pichaiyya Pillai /
ऩीिेय्या पऩल्ऱाई. One stayed in Pandanallur and briefly in Madras, one
in Tanjore. One (Meenakshi Sundaram) became hereditary and one
not (Pichayya).

Thanjavur K.P. Kittappa / के.ऩी. ककटप्ऩा (1913 – 1999) and his brother
K.P. Sivanandam / शिवानंदम, direct descendants of the Thanjavur
Quartet are the sons of Ponniah Pillai, a great scholar in music and
dance. Credit goes to them for reviving rare dance forms that used to
be performed as part of temple rituals and worship. Vyjayantimala
Bali brought out the book Tanjai Nalvarin Adi Sangita Bharata Kala
Manjari / तंजाई नाऱवाररन आदी संगीतभरत कऱा मंजरी that has musical
dance compositions that have not been accessible to the general
public so far. She delved into a treasure-house of rare
Bharatanatyam dance by the Thanjavur Quartet.

4
Says Vyjayantimala: “As their disciple, I am keenly interested in
maintaining the pure and pristine form of Bharatanatyam and strictly
adhering to the Thanjavur bani. My grandmother the late Yadugiri
Devi / यदचु गरी दे वी was instrumental in getting the book Adi Bharata
Kala Manjari published by my dance academy in 1964. Some of the
ancient musical dance compositions such as Nava Sandhi
Kavuthuvams / नवसन्न्ध कौतुवम, Panchi Murthy / ऩंिीमूतति
Kavuthuvams, Prabandhams, Gitam, Tayam and Sooladi found place
in the book, edited by Kittappa Pillai and Sivanandam. Their family
had carefully preserved the texts with sahitya, swara and tala and
also maintained the musical traditions. Now some of the beautiful
pieces have been revived and compiled by Chinniah Sivakumar, son
of Sivanandam. The new publication contains some valuable and rare
compositions including jatiswarams, tana varnams, pada varnams
and thillana. This will be an invaluable work of art, which brings alive
the rich and glorious traditional compositions of ancient times.”6

Trained as a musician, a vocalist and mridangist, according to the

time-honoured custom of his family, and son of the remarkable
musician-scholar Ponniah Pillai, Kittappa braved parental disapproval
to take up the dance teacher’s tap-stick. One could see why he had
to: he was a born choreographer. “A dance teacher must have eyes,”
he often said. He had a singularly far-seeing pair. He revived his
family’s old repertoire and composed new pieces for his students,
always observant, always able to tell exactly what movements would
suit each one, and what each one’s emotional bent was. The complex
rhythms of the Pandanallur style were as simple under his
management, and as natural as the beating of one’s heart. He was
generous to his students, and unlike some gurus, did not object to

5
their working with other teachers. His son Chandrasekhar, inherits
and passes on this tradition, working at Tiruvarur and Chennai.7

In Kittappa Pillai’s choreography, music comes first. He seemed to

see the visual along with the music. So, whenever he choreographed
a dance pattern into a musical structure, it blended perfectly into it.
He did not advocate unnecessary brigas or the twisting of words in
singing. His sangatis / संगतत in varnams and padams gave utmost
importance to the words and its emotional content. His musical
renderings for dance may sound a little too simple but in
combination with dance choreography his music takes on quite
another hue. Guru Kittappa’s choreography of adavus was always in
madhyama kalam. Sometimes, he combined it with the sollus in a
faster tempo. His jatis never seem complicated but when one starts
reciting them with the talam, one realizes the clever weave of the
pancha jatis and the karvais. His philosophy of Bharatanatyam was
that “dance should be beautiful to see and to listen.” 8

In the present day, many of the theermanams / तीरमानम or

rhythmical sequences that are performed in pure dance numbers
have their origin in one way or other from Kittappa’s chorographical
collections either inherited or embellished by Kittappa himself.
Several unique features of the exquisite dance compositions of the
Tanjore Quartet are based solely on the fact that the composers of
these were endowed with excellent skills in the theory and practice
of music and dance and different languages.9

Sri Rajarajeswari Bharatha Natya Kala Mandir in Mumbai has been

propagating the tenets of the Thanjavur style. It was founded in 1945
by A.T. Govindaraja Pillai / ऐ.टी.गोपवन्दराज पऩल्ऱाई (1914-1984)

6
assisted by his wife Karunambal/करुनाम्बऱ. The success of this
venture led to the migration of Govindaraja Pillai’s father-in-law T.P.
Kuppiah Pillai / टी.ऩी.कुप्ऩया पऩल्ऱाई and family from Thanjavur to
Bombay. Starting with just 4 students, the institution grew in course
of time into a banyan tree with sons T.K. Mahalingam Pillai /
टी.के.गोपवन्दराज पऩल्ऱाई (1916-2002) and K. Kalyanasundaram / के

कल्याणसुन्दरम (b 1932) contributing their individual brilliance. The

Rajarajeswari gurus have an illustrious lineage of ancestors dating
back to more than three centuries. Venkatakrishna / वें कटकिष्ण
Nattuvanar enjoyed the patronage of the Maratha ruler Serfoji II of
Thanjavur. The second generation of Veeraswamy / वीरास्वामी
Nattuvanar and his sister Chinnappa Ammal / चिन्नाप्ऩा अम्मऱ were
followed by the renowned Panchapakesa / ऩञ्िऩाकेस Nattuvanar
(1845-1902) who was the samastha vidwan of Thanjavur and
Ramanathapuram courts. Panchapakesa Nattuvanar was also
honored by the royal houses of Baroda and Mysore. He is credited
with compiling Abhinaya Navaneetham / अशभनय नव नीथम, a
monumental treatise on abhinaya and a practical guide especially to
hastabhinaya based on Nandikeswara’s Abhinaya Darpanam. His
only son Kuppiah Pillai (1887-1981), the prime architect of Sri
Rajarajeswari Bharatha Natya Kala Mandir is credited with reviving
ancient kavuthuvams, especially the Navasandhi Kavuthuvams in the
early 1940s. His ‘Kamala Chakram / कमऱा ििम,’ a lotus wheeled
compendium depicting the matra based complex 108 talas, besides
the popular 35 talas, is invaluable to all students of music and dance.

7
His son-in-law A.T. Govindaraja Pillai, sons T.K. Mahalingam Pillai,
T.K. Maruthappa Pillai (1920-1969), K. Kalyanasundaram, daughter
Karunambal and daughter-in-law Mythil Kalyanasundaram have
helped the institution to blossom into what it is today.10

The versatility of the gurus shines through the dance dramas and the
ekaharya / एकआहायि depictions they have choreographed, in all of
which the aesthetic grace of the Thanjavur bani catches the eye. The
geometric exactitude in the way the limbs are aligned gives the
adavus the distinctive aesthetic touch. The symmetry and grace in
the movements with the body in the centre makes for delightful
viewing. There is no ungainly bending or overstretching of any part
of the body at any time. The head and hand movements are marked
by alluring grace with neither stiffness in movement nor slackness.
The large variety of adavus ensures that the tillanas, jatiswarams etc.
have korvais that are not repetitive in nature. In every korvai or
different nritta hastas are employed to make for interesting viewing.
The jatis are jati, short and crisp employing several permutations and
combinations of jatis interwoven so cleverly that the layman does
not realize the extent of complication in the calculation. Relaxed
presentation as opposed to frenzied execution of jatis is
characteristic of this bani. Mridanga jatis are aligned with the
sollukattus and not the other way round. The gurus of this school
believe that power below the waist and grace above it is the essence
of good nritta.11

Guru Kalyanasundaram was among the first to introduce musical

preludes in padams and javalis to establish the story line. This helped
city audiences of places like Bombay with no base for Tamil culture in
the 60s to come closer to the art form. Abhinaya is subtle. The gurus

8
strongly believe that it is the duty of the dancer to suggest and the
audience to imagine it. Guru Mahalingam Pillai, who has himself
written beautiful padams, was against over-dramatization. The
repertoire of this school covers the whole gamut of the margam,
thematic dancing and group productions. Emphasis is on singing with
bhava and clarity of sahitya. The nattuvanars of these bani are also
accomplished musicians and can sing along while wielding the
cymbals. Guru Maruthappa / मरु
ु थप्ऩा Pillai was an excellent
choreographer and a respected mridanga vidwan. Guru Govindaraja
Pillai besides being a nadaswaram vidwan was an excellent
sangeetha vidwan too. His brief raga essays before each dance item
elicited praise from musicians of repute and created the right
ambience for exposition by the dancer. Guru Kalyanasundaram is
known for his flair for composing and setting to music several new
pieces for dance.12 Some of Kalyanasundaram’s prominent disciples
include Malavika Sarukkai, Sudha Chandrasekhar, Vani Ganapathy,
Lata Pada, Preeti Warrier, Sunitha Pillai, Viji Prakash, Gowri Rao and
Padmaja Suresh. Mostly Bombay talents of that period.

Kandappa Pillai / कंडप्ऩा पऩल्ऱाई’s (1899 – 1941) second wife was the
granddaughter of Ponniah Pillai of the Thanjavur Quartet and the
childhood playmate of Dhanammal’s daughter Lakshmiratnam.
Kandappa’s ancestors had been in the service of Thanjavur court
during the 17th century, moved to Thirunelveli during the 18th
century and returned to Thanjavur around 1800. Kandappa’s father
Nellaiappa / नेऱईअप्ऩा Nattuvanar trained dancers of an earlier
generation. He taught music to Jayammal and Lakshmiratnam but
not to his son Kandappa who learnt nattuvangam from his paternal
grandfather Kannuswami Nattuvanar of Baroda and from his uncle K.
9
Ponniah. Kandappa’s rhythmic compositions for dance reflect an
adherence to principles of structure that set him apart among his
relatives who also represented the Thanjavur nattuvanar family
tradition.13

From Thanjavur to George Town (Chennai) came Guru Kandappa

Pillai in the early 20th century with a lineage to boast of. His tutelage
of Bala, grand-daughter of Veena Dhanammal helped her art and his
own outreach. He went to teach so far as Almora when Uday
Shankar started his dance Studio there. Thus a guru from Thanjavur
taught in the Himalayas! Kandappa’s jatis were tight and taut and
Bala represented the slow flowering of these. At Almora, the guru
found the food and cold climate a detriment to his overall health and
soon returned to Madras.

Guru Ellappa / एऱप्ऩा Pillai came from Kanchipuram, and honed his
skills with Kandappa. His home in Mambalam attracted the likes of
Ram Gopal, the internationally famous dancer, and a host of French
girls who made Madras their dance-home. He was a skillful teacher
and a great singer. Thanjavur was actually the source from where
almost all the dance gurus came. They were teachers of the new
urban elite of Madras, which included many film stars. Some gurus
were more famous because they were in great demand to direct
dance scenes in Tamil films.14

Tanjore Quartet being the founders musically, one family that made
dance prominent, other than non-hereditary mentioned (Pichayya)
was Tanjore Balasaraswati / ताजोर बाऱासरस्वती (1918 – 1984). Bala
was a seventh generation descendant of the musician and dancer
Papammal from the 18th century Thanjavur court. Hailing from the

10
devadasi community, Bala is celebrated for helping continue the
pristine art of the devadasis. More than her technique, it was her
abhinaya that was celebrated. The quality of the music that she used
was exceptional. This was not surprising because she was the
granddaughter of the legendary veena player Dhanammal.
Balasaraswati’s whole family was accomplished in music and dance.
Jayammal, Balasaraswati's mother, who sang for Bala’s
performances, was the daughter of the legendary ‘Veena’
Dhanammal. A trained singer, Bala sang for her daughter Lakshmi
Knight's dance performances in later years. Under her demanding
guru N. Kandappa, a sixth generation nattuvanar of the Thanjavur
Chinniah line who represented the best of the Tanjore Quartet, she
flowered into a great dancer. His early death left her without a
perfectionist taskmaster but by then the West had discovered her
and soon she was lauded at home too. Till her death, Bala remained
an important link to the devadasi tradition.15

Vocalists T. Brinda and T. Mukta were daughters of Kamakshi Ammal

and granddaughters of Veena Dhanammal. They were cousins of
Bala, whose younger brothers T. Viswanathan (flautist) and T.
Ranganathan (mridangist) were also prominent performers and
music teachers in India and the United States. As an accompanist to
his sister Bala in her recitals, Viswa made valuable contribution to
dance music. Film maker Satyajit Ray first saw Balasaraswati in 1935
when he was 14 years old and she was 17. He wanted to make a film
on her in 1966 but the project worked out only a decade later.
Balasaraswati is listed among ‘America's Irreplaceable Dance
Treasures: The First 100’ for being a veritable ambassador for
Bharatanatyam outside India. While several learnt from her, it is her

11
daughter Lakshmi Knight who continued her legacy. Lakshmi died in
December 2001.

Aniruddha Knight, the heir to the artistic legacy of both T.

Balasaraswati and Veena Dhanammal, is the ninth generation of
performers in his family. His training began at a very young age,
allowing him to absorb his family’s innate musicality in dance and
receive his family’s vast repertoire in its entirety. Aniruddha began
his career as a vocalist for his mother Lakshmi Knight during the
1990s.

Aniruddha suffered being who he is since early childhood. Tamil

Nadu being so caste oriented in art, he was singled out because he
was the great Bala's grandson, and Lakshmi’s son. He was shy and
his fancy upbringing in USA did not help. When he first appeared on
stage as a lanky teenager in kurta pyjama some 15 years ago, many
wrote him off. He dealt with that, he dealt with the death of his
mother at a young age and he dealt with all barbs and digs. Today,
he is among the best male solo Bharatanatyam dancers. Aniruddha
learnt music in two different ways - music for the sake of music and
music for dance, and the two are different. In fact, he is among the
very few if not the only one who can sing too and knows music as
well as he knows dance.

Entranced by Vyjayanthimala’s dance, Narthaki Nataraj went to

Thanjavur to seek training under Guru Kittappa Pillai, but had to wait
for a year before he accepted her as a disciple. It was he who named
her ‘Narthaki.’ Narthaki Nataraj stayed with Kittappa Pillai for 15
years and is now one of the foremost performers of the Thanjavur
bani. In 2000, she started Valliambalam School of Dance in Chennai.
She specializes in rare and ancient Tamil compositions,

12
Thevaram, Thiruppugazh and Thiruvasagam. She has a huge
collection of rare Tamil books which she refers to when working on
dance productions. She also presents women oriented themes.

Guru Acharya Parvatikumar, who had done exhaustive study of King

Sarfoji's contribution. He created the Nirupana-s and put them in
dance shape. The first Nirupana was taught to Smt Parul Shashtry,
Smt Sucheta Chapekar and others in due course. Sucheta Chapekar
was inspired by her Guru’s research and made a presentation of the
hereto unknown Marathi compositions of the Tanjore Maratha rulers
(17th to 19th century). She also unearthed some rare Marathi, Hindi
and Sanskrit compositions of King Shahaji from the hidden treasures
of Saraswati Mahal Library of Tanjavur with guidance from Dr. V.
Raghavan and her Guru Kittappa Pillai.

13
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 15 Mysore Bani

The Mysore / मायसोर style or school of Bharatanatyam is actually an

amalgamation of four places – Kolar (known for its gold mines),
Bangalore (as British settlement, Halebid-Belur (Vijayangara kings)
and Mysore but since Mysore court was the chief patron in the last
two centuries, the style got to be known by the nomenclature of its
main center - Mysore. Various gurus and devadasis appointed by the
Wodeyars / वोडेयार, became the pillars of the form.

Classical dance, particularly Bharatanatyam, has been practiced

professionally as well as academically from ancient times in
Karnataka, as is evident from Kannada literature, inscriptions and
paintings. All the evidences point to there being a rich tradition of
dance in Karnataka through the centuries to the present day. The
Chalukyan / चाऱुक्यन sculptures at Badami and Aihole proclaim that
the sculptors of Karnataka had a good knowledge of the Natya
Shastra in the 5th century itself. Classical dancing was studied as a
regular course in the great universities of Talakadu / तऱकाद,ु

Talagunda / तऱगुण्डा and Bulligavi / बुल्ऱुगावी between the 4th to

13th centuries. Karnataka’s royalty not only patronized the art form,
1
but also themselves danced, like the great dancer Queen Shantala /

शान्तऱा, of the Hoysala / होयसऱा Empire.1

The Madanika / मदननका (Shilabalike / शीऱबालऱके) sculptures of the

famed Halebid / हऱेबबड and Belur / बेऱरू temples were built during

the Vijayanagar / ववजयनगर Empire. The Vijayanagar Empire boosted

up all arts during its golden ages. After the fall of the Vijayanagar
Empire, the art of dance was nurtured by the devadasis or temple
dancers. Later on, in the erstwhile state of Mysore came a
resurgence of all art forms under the Wodeyar dynasty. It became a
great seat of learning and patronage to all kinds of art and artistes.
Bharatanatyam in Karnataka reached its peak during this period.
Kanteerava / काांनतरव Wodeyar organised a Bharatanatyam school in

Srirangapatna while Chikkadevaraja / चचक्कदे वराज Wodeyar wrote

two dance dramas, Geeta Gopala / गीत गोऩाऱ and Saptopadki /

सप्तोऩडकी. During Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s reign a distinct style began

to emerge which is now known as Mysore style. Krishnaraja /

कृष्णराज Wodeyar (1799-1868), the scholar-patron of the arts, was a

contemporary of the great trinity of Carnatic music - Muthuswami
Dikshitar, Shyama Shastri and Thyagaraja, and also of the Tanjore
Quartet consisting of the four brothers Ponniah, Chinniah,
Sivanandam and Vadivelu, who gave a Margam format to the
Bharatanatyam solo recital.2 Under his patronage, musicologists and
dance experts migrated from several parts of south India to make
Mysore an epicenter of music and dance. Their combined efforts to

2
develop and refine the dance resulted in what came to be known as
‘Mysore Bharatanatyam.’

Chamarajendra / चामराजेन्र Wodeyar (1868-1901), who succeeded

Krishnarajendra / क्रिष्णराजेन्र, continued the patronage and brought

Chinnaiah to his court where the latter not only composed several
varnams and tillanas suited to dance, but also influenced to a great
extent the dance teachers and musicians of the court. (His fondness
for javalis earned him the nickname ‘Javali King.’ It was during his
rule that Jatti Tayamma / जत्ती तायम्मा introduced the new

technique jaradavu / जराडवु.)Hence, the indigenous tradition of

dance took in the other traditions, to arrive at a continuous stream
of dance art in Karnataka. In the past two centuries (19th and 20th),
Mysore has produced many illustrious dance teachers like Muguru
Subanna / मुगुरु सुबन्ना, Amritappa / अलिताप्ऩा, Dasappa / दासप्ऩा,

Bangalore Kittappa / बैंगऱोर क्रकट प्ऩा, Gundappa / गुांडप्ऩा, Kolar

Puttappa / कोऱर ऩुट प्ऩा, and great dancers like

Amritamma/अलिताम्मा, Coimbatore Tayi / कोइम्बतोर,

Nagaratnamma / नागरत्न्नम्मा, the incomparable Jatti Tayamma /

जात्ती तायम्मा, and her disciple Venkatalakshamma / वें कटऱऺम्मा.

Alongside the palace dancers (the asthana vidushis / आस्थान ववदष

ु ी)

existed the temple dancers or devadasis like Rangamma / रां गम्मा and

3
Jeejamma / जीजाम्मा - a veritable galaxy of dancers with high
standards of technical excellence and profound scholarship.3
Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV (1901-1940) continued the dance rituals in
the palace though the devadasi system had been abolished in the
temples.
Though the Tanjore tradition and Kanchi tradition of Bharatanatyam
had mingled with the local modes of dance, the Mysore school
encompassing all these artistes of the state had a distinct flavor of its
own. The Jatti Tayamma school excelled in abhinaya, with an
exceptional observance of the Poorvaranga Vidhi / ऩव
ू रव ां ग ववचध. The
performance used to be packed with shlokas, asthapadis, padams
and javalis from Geeta Govinda, Amarushataka / अमरुशतक, Nithi

Shataka / नीनत शतक, Mukunda Mala / मक

ु ांु द माऱा and also many
Kannada compositions of rare beauty. The Jatti Thayamma school
comprises of a vast repertoire of abhinaya. The Poorvaranga Vidhi
was elaborate and followed the rules laid down in the Natya Shastra.
The dancers at the court, stood behind the musicians before
commencing the dance. They paid obeisance to their Guru and
musicians and then came around to start their performance. Along
with being good singers, the dancers were also proficient in Sanskrit
and sahitya (literature). She would sing a choornika / चर्ू णवका (a

prelude) in raga Arabhi in praise of a Ranghadi devata / रां गाचध दे वता

(stage goddess) or natya itself in other gatherings. After the
choornika, a sabhavandana / सभावांदना (salutation to the audience)

shloka, and a Natyaprashamsa / नाट्यप्रशांसा shloka from the play

4
Malavikagnimitram by Kalidasa were regularly sung and a
Pushpanjali shloka came at the end of it. Then they danced a
Ganapathi shabdam or other shabdams instead of an alarippu.4

As the Mysore dancers were influenced by the presence of

Chinnaiah, one of the brothers of the famed Tanjore Quartet, they
used to perform jatiswarams, sabdams, varnams and tillanas, which
were similar to any Tanjore style dancer. The whole performance
would be danced without any break. When it came to the abhinaya
numbers, Geeta Govinda, Kshetragna padams, javalis in Kannada and
Telugu shlokas of Amara, Krishnakarnamritam, Mukundamala,
Bharatahari’s Neethi Shataka. Many poems by the Dasarakoota /

दसरकूट composers and vachanas / वचन of various poetic works like

Rajeswara Vilasa / राजेश्वर ववऱास etc. used to be danced.

Devarnamas / दे वणवम, krithis of several well-known composers like

Muthiah Bhagavathar / मुथेया भागवाथर, Mysore Sadashiva Rao /

मायसोर सदालशव राव, Mysore Vasudevacharya / वासुदेवाचायव were

also added to their repertoire. It is here in the abhinaya that the
flavor of Mysore was very much evident. The dancers nearly always
rendered a shloka before a padam, which came as a prelude in the
same mood or a kandha padhya / कांध ऩाध्य before a javali, which
suggested the particular nayika (mood of the heroine) of the javali.
The jaru adavus (slide or rest steps) which embellished the javalis
were very peculiar and made the javali lively and crisp. Sitting and
doing abhinaya was also very common, with the dancers themselves
singing the lyrics.5
5
The sadir of the Thanjavur Quartet got assimilated into the already
existing mode of dancing in Mysore as Chinnaiah lived at the court of
Mysore for a while. Therefore, most of the Bharatanatyam items
performed were of the Thanjavur Quartet. But the abhinaya
numbers showing the lyrical beauty of great composers were
different, innumerable and special. Even in the adavus, the lyrical
beauty of movement can be seen. The Mysore bani was known for
flowery hand gestures using alapadmas / अऱऩद्म and katakamukha /

कटकामख
ु more than geometrical and linear ones like pataka / ऩताक

and tripataka / बिऩताक. Historically, it was a king of Ganga dynasty

who had won over Orissa in the 12th century. Jayadeva lived in the
court of Ganga king Lakshmana Sena. Hence, the Mysore dancers
rendered ashtapadis and slokas of Geeta Govinda much before
anyone else did. There are a lot of similarities in hand gestures and
movements between Mysore style of abhinaya and Odissi abhinaya.
The tribangi / बिभांगी is also employed to enhance the beauty of
rendering in the Mysore school.6

The Mysore bani / बानी had less focus on nritta, hence abhinaya was

more developed. A great abhinaya artist थायम्मा, she was the

daughter of Dasappa / दासप्ऩा, a wrestler engaged in the palace

during the time of Krishnaraja Wodeyar. Apart from learning music,
she learnt nritta part of dance from Subbarayappa and further
training in abhinaya from asthana vidwan Kavishwar Giriappa /

6
आस्थान ववद्वान ् चगरी अप्ऩा. She learnt Telugu javalis and padams

from Chandrasekhara Sastri / चांरशेखर सास्िी and Kannada songs and

javalis from Karibasappa Sastri / कररबासप्ऩा सास्िी known as

Abhinava Kalidasa. She was appointed palace dancer at age of 15. As
Thayamma had a sound footing in Sanskrit, she drew largely from
Amaru, Krishnakarnamritham / क्रिष्णकरणामत
ृ म and Geeta Govinda
and Kalidasa’s works for abhinaya. She introduced choornika in
dance that is a prologue in Sanskrit describing the achievements of
Bharata Muni. She had a wealth of choice javalis and padams both in
Telugu and Kannada and later she composed javalis even while
performing. During the time of Chamaraja Wodeyar, Thayamma gave
up dancing for a while as she was dissatisfied with certain policies of
the management. When Wodeyar held an assembly to judge the
talents of his palace artists, Jatti Thayamma was invited though she
was no more a palace artist. She was given only half an hour to
perform but held the audience spell bound for three and a half
hours. He reinstated her in the palace and rewarded her richly.7

Thayamma learnt the Hindustani style of music from artistes visiting

the palace and rendered thumris / ठुमरी in abhinaya to the
accompaniment of sarangi and tabla. She is said to have performed
them with a gunghat / घघ
ूूँ ट in keeping with the north Indian style of
dance. Thayamma believed that rasa abhinaya was the soul of dance
as the spirit of the art comes from the dancer’s heart. So she laid
more emphasis on abhinaya. In 1945, Dr. Radhakrishnan conferred

7
the title ‘Natya Saraswati / नाट्य सरस्वती’ on her. Thayamma passed
away in 1947.8

Chandravadanamma / चन्रवदनम्मा was an excellent dancer and a

favorite of Chamaraja Wodeyar. She learnt dancing from a visiting
artist from Tanjore and perfected her abhinaya in Mysore. She had a
rich repertoire of javalis in Telugu and Kannada, padams of
Kshetragna, jatiswarams, thillanas and varnams – both natya
varnams and sangeeta varnams. The Maharaja maintained her at the
palace as he loved to listen to her music with beautiful rendering of
abhinaya. The dance teachers of her times would bring their disciples
for her approval prior to their appearance before the panel of judges
at the palace as she was known for her frankness of opinion.9

Jatti Thayamma’s disciple K. Venkatalakshamma was the only court

dancer of Mysore who did not belong to the devadasi community.
She belonged to the Lambani / ऱम्बानी community. She was
appointed as court dancer of the Mysore court when she was 22
years old and spent 30 years (1939 to 1969) in that capacity.

During that period she participated in almost all the festivals along
with illustrious dancers and musicians of those times who were
invited to the court by the royal patrons. It was Veena Bakshi
Subbanna / वीणा बऺी सुब्बन्ना who recognized her merit and
commended her as a worthy student of her renowned teacher Jatti
Thayamma. Thus Venkatalakshamma had the honour of becoming
the Asthana Narthaki / अस्थाना नथवकी along with four other dancers

8
at the court of Raja Nalvadi / नऱवाडी Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the then
ruler of Mysore. She had the privilege of dancing for the coronation
and wedding ceremonies of Jayachamaraja / जयचामराज Wodeyar,
himself a great connoisseur, composer and patron of samskrita,
sahitya and sangita. Venkatalakshamma found a niche for the
Mysore school of Bharatanatyam with her exquisite handling of
abhinaya. The nuances were enriched by her in-depth understanding
of the musical and literary aspects of the compositions that she
presented. In the Mysore style, the recital commenced with
Purvaranga Vidhi, a customary invocatory number addressed to Lord
Ganesa, with jathis in between which occupied the place of the
alarippu. This was followed by jatiswaram, sabdam, varnam, padam,
etc. Venkatalakshamma's artistry had developed in a methodical
process of learning of not only the prayoga aspects of the art but
also the essential sources like the study of Sanskrit, sahitya and most
important, vocal music from stalwarts of those times like asthana
vidwan Devendrappa / दे वेन्रप्ऩा. She also underwent formal
education up to Class VIII. Coming out of the palace environs in 1969,
Venkatalakshamma presented memorable performances, offered
teaching programs and served in prestigious positions like head of
the dance department in the Faculty of Arts at the University of
Mysore.10 Her students include M Sakuntala / म. शकांु तऱा, Dasappa

Keshava / दासप्ऩा केशव and Esther Jenny / एस्थेर जेनी , Lalitha

Srinivasan / ऱलऱता श्रीननवासन, Vidya Ravishankar / ववद्या रववशांकर,

9
Aparna Sindhur / अऩणाव लसन्धुर and Mala Shashikanth / माऱा

शलशकाांत.

The Mysore Palace encouraged dance, as did Baroda. Guru

Gundappa / गांड
ु प्ऩा remains the architect of what is today hailed to be
the Mysore bani. He studied under his maternal uncle Kittapa /
क्रकट्टप्ऩा also called Kittanna / क्रकट्टन्ना (so as not to be confused with
or mistaken for Tanjore Kittappa Pillai) and his mother Jatti
Tayamma, who was dedicated as a devadasi at the Parthasarathy koil
/ ऩाथवसारथी कोइऱ, Neelamangala / नीऱमांगऱा (today an industrial
suburb of Bangalore). Gundappa taught most of the dancers who
danced at the palace and also on special occasions like Dusshera. The
palace benefitted by inputs of three dance gurus: Gundappa, his
uncle Kittappa and Puttappa / ऩट्ट
ु प्ऩा.

Kittanna performed in temples, courts of kings and other social

functions and earned name, fame, disciples and wealth. It was
Kittanna (1878- 1926) who brought classical dances of aasthana and
aalaya / आऱय to the public domain. With his systematic and
disciplined training, he was able to teach large number of students
from south India and was able to hold within his fold 300 devadasis.
Kittanna trained his disciples to perform on special occasions, special
javalis, modi nrityas / मोदी नत्ृ य, patanga nrutya / ऩतांग नत्ृ य, jade

kolata / जड़े कोऱट , thillana and padams. He set a standard for

quality presentations. He also wrote a manuscript consisting of

10
hundreds of rare and unique dance compositions and gifted it to the
future generation.11

A connoisseur of arts, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar (1940-47) was greatly

impressed by the talents of Nagaratnamma and Varalu.
Nagaratnamma (1878-1952) was a disciple of Kittappa. Her talent in
dance attracted the attention of the Mysore
ruler Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar who, impressed with her talent,
made her the asthana vidushi (court dancer) in Mysore. Charmed by
her talent, Chamaraja Wodeyar rewarded her with a varnam and her
guru with a pair of diamond todas. Nagaratnamma was born to Putta
Lakshamma, a devadasi, classical musician and scholar, and her
lawyer patron Subbarao of Nanjangud. Trained in classical music,
violin and dance, she was also well versed in Sanskrit, Telugu and
Tamil, apart from her native Kannada. Originally from Mysore, she
established herself as a versatile dancer and singer in Bangalore in
1890s and came to be known as Bangalore Nagarathnamma. She
found good support in her patron Narahari Rao, a High Court judge
of Mysore, and soon made a name as a Carnatic vocalist in south
India, especially Madras. In 1910, Nagaratnamma published Radhika
Santwanam / राचधका सान्त्वानम (Appeasing Radhika), a long poem

by Muddupalani / मद्द
ु ुऩऱनी, an 18th century courtesan of the Tanjore
court. Because of its sexual content, the book was banned by the
colonial government. All copies were seized and destroyed and both
Nagaratnamma and Muddupalani were branded as loose women. In
1947 the ban was lifted, but copies of the entire poem are still not
easily available. She was also a champion of the rights of the
devadasi community, and women in general. In 1927,
Nagarathnamma and other devadasis established the Association of

11
the Devadasis of Madras Presidency and she was elected its first
president. She was apparently the first artiste to pay income tax. A
devotee of saint Thyagaraja, Nagarathnamma built a temple in 1921
over his samadhi at Thiruvaiyaru and helped establish
the Thyagaraja Aradhana festival in his memory. She was
instrumental in getting women singers included in the festival. V.
Sriram has authored ‘The Devadasi and the Saint - The Life and Times
of Bangalore Nagaratnamma.’
Bangalore Varalakshmi / वरऱक्ष्मी popularly known as Varalu / वरऱु,
another disciple of Kittappa, attained fame as a talented dancer. She
was also a scholar and her house was a meeting place for artistes
and vidwans whom she entertained with dance. Putta Devamma / ऩट्ट
ु
दे वम्मा saw three generations of maharajas and a host of dancers

and considered her guru Amritappa / अमत

ृ ाप्ऩा as the best teacher.
She also learnt from Ayappa and Seshamma. Her daughter Chikka
Devamma / चचक्क दे वम्मा was also a palace dancer. Kolar Kittappa
was the only member of his family who took to dancing.
Nagaratnamma and Varalu are two of his outstanding female
disciples. Puttappa and Gundappa, two of Kittappa’s disciples, kept
the tradition of Mysore school of Bharatanatyam alive. Gundappa
learnt nrithya from Kittanna and abhinaya from the Mysore
dancers.12

Kolar Kittanna was evidently very organized as an artiste and

teacher. He kept neat and meticulously coded handwritten notes for
all the compositions he learnt as a student and taught as a guru.
Kittanna was guardian of a great tradition, and a teacher and guide

12
for 300 temple dancers of the late 19th and early 20th century,
including the legendary Bangalore Nagarathnamma. Kittanna's
lineage in particular is being kept alive and propagated by his
grandson C. Radhakrishna / सी. राधाकृष्ण, a reputed nattuvannar,
teacher and choreographer. Interestingly, Radhakrishna never got an
opportunity to learn from Kittanna who died a few years before the
former's birth. Radhakrishna’s guru was N. Gundappa, Kittanna’s
foremost disciple. But Radhakrishna was appointed dance teacher by
many devadasis for their own children and grandchildren. And thus
he seized the chance to indirectly learn items taught by his
grandfather Kittanna to these devadasis.13

When India became independent, Gundappa’s two star/illustrious

students H.R. Keshavamurthy / एच ् आर ऺेमवती and C. Radhakrishna
established their own institutions. Keshavamurthy was a Brahmin
and trained most of first generation of non-palace (read, city)
dancers like Leela Ramanathan / ऱीऱा रामनाथन. His school ‘Keshava

Nritya Shala / केशव नत्ृ यशाऱा’ continues to be run by his son B.K.

Shyam Prakash / बी के श्याम प्रकाश . Gundappa and Puttappa

accompanied many dancers of those times as nattuvanars. Before
passing away, Gundappa got Kittanna’s granddaughter Meenakshi /

मीनाऺी married to his nephew / disciple C. Radhakrishna and

entrusted all his disciples and compositions to him. Radhakrishna
taught Choodamani Nandagopal / चूड़ामर्ण नांदगोऩाऱ , Veena

Sreedhar / वीणा श्रीधर , Padmini Sreedhar / ऩनद्मनी श्रीधर , Mala

13
Shashikanth / माऱा शलशकाांत and others. Kolar Puttappa / कोऱर

ऩुत्तप्ऩा taught many including star dancer Ram Gopal, U.S. Krishna
Rao and Mrinalini Sarabhai.

Mysore, under royal patronage partook of another bani, more

circular for court dancing and some key gurus like
Venkatalakshamma, Nagamani and C. Radhakrishna got associated
with it. Radhakrishna and his disciples like Padmini Shreedhar,
Pulakeshi Kasturi and Veena Sridhar carry on the style in India while
D. Keshava and Esther Jenny, disciples of Venkatalakshamma,
propagate the art in Switzerland along with their daughters Anjali
and Sumitra.

K. Shiva Rao was born in Mangalore. After his education he moved to

Bangalore in 1954. His interest in the field of music and dance since
his school days motivated him to get his training in Bharatanatyam
under Guru Kittappa and he furthered his master training under
nattuvanar Guru Gundappa. In 1959, he founded Sri
DurgaParameshwari Nritya Niketan / श्री दग
ु ाव ऩरमेश्वरी नत्ृ य ननकेतन
in Bangalore. After his passing away in 2008, the school is being run
by his daughter-in-law Hemalatha Jagadish.

Lalitha Srinivasan, initially a student of Guru Keshavamurthy, a strict

disciplinarian, and later specialized in abhinaya under Dr. K.
Venkatalakshamma. For three years, Lalitha would leave Bangalore
for Mysore every weekend to train under Venkatalakshamma. She
also learnt the Muguru / मरु
ु गु style under Jejamma / जेजम्मा, thus a
blend of several teachers’ styles. “Rhythmic extravaganza was not
entertained at the Mysore court,” says Lalitha. “Instead, the lyrical

14
beauty of the compositions, the melodious music with apt facial
expressions and hand gestures was given precedence to, and a rich
repertoire of abhinaya numbers developed. This sets the Mysore
style apart from the other types of Bharatanatyam. My Guru
Venkatalakshamma would go to her Guru Thayamma’s house in the
early morning hours and engage in a series of rigorous exercises,
some of which included lifting coins and needles with the eyelids to
train the eye muscles for the demands of intricate abhinaya. When it
came to performance, aharya did not include heavy make-up or
artificial jewellery, and neither was rangapravesha / रां गप्रवेश a social
event as it is now.”14

The Mysore bani is now almost a reference point now. While many
continue and claim to be the true representative of the bani, only a
few genuine senior gurus like Radhakrishna, Lalitha Srinivasan and
Shridhar Jain can teach with authority. In them and through such
dancers like Keshava (in Basel) and Padmini Shreedhar ( Bangalore),
does the form continue in its current form. They have taken the work
of their gurus forward and are now the continuity.

15
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 16 Vazhuovur Bani

Vazhuvoor / वज्हुवूर style of Bharatanatyam originated in the village of

Vazhuvoor (Vazhivoor / वज्ज्हवूर), which lay in the vicinity of
Mayiladuturai / मईऱदत
ु ुराई in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu. It is
the native place of Ramaiah Pillai / रामैया पऩल्ऱाई who popularized
this style of Bharatanatyam.

The distinct characteristics of the Vazhuvoor bani are:

- Performance begins with a Thodaya mangalam in praise of Lord
Gnanasabesar / ऻंनसबेसर of Vazhuvoor.
- The dancer starts the performance while entering the stage from
the wings.
- Static postures are performed most often in the tillana, to break
the monotony and to add to the variety of rhythms.
- The jatis / जती have more korvais / कोरवाई (intervals), which creates
a suspense effect.
- The dancer's torso from the waist up is slightly bent forward.
- The adavus flow smoothly with rare abrupt movements.
- Beautiful leaps are introduced into every jati.
- Abhinaya is subtle with more natyadharmi (spontaneous
expressions), so the presentation is not overdone.
- Lasya dominates tandava.
- Deep sitting positions and variety of positions on the floor.1

Vazhuvoor is a more recent bani with no clear established lineage of

historical evidence. Ramaiah Pillai (1910- 1979) studied under two
branches - Manikka Nattuvanar / माननक्क नट्टू वनार, his mother
Bhagyammal/भाग्यम्माऱ’s brother, and Muthukumara Pillai / मुथुकुमार
पऩल्ऱाई of Kattumannarkoil / कट्टुमन्नारकोइऱ. Manikka / मननक्का was
the son of Samu / सामू Nattuvanar, who studied abhinaya under
Madhurantakam Jagadambal / मधुरंतकम जगदाम्बऱ , one of the many
devadasis who trained under Samu Nattuvanar. These talents
predate Tanjore Quartet it seems, though there is no historical
evidence.

Ramaiah’s artistic lineage begins with Nagappa / नागप्ऩा Nattuvanar,

who pre-dated the Tanjore ruler Serfoji II (1798-1832), patron of the
Tanjore Quartet bani. The oral history of the family relates that
Nagappa Nattuvanar’s grandson Veerappa / वीरप्ऩा declined the
patronage of the Tanjore court. Veerappa’s daughter was Samu
Nattuvanar’s mother.2

Whatever the history and lineage, claims and counter claims by his
family and students, Ramaiah was running a small paan (vital-pak)
shop in the village when one of his gurus Muthukumara Pillai advised
him to go to Madras to try his fortune in films. Muthukumara Pillai
even gave him a ready-made student, Kamala Lakshman, whose
arangetram his student M.K. Selvamani (elder sister of M.K. Saroja)
had officially done in Madanapalle. Kamala was an instant hit in
films.

Popularly known as Vazhuvoorar, Ramaiah Pillai’s sense of aural and

visual aesthetics gave a certain refinement, grace and musicality to
the style that came to be known as Vazhuvoor bani. He denies that
he created anything new. He admitted only to having carried out
certain modifications and reintroduced certain aspects which had
existed previously but had been discontinued – and these only in
accordance to established norms and without deviating from
tradition. On the changes or innovations that he introduced through
his teaching and conducting, Ramaiah Pillai said in an interview. “I
have certainly not given up anything that is traditional. I have only
built on them further. I found that some aspects of earlier dance
which were according to Sastras have been given up. I worked to
reintroduce them. For example, the 108 karanas once in vogue had
been neglected. I did research; I studied the sculptures in the
Thanjavur and Chidambaram temples and taught them to my
students. It was I who started the practice of the dancer striking
sculpturesque poses. But there are rules regarding what should be
done and where. And how. Whatever the dancer does must be
beautiful. It is not right to lift the hand or leg unnecessarily.
Teaching these things must be done systematically. For teaching
karanas line drawings should be prepared and the students trained
to follow them. Appropriate songs and jatis should be
choreographed, for if only karanas are done it would be like a circus.
The karanas should come with bhava, raga and tala. They should be
taught only to those capable of executing them, others should not be
taxed. The teacher must have a sound knowledge of music and must
be able to sing. Those who dance must know how to sing. I have kept
musicians with me at home, instructed them to sing each song as it
should be sung and then made them sing for recitals. I brought back
into vogue the theermanams which are mainly those which were
composed by my elders. Sometimes I added some new ideas to
them.” 3

Ramaiah Pillai travelled extensively in search of materials suitable for

new dance compositions. He visited numerous temples in the South.
He also studied various authoritative texts on dance deeply. Based
on this research, he composed many new dances that underscored
Ramaiah Pilliai’s creative ability to show the old traditions in new
light. Kuravanji and other dance dramas drawn from Tamil literature
have gained beauty because of Ramaiah Pillai’s choreographic
contributions. Dances which he composed for verses from
Thevarams / थेवारम and Divya Prabandam / ददव्य प्रबंध have become
part and parcel of the repertoire of his disciples. He has composed
dances for the songs of Muthutandavar / मुथूतांडवर, Marimutha Pillai /
मररमुथा पऩल्ऱाई , Vedanayagam Pillai / वेदनयगम पऩल्ऱाई,
Gopalakrishna Bharathi, Desigavinayakam Pillai / दे शीकपवनायकम,
Oottukadu Venkatasubba Iyer / ओततक
ु ाडू वें कटसुब्ब आयर, Papanasam
Sivan / ऩाऩनाशन शशवन and others. He also composed his own
tillanas, jatiswarams and Tamil sabdams. He preferred teaching
compositions which emphasized the path of devotion. Ramaiah Pillai
introduced many karanas and stangas newly in the dances he taught
his disciples.4

The abhinaya of this style is subtle, suggestive and evocative rather

than illustrative. The emotion is conveyed primarily through the
eyes and the hands have a subsidiary function in embellishing the
meaning further. Care is taken not to distort the face even while
depicting emotions like bibhatsa (disgust) since visual aesthetics is
the norm. Even allusions to stories and events are brief and precise.
Abhinaya follows the music and not vice versa. The Vazhuvoor
school preferred bhakti and madhura bhakti / मधुर भज्क्त as its
motive. In his treatise on dance, Ramaiah Pillai says that the purpose
is “to impress upon the people through a Bharatanatyam recital,
bhakti, aesthetic sense, good character, the lore, legend and history
and anything else of positive value. And it is necessary to eschew the
vulgar, prosaic and aspects that cause titillation. Even if some of the
old compositions contained such features, they should be modified
or omitted totally.” The drishti or the paarvai / ऩरवैऱ is another
characteristic feature of his style.5

Some of his famous disciples include Kamala Lakshman / कमऱा

ऱक्ष्मण, her sister Rhadha / राधा, Kanaka Srinivasan / कनका श्रीननवासन ,
Chitra Visweswaran / चित्र पवश्वेश्वरन, L Vijayalakshmi / एऱ.
पवजयाऱक्ष्मी, E V Saroja / इ.वी सरोजा , Hemamalini Arni / हे मामाशऱनी
अरनी, Lalitha / ऱशऱता, Padmini / ऩनिनी, Ragini / राचगणी, Padma
Subrahmanyam / ऩिा सुब्रह्मण्यम , M Banumathi / एम ् भानुमती ,
Jayabharathi / जयभारती, Prema Jagadeesan / प्रेमा जगदीशन , etc. To
continue the tradition, he also nurtured and trained efficient
nattuvanars like S.K. Rajarathnam Pillai / एस के राजरत्नम पऩल्ऱाई, K.J.
Sarasa / के जे सरसा , Pathamadai Ramasamy / ऩथामदै रामसामी ,
Gopalakrishnan / गोऩाऱ क्रिष्णन, Kameswaran / कामेश्वरन and his own
son Vazhuvoor Samaraj Pillai / वज्हुवूर सामराज पऩल्ऱाई.

Ramaiah was a genius in composing dance for films. He happened to

be on set when the main choreographer Kulkarni failed to turn up
and he got his first break in Tamil films. Ramaiah Pillai was one of the
first dance masters to get credit as ‘choreographer.’ His first film
where he composed dance was ‘‘Adrishtam / अदिस्तम’ (1930s). He
composed the dance by accident because he happened to be on the
movie set, where he was chaperoning his younger sister Radha who
was also acting in the film at that time. The producer felt a
Bharatanatyam sequence would be apt for that particular dance
sequence they were shooting and locating a nattuvanar at such short
notice was difficult and could affect the budget. So, Ramaiah Pillai
(who was the only person who knew Bharatanatyam on the set)
himself volunteered to compose the dance! This coincidence
provided him with the confidence to seriously pursue the art of
choreography and he ventured forth to become a serious, full
fledged nattuvanar at that point. His first film ‘Adrishtam’ truly
brought him adrishtam (luck)! The rest as they say is history. 6

From then, there was no looking back. Director Subrahmanyam

(Padma Subrahmanyam’s father) enrolled him and his career was
set. He gave hits after hits. The beauty of his style was such that it
suited the camera. He also choreographed short pieces for films. He
could devise steps diagonally that suited long shots. Being young, he
was able to work hard and long hours a film shoot demanded, which
other two seniors gurus Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai / मीनाऺी सन्ु दरम
पऩल्ऱाई and Muthukumara Pillai / मथ
ु क
ु ु मार पऩल्ऱाई would not
undertake easily. Ramaiah Pillai thus won many new aspirants since
films were mass based and his star students like Kamala, Padma,
Vyjayanthimala (though she had initially learnt from
Dandayudhapani Pillai) and more.

Ramaiah Pillai retired from full time teaching and conducting in the
early 1960s and from 1965 onwards his son Samraj / सामराज
inherited the gaddi when he was hardly 25 years old. Samraj too
introduced some changes and innovations. According to him the
Vazhuvoor bani was a vibrant synthesis of natya and abhinaya
“unlike the Pandanallur style which emphasizes the former and the
Kanchipuram tradition which lays stress on the latter.” He is credited
with choreographing of new adavu jatis which give the impression of
speeding up the dance. Some of his disciples include Jayanthi
Rajagopal / जयंती राजगोऩाऱ , Jayanthasri Rajaram / जयन्तश्री राजाराम,
Radha Venkatraman / राधा वें कट रामन, Satya / सत्या and Shobana
Jaisingh / शोबना जयशसंह . 7
Ramaiah’s another son Vinayakam /
पवनायकम became a freelance music director, singer and actor,
though he was trained by his father and brother Samraj to perform
nattuvangam.

S.K. Rajaratnam Pillai (1931 – 1994) worked with Ramaiah Pillai for
14 years from age 17. In 1960 he married Ramaiah’s niece. He
started his own dance school Kamala Kala Nilayam / कमऱा कऱा
ननऱयम in 1970. It was renamed as Rajarathnalaya Bharatha Kalai
Koodam / राजरत्नाऱय भरत कऱई कूड़म by his guru Vazhuvoor Ramaiah
Pillai.
The common core of his lessons was the blend of basics and
techniques, the geometric precision, clarity and the gift of innovation
that he exercised among his students. He was known for his musical
talent, brisk jathis, elegant nattuvangam and choreography skills.
Rajaratnam Pillai would make the class interactive and he preferred
individual classes because he choreographed each item according to
the capacity of the individual student. One with flexible limbs would
be taught with more mandi adavus; one with more skill in abhinaya
would be taught with more sancharis; and one with excellent thaala
gnana would be taught with tough jathis with different nadais
incorporated. He would incorporate more mandi adavus and difficult
poses for the students who were better at nritta. He kept in mind the
height, the flexibility, strengths and weaknesses of the students
before he choreographed. Rajaratnam Pillai had this philosophy that
“dance offers something for everybody.” It is all about emphasizing
on one’s strong point and reducing the stress on one’s weak points
and finally giving a visually pleasing outcome. His choreography for
Malavika Sarukkai was much more sculpturesque, Srinidhi’s was
more abhinaya based and so on. As a teacher, he would give more
freedom for his students to put in their thoughts and creativity into
their dance. That was the reason why he could produce maximum
number of professional dancers.8

His two sons did not study dance or music but his daughter
Jayakamala Pandian combined academic studies with dance and runs
her own school in Bangalore. His granddaughter Nrithya Pillai is an
active performer. Rajaratnam Pillai’s sister’s grandson Swamimalai
Suresh underwent rigorous training for a decade in music, dance and
nattuvangam from him. Suresh provides vocal and nattuvangam
accompaniment to dancers like Urmila Sathyanarayanan. Nirupama
Vaidyanathan, Priyadarsini Govind, Ramya Ramnarayan, Ramya
Harishanker, Srinidhi Chidambaram, Vidhya Subramanian, Sandhya
Sree Athmakuri, Sujatha Srinivasan are some of Rajaratnam’s well
known disciples.

K.J. Sarasa / के जे सरसा , another student of Ramaiah Pillai belonging

to the Isai Vellalar community, started her training before 1947 and
had her arangetram in 1949. She founded her own school Sarasalaya
/ सरसाऱय in Chennai. She also started teaching and became teacher
to important third generation dancers like Kamal Hasan, Chitra
Visweswaran, Ratna Papa etc.

K.J. Sarasa (1937-2012) carried aloft the flag of the Vazhuvoor

tradition of Bharatanatyam most impressively for more than five
decades. Her ancestors were court musicians who enjoyed the
patronage of the Thanjavur rulers. Her grandfather Rajagopalan was
the asthana vidwan of the Tirunallar temple. Her father Jagadeesan
Pillai and her uncle Natesan Pillai were nagaswara artists in
Thanjavur. Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai was related to the family and
K.N. Dandayudhapani Pillai was her paternal cousin. Sarasa spent her
early childhood in Karaikal. When the little girl saw ‘Baby’ Kamala
perform, she fell in love with dance. She wanted to learn the art and
soon got an opportunity to do so when Kattumannarkoil
Muthukumara Pillai - Kamala's first guru - agreed to come from
Mayavaram every week to teach a few children. This continued for
about a year. But Muthukumara Pillai was a busy nattuvanar and
found it difficult to make the weekly journey to Karaikal. He
therefore suggested that Sarasa should learn from Vazhuvoor
Ramaiah Pillai. Sarasa’s parents did not have any apprehensions
about sending their daughter to Madras with Ramaiah Pillai as he
was a part of the extended family. Sarasa pursued dance under
Ramaiah Pillai through the gurukula system for over a decade. She
would often accompany her guru to the film studios and to the
homes of some of his disciples when he went there to take classes.
She choreographed dances for about ten films for actresses like E.V.
Saroja, Rajashree, etc. but gave up since her timings and the shooting
schedules did not match. Sarasa was well versed in Carnatic music
having learnt from well-known gurus like Ramanathapuram Krishnan,
Rajagopala Iyengar, and Valliyoor Gurumurthy. She has also given
some solo Carnatic vocal recitals. With Ramaiah Pillai's
encouragement Sarasa started taking dance classes even as a
teenager. Her first student to perform an arangetram was Rathna
Papa (Kumar) who started learning in 1952 and made her formal
debut in 1956. Sarasa moved from Ramaiah Pillai’s gurukulam to a
house on Bheemanna Mudali Garden Street where she established
her dance school Sarasalaya in 1960 and taught there for about 25
years before moving to Rani Annadurai Street in Mandaveli in the
1980s. Sarasakka or Sarasamma as she is popularly known, groomed
hundreds of students, many of whom have established a name for
themselves in the field of Bharatanatyam as good performers and
teachers.9

Over the years, Sarasa produced and choreographed more than 50

dance productions. Sarasa's style is marked by grace, ornamentation,
sculpturesque poses, sparkling glances and the charm of the
traditional Vazhuvoor style of Bharatanatyam. Her emphasis was on
encouraging individuality and creativity within the confines of
tradition and not on imparting an assembly-line uniformity and
rigidity in her disciples. Sarasa was also open to accepting what is
good in other banis. Her nattuvangam had good “taalakattu /
ताऱकट्टू” and was aurally and visually pleasing, with no undue fuss on
stage. Apart from teaching traditional items of the Bharatanatyam
repertoire Sarasa also choreographed dance for many popular
compositions - old and new. It is quite amazing how Sarasa, a single
young woman established a name for herself in Madras in the 1960s
and emerged as a highly respected natyacharya on the strength of
her art. Sarasa has the distinction of being one of the first and most
successful lady nattuvanars of the traditional community in modern
times. Her very uttering of the sollukattus was beautifully
modulated, bringing out a little magic of her own, elevating the
dance. 10

Fondly referred to as ‘Sarasa teacher’ by her students, she derived

great joy from training students, sharing and choreographing. Not
that she didn't consider performing. As a teenager, Sarasa, like
almost all students of dance, was fascinated by the idea of
performance. However, her guru had told her, ‘You can teach all your
life, but not perform'. She was asked to do the nattuvangam. Sarasa
did not regret not having performed. She, in fact, maintained that
what her guru had told her was right and it worked out well for her.
Teaching, she said, helped her take care of her family of four sisters
and a mother after their father’s early demise. She was not only a
great artiste, but also a true rasika / रशसक who simply loved music
and dance. She believed that a dancer needed to immerse herself in
melody to be able to emote well. Sarasa's choreography of Krishna
Parijatam / क्रिष्ण ऩररजातम , Aditya Hridayam / आददत्य हृदयम ,
Silapaddikaram / शशऱप्ऩददकाराम, Kunrakkudi Kuravanji / कुन्राक्कुडी
कुरवंजी, Desa Bhakti / दे शभज्क्त and Kutrala Kuravanji / कुट्राऱ कुरवंजी
won critical acclaim. A precious torch-bearer of the Vazhuvoor bani
of Bharatanatyam, Sarasa has the rare distinction of conducting
nearly 1,000 arangetrams and 2,000 recitals, including those of
celebrated artistes such as Vyjayanthimala Bali, Baby Kamala and the
Travancore Sisters - Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini. Various
personalities, including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha and
writer Sivasankari, hail from the ‘Sarasa school.’ Noted dancers
Rathna Kumar, Urmila Sathyanarayanan, dance choreographer
Raghuram, K. Shanmugasundaram, Srekala Bharath are among her
disciples who have made a mark in the field. Over the years, many
other youngsters were drawn to Sarasalaya. Her life was marked by
simplicity, and her story is one of tremendous hard work,
commitment and rare grit during difficult times.11
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 17 Kalakshetra School

The grand success of Rukmini Devi’s (1904-1986) December 30, 1935

performance, led to the creation of a unique dance community in
1936 called the Kalakshetra / कऱाक्षेत्र. It had been conceived as an
integrated community. It was a family. The residential cottage, the
classrooms, the rehearsal hall, mess and administrative block were
all cheek by jowl and there was energy in the air. There was western
discipline alright, but after classes, old timers recall how they could
freely assemble and make small talk and bond as a family.

At the Annual Convention of the Theosophical Society in 1940, its

President George Arundale declared: “Today it is a humble cottage,
this Kalakshetra, but in due course we shall have buildings, beautiful,
simple structures created by our own hands, the Temple to India’s
glory. It is a cottage today; it will be a community tomorrow.”
Rukmini married George Arundale and it was meeting of east and
west at its best.

Kalakshetra was at Adyar and both were interlinked. For the first
thirteen years, the institution was on Theosophical Society’s land at
Adyar, but in 1948, Kalakshetra received an eviction notice from the
Theosophical Society. This was a shock to say the least. The reason
ascribed in the notice was that the dance and music activities were
alien to the tenets of Theosophical Society and thus they could not
host the institution.

Why then did the Theosophical Society so unceremoniously and

suddenly evict Kalakshetra. After George Arundale / जॉजज अरुन्दऱ died
in August of 1945, C. Jinarajadasa / सि. जजनराजदाि came to be
elected President of the Society. He and his confreres soon started
having second thoughts about Kalakshetra. The feeling was born and
nursed, that its pursuits were not quite consistent with the
objectives of the Society. The showdown came towards 1949 when
Kalakshetra was directed to quit the Adyar campus by the middle of
1953.

It would seem Rukmini Devi, as early as 1945, had some lurking

feelings or premonition of the contretemps. For, in that year, fearing
that in coming years Kalakshetra may expand and the Theosophical
Society may not be able to provide additional space, she started
buying pockets of lands nearby. The place chosen was a neighboring
village called Thiruvanmiyur / थथरुवनमीयुर, (Thiru -Valmiki Oor – land
of sage Valmiki, who wrote the Ramayana). Land was cheap, around
Rs. 300 per acre (Today 30 crore each acre, if available!) and over the
years a great deal came to be acquired, though only in patches, when
available. The institution we all see today and have in last 75 years
stands on part of that patch.

In 1952, came another surprise turn! C. Jinarajadasa’s term finished

and in his place came to be elected N. Sri Ram, a brother of Rukmini,
who wished Kalakshetra returned to its original setting and moorings
in Adyar and agreed to extend lease for 15 years but Rukmini Devi
rightly refused. Such was the strength and suffering of this great
woman, whom many worship today.
Set up as International Academy of the Arts, it was later in 1939,
rechristened Kalakshetra, temple of arts. In June 1940, Kalakshetra
was registered as a Society. In the beginning, classes were held only
in Bharatnanatyam and vocal music, the fee being Rs.15 and Rs.10
per month, respectively. Only two girls joined for dance, and both
were from families in the Society estate. Lessons began under a tree!
The first two teachers were both giants in the field, Kattumannarkoil
Muthukumara Pillai / कट्टुमन्नारकोइऱ मुथुकुमार पिल्ऱाई for
Bharatanatayam and Papanasam Sivam / िािनाशम सशवम ् for music.
Muthukumara Pillai in fact brought his star student M.K. Saroja, then
a child of 9, to show Rukmini Devi what his teaching and training
standards were. Seeing the star child dancer, Rukmini immediately
engaged him and appointed him as first dance teacher of
Kalakshetra.

Kalakshetra bani or style is formed by a group of successive gurus

starting with senior most Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai / मीनाक्षी िुन्दरम
पिल्ऱाई to Muthukumara Pillai / मुथुकुमार पिल्ऱाई to Ellappa / एल्ऱप्िा,
Kittappa / ककटट्पप्िा and many more. Because there was really no
other formal institution in Madras then, though a plethora of
personal, individual run institutions abound, many renowned
nattuvanars and dancers of that period taught at Kalakshetra.

Among them were Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Rukmini Devi's first

teacher, Muthukumara Pillai and Chokkalingam Pillai / चोक्कसऱिंगम
पिल्ऱाई. Karaikkal Saradambal Ammal / करै क्कऱ शारदाम्बऱ अम्मऱ,
known for her nritta, polished the technique of the early students.
Dandayudhapani Pillai later joined the staff, as did Mylapore Gowri
Ammal. These early teachers bequeathed many compositions and
stylistic inputs to the institute which remain embedded in the
Kalakshetra style today. Ambu Pannikar / अम्बु िाननकर , the great
Kathakali guru who spent the last six years of his life at Kalakshetra,
taught Rukmini Devi several Kathakali movements and set pieces
that were used to great effect in her dance dramas. After his death,
another doyen Chandu Pannikar / चिंद ू िजन्नकर came to the college,
bringing along with him young boys Dhananjayan and Balagopalan,
and later, his own son Janardhanan. These three, along with the
older Kunhiraman (Ambu Pannikar's son) became the early male
dancers of the institute, participating in the new dramas that
Rukmini Devi choreographed. They became known for their heroic
roles in Kalakshetra’s dance dramas.1

“My father would beat me to pulp if I did not practice properly. One
day, while he was doing so, Athai, as we fondly called Rukmini Devi,
drove past in her white Fiat and stopped to admonish my father! She
said if you ever beat the child again, you can take him home,” recalls
Janardhanan.

Many gurus, who became popular outside of Kalakshetra like

Dandayudhapani Pillai (guru to Jayalakshmi Alva in Mangalore,
Vyjayanthimala Bali), Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai and Nataraj-
Shakuntala, was also due to their work in films, which assured that
they could survive and thrive. Films gave them regular exposure and
their students multiplied and some went to films like Kamala,
Vyjayanthimala and E.V. Saroja.

Right away, one by one, some of the resident theosophists, all from
abroad, wanted and volunteered to contribute their mite and pet
projects. So while Annie Besant wished to start a school for children
which manifested later in George Arundale’s time as President (the
Besant Memorial school), others started veena, mridangam, painting
and Kathakali classes. Not satisfied with the designs in textiles
available then, for costume, a weaving unit was started. As
traditional kalamkari textile traditions were dying in Machilipatnam
and Kalahasti regions (now in Andhra, then part of Madras
Presidency), these were brought and revived at Kalakshetra.

Kalakshetra’s delinking with the Theosophical Society also meant a

certain loss in funds, because it was like suddenly asking a teenage
child to manage on its own, literally disowned. Rukmini Devi’s genius
lay in taking up the challenge and making an institution that has
stood the test of time, despite ups and down.

To have survived, Rukmini realized teaching was the mainstay, and

tours. In that, she created a corps de students that fed the corps de
ballet. Generally, a dance drama production needs a group of well-
trained dancers. Where to get these from, especially when no real
fee can be paid? Kalakshetra is a unique model that has worked
without monies or very less monies. Imagine, until two decades ago,
its faculty was still taking monthly salaries in hundreds, not
thousands.

Average salaries of teacher and staff were Rs.400 only, until its 50th
anniversary! Kalakshetra was so piously unprofessional where money
matters were concerned that it returned a Ford Foundation Grant of
25 lakhs, unutilized, saying they did not know how to spend the
monies because they had never seen so much. This is not some
ancient history but in the late 1980s. Kalakshetra’s creed was to do
with art, not business of art, as it has now become common with
dance institutions.
In south India’s east coast, Kalakshetra became the pivot for dance
and music arts. On west coast, Kalamandalam had been set up by
Mahakavi Vallathol Narayana Menon in Cheruthurthy, near Shornur,
which continued training dancers in Kathakali and Mohiniattam.
Many students of Kalakshetra were also from Kerala and some
teachers were brought in to teach Kathakali. Both Bharatanatyam
and Kathakali were used in its productions.

Rukmini Devi's first love was music. To her, the dance simply gave
visual shape to the music. She was in a sense, a pioneer in that she
was the first dancer to invite, not one, but several great musicians to
Kalakshetra. They not only came, but contributed selflessly and very
substantially to her work, as much due to the special respect she had
for them, as for the wonderful atmosphere that she had created
about her in this new ashram for India's arts.2

So, Carnatic music also remains a pillar of the institution with Tiger
Varadachariar / टाइगर वरदचाररअर , Mysore Vasudevachariar / मायिोर
वािुदेवाचाररअर, Karaikudi Veena Sambasiva Iyer / करै कुड़ी वीणा िम्बसशव
आइयेर and Papanasam Sivan / िािनािम सशवन themselves lending
their musical services, when required, often without any fee!
Rukmini Devi’s generosity was such, she always compensated the
artistes. Kalakshetra benefitted immensely with fine inputs by many
musical giants and geniuses and a list of its staff speaks for such
alliance. Nearly, the Who’s Who of Carnatic music was associated
with this institution for decades.

Tiger Varadachariar became Principal of Kalakshetra in 1944, when

the Sangita Sironmani / ििंगीत सशरोमणण course was begun in the
institute. Madurai Subramani Aiyar / मदरु ाई िब्र
ु मणण ऐयर , the violin
vidwan, Tiger's brother Veena Krishnamachariar and T.K. Ramaswami
Iyengar / टी के रामस्वामी अयेंगर all taught the Sangita Sironmani
course. Eminent musicians such as Veena Sambasiva Aiyar, Budalur
Krishnamurti Shastrigal, the master of the Gottuvadyam, and M.D.
Ramanathan, who had been Tiger’s student at the institute, all
served as Principals in successive years. Turaiyur Rajagopala Sarma
was a professor.3

In the early days, the staff at Kalakshetra was motivated by a great

spirit of service, and worked tirelessly to bring the vision of
Kalakshetra to life. Among them was Sankara Menon, who was the
principal of the Besant Theosophical High School (BTHS). He helped
Rukmini Devi in every aspect of administrating the institute, and later
succeeded her as director. Kalakshetra became the first dance
institute to establish a meaningful theoretical syllabus for dancers.
Kamala Rani, also one of the early students, established herself as a
brilliant nattuvanar, breaking barriers for women in field. S. Sarada
(Peria Sarada) researched the texts for Rukmini Devi's dance dramas,
sang for classes and performances, and took detailed notations of
Rukmini Devi's choreography. D. Padmasini joined Kalakshetra as a
music teacher at BTHS.4

Kalakshetra’s reputation rests on its dance dramas, meticulously

crafted ensemble pieces choreographed by Rukmini Devi. The music
for the dance dramas is the living legacy of the musicians who came
to the institute. Rukmini Devi was inspired by music composed for
each of her dance dramas by musicians of the highest caliber. They
included Tiger Varadachariar, Papanasam Sivan, M. D. Ramanathan,
Mysore Vasudevachariar, Turaiyur Rajagopala Sarma, S. Rajaram,
Bhagavatulu Sitarama Sharma, Pasupati and others. With such great
musicians and dance inputs, and as the daughter of a great Sanskrit
scholar, it was only natural that Rukmini Devi focused on revival of
Kuravanjis (temple dance dramas) and when Kutrala Kuravanji was
first produced by her in 1944, audiences were amazed.
Krishnamachariar, brother of Tiger Varadachariar provided the
necessary varnamettus / वणजमेट्टू (song patterns) and Rukmini herself
devised the dance patterns. ‘Bhishma / भीष्म’ was amongst the first,
followed by Kalidasa’s ‘Kumara Sambhava / कुमारिम्भव’ in 1947 for
which Tiger Varadachariar composed the music. Rukmini Devi
produced Kannappar Kuravanji / कन्नप्िर कुरविंजी in 1962 and
Krishnamari Kuravanji / कृष्नामारी कुरविंजी in 1971.

Papanasam Sivan scored music for Andal Charitram / आन्दाऱ चररतम,

Gita Govindam / गीत गोपवन्दम, Abhignana Shakuntalam, Kannappar
Kuravanji and others. Mysore Vasudevachariar came to Kalakshetra
in 1953 with his grandson Rajaram. He composed the music for the
six-part Valmiki Ramayana until his death, after which Rajaram took
over. For Rukmini Devi, these musicians provided the backbone on
which she built her productions. Kalidasa Nilakanta Aiyar, an expert
on tala, helped to set the teermanams correctly in the older dance
pieces.5

The six part Ramayana dance dramas are: Sita Swayamvaram (1955),
Sri Rama Vanagamanam (1960), Paduka Pattabishekam (1960),
Sabari Moksham (1965), Choodamani Pradanam (1968), Maha
Pattabishekam (1969). “I was able to complete the Ramayana series
in 1969, with the Maha Pattabishekam which strangely enough is
exactly 14 years after I launched on this venture. In the Ramayana,
Rama returns after 14 years of exile to his kingdom Ayodhya. This is a
strange coincidence,” said Rukmini Devi. “Though I have taken 14
years to complete the Ramayana series, during this period, I have
produced the dance dramas Gita Govindam, Andal Charitram,
Shyama (Tagore’s), Kannappar Kuravanji, Rukmini Kalyanam, Usha
Parinayam (1959) and Sakuntalam. Great composers like Tiger
Varadachari, Veena Krishnamachari and Papanasam Sivan have
composed the music of some of these.”6

Rukmini Devi also produced and choreographed Bhagavata Mela

dances, Kuravanjis (traditional gypsy dances of South India), Buddha
Avatharam, Matsya Koorma Avatharam, Damayanti Swayamvaram
and Kuchelopakhyanam. In all about 25 major dance dramas, some
as varied as last one Meera of Mewar (1984) and one based on
martial arts (Meenakshi Vijayam, 1977) were made. These are full-
length productions, with many sets and characters and costumes.

Rukmini Devi had long nurtured a dream to build an auditorium for

dance and music which would be aesthetic, Indian in spirit, and that
would provide an ideal setting for her choreographic work. Her
dream was realized when the Bharata Kalakshetra auditorium, built
in the Koothambalam style from Kerala, was inaugurated in 1985.
Rukmini Devi died in 1986. After her, K. Sankara Menon became the
director. In 1993, Kalakshetra was taken over by the government. In
the hope that its groundbreaking work in the revival of the arts in
India would continue, the Indian government deemed it an institute
of national importance by an act of parliament and has since given
the College its support. After Sankara Menon's death, S. Rajaram
took over as director. Leela Samson headed the institute from 2005.
In July 2013, Priyadarsini Govind was appointed the new director of
the Institute.7
Rukmini Devi personally trained the early dance students, who then
took on the responsibility of teaching new students. She held a
special morning class where she taught ballet exercises. She refined
and classified the adavus, the basic steps of the dance, making them
efficient and beautiful, and systematized a teaching methodology for
the dance form she inherited.8

Kalakshetra has trained several thousands, if not lakhs of students in

its 75 years of existence. It is dubbed the Bolshoi of Bharatanatyam
training in India because of strict adherence to structure and
substance of Bharatanatyam and its propagation through its many
productions. The place is a deemed university now. Many of its
alumni teach abroad and have started their own dance classes and
schools worldwide.

In addition to the choreography of Rukmini Devi, Kalakshetra also

performs major works of Sarada Hoffman, Krishnaveni Lakshmanan,
C.K. Balagopal, A. Janardhanan and Leela Samson, who are alumni of
the institute. The most recent addition to the dance-dramas of the
company is ‘Dasaru Kanda Krishna’ choreographed in 2006 by Leela
Samson, with music by S. Rajaram, the former director of
Kalakshetra. Old and present students and faculty of the institute
such as Jyotsana Menon, Nirmala Nagaraj, Haripadman, Sheejith
Krishna and Shijith Nambiar have also choreographed pieces that are
included in performances.9 Sheejith Krishna (and his vocalist wife
Jyotishmati) and Shijith Nambiar with his wife Parvathy Menon are
now independent performers and teachers.

Here is a brief summary of the many distinguished personalities

associated with Kalakshetra.
From the age of 14, Sarada Hoffman (Chinna Sarada) stayed on at
Kalakshetra to assist Rukmini Devi Arundale. All through Rukmini
Devi's lifetime, it was Sarada who took instructions from her,
absorbed everything and then taught the students as Rukmini Devi
would have wanted to.
Shanta Dhananjayan joined Kalakshetra when she was eight years
old. She was the prima-donna of Kalakshetra for almost 15 years,
taking major roles in Rukmini Devi's dance drama productions. She
became synonymous with Radha in Gita Govindam and Sita in
Ramayana series. She married Dhananjayan, another Kalakshetra
student, and they became a much sought-after dance couple.
Dhananjayan became synonymous with the character of Sri Rama in
the Ramayana series. They started their own dance school Bharata
Kalanjali in 1968 in Chennai. Krishnaveni Lakshmanan was known for
shining in the roles of Andal and Sita. She was with Kalakshetra till
she retired as its Principal (1998-2000). Adyar K Lakshmanan was one
of Rukmini Devi’s earliest students. He joined Kalakshetra in 1944, at
the age of 11, to learn music but ending up learning dance. He was a
successful guru and many students from his dance school Bharata
Choodamani are carrying on his legacy worldwide. C.V.
Chandrasekhar joined Kalakshetra in 1945 and stayed there for 9
years. He left Kalakshetra in 1954. It is only after that, that Rukmini
Devi choreographed the Ramayana series. Interestingly, all his
teachers’ names were ‘Sarada’ meaning knowledge; Karaikkal
Saradamba Ammal, Sarada Hoffman and S. Sarada. He and his wife
Jaya run Nrithyashree in Chennai. A multi-faceted personality, he is
continues to perform even as he nears 80.

A. Janardhanan performed major roles as Rama in Ramayana,

Buddha in Buddha Avataram, Bheema in Damayanti Swayamvaram,
King Nagaraja and Nanan in Kannappar Kuravanji, Mahabali in Kurma
Avataram, Vajrasen and Utiya in Tagore's play Shyama, the Brahmin
Ajamila in Ajamilopakhyanam and most of the male roles in Kathakali
dramas. He has choreographed two major dance dramas for
Kalakshetra called Karna Sapatham in Malayalam and Sri Purandara
in Kannada. He served as principal of Kalakshetra and is currently
reviving Rukmini Devi’s dance dramas with the present students and
faculty of Kalakshetra. C.K. Balagopalan is identified for his signature
portrayals of Hanuman. His Lakshmana in the early years to
Dhananjayan’s Rama and his Bharata to Janardhanan’s Rama are
famous. K.P. Kunhiraman spent thirty years becoming one of its most
celebrated and revered dancers, with unforgettable performances in
the Ramayana series and other dance drama programs. He excelled
in the roles of Ravana, Viswamitra, Dasaratha and Vali. He married
Katherine who studied Bharatanatyam and Kathakali at Kalakshetra.
They started their own school in Berkeley, California. M.V.
Narasimhachari was at Kalakshetra between 1962-67, training in
vocal music and mridangam. N.S. Jayalakshmi instilled in him the
unique Kalakshetra style of dancing while Pushpa Shankar introduced
him to nattuvangam. He and his wife Vasanthalakshmi run
Kalasamarpana Foundation in Chennai.

Other famous Kalakshetra dance students include Mohan Khokar,

N.S. Jayalakshmi, Savitri Jagannath Rao, Ambika Buch, Radha Burnier,
Pushpa Shankar, Vasanta Vedam, Kala Ramesh, Neila Sathyalingam,
Indira PP Bora, M.R. Krishnamurthy, Sanjukta Panigrahi, Jayashree
Narayanan, Yamini Krishnamurthi, Kamala Rajgopal, Jaya
Thyagarajan, Dr. Ananda Shankar Jayant and so on. Through all these
Kalakshetra trainees and their students spread worldwide, the
Kalakshetra legacy continues to live on.
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 18 Institutions Of Bharatanatyam

Present day Bharatanatyam banis / बानी and schools are aplenty.

There are many branches of main banis and some as far as in New
Jersey in USA or Ukhrul in Manipur! Since Bharatanatyam has spread
far and wide, each dancer is adding something to what was learnt
and trying to extend its boundaries and body. Many dancers are also
teachers today, so they are adding new poses or postures and calling
it sub banis or schools.

Schools today mean individual teaching establishments, not a generic

bani or style. It means in one city itself, say small town like Mysore or
Baroda, there could be ten schools of Bharatanatyam. Each teaching
same dance, differently. In that, there is no standardization. In one
area of a big metro like Chennai or Bangalore, Mylapore or
Malleswaram, there are over a dozen teachers teaching from same
bani differently. This is not to break away as much as what one learnt
from a guru and how much.

Schools of Bharatanatyam today within one city can be in hundreds,

especially nerve centre of dance like Chennai. The Dhananjayans,
Chandrasekhars, Ambika Buch, Savitri Jagannath Rao, M.V.
1
Narasimhachari and Vasanthalakshmi, Sheejith Krishna, P.T.
Narendran, Shijith Nambiar and Parvathy Menon teach the
Kalakshetra style. J. Suryanarayanamurthy, a disciple of the
Dhananjayans, is a popular teacher. Sreelatha Vinod, Tulsi Badrinath,
Radhika Surajit, Shobana Bhalchandra are ardent disciples of the
Dhananjayans and faithfully follow their teachers’ teachings. From
the K.J. Sarasa school following the Vazhuvoor bani, her prominent
disciples who are in turn teachers themselves are Srekala Bharath
(Tejas School of Bharatanatyam), A. Lakshmanaswamy (Nritya
Lakshnana), Shanmugha Sundaram (Sarasalaya), Lavanya Ananth,
Kavitha Ramu, Swarnamalya Ganesh, and so on. They are all
prominent dancers too. Nandini Ramani is an exponent and teacher
of the Balasaraswathi style. She has no disciple particularly
promoting the bani except her own daughter Sushama Ranganathan
in Chennai and Jaan Freeman in New York.

Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala’s Kala Pradarshini follows Krishnakumari

Narendran’s style. In her school Abhinaya Natyalaya, Krishnakumari
specializes in group productions and promotes Tamil works. Revathi
Ramachandran is a disciple of Mangudi Dorairaj Iyer and in her
school Kala Sadhanalaya, that’s the bani being followed. Urmila
Sathyanarayanan learnt from both Dandayudhapani Pillai and K.J.
Sarasa, so her style combines elements of both gurus. She says the
difference in the banis is suggestive and may not be apparent to the
lay person. She trains many talented students in her Natya
Sankalpaa. In her school Kaladiksha, Meenakshi Chitharanjan
propagates the Pandanallur style that she learnt from Chokkalingam
Pillai and Subbaraya Pillai. Alarmel Valli of the same gurus and same

2
bani can boast of Minneapolis based Ranee Ramaswamy and her
daughters Ashwini and Aparna as her popular disciples.

Malavika Sarukkai is a disciple of Guru Kalyanasundaram Pillai of the

Thanjavur style. Lakshmi Vishwanathan also follows the Thanjavur
style having learnt under Guru Elappa Pillai. Both are soloists.
Talented dancers Uma Namboodripad Sathya Narayanan, Sukanya
Ravinder, Lakshmi Parthasarathy Athreya, Arupa Lahiri, Jai Quehani
are all prominent disciples of Chitra Visweswaran trained in
Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai style. Chitra’s student Zakir Hussain has
carved his own path in the Vaishnaivite themes of his choice, even
giving religious discourses.

Bragha Bessell, Jayanthi Subramaniam, Roja Kannan, Sai Santosh

Radhakrishnan follow Adyar Lakshman’s Kalakshetra style. After
Kalanidhi Narayanan, her disciple Bragha is the abhinaya queen to
whom scores go for training in abhinaya. Sudharani Raghupathy and
Narthaki Nataraj follow their Guru Kittappa Pillai’s bani. Sudharani’s
students Priya Murle, Nalini Prakash, Priya and Sheela Dixit, Padma
Raghavan and many others bring pride to the school.

Rhadha is a true Vazhuvoor bani exponent and Indira Rajan of

Kutralam Ganesa Pillai bani has her own set of disciples. Nrithya Pillai
is the granddaughter of Swamimalai Rajarathnam Pillai and
represents his bani. Padma Subrahmanyam, of course, calls her style
Bharata Nrithyam, and her prominent disciples include Gayatri
Kannan, Mahati Kannan and Vineet Radhakrishnan. The movements
are rounded; curvaceous hip movements, serpentine arm
movements, leaps, extended throws of the legs mark this style. Bala
3
Devi Chandrasekhar in New Jersey and Jayashree Rajagopalan are
true proponents of Padma’s bani but Janaki Rangarajan, though she
has moved away from her guru’s Bharata Nrityam and calls her style
as Bharatanatyam now, continues to bring in some of the curvy
movements, rather perplexing at times! As one can see, just in
Chennai itself, there are so many variations of Bharatanatyam styles
and this above list is by no means exhaustive but just an indication of
subtle variations in banis.

In capital city like Delhi very few Bharatanatyam teachers are left.
Saroja Vaidyanathan learnt from Lalitha of Triplicane who learnt
from Guru Muthukumaran Pillai of the Kattumannar. Now Saroja is
senior-most, active Bharatanatyam teacher of the capital city who
teaches many hundred students. Her daughter-in-law Rama
Vaidyanathan learnt from Yamini Krishnamurthy but now is part of
Saroja Vaidyanathan school. So this is a good example for bani mixing
with schools. Geeta Chandran learnt from Swarna Saraswathi (no
relation of Balasarswati) and later from her own mridangist K.
Dakshinamoorthy (brother of K. Dandayudhapani Pillai). What she
teaches her students in Natyavruksha, is her own creative approach.
Boundaries of banis are blurring today. Other teachers of Delhi are at
proper schools like Triveni Kala Sangam or Sriram Bharatiya Kala
Kendra, where an American dancer Justin McCarthy is teaching
Bharatanatyam! Many iconic dancers of yesteryears like Yamini
Krishnamurthy also run schools and train students. Delhi has least
number of Bharatanatyam teachers today as all seniors like Indrani
Rahman, M.K. Saroja, Govindarajan Pillai (Sikkil Ramaswamy bani)
have gone or moved city. Their students are seniors now like Jamuna
Krishnan, Radha Marar and Jayalakshmi Eshwar. Navtej Johar trained
4
in Chennai Kalakshetra is more into contemporary themes and
teaching of yoga. Delhi has more of Kathak, Orissi and Contemporary
dance today than Bharatanatyam.

In Bangalore, while there are some senior gurus left like Leela
Ramanathan, Radha Shridhar, Bhanumathi and Shridhar-Anuradha,
they cannot be ascribed to any one bani alone. They are all teaching
Bharatanatyam as they learnt from their teachers like Narmada,
Kalakshetra or Pandanallur (via U.S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga
Devi). M. Krishnamurthy imparts training in Kalakshetra style. The
Mysore bani is followed by Lalitha Srinivasan, a student of Guru
Keshavamurthy who later trained in abhinaya under Dr. K.
Venkatalakshamma. Lots of younger male teachers of
Bharatanatyam abound in Bangalore. In fact, maximum in any metro
of India, like Sanjay Shantaram, Satyanarayana Raju, Praveen Kumar
and Vasanth Kiran. Satyanarayana Raju and Praveen Kumar are both
disciples of Narmada. Now Praveen trains under Guru C.V.
Chandrasekhar of Kalakshetra bani. Many males are learning
Bharatanatyam in Bangalore and teaching at junior level like Anil
Iyer, Seshadri Iyengar and Mithun Shyam. Teachers who have lots of
students are Anuradha Vikranth of Drishti, her gurus Nirupama-
Rajendra (Nirupama learnt from Padma Subrahmanyam) while
Sandhya-Kiran propagate the Kalakshetra bani since they are
disciples of the Dhananjayans. Padmini Ravi remained a teacher to all
of these and more before and she continues to dabble in dance. Vani
Ganapathy remains Bharatanatyam star dancer of Bangalore and
also teaches. Yamini Muthanna combines yoga and Bharatanatyam
as does Vasundhara Doraswamy of Mysore. Rajaratnalaya Arts
Foundation headed by Jayakamala Pandian follows Swamimalai SK
5
Rajaratnam Pillai’s bani. Bangalore has over 100 registered
Bharatanatyam dance teaching schools. Guru C. Radhakrishna
follows the Mysore style of Bharatanatyam as do his disciples
Padmini Shreedhar, Pulakeshi Kasturi and Veena Sridhar.

Jayalakshmi Alva, the first and foremost disciple of K.N.

Dandayudhapani Pillai, also trained in abhinaya under Swarna
Saraswati and Gowri Ammal. She founded the Sridevi Nrithya
Kendra in Mangalore in 1974. She is ably supported by her daughter
Araty Shetty.

Once the pride of India in Bharatanatyam, Mumbai has very few

Bharatanatyam schools of repute left. While Shanmukhananda Sabha
promoted and offered a platform to+65 lots of Bharatanatyam
teachers, it was Sri Raja Rajeswari Bharatha Natya Kala Mandir that
created dancers, many known names in three generations like Vani
Ganapathy and sisters, Namita Bodaji, Nandini Krishna, Malavika
Sarukkai and many of today’s younger lot. Many reputed gurus like
Mahalingam Pillai taught there and Guru Kalyanasundaram Pillai is
one of the busiest Bharatanatyam gurus with legions of students.
Kalasadan Institute of Fine Arts is another popular school founded by
Guru Mani in 1954. Mani learnt from Karunambal and her husband
Govindaraja Pillai under the guidance of Kuppiah Pillai of Sri Raja
Rajeswari Bharatha Natya Kala Mandir. Some of the others teaching
in Mumbai are Smt Jyothy Mohan, senior Guru Smt Raji Narayan,
Dipak Parashar etc.

Today Nalanda under Science Ministry grant and Mumbai University

teaches some Bharatanatyam under teachers like Malathi
Agneswaran and Vaibhav Arekar. Mumbai also has influx of films and

6
many stars like Vyjayanthimala, Hema Malini and Meenakshi
Seshadri showcased Bharatanatyam as they were trained in that
form. Jayashree Rajagopalan represents her Guru Padma
Subrahmanyam’s style in Mumbai. Lata Raman and Chandra Anand
carry the torch of the Raja Rajeswari school. Prakriti Bhaskar and
Prakriti Kashyap are both disciples of T.S. Kadirvelu Pillai. Sandhya
Purecha propagates her Guru Acharya Parvati Kumar’s teachings and
style. Deepak Mazumdar’s most prized disciple is Pavitra Bhatt who
is making a good name for himself as a fine dancer and is much in
demand in group productions of other gurus!

Pune also benefitted from Maratha Tanjore connections of Acharya

Parvati Kumar and his student like Sucheta Chapekar Bhide. Sucheta
is Kittappa Pillai’s disciple and has adapted Marathi compositions to
Bharatanatyam. Today, Pune University and many individual dancers
like Swati Datar, Manik Ambike, Parimal Phadke promote this form.
Near Pune is the Chinmaya Naada Bindu Gurukul where the dance
teacher is America returned Ramaa Bharadvaj, a prime disciple of
Kamala Laxminarayanan (Vazhuvoor style). Anuradha Shinde
propagates the Kalakshetra style.

Hyderabad had T.K. Narayan (disciple of Meenakshisundaram Pillai

and Muthukumara Pillai) whose Academy of Bharatanatyam
established in 1948 was run by him and his musician wife
Jayalakshmi. Their daughter Gayatri Kesavan carries on his work in
Bangalore. The daughter of V.S. Ramamoorthy (Dandayudhapani
Pillai bani), Manjula Ramaswamy continues in her father’s tradition.
Now leading teachers of Bharatanatyam in Hyderabad are Ananda
Shankar Jayant (trained in Kalakshetra), Geeta Ganesan (disciple of
7
V.S. Ramamoorthy), Rajeswari Sainath (disciple of Indra Rajan). Now
Kuchipudi has taken over the region, naturally.

Apart from Kerala forms, Shyamala Surendran, Kalamandalam

Sugandhi, Kalamandalam Saraswathy, Girija Chandran, Neena
Prasad, Kalamandalam Kshemavathy and many others are trained in
Bharatanatyam and also impart training. N Srikanth and his wife
Aswathy Nair (daughter of Kalamandalam Saraswathy) find it more
lucrative to be based in Kerala than Chennai and have found much
success there. Srikanth is a disciple of Padma Subrahmanyam. Many
stars like Rajashree Warrier and Manju Warrier seriously pursue
Bharatanatyam while others have let their dance be glossed over by
filmy movements and expressions. One is not sure what bani
Shobana presents in her performances as it seems to be a mix of
various styles!

Present day schools are many in each city and town. Too many to
count here but suffice it to say in places like Ahmedabad (Mrinalini
and Mallika Sarabhai’s Darpana, Elakshi Thakore’s Nritya Bharati,
Radha and Bhaskar Menon’s Mudra School of Indian Classical
Dances, etc) and Baroda with the Maharaja Sayajirao University with
Mohan Khokar, Smt. Anjali Merh, Kubernath Tanjorkar, C.V.
Chandrasekhar, Parul Shah. Bharatanatyam has flourished in Gujarat
since its arrival to Baroda in late 1800s. Many students, graduating
from the Dept of Dance at the M S University have started their
institutions in Gujarat, India and Internationally not only in USA and
UK but also in Singapore, Australia, Mauritius, Kenya and such.

In Kolkota, Khagendra Nath Barman of Kalakshetra, teaches

Bharatanatyam at the Rabindra Bharati University along with Alay

8
Das. Thankamani Kutty’s Kalamandalam, another go to institution for
learning Bharatanatyam, has widened the scope by adapting
Bharatanatyam to Bengali works like those of Rabindranath Tagore.
She has more than 1000 students and some of them teach in the
smaller towns of West Bengal too.

Many dancers also shifted and settled abroad like Ram Gopal in
London, Ritha Devi and Indrani Rahman in NYC, etc. Canada too had
its share of such examples like Jhanak Khendry and Jai Govinda.
Anne-Marie Gaston (Guru Ellappa Pillai) is a renowned exponent and
writer too. Lata Pada is a product of Sri Raja Rajeswari Bharata Natya
Kala Mandir in Mumbai, while Hari Krishnan is Kittappa Pillai’s
disciple. Priyamvada Shankar is T. Balasaraswati’s disciple, so the
different banis seem to be well represented in Canada.

Kathak and Bharatanatyam are the most popular dance forms in UK

with many established dancers and dance gurus like Piali Ray,
Chitralekha Bolar, Anusha Subramanyam (Kalakshetra), Usha
Raghavan, Pushkala Gopal, Chitra Sundaram (trained under various
gurus in Mumbai and Chennai) and Nina Rajarani (disciple of The
Dhananjayans and Prakash Yadagudde) to name a few.

There are as many Bharatanatyam dance schools and dancers in the

US. In California, Viji Prakash imparts training she had from her gurus
Kalyanasundaram and Mahalingam Pillai, of the Sri Raja Rajeshwari
Bharata Natya Kala Mandir; Malathi Iyengar is Narmada’s disciple;
Vidhya Subramanian and Nirupama Vaidyanathan are Swamimalai
Rajaratnam Pillai’s disciples. In Chicago, Hema Rajagopalan is a much
sought after guru who learnt from Swarna Saraswati, K.N.
Dandayudhapani Pillai and his brother. In Houston, Ratna Papa hails

9
from K.J. Sarasa bani. Many Bharatanatyam students of the M S
University of Baroda have settled in different parts of USA, running
dance classes and making a good name for their institution like Dr
Francis Barboza, Pratima Patel, Nipa Desai, Kshama Modi.

Banis today are blurring. Students are going in for learning items
from various gurus of different banis. They put in their own creativity
too and many times, Bharatanatyam is used as a springboard to
choreograph Dance theater or creative choreography, so what you
see bears no resemblance to what one can identify as a particular
bani of Bharatanatyam.

Many quote realities of urban stress and times we live in to drive

home the point that serious guru-shishya / गरु
ु -शिष्य relationship of
yore is not doable today. When Skype and DVD gurus are in the
market, when students don’t make time and gurus are mere
factories for functions projecting themselves, how can banis
continue? Does it matter anyway? Today a student also learns from
multiple teachers/quasi gurus, so how can the stamp of one
individual bani or guru remain? What’s the relevance of a school, a
style, a bani? Is it now a mere memory of the past or a meaningful
reference point? Is it mere nomenclature or an important sub culture
within a form? Banis are important so long as gurus are gurus and
not merely money making machines. There is nothing wrong with
making money but there is a difference of degree. In olden days,
gurus were not in the market. They sat in their villages and all
famous names trudged to them to seek knowledge. Ram Gopal,
Mrinalini Sarabhai, U.S. Krishna Rao all went to their guru’s village to
learn. Today, the guru has come to the city market. Or shall we say,
the market has come to some gurus! End result shows: Cloning is
10
easy; making a true artiste is not. That proves yet another point:
Great artistes are born, not made.1

When the dance becomes a technique of movement and a body

language, with its traditional music, literature and poetry being
regarded as ancillaries, which are incidental, Bharatanatyam is bound
to be divested of the ideas and value structure it has been wrapped
in. While the intent of art may well be the same, the inflection is
changing according to the different context it is living in. And it is a
question of what part of the tradition one picks out for emphasis in
one's work. If tradition is what one generation passes on to the next,
what a student in the diaspora will inherit from teachers born out of
present day practitioners, may well be different from what is passed
on to a student in the Indian context where also the totality of the
dance is being seen in parts, but where a measure of music / dance /
language togetherness still exists. Diaspora students are less inclined
to accept without questioning, even in the early stages, what the
teacher teaches. With the cross fertilizing of ideas, dance debates
certainly seem to be on a different level in some of these countries.
Bharatanatyam will, as far as one can see, live in many
manifestations — as a tool for relaxation, as a stimulant, as a tool for
revolting against norms, as worship, as just a body discipline adding
to one's vocabulary of movement and whatever. What the dance
means to one person may well be different from what it means to
another in a different cultural milieu. After all even in India, we have
produced a Chandralekha who thinks so very differently. Will the
future Bharatanatyam have the same identity? One doubts it. And in
the meanwhile one hopes like Katherine Kunhiraman that the dance
is not mixed with “cream cheese and chocolate sauce” and retains a
11
measure of its own self as we recognize it. No one set of persons, it
would seem, can set the dance format for all time.2

12
 PAPER: 3
Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And
Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 19 Gurus Of Bharatanatyam From 1900-1940

Gurus are the main rivers that water an art form. Traditionally Indian
classical dances have developed over centuries and passed down
from generation to generation. The great first generation of gurus of
a form like Bharatanatyam originated from the Tanjore Quartet and
thus Tanjore Quartet becomes fountainhead as these 4 brothers
structured the Margam format of presentation which is still in use
now. The art of the temples got slowly changed to courts and then
pandal and weddings and proscenium stage. Thus, all through the
period Bharatanatyam has evolved and there are many gurus
responsible for it.

The lineage in the Thanjavur durbar begins with Gangaimuthu /

गंगईमथ
ु ,ू dancer and teacher. This Tamil family, Oduvars in origin, was
brought from Tirunelveli to Thanjavur to recite Tevaram (devotional)
music and organize temple dances. Gangaimuthu’s son Subbaraya /
सब्ु बराया Pillai too was in the durbar as a dance teacher. The Thanjavur
Quartet was exponents of dance and music in 19th century south
India. All of them took basic training from their father Subbaraya
Pillai, and Muthuswami Dikshitar and were in the Thanjavur durbar
for some time. Originally from the princely state of Thanjavur,
Chinniah (1802-1856) took Bharatanatyam to Wodeyar’s court at
Karnataka. He composed some keertanams and varṇams in honour of
his patron and played a role in systematizing dance presentations in
the durbar. Ponniah / पोन्नेया (1804-1864) and Sivanandam / शिवानंदम
(1808-1863) stayed on in Tanjore under Maratha patronage. Vadivelu
/ वडीवेऱव
ु (1810-1845) modified the violin for use in Carnatic music
which accompanies the dance and was among the early violin players
of south India. Trained by a European Catholic priest in Thanjavur, he
propagated the violin in many parts of south India, particularly in the
durbar of Maharaja Swati Tirunal / स्वाति थथरूनाऱ of Travancore,
Kerala.

The Tanjore Quartet codified the basic Bharatanatyam adavus / आडवु

(dance units), designed the margam, (the configuration of the
contemporary Bharatanatyam performance from alarippu to tillana)
appropriate for the concert stage. The brothers composed an
impressive number of alarippus / अऱाररप,ू jatiswarams / जतिस्वरम,
kavutuvams / कौिुव,ं sabdams / िब्दम, varnams / वर्णम, padams / पदम,्
javalis / जावऱी, kirtanais / कीिणनम and tillanas / तिल्ऱाना and brought
artistic changes and innovations of matchless exquisiteness to the
tradition. Their masterpieces of compositions are unparalleled and
honoured in the world of classical music and dance.1

Sivanandam / शिवानन्दम had two sons, Mahadevan and Sabapathy, to

carry on the family tradition. They trained several devadasis in and
around Tanjore. Nellaiappa / नेऱशऱयाप्पा nattuvanar (1859-1905),
grandson of Ponniah, moved to Madras around 1880 and established
himself as one of the most prominent dance masters in the city.2

It must be emphasized that the Thanjavur bani is unique within the

Isai Vellalar community as it did not have any hereditary dancers,
only musicians. Until recently, it has not had any hereditary dancers
(devadasis) in their family tree. It also did not allow until 19th
century, its women to have professional artistic status in public
domain. It is the male members of this group who are associated
with music and teaching dance. Which means, while they could be
gifted and perform on family occasions, they were not public
performers.3 In the 20th century this bani got two streams
represented by two popular heads: Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and
Pichaiyya Pillai. One stayed in Pandanallur and briefly in Madras, one
in Tanjore. One (Meenakshi Sundaram) became hereditary and one
not (Pichayya).

Guru Meenakshi Sundaram Pilai (1869-1954) loomed large over the

Bharatanatyam scene and along with Guru Muthukumaran Pillai,
trained most of the stars of the form. Meenakshi Sundaram married
his teacher Mahadevan’s daughter and thus got further linked to the
legendary Quartet lineage. Mahadevan was the son of Sivanandam of
the Tanjore Quartet. Meenakshi Sundaram’s father was Satyamurthy
Nattuvanar and his mother, the daughter of Ponniah Pillai of the
Tanjore Quartet. Thus, both by birth and by marriage, Meenakshi
Sundaram Pillai was closely associated with the Quartet. He had the
good fortune of attracting prized pupils who had already acquired
some fame, like Ram Gopal and Rukmini Devi Arundale. This made
other talents flock to him – Shanta Rao, Mrinalini Sarabhai, US
Krishna Rao, and Chandrabhaga Devi.

His sojourn at the celebrated Kalakshetra lasted a bare six months

but in that short time, he attracted all these stars of the style. His
enamoured pupils then followed him to his village Pandanallur,
where he trained them. His tradition was continued by his sons
Kittappa Pillai, Subbaraya Pillai, S. Swaminathan and Chockalingam
Pillai. Between them they accounted for the grooming of a third of all
the Bharatanatyam dancers of their period.4

After Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Chockalingam Pillai (1893–1968)

became the guru of the Pandanallur style followed by his son
Subbaraya Pillai (1914–2008) who has trained dancers Alarmel
Valli, Meenakshi Chitharanjan and others. Subbaraya Pillai began
training with his father first and continued with Meenakshi Sundaram
Pillai. He started accompanying the students of Meenakshi Sundaram
Pillai at a young age, as a vocalist and assisted in nattuvangam.
Chockalingam Pillai and Subbaraya Pillai laid stress on anga suddham
/ अंग िद्ध
ु म ् and aramandi / अरै मंडी.

Pichayya Pillai (son-in-law of Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai) represented

another branch of this lineage and his disciples T.M. Arunachalam
and Vasudevan, Sikkil Ramaswami and K.J. Govindarajan added body
to the heritage. While Arunachalam and Vasudevan remained south
bound, Govindarajan went to Delhi and sang for Sikkil Ramaswamy,
Indrani Rehman and M.K. Saroja, before teaching Kiran Segal and
Jamuna Krishnan. The Pichayya School became a full-fledged college
named after this illustrious guru in Tanjore.5

The second major figure was Guru Muthkumaran Pillai (1874-1960)

of Kattumannarkoil, Chidambaram. He was instrumental in training
Ram Gopal, Mrinalini Sarabhai and MK Saroja. He also taught Ramiah
Pillai (although this fact is still disputed in some circles),
Muthuswamy Pillai, Radha and Anandi, Nala Najan, K Lalitha, Kamala
Lakshman and others. He moved to Madras, stayed with M.K. Saroja’s
family and taught the two sisters Selvamani and Saroja. The
importance of this guru can be seen in the fact that another leading
guru K.N. Dandayudhapani Pillai (1921-1974) sang for M.K. Saroja.
Guru Muthukumaran’s art so impressed Rukmini Devi that she asked
him to teach at Kalakshetra when it opened in 1936. He was in fact,
Kalakshetra’s first full time teacher. After he left, Meenakshi
Sundaram Pillai was asked to take his place which he did for a mere
six months. Muthukumaran returned to his village, where he initially
trained Ramiah Pillai and then gifted him a readymade student
Kamala Lakshman. Mrinalini Sarabhai took Muthukumaran Pillai to
Ahmedabad where she started her institution Darpana. After a few
years there, the guru wished to retire. While he taught several
people, his sole and exclusive exponent is M.K. Saroja, who unlike
others, learnt only from him.6

Muthukumara Pillai had a special liking for Ramaiah Pillai and taught
him choicest items to pass on to his students. He was generous also
to Kunchitapadam Pillai and Muthuswami Pillai and equipped them
well in their art. Till his end, Kunchitapadam Pillai adorned Guru
Muthukumaran’s photo on stage at every function of his or his pupils.

Guru Ramiah Pillai (1910 – 1994) hailed from Vazhuvoor, near

Mayavaram. He learnt from Guru Muthukumaran Pillai initially and
also from his uncle Manikka Nattuvanar. He burst on the Madras
scene when dance was gaining currency especially in films. He won
acclaim for titillating flourishes that enhanced film dance items and
his pupil like Kamala Lakshman with her snake dance and
Vyjayantimala Bali (though she additionally learnt from K.N.
Dandayuthapani Pillai) advertised his status as a glamorous teacher.
As films were popular and his style was liked by the masses, he
attracted a sizeable number of students. Among his students who
have won acclaim are S. Kanaka, Chitra Visweswaran and Usha
Venkateswaran.7

Ramaiah Pillai retired from full time teaching and conducting in the
early 1960s and from 1965 onwards his son Samraj took on the reins
when he was hardly 25 years old. S.K. Rajaratnam Pillai (1931 – 1994)
worked with Ramaiah Pillai for 14 years from age 17. In 1960 he
married Ramaiah’s niece. He started his own dance school Kamala
Kala Nilayam in 1970. It was renamed as Rajarathnalaya Bharatha
Kalai Koodam by his guru Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai. Ramaiah’s
another son Vinayakam became a freelance music director, singer
and actor, though he was trained by his father and brother Samraj to
perform nattuvangam. Rajaratnam Pillai’s two sons did not study
dance or music but his daughter Jayakamala Pandian combined
academic studies with dance and runs her own school in Bangalore.
His granddaughter Nrithya Pillai is an active performer. Rajaratnam
Pillai’s sister’s grandson Swamimalai Suresh underwent rigorous
training for a decade in music, dance and nattuvangam from him.

K.J. Sarasa (1937-2012) carried aloft the flag of the Vazhuvoor

tradition of Bharatanatyam most impressively for more than five
decades. Her ancestors were court musicians who enjoyed the
patronage of the Thanjavur rulers. Her grandfather Rajagopalan was
the asthana vidwan / आस्थान ववद्वान of the Tirunallar temple. Her
father Jagadeesan Pillai and her uncle Natesan Pillai were nagaswara
artists in Thanjavur. Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai was related to the
family and K.N. Dandayudhapani Pillai was her paternal cousin.
Sarasakka or Sarasamma as she is popularly known, groomed
hundreds of students, many of whom have established a name for
themselves in the field of Bharatanatyam as good performers and
teachers.8

S.K. Rajaratnam Pillai, K.J. Sarasa and his own son Vazhuvoor Samraj
continued Ramaiah Pillai’s work. While these three leading lights
proved to be instrumental in spreading Bharatanatyam far and wide
there were few other gurus who groomed illustrious dancers.
Mylapore Gowri Amma (1900-70) was a devadasi attached to the
Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore, Madras. And she taught dancers
such as T.V. Venkatraman, Nana Kasar and Parvati Kumar in addition
to several others who learnt abhinaya from her. Kanchipuram Elappa
Pillai (1913-74) is remembered on account of his disciple Yamini
Krishnamurthy and briefly Chandralekha. His son Kittappa Pillai
distinguished himself too. His principal disciple Udupi
Laxminarayanan (1926-2015) himself became an eminent guru.9

Tanjore Kandappa (1899-1941) had the fortune of teaching a star

disciple, the legendary Balasaraswati (1918-1984). Kandappa Pillai
was a sixth generation nattuvanar of the Thanjavur Chinniah line who
represented the best of the Tanjore Quartet. His second wife was the
granddaughter of Ponniah Pillai of the Thanjavur Quartet and the
childhood playmate of Dhanammal’s daughter, Lakshmiratnam.
Kandappa’s ancestors had been in the service of Thanjavur court
during the 17th century, moved to Thirunelveli during the 18th
century and returned to Thanjavur around 1800. Kandappa’s father
Nellaiappa Nattuvanar trained dancers of an earlier generation. He
taught music to Jayammal and Lakshmiratnam but not to his son
Kandappa who learnt nattuvangam from his paternal grandfather
Kannuswami Nattuvanar of Baroda and from his uncle K. Ponniah.
Kandappa’s rhythmic compositions for dance reflect an adherence to
principles of structure that set him apart among his relatives who
also represented the Thanjavur nattuvanar family tradition.10

U.S. Krishna Rao and his wife Chandrabhaga Devi trained several in
Bangalore including stars like Sonal Mansingh. Muthuswamy Pillai
(1921-1992) son of V. Sethuraman distinguished himself by teaching
many dancers in Madras and in Paris. He hailed from a family of
musicians, dancers and nattuvanars. His grandmother Vaalambal was
a dancer, his mother Sethuramu Ammal, an accomplished musician.
After her death, he and his sister were put under the custody of her
uncle nattuvanar Vaitheeswarankoil Meenakshisundaram Pillai, so
young Muthuswami became an apprentice at a tender age. After his
marriage to Valambal, he accepted the invitation to teach at
Nrityodaya, Chennai. From mid 1940s to mid 1960s he had a fairly
successful career in films that brought him prosperity and fame. Most
of his French disciples took Indian names like Malavika, Shakuntala,
Maithreyee Alamelu, Padmavati, Kunti, Kalpana, etc. even after they
returned to France and opened their own dance schools. His most
famous disciple from France is Dominique Delorme.11

This outline records the principle gurus whose art has left either an
indelible mark on a prominent student. There are gurus and there
are teachers. The sad situation in recent times has been that while
gurus are in short supply, dancers have become gurus. Earlier a guru
rarely performed. They were mainly from Isai Vellalar community.
Also gurus were predominantly men. Nowadays most women
dancers have become gurus and they run their own schools. At best
they can be called teachers and not gurus.12
Several individual schools taught Bharatanatyam, but the one that
became really famous was Kalakshetra. The history of this premier
institution and that of its founder is interesting. Daughter of the
renowned Sanskrit scholar Prof. A. Neelakanta Sastri, Rukmini Devi
was born in Madurai. Her being a Brahmin and yet taking to
Bharatanatyam, an art form associated with devadasis, caused a stir
in the society of the time. Such was the disrepute into which the
dance of the devadasi, Dasiattam, had fallen that high society
shunned it. Rukmini Devi had learnt ballet from Anna Pavlova’s
soloist Cleo Nordi but she was advised by Pavlova herself to learn her
own country’s rich classical style. Thus she decided to learn
Bharatanatyam, and virtually set the Adyar river on fire. Her
arangetram (30 December 1935) on the occasion of the Golden
Jubilee of the Theosophical Society led to instant appreciation. A
week later on 6th January 1936 she founded the International
Academy of the Arts. She was the president of the academy and
while James Cousin was vice president. Both Rukmini Devi and
George Arundale were already important members of the
Theosophical Society. Originally Kalakshetra was situated within the
campus of the society, but in 1948 the Society evicted them
overnight. Not one to take things lying down Rukmini Devi bought
“handkerchief sized plots” adjacent to the society and created a new
campus for Kalakshetra.13

While Kalakshetra is a true dance school teaching Bharatanatyam it is

often mistaken to symbolise a bani / बानी or a gharana / घराना which it
is not. Several gurus, most notably Guru Muthukumaran Pillai, Guru
Meenakshisundaram Pillai and Guru Chockalingam Pillai taught there
and brought with them their own distinctive style and flavours. So
the Kalakehstra “style” is not an individual style at all. What the
dance school did contribute however by way of style was an
excessive use of Kathakali in Bharatanatyam. Thus, most of its
products have imbibed a great deal of Kathakali abhinaya and hastas.
Kalakshetra’s single best contribution is its revival of dance drama or
group work though it generally confines itself to mythological
themes. Many distinguished dancers have at some point or the other
performed in Kalakshetra productions. Rukmini Devi had a very brief
dancing career, not more than ten years, but her activism on behalf
of dance made her important.14

Kalakshetra helped many students flower. Sarada Hoffman, Anjali

Merh/Hora, Mohan Khokar, V. Ramani, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Adyar
Lakshman, The Dhananjayans, C. V. Chandrasekar, Narasimhachari,
Krishnaveni, T.R. Devanathan, Jayalakshmi Eshwar, Leela Samson,
Ananda Shankar Jayant and Navtej Singh Johar among others are
products of the famous school. Its list of alumni is a veritable who’s
who of the Bharatanatyam world of the past four decades. The
school had enabled excellent training in the learning of the
Bharatanatyam.15

Post independence, many schools won acclaim like the Sri

Rajarajeswari Bharatha Natya Kala Mandir in Mumbai that has been
propagating the tenets of the Thanjavur style. It was founded in 1945
by A.T. Govindaraja Pillai (1914-1984) assisted by his wife
Karunambal. The success of this venture led to the migration of
Govindaraja Pillai’s father-in-law T.P. Kuppiah Pillai and family from
Thanjavur to Bombay. Starting with just 4 students, the institution
grew in course of time into a banyan tree with sons T.K. Mahalingam
Pillai (1916-2002) and K. Kalyanasundaram (b 1932) contributing
their individual brilliance. The Rajarajeswari gurus have an illustrious
lineage of ancestors dating back to more than three centuries.
Venkatakrishna Nattuvanar enjoyed the patronage of the Maratha
ruler Serfoji II of Thanjavur. The second generation of Veeraswamy
Nattuvanar and his sister Chinnappa Ammal were followed by the
renowned Panchapakesa Nattuvanar (1845-1902) who was the
samastha vidwan of Thanjavur and Ramanathapuram courts.
Panchapakesa Nattuvanar was also honored by the royal houses of
Baroda and Mysore. He is credited with compiling Abhinaya
Navaneetham / अशिनय नवनीथं , a monumental treatise on abhinaya
and a practical guide especially to hastabhinaya based on
Nandikeswara’s Abhinaya Darpanam. His only son Kuppiah Pillai
(1887-1981), the prime architect of Sri Rajarajeswari Bharatha Natya
Kala Mandir is credited with reviving ancient kavuthuvams especially
the Navasandhi Kavuthuvams in the early 1940s. His ‘Kamala
Chakram,’ a lotus wheeled compendium depicting the matra based
complex 108 talas, besides the popular 35 talas, is invaluable to all
students of music and dance. His son-in-law A.T. Govindaraja Pillai,
sons T.K. Mahalingam Pillai, T.K. Maruthappa Pillai (1920-1969), K.
Kalyanasundaram, daughter Karunambal and daughter-in-law Mythil
Kalyanasundaram have helped the institution to blossom into what it
is today.16 The institution has trained the current generation of gurus
G. Vasant Kumar, M. Vishwanath and K. Harikrishna who have already
proved their ability to carry on the family tradition.

Tanjore Balasaraswati (1918 – 1984) was a seventh generation

descendant of the musician and dancer Papammal from the 18th
century Thanjavur court. Hailing from the devadasi community, Bala
is celebrated for helping continue the pristine art of the devadasis.
More than her technique, it was her abhinaya that was celebrated.
The quality of the music that she used was exceptional. This was not
surprising because she was the granddaughter of the legendary
veena player Dhanammal. Balasaraswati’s whole family was
accomplished in music and dance. Jayammal, Balasaraswati's mother,
who sang for Bala’s performances, was the daughter of the legendary
‘Veena’ Dhanammal. A trained singer, Bala sang for her daughter
Lakshmi Knight's dance performances in later years. Under her
demanding guru N. Kandappa, a sixth generation nattuvanar of the
Thanjavur Chinniah line who represented the best of the Tanjore
Quartet, she flowered into a great dancer. His early death left her
without a perfectionist taskmaster but by then the West had
discovered her and soon she was lauded at home too. Till her death,
Bala remained an important link to the devadasi tradition.17

Vocalists T. Brinda and T. Mukta were daughters of Kamakshi Ammal

and granddaughters of Veena Dhanammal. They were cousins of
Bala, whose younger brothers T. Viswanathan (flautist) and T.
Ranganathan (mridangist) were also prominent performers and
music teachers in India and the United States. As an accompanist to
his sister Bala in her recitals, Viswa made valuable contribution to
dance music. While several learnt from her, it is her daughter
Lakshmi Knight who continued her legacy. Lakshmi died in December
2001.
 PAPER: 3
Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And
Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 20 A Few Prominent Gurus Post Independence

This was an important period in development of dance like

Bharatanatyam, when most star proponents came centre stage as
dance had moved from village to big city and stage to films. Dancers,
who had learnt from traditional masters, started reaching out and
teaching and thus a whole spinoff in fortune and fame of
Bharatanatyam came about. These were the first generation star
dancers and also later, star gurus, as they taught or inspired many
and thus the art of Bharatanatyam became a household art.

K.N. DANDAYUTHAPANI PILLAI / के.एन.दं डायूद्धऩाणी पऩल्ऱाई (1921-1974)

hailed from a highly acclaimed traditional family of musicians from
Tanjore. His parents were Natesa Pillai and Subbamma. He started his
initial training in music from his father at the age of seven. From his
grandfather Ramakrishna Pillai he learnt the nuances of dance for
which he had natural talent and ability. He worked as a dance
instructor in Kalakshetra under Rukmini Devi, and also on the
research aspects of Bharatanatyam. He was particularly renowned for
the production of dance dramas. Some of the popular ones
are: Chitrambala Kuravanji / चित्रंबऱ कुरवंजी also published as a book,
Krishna Tulabaram / क्रिष्ण तुऱाबरम, Silapadigaram / शीऱऩददकारम, Sri
1
Andal / श्री आंडाऱ for Vyjayanthimala Bali and troupe, Sivagamiyin
Sabatham / सिवागासमयीं िबथम for Chandrakantha and troupe,
Padmavathy Srinivasa Kalyanam / ऩद्मावती श्रीननवाि कल्याणं for
Rajasulochana troupe, Kaveri Thanda Kalai Chelvi / कावेरी ठं डा कऱाई
िेल्वी for Jayalalitha troupe, Kumbesar Kuravanji / कुम्बेिर कुवंजी . He
choreographed dance sequences for several films, which won him
name and fame. Particularly praiseworthy was the Hollywood film
The River in which he composed the music, rendered the song
himself and choreographed the dance. In 1971, he was the first
Bharatanatyam guru to receive the title of ‘Padmasri’ from the
President of India. He started Natya Kalalayam and served as its
director. Students from different strata of society and difference parts
of the world were admitted here. Some of the prominent students of
Dandayuthapani Pillai were: Vyjayanthimala, Manjula, Srividya, Latha,
Jayalalitha, Chandrakantha, Rajasulochana, Sheela Pathy, Yamini K,
Geetha, Kausalya, Uma, Vidya, Padmini, Radha, Priyadarshini,
Anuradha, Sarojini (Srilanka), Jaya Gowri, Gayatri (Coimbatore),
Suganthi S (Malaysia), Rani Williams (Singapore), Vasantha Daniel (Sri
Lanka), Suryakala.1

VAITHEESWARANKOIL SETHURAMAN MUTHUSWAMI PILLAI /

वैथीस्वरणकोईऱ िेतरु ामन मुथुस्वामी पऩल्ऱाई (1921 - 1992) hailed from a
family of musicians, dancers and nattuvanars. His grandmother
Vaalambal was a dancer, his mother Sethuramu Ammal, an
accomplished musician. After his mother’s death, he and his sister
were put under the custody of her uncle nattuvanar
Vaitheeswarankoil Meenakshisundaram Pillai, so young Muthuswami
became an apprentice at a tender age. He also had brush with
2
several branches of music and his early grounding in the melodic and
rhythmic aspects of music was to stand him in good stead when he
choreographed and introduced new items in dance later in his career.
Muthuswami picked up knowledge watching his guardian and other
nattuvanars while they taught their pupils and conducted recitals.
With banning of dance within temples, Muthuswami was 15 when he
and his sister moved to Chennai with their guardian. When his sister
passed away aged 14, he soon branched out on his own, finally
deciding to take up dance as a profession. He went to Mayavaram
and became the pupil of Kattumannarkoil Muthukumara Pillai for the
next 5 years, undergoing endless hours of dance and exercise under
his guru’s watchful eyes. The stress on clarity of line coupled with
lissom grace that was to become his norm was the consequence of
this phase of training. After his marriage to Valambal, he accepted
the invitation to teach at Nrityodaya, Chennai. In its performing wing
Natana Kala Seva, he was plunged into a maelstrom of different styles
of music and dance, watching and observing masters create and
perform. He imbibed the most attractive features of styles other than
his own. Soon, Muthuswami Pillai gained a foothold in films as a
dance director. From mid 1940s to mid 1960s he had a fairly
successful career in films that brought him prosperity and fame. For
nearly 7 to 9 years, Muthuswami trained sisters Sayee and
Subbulakshmi in-between his film assignments. Vyjayanthimala,
Lalitha, Padmini, Ragini, BS Saroja, Yogam, Mangalam, Rhadha, L
Vijayalakshmi, Sayee and Subbulakshmi were trained by him for film
dances.2

After the decline of Bharatanatyam in films, performances also were

few in the 1960s and 70s. Since he was staying in a lodge (surrounded

3
by artistes), no new students approached him for training. But soon,
he got a French student Verushka and then started a long line of
students from France who came to India with the sole purpose of
learning from Muthuswami Pillai. He started creating new adavus
and movements day by day with each pupil until the repertoire had a
new flavour hitherto unknown. Most took Indian names like
Malavika, Shakuntala, Maithreyee Alamelu, Padmavati, Kunti,
Kalpana etc. even after they returned to France and opened their
own dance schools. Then Prathibha Prahlad and Malavika Sarukkai
learnt some items from him. His most famous disciple from France is
Dominique Delorme. He was the first Bharatanataym guru and first
person from Tamil soil to be awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des
Letters from France. Moulded in tradition, he had a strikingly modern
perspective in Bharatanatyam. Knowing to speak or understand only
his mother tongue Tamil, he had nearly all his students from France.
Unsought by disciples of his native land, he was one guru who
appealed most to the western mind.3

In 1945, when the alien rule was in its dying embers, our country at
the threshold of Independence and Bombay, the dynamic centre of
Indian resurgence, was pulsating with pride everything that was
nationalistic, be it social, political, economic or cultural. In such
atmosphere was founded the Sri Rajarajeswari Bharatanatya Kala
Mandir in Bombay by GURU A. T GOVINDRAJ PILLAI / ए.टी. गोपवन्दराज
पऩल्ऱाई, assisted and enthused by his wife Karunambal. He has
amassed huge knowledge in Bharatanatyam technique from the vast
treasures of his father-in-law Kuppiah Pillai’s erudite scholarship. His
legacy is continued by his son Guru Vasant Kumar. The success of this
venture led to the migration of Kuppiah Pillai and family from

4
Thanjavur to Bombay. Starting with just four students, the Kala
Mandir, in course of time, grew into a large banyan tree, with sons
GURU T.K. MAHALINGAM PILLAI AND GURU K. KALYANASUNDARAM
adding their mite.4

The Rajarajeswari Gurus have an illustrious lineage of ancestors

dating back to more than two centuries. Venkatakrishna Nattuvanar
was patronised by the Maratha Serfoji II of Thanjavur. The second
generation of Veeraswamy Nattuvanar and his sister Chinnaappa
Ammal were followed by the renowned Panchapakesa Nattuvanar
who was the Samasthana Vidwan of Thanjavur and
Ramanathapuram courts. He was also honoured by the royal houses
of Baroda and Mysore. An adept in abhinaya he is credited with
compiling in Tamil the Abhinaya Navaneetham, a monumental
treatise on abhinaya, a practical guide specially on Hastabhinaya. His
only son KUPPIAH PILLAI was the prime architect of Sri Rajarajeswari
Bharatha Natya Kala Mandir, regarded today as an institution par
excellence for Bharatanatyam. His Kamala Chakram, a lotus wheeled
compendium depicting the matra -based complex 108 talas, besides
the popular 35 ones, is invaluable to all students of music and
dance. Not resting on its oars, the institution has trained the current
generation of gurus, G. Vasant Kumar, M. Vishwanath and K.
Harikrishna who have already proved their mettle to carry on the
parampara tradition. The gurus of Rajarajeswari have blazed new
trails in adapting the training to the needs of changing times,
inculcating gurukula norms in institutional coaching and giving a new
facade to presentational format. The gurus have been adept in
adapting polyglot lyrics to Bharatanatyam so as to instil national
integration in true sense. The versatility of the gurus shines through

5
the dance dramas, the ballets, the ekaharya depictions they have
choreographed, in all of which, the aesthetic grace of the Thanjavur
bani glows unalloyed.5

Had it not been for two devadasis who came as “dowry” when a
Tanjore princess married the royalty of Baroda, Bharatanatyam would
have never reached north and west and rest of India a century ago.
The story of Baroda’s connection with Bharatanatyam begins in 1883,
when the young, handsome Maharaja of Baroda, Sayajirao Gaekwad
III, married a beautiful princess of Tanjore called Chimnabai. As part
of her dowry, the princess brought a troupe of dancers and
musicians. In this troupe were two dancers – Gaura, or
GOWRIAMMAL / गोवररअम्माऱ, whose mother was Kammu Amma, a
Tanjore court dancer, and BHANUMATHI / भानुमचथ, a devadasi from
Kumbakonam. Two nattuvanars Vadivelu and Sabhapati - father and
son - accompanied the dancers. Gaura stayed on but Bhanumati
returned to Kumbakonam and another dancer KANTHIMATI /
कान्न्तमती came as her replacement. Gaura was a fine dancer and
composer. She came to Baroda when still young and lived in a three-
storeyed mansion with other palace entertainers. Gaura had three
sons and a daughter. Her sons trained as nattuvanars and eventually
accompanied her. She taught Bharatanatyam to her daughter
Chandra amma, who also later danced in the palace till her marriage.
Chandra was educated and could speak nine languages! One of
Gaura’s sons Tulasidas also learnt Bharatanatyam from her. Gaura
was a court dancer for 32 years. Kanthimati danced for 35
years. Gaura amma died in 1940 (by other account in 1941).
Kanthimati died in 1953. Chandra amma, Gaura’s daughter died in

6
1983. By then Bharatanatyam had not only established itself, but
entrenched itself in all over India. When Baroda became part of India
upon independence, the royalty gifted many buildings to be used as
various faculties and departments to become India’s first university -
the Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU), initiated in 1949-50.6

MSU was the first university to offer dance at the graduate level in
1949. MOHAN KHOKAR was appointed as the first head of the
department of dance. His term saw the employment of several
artistes settled in Baroda, such as KUBERNATH TANJORKER (son of
devadasi Kanthimati), and visits by eminent scholars like E Krishna
Iyer.7 The revered guru Kubernath Tanjorkar, hailing from family with
traditional links with music and dance, contributed greatly to creating
a strong base of practical training in the department along with Smt.
Uma Dutta of Kalakshetra. The Department has base of Kalakshetra
School. SMT. ANJALI MERH nee Hora, one of the early batch disciples
of Smt. Rukmini Devi at Kalakshetra, became the Head of the Dance
Department. She further solidified the Kalakshetra School. Her
productions of the dance-drama-s in Gujarati like Shri
Chandramauliswara Kuravanji / श्री िंद्रमौसऱस्वर कुरवंजी , Natir-Puja /
नटीर-ऩूजा, Radha nu Shamanu / राधा नु शम ण,ु Buddha-Charitra / बुद्ध
िररत्र added a new dimension to Bharatanatyam, creating the Gujarati
school of Bharatanatyam. The crowning glory was her writing, setting
music and choreography of the whole Margam in Gujarati. Baroda
not only brought Bharatanatyam to the North, but has given a solid
base for its spread in Northern regions of India. Her students of
merit are Menaka Thakr, Parul Shah, Sandhya Mungar and many
more spread over many countries.

7
As Baroda with its connections with Tanjore had come under the
sway of the Maratha rulers, there developed in Bombay a ‘Marathi
school of Bharatanatyam’ represented by ACHARYA PARVATHI
KUMAR, who tried to use Hindustani music with Bharatanatyam
compositions to make the classical dance more accessible to non-
Tamilians. He composed padams in Marathi and his pupils Nana
Kasar and Sucheta Chapekar carried on his work.8

In the past two centuries (19th and 20th), Mysore has produced
many illustrious dance teachers like Muguru Subanna, Amritappa,
Dasappa, Bangalore Kittappa, Kolar Puttappa, and great dancers like
Amritamma, Coimbatore Tayi, Nagaratnamma, the incomparable Jatti
Tayamma and her disciple Venkatalakshamma. Alongside the palace
dancers existed the temple dancers or devadasis like Rangamma, and
Jeejamma - a veritable galaxy of dancers with high standards of
technical excellence and profound scholarship. In the present day, in
Karnataka or elsewhere, there are innumerable schools of
Bharatanatyam that teach the Pandanallur, Kanjeevaram, Madras,
Kalakshetra and Mysore styles without controversy or questioning.9

Guru H.R. Keshava Murthy founded Keshava Nritya Shala in 1949 in

Bangalore. He directed more than 30 dance dramas like Sri Krishna
Tulabhara / कृष्ण तऱ
ु ाभार , Kaveri Vaibhava / कावेरी वैभव , Jatayu
Moksha / जटायु मोक्ष , Mohini Bhasmasura / मोदिनी भस्मािरु , Parvati
Koravanji / ऩाववती कुरवंजी, Tirukana Kanasu / नतरुकाना कानिू to name
a few. His son / disciple BK Shyam Prakash is the Founder Director of
Samskruthi Bhavan, Keshava College of Music and Dance (Affiliated
to Bangalore University) & Keshava Samskruthi Sabha.

8
GURU NARMADA (1942 – 2007) trained initially under V.S. Kaushik in
the Thanjavur style, and then from the legendary K.P. Kittappa Pillai
for 18 years. Narmada started her dance school Shakuntala
Nruthyala named after her mother in 1978 in Bangalore. Inspiring
her students to be creative using a particular adavu without
sacrificing classicism was a notable factor in her teaching. She has
trained some of the finest Bharatanatyam dancers such as Lakshmi
Gopalswamy, Manju Bhargavi, Sathyanarayana Raju, Nirupama
Rajendra, Malathi Iyengar, P Praveen Kumar and Anuradha Vikranth.

LEELA RAMANATHAN (1927 – 2015) founded Meenakshi Sundaram

Centre for Performing Arts in 1972 in Bangalore. She was a prolific
writer and researcher in classical Indian dance forms with over 800
articles to her credit.

LALITHA SRINIVASAN, initially a student of Guru Keshavamurthy, later

specialised in abhinaya under Dr. K. Venkatalakshamma. She has also
learnt the Muguru style under Jejamma, thus a blend of several
teachers’ styles. She heads the Nupura School of Bharatanatyam
(Bangalore) founded in 1978. She has to her credit numerous dance
ballets like Chitrangadha / चित्रान्गदा, Sri Krishna Parijatha / श्री क्रिष्ण
ऩाररजात, Lasyotsava / ऱास्योत्िव, Prem Bhakti Mukti / प्रेम भन्तत मुन्तत ,
Koushika Sukritam / कौसशक िुकृतं, Gowdara Malli / गोव्दारा मन्ल्ऱ, Deva
Kannika / दे व कननका , Anveshane / अन्वेशने and Nisha Vibhrama / ननशा
पवभ्रम etc. and is especially lauded for her innovative works like Anga
Bhava / अंग भाव , Kavya Nritya / काव्य नत्ृ य , Sulalitha Nritya / िुऱसऱता
नित्य which is a revival of a 16th century dance form – the Suladi /
िुऱादी / ननशा पव भ्रम.
10
and Nisha Vibhrama

9
RAM GOPAL (1912-2003) was the first shining star of Bharatanatyam
who changed his costumes and helped many learn the style. Hailed
as the Nijinski of India, he was born and raised in Bangalore where a
strong Mysore school of Bharatanatyam existed. Ram Gopal
however, learned from Guru Muthukumaran Pillai of Kattumannarkoil
as well as from Guru Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. Ram Gopal’s
statuesque body and regal persona made his dance spectacular and
won Bharatanatyam a wide appeal not only in India but
internationally. What his contemporary Uday Shankar (1900-77) did
for contemporary dance, Ram Gopal achieved for the classical style.
He partnered several dancers and in the process gave their careers a
boost. Chief among his partners were Tara Chaudhary, Mrinalini
Sarabhai, Lilavati Hager and Kumudini Lakhia. Ram Gopal’s dancing
career was just decades long but his reputation far outlasted his
active innings.11

T. BALASARASWATI (1918-84) is celebrated for helping continue the

pristine art of devadasis. She hailed from the devadasi community
herself. More than her technique it was her abhinaya that was
celebrated. The quality of the music that she used for dance was
exceptional. This was not surprising because she was the
granddaughter of the legendary veena player Dhanammal.
Balasaraswati’s whole family was accomplished in music and dance.
Under her demanding guru N Kandappa (1899-1941) who
represented the best of the Thanjavur Quartet, she flowered into a
great dancer. His early death left her without a perfectionist task
master but by then the West had ’discovered’ her and soon she was
lauded at home too. Till her death Bala remained an important link

10
to the devadasi tradition. While several learnt from her it was her
daughter Lakshmi Knight who continued her legacy.12 Now Aniruddha
Knight, the son of Lakshmi is carrying on the family legacy.

RUKMINI DEVI ARUNDALE (1904 -84) was born into a family of

scholars and educationists and was exposed to the best of the East
and the West. She learned ballet from Cleo Nordi, a soloist from
Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova’s group. When confronted with the
question why she did not learn her own Indian classical dances, she
changed course. She came under the tutelage of Mylapore Gowri
Amma. When she set up Kalakshetra she engaged Guru
Muthukumaran Pillai as a teacher and after he left, Guru Meenakshi
Sundaram Pillai. Rukmini Devi represented a class and a caste
(Brahmin) which had shunned the arts, especially dance, considering
it polluted by the devadasis. When she first took to Bharatanatyam,
she became a pariah among the Brahmins. But later the Brahmins
extolled her rebellion as a watershed event and hailed her as the
saviour of a moribund form. Her dancing career was not long because
she set up Kalakshetra and was busy running it. But her school
helped promote Bharatanatyam by training many dancers and
initiating dance dramas. With her death in 1984, the institution lost
its guiding spirit.13

MRINALINI SARABHAI (born 1919) learnt Bharatanatyam from Guru

Muthukumaran Pillai and later from Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. She
learnt Kathakali too from Chatuni Panickar. She partnered the
famous Ram Gopal and danced into the limelight. She came from a
family of freedom fighters and educationists and married nuclear
scientist Vikram Sarabhai. In Ahmedabad she started a dance

11
academy called Darpana. It was at that time the only outpost for
classical dance in the region. Mrinalini also undertook creative and
innovative works in Bharatanatyam. She remains a significant link
with the past. Her talented daughter Mallika is also a dancer. 14
Mallika’s son Revanta is making a name for himself in the dance field.

KALANIDHI NARAYANAN (born 1930) was among the first Brahmin

girls to take to Bharatanatyam in the footsteps of Rukmini Devi
Arundale. Guru Kannappa Mudualiar (brother-in-law of Ellappa Pillai)
of Kanchipuram trained her. She learnt abhinaya from the devadasi
of the Mylapore temple, Gowri Amma and later from Chinnayya
Naidu, renowned for his abhinaya skills and was also associated with
Balasaraswati. Kalanidhi was the rising star, but stopped dancing
after the death of her husband, as was customary in Brahmin
families. She returned to the stage after a hiatus of 30 years in 1973
and has since then trained many students in abhinaya. Vani
Ganapathi, Janak Khendry, Malavika Sarukkai, Priyadarsini Govind
and Bragha Bessell are some of her well known students of
abhinaya.15

M.K. SAROJA (born 1931) was adopted by Guru Muthukumaran Pillai

and showered with all his blessings and art. Belonging neither to the
devadasi community nor to the Brahmin caste, this Mudaliar talent
was spotted by Ram Gopal and attained early fame as ‘Baby Saroja.’
She also acted in mythological Tamil films. Hailed as the critics
delight by E. Krishna Iyer and Prof. Sambhamoorthy, she was one of
the top five dancers in the 1940s through 1960s. Saroja married
renowned dance scholar and historian Prof. Mohan Khokar. She
remained an active performer and taught items to dancers like

12
Indrani Rahman, Yamini Krishnamurthy and Kiran Segal. Saroja’s
principal disciple Vidya continued her work. Shanti, Sylvie, Vani,
Ambika, Jyothi (all French) show the stamp of her grooming. M.K.
Saroja remains the sole representative of her guru’s style.16

KAMALA LAKSHMAN (born 1935) won popular appeal through

cinema. Taught initially in the Guru Muthukumaran Pillai parampara,
she was later influenced by Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai. Her titillating
numbers like the Snake Dance won her mass appeal and she
remained an important dancer in the 1960s. She married well known
cartoonist R.K. Lakshman but separated from him after a few years,
remarried and moved to the U.S.A. She played a key role in
packaging Bharatanatyam for the common man through her dances
for the silver screen. Many continue to be besotted by her screen
image, such was her elfin charm. Unfortunately she has no students
of merit.17

13
 PAPER: 3
Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And
Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 21 A Few Prominent Artists Of Bharatanatyam

While many learn and perform an art form, few gain prominence.
Prima donna is a French word often used to denote superstar in
dance (ballet). Thus the word gained currency with the arrival of
Sonal Mansih, Vyjayanthimala, Yamini Krishnamurthy, and others
started following. These were the leading ladies or dancers of the
Bharatanatyam world. They made Bharatanatyam popular and
helped it reach far and wide through stage performances and films
too. Many films were made on them and they were, before the
advent of TV, local stars of Delhi or Madras or Bombay.

Indrani Rahman / इन्द्राणी ये हभान (1930-1999) was a shimmering star

on the horizon of dance. Trained by Guru U.S. Krishna Rao / गुरु
मु.एस. कृष्णयाव of Bangalore, she also learnt from Chockalingam Pillai
and Sikkil Ramaswamy Pillai. She trained with Kittappa Pillai too and
later K.J. Govindarajan conducted her recitals. Indrani had an
unusual stage appeal as she was born to an American mother (Ragini
Devi / यागगणी दे वी) and an Indian father. She was lovely and even won
the Miss India beauty pageant and became a celebrity overnight. Her
Bharatanatyam was clean and graceful for she retained the overall
influence of her guide, Ram Gopal. Indrani was lost to
Bharatanatyam once she took to Orissi and made it her own in the
1960s though she continued to perform both forms and Kuchipudi as

1
well.1
Vaijayantimala Bali / वैजमंतीभारा फारी (born 1933) had her debut in
1947 and immediately established a rapport with the audience. Guru
Dandayuthapani Pillai and later, Guru Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai honed
her talent. Both gurus had a penchant for glittering delivery, fast
paced jatis and excellent flourishes. Vaijayantimala eventually moved
to Bombay owing to her popularity in the Hindi film industry, but she
maintained the purity and beauty of Bharatanatyam despite her long
association with popular cinema. Till date she retains inner grace,
born of good upbringing and discipline. 2 She was running her school
Natyalaya for a few years in Chennai.

Padmini / ऩद्मिनी (1932-2006), her elder sister Lalitha / रलरता and

younger sister Ragini / यागगणी were dancers and film actresses and
together called the ‘Travancore Sisters / त्रावणकोय लसस्टसस’. They
learned from Guru Gopinath of Travancore and his wife Thangamani,
Bharatanatyam from Pandanallur Mahalingam Pillai and Manipuri
from Uday Shankar, apart from many types of folk dances. In their
early public performances, Lalitha and Padmini usually played Krishna
and Radha. Ragini joined them in 1944 and for more than 13 years
the sisters regaled the audiences with their synchronised
performances. Their six minute dance sequences, sometimes in
pairs, were part of over 200 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films.
Uday Shankar gave them key roles in his film Kalpana / कल्ऩना, now
regarded as a dance classic. After Lalitha’s marriage in 1957, Padmini
and Ragini continued the partnership. Padmini and Sivaji Ganesan
formed the legendary team in Tamil cinema. Padmini herself married
Dr. K.T. Ramachandran in 1961. She danced in many European

2
capitals and so, kindled widespread interests in Indian art and
culture. In 1977 she started her own school, the Padmini School of
Fine Arts at her New Jersey home with four students. Padmini also
taught at the Kerala Culture Forum in New Jersey. She has
choreographed several ballets, such as Valli Thirumanam / वल्री
गथरुभनाभ, Kannagi / कन्द्नगी, Ramayana / याभामण, Shakuntala / शकंु तरा
and Dashavatar / दशावताय.3

Padma Subrahmanyam / डॉ. ऩिा सुब्रह्भण्मभ (born 1938) came under

the tutelage of Vazuvuhoor Ramiah Pillai, who conducted her
arangetram / अयं गेत्रभ in 1959. Later, she decided to undertake
research on temple sculpture specially to study poses or karanas /
कयण. She created a niche for herself by showcasing the various
karanas depicted on the walls of shrines important to Bharatanatyam
(particularly the Chidambaram temple) and making this material the
mainstay of her dance. Before her, Swarnamukhi / स्वणसभख
ु ी, a dancer
with a circus background had won acclaim for essaying difficult
postures. Padma’s dance veered towards drama with an emphasis on
makeup and sets. She named her style “Bharata Nrityam / बयत
द्मित्मं” which was accepted and celebrated by her admirers. Fond of
experimentation, she explored the mono-acting technique through
her productions such as Krishnaya Tubhyam Namaha / कृष्णाम तभ्
ु मं
नभः, Ramaya Tubhyam Namaha / याभाम तभ्
ु मं नभः and Jaya Jaya
Sankara / जम जम शंकय . She tried out fusion in shows such as Jatayu
Moksham / जटामु भोऺं and danced to Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet.
She has also presented some kuravanjis. In Chennai she runs

3
Nrityodaya, a dance school founded by her father, film director K.
Subrahmanyam in 1942.4

A graduate in Philosophy and Sociology from the University of

Mysore, Sudharani Raghupathy / डॉ सुधायाद्मन यघुऩद्मत ’s accomplished
gurus in the field of Bharatanatyam include K.P. Kittappa Pillai, U.S.
Krishna Rao and Mylapore Gowri Ammal. Her training in Carnatic
music was under violin maestro, T. Chowdiah and vaggeyakara /
वाग्गेमाकाय, Vidwan Madurai N Krishnan. She was perhaps one of the
rare Bharatanatyam dancers in India who has performed before
visiting dignitaries to India since 1956. She founded Shree
Bharatalaya in 1970 in Chennai. Her TV serial 'Bharatanjali / बयतांजलर,'
an appreciation of Bharatanatyam, the first of its kind on
Doordarshan in 1981 (13 episodes in B & W) and 1989 (8 episodes in
colour), is one of her significant contributions to dance. She has
produced valuable resource material - Madura Margam / भदयु ा भागं भ
(book containing dance compositions of Vidwan Madurai N
Krishnan), Laghu Bharatham / रघु बयतं -Volumes I, II & III (Handbooks
on Bharatanatyam) which is a unique contribution to the dance.

At the age of ten, Chitra Visweswaran / गित्रा ववश्वेश्वयन went under

the tutelage of one of the best devadasis of Tiruvidaimardur, T.A
Rajalakshmi, who was settled in Calcutta and under whom she
trained for nearly 10 years. In 1970, she received the National
Scholarship for advanced study in Bharatanatyam from the Ministry
of Human Resources Development, Government of India. She spent
her scholarship period of four years under Guru Vazhuvoor Ramiah
Pillai. Chitra started teaching dance at Calcutta at the age of sixteen,

4
but it was in 1975 that she established Chidambaram Academy of
Performing Arts (CAPA) in Chennai, now an acknowledged premier
institution in India.

Alarmeli Valli / अरयभेर वल्री (born 1956) is a sparkling example of

the Pandanallur style, as taught to her by Subbaraya Pillai, son of
Chockalingam Pillai. Her work has a rarely found spontaneity in her
dance. The beauty and joy, the spirit and the substance of
Bharatanatyam all flow effortlessly. After Yamini Krishnamurthy,
Alarmeli Valli is truly an artist who has captured everyone’s attention
– the critics, the connoisseurs, the audiences and the media. Alarmel
has among the most active dance careers today based purely on her
talent.5

Malavika Sarukkai / भारववका सरु

ु क्कई (born 1959) arrived on the
dance scene practically overnight. Trained at Bombay’s Sri
Rajarajeswari Bharatanatya Kala Mandir, she also learnt in Chennai
from Swamimalai Rajaratnam Pillai. She learnt abhinaya from
Kalanidhi Narayanan. Discovered for Festivals of India abroad in 1985
beginning with France she has gone from strength to strength. Her
technique is impeccable and she continues to be active in the world
of dance.6 She mentors select students in Bharatanatyam.

KALAKSHETRA, CHENNAI

Stalwart performers and gurus of Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai

are many.

Dhananjayan / वी. ऩी. धनंजम is famous as Kalakshetra’s Sri Rama.

5
Shanta participated in many Kalakshetra productions and is
remembered for her role as Radha in Geeta Govindam / गीत गोववन्द्दभ.
Shanta and VP Dhananjayan met in Kalakshetra and married but
shortly afterwards, branched out on their own due to some issues
and started Bharata Kalanjali. They established an infrastructure,
developed and trained musicians and instrumentalists for a dance
orchestra. Their productions are known for the good music, aesthetic
costumes and sets and excellent group choreography.

CV Chandrasekhar / सी. वी. िन्द्रसेखय is famous from the Kalakshetra

mould. Chandrasekhar trained in Kalakshetra from the age of 10 and
later went on to study Botany in Banaras. Though Jaya’s initial
interest was in Kathak, she started to learn Bharatanatyam from
Lalitha Sastry, alumni of Kalakshetra. Mutual interest in dance
brought them together and they helped popularize Bharatanatyam in
Uttar Pradesh in north India. Chandrasekhar became the Head of the
dance department at MS University, Baroda in 1980. Here, his skill as
musician, composer and choreographer was put to good use in his
innovations. In place of padams, they introduced Hindi poems and
choreographed dance dramas such as Rutusamhar / रुतुसम्हाय,
Bhumija / बूलभजा, Bhramar Geet / भ्रभय गीत, etc. On return to Chennai
in 1995, they continued Nrityashree which was established in Baroda
in early 1980s. They are well loved and known as excellent teachers.

Vasanthalakshmi and Narasimhachari / वसंतरक्ष्भी-नयलसम्हािायी are a

shishya / लशष्म and guru / गुरु who married in 1969 and started the
Kalasamarpana Foundation in Chennai. In Kalakshetra,
Narasimhachari, who was initially a burrakatha / फुयसकथा (a traditional

6
Andhra form of musical story telling) artiste, learnt music and
participated in the dance dramas. Their greatest contributions to
Bharatanatyam are about 25 dance dramas they have choreographed
on various themes.

Sarada Hoffman / शायदा होफ्पभन is one of the earliest students of

Kalakshetra, who was close to Rukmini Devi and became a valued
teacher in the dance department. She was responsible to a great
extent in formulating the polished and graceful Kalakshetra style of
Bharatanatyam.
After completing her course in Kalakshetra, Pushpa Shankar became
a teacher of Bharatanatyam in the institution. She is especially
remembered in the Ramayana series of Rukmini Devi as Kaikeyi and
Surpanaka.
After graduating from Kalakshetra, Vasanta Vedam became a
Bharatanatyam teacher. She trained Kalakshetra students in science
subjects to appear for Matriculation exams. Rukmini Devi was very
particular that all dance and music students should have general
education. She was very musical and participated in Rukmini Devi’s
Kutrala Kuravanji / कुत्रार कुयावंजी as the sakhi /सखी with the heroine
role being done by Rukmini Devi.
Katherine Kunhiraman did the two-year course for foreigners in
Kalakshetra and after obtaining the certificate there, she completed
the diploma course at Bharata Kalanjali of the Dhananjayans. She and
her husband Kunhiraman, one of the earliest students of Kalakshetra
started the Kalanjali institute in Berkeley, California. Kunhiraman was
well known for his roles as Vishwamitra, Dasaratha and so on in the
Ramayana series. He played the role of Lord Shiva in
Kumarasambhavam / कुभयसंबवं along with Rukmini Devi who was

7
Parvathi.7

Thangamani Nagarajan trained under Peria Sarada for her two year
graduate course. She danced as Rati in Rukmini Devi’s
Kumarasambhavam. She taught at Kalakshetra for 5 years and
participated in several of the Kalakshetra dance dramas.
Janardhanan, son of Kathakali maestro Chandu Panicker, learnt
Kathakali and Bharatanatyam in Kalakshetra. He is known for his role
of Sri Rama in the Ramayana series. He was a teacher after
graduation and retired as the Principal of Kalakshetra.
Savitri Jagannath Rao runs her dance school Pradakshina where she
teaches students the pure Kalakshetra style. Indira Bora, a talented
dancer from Assam, participated in Rukmini Devi’s dance dramas and
is remembered for playing the role of a sakhi to Sakuntalam. She is
the founder of Kalabhumi in Guwahati.8

DELHI

Today Bharatanatyam is such a popular choice of recreation as well as

profession in the Capital that it may be hard for youngsters to
imagine a time when Delhi’s middle class culture knew hardly a thing
about this classical dance form from South India. Among the earliest
gurus of the art who came to the city was Guru K.J. Govindarajan, a
highly trained vocalist, choreographer and nattuvanar. His mother,
Kiranoor Jayalakshmi, was a well known musician and his first guru.
His other gurus included Vidwan Narayanaswami, T. V. Namasivayam,
Sikkil Ramaswami Pillai and Kripasamudra Swamigal. When he was
hardly 26, Guru Govindarajan came to Delhi in 1960 along with his
mentor, Sikkil Ramaswami. With their formidable repertoire of
classical compositions, they first taught music at Triveni Kala Sangam,
8
one of the city’s few institutions then. Eventually the younger guru,
aided by a firm dedication and a faith that drew no distinctions
between his prayer and his art practice, established his own school,
Bharata Natya Niketan. With his in-depth knowledge and genial
nature he gathered many students and created a large corpus of
Bharatanatyam compositions. A number of senior dancers were
trained by him, including Gurus Jamuna Krishnan, Jaya Shankar
Menon, Radha Marar, Rasika Khanna, Kiran Segal and others.9 His
style was a fine blend of tradition and demands of contemporary
time limits.

Sikkil Ramaswami Pillai taught at Triveni Kala Sangam in Delhi. His

disciple Hama Malini says, “He was a kind old man and in a way my
first guru. His older disciple at that time was the then Miss India,
Indrani Rahman, a very beautiful lady and a very fine dancer too. In
fact, I have spent many evenings just watching Indrani practice with
our guru. It was a treat watching her move as gracefully as she did.”
Hema was content learning from Ramaswami Pillai except that he
had a peculiar problem. When accompanying Hema on her dance
shows, Pillai would on stage break into singing rather than
concentrate on his nattuvangam! 10

Yamini Krishnamurthy (born 1936) can be truly called the real prima
donna of Bharatanatyam. A brilliant performer of Kuchipudi, Orissi
and Bharatanatyam, her tutelage under Ellappa Pillai made her shine
like a perfectly cut diamond. Her father Prof. Krishnamurthy used her
to conduct lecture demonstration. She was Kalakshetra’s best known
name of her period and after her move to Delhi in 1958, ruled the
roost like a true prima donna. Yamini’s stature remains
undiminished. Along with her sister Jyothi (as vocalist and often
9
conductor), Yamini enthralled audiences for over three decades. She
runs the Nritya Kasturba School in Delhi.11

Sonal Mansingh (born 1944) represented a new phenomenon of the

1960s: a cosmopolitan in Mumbai making a foray into the world of
Indian classical dance. Sonal was born into a family of freedom
fighters. She learnt Bharatanatyam from the Bangalore based gurus,
U.S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi. She made remarkable
progress. Sonal married Lalit Mansingh, (whose father Dr. Mayadhar
Mansingh was a renowned litterateur of Orissa) and learnt Orissi
from Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. She had an accident in Germany
and made a much publicised comeback as a performer in the mid
1970s. Although groomed in both Bharatanatyam and Orissi by
excellent gurus, Sonal has few promising talents among her pupils.12

Born in 1937 in Bellary, Andhra Pradesh, Saroja Vaidyanthan took her

initial training in Bharatanatyam under Lalitha at the Saraswati Gana
Nilayam in Chennai. She was later a student of the well-known guru
Kattumannar Muthukumaran Pillai of Thanjavur. She also studied
Carnatic music under Professor P. Sambamoorthy at Madras
University, and obtained a D. Litt in dance from the Indira Kala
Sangeet Viswavidyalaya, Khairagarh. Saroja Vaidyanathan is well
established today among the leading Bharatanatyam teachers of the
country. She is the founder-director of Ganesha Natyalaya, a dance
institution in Delhi, where she has trained a large number of young
dancers. She has authored several books on dance and music
including The Science of Bharatanatyam, Carnataka Sangeetham, and
Bharatanatyam: An In-depth Study, and Classical Dances of India. A
documentary film on her work in the field has been produced by
Media Craft Production.13
10
Leela Samson (born 1951) learnt dance at Kalakshetra and evolved
into a professional dancer. After participating in several productions
of the institution, she moved to Delhi and initially taught at the
Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra. She later left the Kendra and started
her own classes, teaching such talents as Justin McCarthy, Navtej
Singh Johar and Joyce Paul among others. Leela has maintained the
dignity of Bharatanatyam and succeeded in creating productions like
Spanda which holds the audience attention. She has authored
articles and a book on dance.14 Leela Samson has served as the
director of Kalakshetra as well as head of the Film Censor Board. Two
documentaries made on her are Sanchari by Arup Khopkar and The
Flowering Tree by Ein Lall.

Geeta Chandran began learning Bharatanatyam from the age of five

under the tutelage of Swarna Saraswathy, who hailed from the
traditional Thanjavur devadasi parampara / ऩयं ऩया. Geeta continued
learning diverse aspects of the dance from a galaxy of eminent gurus
like Vazhuvoor Sadasivam, K.J. Govindarajan and K.N.
Dakshinamurthy. She also learnt abhinaya / अलबनम from Jamuna
Krishnan and Kalanidhi Narayanan. From her 1980 performance for
Sur Singar Samsad when she was 18, it has been an upward journey
for Geeta who has performed in all major festivals. Today she is a
renowned artiste who has synthesised the knowledge she received
from her gurus to imprint Bharatanatyam with her personal vision of
the dance. She runs Natya Vriksha in Delhi and meticulously trains
her students. Geeta has evolved a holistic style of teaching the
classical dance to engage young learners.

11
Jayalakshmi Eswar studied under Rukmini Devi in Kalakshetra. She
has played a Thanjavur dancer in G.V. Iyer’s Kannada film Hamsa
Geethe / हंसा गीत. She is the founder of Abhinaya Centre of Dance,
New Delhi. She has authored books like Padha Bheda / ऩाद बेद and
Hastha Prayogaah / हस्त प्रमोगः . Her Educational Dance Card game
provides the knowledge on the Indian classical dance forms
(Bharatanatyam, Chhau, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manipuri,
Mohiniattam, Odissi and Sattriya) through playing. Two types of
games can be played - Educational or Fun, by making sequences like
regular card game Rummy.

There are a few other talents who have won the admiration of critics
sand rasikas alike by their total dedication to dance. Among these
artists are Leela Ramanathan who was Ram Gopal’s acolyte from
Bangalore; B. Bhanumati, Padmini Ravi and her students Kiran
Subramanyam and Sandhya Kiran of Bangalore; Rashmi Hegde,
disciple of Guru Muthiah Pillai to name a few.

We also have Vasundara Doraswamy of Mysore; Parul Shah in

Baroda, Maya Kulkarni, a political science teacher in U.S.A. who is
the Bharartanatyam dancer of repute; Indira and Menaka Bora of
Assam; excellent dancer-teacher chorographer Menaka Thakkar in
Toronto, Canada, Rajeswari Sainath of Secunderabad and Ananda
Shankar Jayant of Hyderabad; Rohinton Cama, that wonder boy of
Bharatanatyam who was the trailblazer, but gave up dance; Deepak
Mazumdar of Mumbai; Sucheta Chapekar of Pune.

Kiran Segal who learnt the art from Guru K.J. Govindarajan, but now

12
performs mostly Odissi; Kanaka Srinivasan, a disciple of Ramiah Pillai
in Delhi; Sindhu Mishra, a bright disciple first of K.J. Govindarajan
and later of mridangam player Dakshinamurthy of Delhi; Uma
Balasubramanyam, a prized pupil of K.J. Govindarajan; Vani
Govindarajan, daughter and disciple of Guru K.J. Govindarajan;
Navtej Singh Johar, the Sikh dancing sensation; Rama Vaidyanathan
the best exponent of Yamini Krishnamurthy style, now under Saroja
Vaidyanathan and Sonal Mansingh’s student Ketaki Narain are some
of the Delhi talents.15
Urmila Satyanarayanan, Kavitha Ramu, Swarnamalya Ganesh and
Srekala Bharat from Chennai, all disciples of K.J. Sarasa; Priyadarsini
Govind and Srinidhi Chidambaram, disciples of Swamimalai
Rajaratnam Pillai have won audiences from the younger generation
for their dance.

13
 PAPER: 3
Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And
Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 22 Researchers, Critics And Scholars Of Bharatanatyam

Other than those who physically taught the art form of

Bharatanatyam, many scholars researched and wrote about it, thus
helping establish it formally. While gurus taught and dancers danced
and popularised the art, it was these few scholars in last 100 years
who made an impact and made the Bharatanatyam art form reach
the world outside through essays, articles, books, films and
documentation. We discuss here a few main ones who are national
and internationally accepted names. There is a whole generation of
youngsters who are trying to understand and advance the dance
form through research. But still, the major focus of anyone who starts
learning dance, remains on performance. We are yet to recognise the
fact that practice and theory of any art, any subject goes hand in
hand. One cannot exist without the other.

Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan / डॉ कपिऱा वात्स्यायन is a leading Indian scholar

of classical Indian dance, Indian art and architecture and art
historian. She learnt Kathak and Manipuri and joined the Culture
Department under Education Ministry, Government of India. She
controlled many decisions and patronage systems of the Culture
Department at Shastri Bhawan, Delhi, during the 1970s-80s. She was

1
the founding director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the
Arts, Delhi. She is the author of several books including Dance
Sculpture in Sarangapani Temple (1982), Traditions of Indian Folk
Dance (1987), Indian Classical Dance (1992), The Square and the
Circle of the Indian Arts (1997), Dance in Indian Painting (2004),
Bharata: The Natyasastra (2006), Classical Indian Dance in Literature
and the Arts (2007), Asian Dance: Multiple Levels (2011), etc.

Prof. Mohan Khokar / प्रो मोहन खोकर was a pioneering scholar, critic,
historian and collector. He developed deep insights, sound instincts
and sensitive responses vis-a-vis this haloed cultural heritage of the
country. He acquired authority to discuss in depth and with
conviction, the nuances of any classical dance form – Bharatanatyam,
Kuchipudi, Kathakali, Yakshagana, Odissi, Kathak, Manipuri,
Bhagavatamela, etc. He wrote 5 monumental books Traditions of
Indian Classical Dance, Adavus in Bharatanatyam, Folk Dances,
Splendours of Indian Dance and Uday Shankar. He was the dance
critic for many distinguished papers, Indian and foreign. From 1958-
1960, he collaborated with Dr. Mulk Raj Anand in bringing out Dance
Specials of the Marg magazine. His illustrated note on Indian dances
in the Encyclopaedia Britannica was considered the best contribution
from Asia. He produced two documentaries on Kathakali and
Yakshagana for the University of Rome. Khokar served on the
UNESCO Commissions for Dance. His greatest legacy to posterity is
his priceless collection of archives which many prestigious institutions
like New York Lincoln Centre, Stockholm Dance Museum, and Indira
Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Encyclopaedia Britannica use as
source material for their various projects. A special section of paper
material in the Collection is the vast amount of correspondence

2
between Khokar and innumerable artistes, scholars and gurus of the
dance world. The Mohan Khokar Dance Collection is now taken care
of by his critic-historian son, Ashish Mohan Khokar.

E Krishna Iyer / इ. क्रिष्ण आयर was an Indian lawyer, freedom-fighter,

dancer and activist who were responsible for popularizing the dying
art of Bharatanatyam in South India. His involvement with the
Bharatanatyam revival movement began when he joined a theatrical
company called Suguna Vilasa Sabha and learnt Sadir, a sensuous and
less respectful form of Bharatanatyam practised by devadasis.
Krishna Iyer founded the Madras Music Academy and teamed
with Rukmini Devi to save the dance form from dying out. Krishna
Iyer also patronized Carnatic music and wrote as an art critic for
the Indian Express, Dinamani / ददनमणी and Kalki / कल्कक. Krishna Iyer
vehemently protested against Muthulakshmi Reddy’s attitude
towards Sadir in a series of letters published in the Madras Mail and
sought to give the dance form a measure of respect by proposing a
resolution at a 1932 meeting of the Madras Music Academy to
rename it as ‘Bharatanatyam.’4 Through his exceptional writing skills
he induced the public to understand the aesthetic value of the dance.
As a good educationist he delivered a series of public lectures
including lecture demonstrations to educate people on the essence
of dance. His book on dance titled Bharatanatyam and Other Dances
of India and one on music titled Personalities in Present Day Music
are his two major works.

G Venkatachalam / जी वें क टचऱम was an outstanding art critic of the

pre-independence era. Born in 1895, Govindaraj Venkatachalam

3
started his career as a journalist. He was for a time special art
contributor to New India, a daily newspaper which was being edited
by Dr. Annie Besant. He was also Assistant Editor of two art journals,
Theatre and Roopa-Lekha / रूि-ऱेखा. A regular contributor to various
journals in India, America and Japan, he was the author of many well-
known books on Indian life and art like The Mirror of Indian Art,
Modern Indian Painters, Travel Diary of an Art Student, Daughters of
the Dawn, Pen Pictures and Sketches, Unheard Melodies, etc. His
book Dance in India, a rather sketchy and personal take on dancers
and dance forms, served as base material for many, before serious
and in-depth books on dance came after Independence.

With the help of a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, Ragini Devi
/ रागगणीदे वी wrote Dance Dialects of India, aimed at creating a deeper
understanding and appreciation of the Indian dance and its cultural
environment in India. In 1928, Ragini Devi published Nritanjali /
न्रिताांजलऱ: An Introduction to Indian Dancing, the first book in English
on Indian dance. Dancing in the Family (2001) authored by Sukanya
Rahman is about her mother Indrani Rehman and grandmother
Ragini Devi.

La Meri / ऱा मेरी was an American ethnic dancer, choreographer,

teacher, poet, and scholar. She published a number of magazine
articles and books, including The Gesture Language of Hindu
Dance and Spanish Dancing. Usha Venkateswaran has written on Life
and Times of La Meri: Queen of Ethnic Dances.
Dutch dancer Saskia C. Kersenboom wrote Nityasumangali /

4
न्रनत्सयसुमांगऱी: Devadasi Tradition in South Asia (1987) about devadasi
participation in temple rituals, devadasi repertoire, and rites of
passage, through intense research work. Ram Gopal and Serozh
Dadachanji have together authored Indian Dancing.

When Nala Najan cut down on his dancing, he started to review

performances and wrote many articles with insight. His columns
about the New York dance scene in Sruti and Rasamanjari magazines
were eagerly awaited. He made a video titled Dances of India. “His
language was lucid and honest, descriptive and erudite, always
interesting and never pedantic. He was one of the few dancers who
made the successful switch to dance writing without sounding cynical
or bitter.”5 Nala’s writings were scholarly and he wrote extensive
private research notes.

Dr. V. Raghavan / डॉ. वी. राघवन (1908-1979) was a Sanskrit scholar

and musicologist. He took his M.A. in Sanskrit Language and
Literature with Comparative Philology and four schools of Indian
Philosophy under Prof. S. Kuppuswamy Sastri; specialized in Alamkara
and Natya Sastras and Sanskrit Aesthetics and earned his Doctorate
in 1934-1935 from Profs. S. Levi, F.W. Thomas and A.B. Keith; studied
Sanskrit on the traditional lines also and won medals and prizes for
Sanskrit speaking and writing. He authored several books on music
and on aesthetics in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of about 120
works and over 1200 research papers in the fields of Sanskrit and
Indological research. Malavikagnimitra / माऱपवकाल्ननलमत्र Act-II with
special reference to Malavika’s Dance (1964-65), South Indian Dance
and Dance-Drama (1964-65), Sri Narayana Tirtha / श्री नारायण तीथथ

5
(1965), An Introduction to Indian Poetics (1970), Natyakalai /
नाट्यकऱई (Tamizh, 1974), Ramayana Tradition in Asia (1980),
Abhinavagupta and his works (1981), Kavya-Nataka-Samgraha /
काव्य-नाटक-सांग्रह (2002), Splendours of Indian Dance (2004) etc are
some of his many works.6 His monumental work Bhoja’s Srngara
Prakasa / भोज गश्रांगार प्रकाश (1962), a treatise in 36 chapters dealing
with both poetics and dramaturgy is the largest known work in
Sanskrit literary criticism and aesthetics. For this work and his
commentary, he won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit in
1966. It was later published as volume 53 of the Harvard Oriental
Series in 1998.7

PV Subramaniam alias Subbudu / िी. वी. सुब्रमन्रनअम- सुब्बुडू (1917-

2007) helped make dance history. In a career that spanned more
than 50 years, his acerbic wit, fearlessly bold comments and deep
knowledge of music made readers eager to read his views. He always
spoke his mind. Artistes both feared and loved him, the media
idolised him, and readers lapped up every comment of his. As a
performing arts critic, he lived a life akin to a political journalist,
surviving death threats, physical assaults, lawsuits and tempting
bribes with courage and humor. For someone who wielded
tremendous influence in Delhi (because of his weekly column in The
Statesman since 1950) and Chennai’s arts scene (with a range of
magazines and newspapers such as Ananda Vikatan and Indian
Express) thanks to his refined knowledge of Carnatic music and
classical dance forms such as Bharatanatyam, Subbudu made sure his
words and not artistes were remembered in his writings. Magazines
and newspapers made sure they advertised Subbudu’s association
6
with them well in advance. Subbudu’s rise on the Indian arts scene
ran parallel to the growth of Indian performing arts in post-
independent India. The main reason for this was the democratisation
of arts. Subbudu has left behind a legacy of words that had the
power to make or mar artistes.8

Dr. B.M. Sundaram / डॉ बी एम ् सुन्दरम is a leading historian of South

Indian dance and music. Hailing from a traditional family of musicians
that can be traced back over 40 generations, he has published
extensively on the performance cultures and communities of South
India. His research spans a broad range of methodologies from
manuscript preservation and editing to ethnography. His tireless
commitment to dance history in the Thanjavur region has brought to
light several pathfinding works, including Varna Svara Jati / वणथ ्वर
जती, a unique text of devadasi dance compositions edited from
manuscripts at the Thanjavur library. He is the author of major books
on cultural history in South India in Tamil including Tala Sangraham
(‘Compendium of rhythmic theory’), Mangala Isai Mannargal (‘The
kings of ritual music’), Marabu Tanda Manikkangal (‘Women who
gave the gift of tradition’), and Marabu Vali Perasarangal (‘The great
hereditary masters of the tradition’), a book on nattuvanars (dance-
masters) that received a major award from the Tamilnadu State
Government. He has authored the only existing biographies of
several prominent musicians of the late nineteenth and early
twentieth century, including Needamangalam Meenakshisundaram
Pillai, Thanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer and Kanchipuram Naina Pillai. He
has also contributed a large number of scholarly works in English,
including The Advent of Lavani in Thanjavur, The Origin and Evolution

7
of Nagasvaram / नाग्वरम, The Origin of Jalatarangam / जऱतरां गम,
and a revolutionary essay entitled ‘Towards a genealogy of some
Thanjavur Natyacharyas.’

Shanta Serbjeet Singh / शाांता सरबजीत लसांह is a senior arts columnist

and critic, author and cultural activist. She has served, for more than
twenty-five years as columnist, critic and media analyst for The
Hindustan Times, The Economic Times and The Times of India, India’s
most important mainstream dailies, in English language. As elected
Chairperson of APPAN, she has individually organized or helped
organize 8 international symposiums and festivals in several Asian
countries. Her publications include: ‘Indian Dance: The Ultimate
Metaphor,’ ‘The 50th Milestone: A Feminine Critique’ to mark India’s
fiftieth anniversary of Independence. ‘Nanak, The Guru’ and ‘America
and You’ (went into 22 editions) published by the United States
Information Service, India.

Dr. Sunil Kothari / डॉ. सुनीऱ कोठारी is a dance critic, publicist-writer,

with many books to credit. He did his Ph.D in dance on Kuchipudi,
Bhagavata Mela Natakam and Kuravanji dance drama tradition with
reference to Rasa Theory as expounded in Natyashastra, and post-
doctoral research on Dance Sculptures of Medieval temples of North
Gujarat with reference to Sangitopanisatsaroddhara /
सांगीतोिनीषत्ससारोद्धार. He was a dance critic for the Times of India group
for 20 years (1960s-80s). He has put together books for Marg after
Mohan Khokar’s example including the second edition of
Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Chhau Dances of India,
New Directions in Indian Dance, Damaru, essays on traditional dance

8
and theatre, Photo Biographies on Uday Shankar and Rukmini Devi,
edited Sattriya / सत्सतररया Classical Dance of Assam. He has written
several articles for national and international journals. He has also
won national awards and titles.

When S. Sarada / एस. शारदा attended Rukmini Devi’s dance

rehearsals, she would notate the music and movements. Writing
down the dance was the inspirational work of Sarada and her
method is still followed in Kalakshetra. Sarada edited the material for
all of Kalakshetra’s dance dramas along with Venkatachala Sastry and
Adi Narayana Sarma. Among her numerous scholarly achievements is
her assistance to Tiger Varadachariar when he was composing music
for Kumarasambhavam / कुमरसांभवां, Papanasam Sivan for Andal
Charitram / आांडाऱ चररत्रां , Kannappar Kuravanji / कणप्िर कुरवांजी , Gita
Govindam / गीत गोपवन्दम, Sakuntalam / शाकांु तऱम, Matsya Avataram /
मत्स्य अवतारम, and Kurma Avataram / कुमथ अवतारम. She also worked
with Balu Bhagavatar of Melattur and Kalyaniammal and edited
Dhruva Charitram, Usha Parinayam and Rukmini Kalyanam and made
it suitable for Rukmini Devi. She helped edit and proof read
publications of Papanasam Sivan, Veena Krishnamachariar and
others. She also helped edit the musical works of Neelakanta Sivan,
the Keertanai Malai / कीतथने माऱ ई of Papanasam Sivan and Gana
Manjari / गाना मांजरी , the works of Veena Krishnamachariar, all of
which have been published by Kalakshetra. She helped edit the three
volumes of the Sangeeta Ratnakara / सांगीत रत्सनाकर and Mela
Ragamalika / मेऱा रागमा लऱका, both in Sanskrit, published by the
Adyar Library and Research Centre. She wrote Rukmini Devi’s
9
biography titled Kalakshetra: Rukmini Devi.

Prof Parul Shah / प्रो िारुऱ शाह , Former Dean Faculty of Performing
Arts as well as the Head of the Dance Department at the Maharaja
Sayajirao University of Baroda is perhaps the only Indian Performing
artist who received the Senior Fullbright Fellowship (1991). Her
research on the Analysis of Sthayi Bhava-s using Laban Movement
Analysis is path-breaking in the serious dance research. Since her PhD
on Rasa Dance of Gujarat in 1984, till now she has presented more
than 50 papers in internationally renowned dance bodies such as
CORD, JADE, IMACO, APPAN, WDA and many such. Her association
with UGC is very long in the area of dance curricula, testing and
research. The present project of creating E- Content for Performing
Arts-Dance is one of the most in-depth, extensive and futuristic
exercises in the field of Dance Education and Research.

Leela Venkataraman / ऱीऱा व्यांकटरामन started her career as a writer

on dance, beginning as the dance critic for the National Herald in
1980, after which she was with another daily, The Patriot. Selected as
the dance critic for The Hindu when the paper began its Delhi edition,
she was with the paper for a long time. Her regular reviews in the
Friday Review column earned a reputation for being the most incisive
commentary on the dance scene in the capital and was looked
forward to with much eagerness and enthusiasm among art lovers.
Leela Venkataraman has written extensively for journals in India and
abroad. Among her publications are Indian Classical dance: Tradition
in Transition, Bharatanatyam: Step by Step, A Dancing Phenomenon:
Birju Maharaj and Indian Classical Dance – The Renaissance and
Beyond (2015). She is a regular contributor to Nartanam quarterly
10
journal and Sruti magazine. In her career spanning three decades, she
has made a significant contribution to dance writing. She won the
SNA award for her contribution.

Lakshmi Vishwanathan / ऱक्ष्मी पवश्वनाथन ’s earliest research project

was the Temple Dance of Tamil Nadu. She has since done few more
such grant-supported books. Roli Books, New Delhi commissioned
Lakshmi to write a biography of M.S. Subbulakshmi. Titled
Kunjamma-Ode / कुन्जम्मा-ओडे to a Nightingale (2003), this was the
first book on the great vocalist with more than a hundred
photographs from her own album. In 2006, Lakshmi authored the
colourfully illustrated book Kapaliswara Temple - the Sacred Site of
Mylapore. In 2008, Lakshmi released her latest book, Women of Pride
- the Devadasi Heritage. Currently she is the editor of the Kalakshetra
Journal, which was originally published by the founder Rukmini Devi.9

Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam / डॉ िद्मा सब्र

ु ह्मण्यम has numerous articles,
research papers and travelogues to her credit like Bharata’s Art –
Then and Now, Bharatakkalai Kotpadu (in Tamil), Natya Sastra and
National Unity, Legacy of a Legend which is a collection of articles by
her and Bhagavad Gita for Dance. She wrote the script, scored music,
choreographed and personally appeared in the 13-segment film
Bharatiya Natya Sastra produced by Nrityodaya and directed by her
brother V. Balakrishnan which was telecast on Doordarshan National
network. Published in three volumes by Nrityodaya, Karanas -
Common Dance Codes of India and Indonesia is the fruit of her
decades of research. She has also written Epic Stories from Natya
Sastra (for Children) and Natya Sastra Itihasa Kadhaigal (for Children

11
– Tamil).

Devesh Soneji / दे वेश सोनेजी is the author of Unfinished Gestures:

Devadasis, Memory and Modernity in South India (2012), a study that
examines the social history of women in devadasi communities over
the past two hundred years drawing from extensive archival and
ethnographic work. He is the editor of Bharatanatyam: A Reader
(2010), and co-editor of Performing Pasts: Reinventing the Arts in
Modern South India (2008). Prof. Soneji is also the co-founder and
director of The Mangala Initiative, a non-profit organization centred
on social justice issues for hereditary performing artists in South
India.

Ashish Mohan Khokar / आलशष मोहन खोकर served the Times of India
as dance critic in Delhi for 20 years (Delhi from 1990 - 2000 and
Bangalore 2000 – 2009). He was the dance columnist for India Today,
First City and Avantika. He edits and publishes India’s only yearbook
on dance – attendance - and is curator of India’s largest dance
materials - the Mohan Khokar Dance Collection. He has written over
40 books on Indian arts and culture. He chairs the Dance History
Society of India and has pioneered academic dance, Discourses, with
Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. He is the most widely read dance
columnist from India on the internet.

Avanthi Meduri / अवन्ती मेदरु ी is the convener of the first post

graduate programme in South Asian Dance Studies launched at
Roehampton University in London in 2005. Her published works
include Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A Visionary Architect of

12
Indian Culture and the Performing Arts (2005), The transfiguration of
Indian/Asian dance in the United Kingdom: contemporary
Bharatanatyam in global contexts (2010), Nation, Woman,
Representation: The Sutured History of the Devadasi and her Dance
(1996), Bharatanatyam What are you? (1997) and History as an
image: mimesis and parody in Bharatha Natyam (1990).

There is not enough space here to give justice to all those who are
contributing immensely to the field. The Writers, Scholars and
Researchers in the field of dance research and writing have enriched
dance scholarship at large. Some of them are Acharya Parvati Kumar,
Dr Pappu Venugopal Rao, Dr. Amrut Shrinivasan, Dr. Nandini Ramani,
Dr Mandakranta Bose, Dr Arshiya Shethi, V R Devika, Smt. Manjari
Sinha, Madhavi Puranam and such. Apart from these there are
regional scholars who have written on Bharatanatyam in their native
language.

13
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 23 Traditional Pedagogy In Bharatanatyam

The antiquity of the study of fine arts in India dates back to several
hundred centuries. There is enough literature available that throws
light on the well-developed art forms in India. Music and dance are no
exceptions. The Natyashastra dates back to 3rd century B.C. This fact
proves that much before Natyashastra was written the art of music and
dance were very well developed to the state of fine arts. This is
possible only with a defined methodology and a good pedagogy. Fine
arts in India were always learnt in a gurukulam / गुरूकुऱम with a
strong bondage of guru and shishya. The gurukulam system is well
proven and practiced for several centuries in India. This system has
undergone changes in the last one century.

The classical dance form Bharatanatyam has a mythological origin

which talks about the teaching of this art. Brahma created the fifth
(Panchama / ऩंचम) Veda called Natya Veda, a quintessence of the
main four Vedas, by combining padhya / ऩाथ्य (words) of Rig Veda,
abhinaya / अभिनय (communicative elements of the body
movements) of Yajur Veda, geetham / गीतम (music and chant) of
Sama Veda / साम वेद, and rasa / रस (vital sentiment and emotional
element) of Atharva Veda / अथवव वेद. Brahma handed Natya Veda /

1
नाट्य वेद to Bharata Muni to spread it in the world. Bharata guided
the gandharvas / गंधवव and apsaras / अप्सरा to perform natya / नाट्य,
nrtta / नत
ृ and nritya / नत्ृ य before Shiva. Bharata along with the
apsaras and gandharvas performed for Shiva who asked Tandu to
develop it further into a tandava / तांडव which Siva himself has
performed. Shiva imparted the style of performing lasya / ऱास्य to
Parvathi who taught it to Usha (the daughter of Banasura). Usha
passed it on to the gopis / गोऩी of Dwarka who then taught the
women of Saurashtra. The interpretation of the mythological story
has different variations. However this art is believed to have been
performed by the Gods and Goddesses and passed on to the humans
and hence attributing a spiritual touch to it.

Historical background

Over the centuries people thought the spiritual art should be

performed only for the Gods. It could also be to enhance the arts to a
spiritual status. Performing in the temples and festivals in front of
the Gods became a practice. For this purpose girls were dedicated to
the temples. These girls were called devadasis whose prime duty was
to sing and dance before the Gods during daily pooja and on
festivals. They were given land and money for their livelihood. These
girls were taught all the rudiments of dance, music and Tamil
literature by the family members. Along with the girls the boys in the
family also learnt the art and became nattuvanars, musicians,
instrumentalists and some as performing dancers. Some of these
artistes got attached to the royal courts and became Rajadasis. All
these dancers devoted their entire life to the art. It was their
profession. There was no fixed time during the learning hours. There
2
were no fixed adavu pattern. Depending on the disciple’s capacity
and interest the teacher taught the adavus / आडवु, teermanams /
तीरमानम and songs. Every day the learning sessions included the
nattuvanar who also sang the songs, mridagam / मदृ ं गम player and
the veena / वीणा player. New songs were composed and improvised
on the spot of the practice sessions which were performed on the
same evening in the court or temple. Such was the immense
knowledge and talent of the artistes. During the Nayak period in
Tamil Nadu, the indigenous art forms underwent a process of
elaboration and were presented with new names. Sangeetha
Darpanam / संगीत दऩवण a literary work mentions about the repertoire
of a dance performance which consisted of twelve items like
mukachali / मुखचाऱी, yatinritta / यातततित्ता, sabdachali / शब्दचाऱी,
udupa / उदऩ
ु , druva / द्रव
ु , soudasabda / सौदशब्द, kavada / कवाडा, gita /
गीत, cintu / चचंटू, desikattari / दे शीकत्तरी, vaipota / वऩोता and
sabdanritta / शब्दतित्ता.

In the following centuries some of these items became obsolete and

some were added. The text Sangeetha Muktavali / संगीत मुक्तावल्ऱी
by Devanacharya lists new items like drupad / द्रऩ
ु द, soodagita
pushpanjali / सूदचगता ऩुषऩांजभऱ, ragangayatri nritta / रागंगायत्री नत्ृ त,
suddhayati nritta / सुद्धयती नत्ृ त, sabdanritta / शब्दनत्ृ त, devanritta /
दे वनत्ृ त, roopanritta / रूऩनत्ृ त, gita prabandas / गीत प्रबंध and darus /
दरू. During the Maratha period these items were replaced by new
items like jakkini / जक्क्कनी, hela padam / हे ऱा ऩदम,् suba leela / सूबा
ऱीऱा, padakelika / ऩदकेभऱका, dhootya padam / धूतय ऩदम,् adyatma /

3
अद्यात्म, neethi padalu / नीतत ऩदाऱ,ू valveechu / वल्वीछु, vendukollu /
वें दक
ु ोल्ऱ,ू gopika geetam / गोपऩका गीतं, dandakam / दण्डकम, vilvedu /
पवल्वेडू, gujjari / गुज्जरी, sringara padam / श्ींगार ऩदम ् and kuravanji /
कुवंजी. The artistes also modified and added new items in the
margam / मागवम according to the need of the rasikas / रभसका
(audience). Adavus are the basic dance units which are developed
with rhythm and music into a dance item. The Sanskrit work Sangitha
Saramritha / संगीत सारामत
ृ by King Tulaja (A.D.1763-1787)refers to
adavus. The names of the adavus are given in Sanskrit, Tamil, and
Telugu with their description and relevant sollukattus. King Tulaja in
his work describes 18 varieties of adavus prevalent during his time.
Tanjore Quartette Chinnayya, Ponniah, Sivanandam and Vadivelu
(A.D.1798-1832) were in the court of Serfoji II and are called the
architects of the present day Bharatanatyam repertoire. They
systematised the adavus. Adavus are the basic foundation of dance
which is also a major factor influencing the style and quality of the
dance. By than 25 varieties of adavus mentioned in the text became
obsolete. The adavu structure categorised by Tanjore quartet has ten
groups with twelve individual variations totalling to 120 adavus. They
are Tattadavu / टट्टाडवु, Naattadavu / नट्टाडवु, Gudithadavu / कुददथाडव,ु
Jaaatiadavu / जातीआडवु, Tattumettuadavu / तट्टूमेट्टूआडव,ु Mei adavu /
मेई आडवु, Irudhi adavu / इरुचध आडवु, Mettu adavu / मेट्टू आडव,ु Nadai
adavu / नडै आडवु and Mudivu adavu / मुददवु अदावु. The repertoire
formatted by the Tanjore Quartette is called the Margam.

This art was passed on to generations within the family members.

Each family developed a distinct style in the performance of dance,

4
music, choreography and presentation. This tradition continued till
the beginning of the 20th century. The decline of the devadasi /
दे वदासी system affected the continuity of this art at its fullest.
Without proper patronage many men shifted to other jobs like
farming etc. and the ladies stopped dancing. The devadasi system
was looked down by the society and had a bad reputation. The dance
programmes became a taboo in the society. Without patronage the
artists suffered. In general the girls in the society other than the
devadasis were oppressed and were not given freedom to have even
basic education. Learning Fine arts was beyond their reach. Hence
devadasis could not teach to the girl from the general household.
Fine arts were never accepted as a hobby. Very few devadasis and
nattuvanars could retain their art and kept it within the family
members. The period till the sadir / सददर was revived as
Bharathanatyam it was a dark period in the education of dance.

In the beginning of the 20th century many girls from reputed families
came forward to learn this art. Not just for hobby but to preserve the
dying art. Very noted among them were Rukminidevi Arundale and
Mrinalini Sarabhai. Both of them hail from a well-educated and
orthodox family and still were allowed to learn this art. At different
point of time they learnt from the same teacher Meenakshi
Sundaram Pillai and later established institution to preserve this art.

There was not enough patronage extended for the nattuvanars /

नट्टूवनार. India turmoiled with the freedom fight against British. All
fine arts were at a low ebb. Hence the families of nattuvanars came
down to Madras (Chennai) in 1930’s and established dance
academies in different parts of the city. They taught and

5
choreographed in distinct styles which came to be known as Baani /
बानी or Paddathi / ऩद्धतत(style).The name of the villages were affixed
with the “bani”. For example, Pandanallur Baani,Thanjavur Baani,
Vazhuvoor Baani, Kanchipuram Baani etc.The basic dance lessons
were the same except for the style of dancing and presentation of
the programme.

Pandanallur Bani

Meenakshisundaram Pillai was the descended of Tanjore Quartet. He

adhered to the strict methodology formatted by the Tanjore quartet.
He was taught this art by his uncle Kumaraswamy Nattuvanar. The
jathiswarams, sabdams and varnams taught were choreographed by
his ancestors. He imparted the knowledge to many students and
some of them have made it a mark for themselves and the art in the
national and international scenario, some of the temple dancers like
Pandanallur Jayalakshmi, Thangachi Ammal, Sabaranjitham were his
students. Rukmani Devi Arundale, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Ram Gopal,
T.K.S.Swaminatha Pillai, Kubernath Tanjorekar, Tara Chaudri were
his students who continued teaching this art at different places in
India.

He passed on this art to his son-in-law Chokkalingam Pillai. He

followed the same methodology like his guru. The sollukattus and
teermanams were the same in varnams. The variations were shown
in the other items like jathiswaram, padam, tillana etc. The format of
margam was strictly followed. He later moved to Chennai from his
village. His disciples were Mambalam Geetha, G. Kausalya, Indrani
Rahman and Sucharita to name a few. Subbaraya Pillai (1914–2008),
the son of Chokkalingam Pillai had the opportunity to learn this art

6
from both his father and grandfather. He followed the Pandanallur
bani and taught too many students who are continuing by
performing and teaching this art. Each of these nattuvanars were
capable of composing the sollukatus and teermanams to rare talas.
They incorporated in the dance items according to the ability of the
dancer and expectation of the rasikas(audience). He trained leading
dancers like Alarmel Valli, Meenakshi Chitaranjan, etc. Presently his
granddaughter Vanitha Rajasekar is teaching this art to many
students.
Vazhuvoor Bani
Ramaiah Pillai hailed from Vazhovoor village in Tanjore district. He
came to Chennai to teach Bharatanatyam. His approach to teaching
was very practical and suited to the times. He concentrated on the
graceful movements and the presentation of korvais with melodic
recitation of sollukattus. This style came to be known as Vazhovoor
style (bani).He was also invited to choreograph dance in the movies.
His foremost disciple was Kamala Laxmanan, who made this art form
popular in India and abroad. He went to the student’s house to take
special classes for them. Some students came to his house to learn.
He had a number of students who later on became famous dancers
and dance teachers. He taught the students in group as well as solo.
He explained to the students the sahitya / सादहत्य for each song and
himself acted the bhava for the song. He sang and recited the jathis
during the teaching sessions. Teaching of the jathi korvais and the
sanchari bhavas varied from each student according to their
capability. He also passed on the tradition to his sons. His son Samraj
was an equally talented teacher like his father. Presently the
Vazhovoor bani has been taught by many of his students and his
family members.
7
Kanchipuram Bani

Ellappa Nattuvanar started his career as a teacher in Kanchipuram.

He was a perfectionist and would teach a single adavu to the
students even for a couple of months till they perfected it. He was
keen that the students know Tamil and understand the lyrics of the
songs they performed. He would insist the students utter the jathis
with proper intonation and appropriate stress on the sound of the
words (vallinam and mellinam / वक्ल्ऱनम- मेक्ल्ऱनम). He encouraged
the students to watch as many dance performances of luminary
dancers to gain knowledge and inspiration. This style was called the
Kanchipuram style (bani). In and around Kanchipuram there are
several temples with beautiful and artistic sculptures. This has
inspired Ellappa to incorporate the sculptural poses in the dance
items. His ace students are Udupi Laxminarayana and Lakshmi
Viswanathan. Students of these teachers are continuing this style of
dance by teaching and performing.

Thanjavur Bani

Thanjai Arunachalam Pillai and his wife Jayalakshmi started a dance

school in Mylapore called Sri Shanmugananda Bharathanatya Palli.
Their teaching style was called Thanjavur style. They followed the
margam set by Tanjore quartet. Their method of teaching was as
under:

1. Each foot is firmly beaten on the ground. In the araimandi / अरै मंडी
position the feet are slightly towards the front like in ‘V’ shape.

8
2. Insist on angashuddam / अंगशुद्दम (correct angles and postures
while dancing).

3. The students are encouraged to enjoy the dancing.

4. All adavus should first start from the right side.

5. The usi / उसी (missing a fraction of a beat) tha thai thai tha (ता तै
तै ता is done as nattadavu.

6. Thattimetu is done by stamping both legs before lifting the heel.

7. Students are encouraged to watch the senior students’ class and

observe.

8. While dancing the nritta or performing abhinaya, the line of the

song is first danced on right and then repeated on left with single
hand and then double hand.

9. The natyarambam / नाट्यारम्िम posture is full stretch of the hand.

Natyarambam and araimandi is prescribed as per the physical
attributes of the student.

10. Abhinaya is not very intense. Movements flow gracefully into one
another.

In early times Bharatanatyam was learnt from the nattuvanars in the

gurukulam / गुरुकुऱम. The nattuvanars taught the art to the student
individually. The gurus took into consideration the capability and
style of each student and taught them accordingly. There was no
time frame for classes. The student stayed in class till they were

9
asked to leave by the Guru. The names of the hastas / हस्त were
taught in Tamil. The history of the art was not taught. It was more of
a performing art. The Gurus after teaching the basic steps or adavus
taught small korvais / कोरवै which were a combination of adavus.
These korvais helped them to perform the jathiswaram and tillana
later. Alarippu in different nadais were taught starting from tisra
allarippu. After this followed the kauthuvam, jathiswaram, shabdam.
The varnams were predominantly sringara rasa based on the
compositions of the Tanjore Quartet. So irrespective of the age these
varnams were taught.

In the beginning of the 20th century the sadir was rechristened as

Bharatanatyam. Girls from respectable families like Rukmini Devi and
Mrinalini Sarabhai learnt this art and established academies and gave
a different dimension to this art.

Kalakshetra

Rukmini Devi established Kalakshetra to impart knowledge of the

fine arts to interested students. The students were taught the art as
a curriculum. They learnt music, dance, instruments, languages and
yoga. The adavus were formatted and taught with perfection. The
student has to undergo training methodically into all the subjects for
seven years to get a diploma. Rukmini Devi invited eminent gurus in
Bharatanatyam, Kathakali and music to teach in the institution
irrespective of their bani. Rukmini Devi herself choreographed many
dance items and dance dramas. She took Bharatanatyam to the
international stage. Her choreographies are taught and performed
till the present day. The solo items taught will be of a uniform nature
which is not altered by the teachers or students. Hence this type of

10
learning dance has come to be known as Kalakshetra style. The
students also follow the same pattern of teaching to their students.
There are hundreds of teachers and students who follow the
Kalakshetra style of dance. Presently the government has taken over
the academy and offers graduation and post-graduation diploma in
dance and music.

K.N.Dandayuthapani Pillai

Pillai joined Kalakshetra as a dance teacher and later individually

established a dance school named Natyakalalaya in Chennai. He had
taught many students and also choreographed for films. He taught
the traditional format of adavus and teermanams. He employed his
experienced senior students to teach the adavus to the young ones
as defined by him. The 13 sets of adavus were taught systematically
for the duration of one year. He believed that the sringara padams
and varnams were too difficult for young ones to understand and
perform. He believed bhakti rasa was easy for children to
understand. Hence he composed padavarnams, keertanams and
padams with bhakti rasa exclusively for children which became very
popular. For e.g. the padavarnam annaiyai maravenadi. Presently his
daughter Uma Dandayuthapani and many of his students continue
teaching his style of Bharatanatyam.

Mangudi Dorairaja Iyer was an eminent dance teacher well versed in

playing mridangam and the tala system. He composed teermanams
in difficult talas for his senior students to perform. He also taught
Perani Natyam to some of his trained students. Perani Natyam is to
be danced on a claypot. It was very rare in those days for a Brahmin
to teach and perform dance. He also wrote two books named

11
‘mridanga bodhinim / मदृ ं ग बोचधतनम ’and ‘svabodha bharatha
navaneetham / स्वबोध िरत नवनीतम ’. Presently Revathy
Ramachandran, M.S.Kanchana and Gowri, the students of Dorairaja
Iyer continue teaching on their guru’s path.

Teaching the Mysore style of dance

During the reign of the Wodeyar Dynasty in Mysore, there was a

resurgence of all art forms and a distinct style of Bharatanatyam
emerged during the time of Krishna Raja Wodeyar. This came to be
known as the “Mysore Style of Bharatanatyam”. His successor Shri
Chamarajendra Wodeyar brought Chinayya of the Tanjore Quartet
whose work influenced dance and music in Mysore.

Many illustrious teachers – Muguru Subanna, Bangalore Kittappa,

Kolar Puttappa, devadasis like – Rangamma and Jeejamma and
rajanartakis (palace dancers) like Amritamma, the incomparable
Naatyasaraswati Jatti Tayamma of the Jatti Manethana (wrestler’s
family) and her disciple, Natya Shantala, Padmabhushan Dr. K.
Venkatalakshmamma hailing from the Lambanis (gypsy community)
gave this style a distinct flair.

Gurukulam in the Mysore system:

Venkatalakshamma learnt the art in the gurukulam of Jatti

Thayamma. The practice schedule for the students was as follows:

1. Students should awake by 4.30 am and be ready in the class by 5

am.

2. One hour of physical exercises which had rare ones like lifting toor
dal (arhar dal, pigeonpea) with eyelashes.

12
3. After a short break, with a dyana sloka, adavu classes begins

4. Nritta items are performed

5. After 3 pm there would be abhinaya classes.

Thattadavu in Adi talam was taught for a month. This was followed
by adavus like Nattadavu, Kattadavu, Mettadavu, Pakkadavu,
Kudithamettadavu, Mukthayi adavu. The adavus were not taught in
any particular order and the names of the adavus were also not
mentioned to the students. The Alarippu was first taught in
chathusram. After teaching jatiswarams and keertanas, the
tanavarnam was taught. There were no jatis and thattimettu
introduced in the first half of the varnam. There was not much of
theory taught except the samyutha and asamyutha hastas. It was
compulsory for the students to learn music. After the completion of
the fourth year the students perform Salangai pooja and then on
start practicing with them.

Two important works named Natanadi vadya ranjanam / नटनादी

वाद्य रं जनम and Sabharanjita chintamani / सिारं क्जत चचंतामणण by
Gangaimuthu nattuvanar contains number of sollukatus and
teermanams for dance and mridangam. The art flourished in
Tamilnadu with several nattuvanars with a common structural
pattern of adavus. The creative and artistic imaginations of the
nattuvanars introduced graceful elements into dance. There was no
one standard work on adavus. Hence the way of teaching, classifying
and performing adavus have been different. In a way this has helped
to bring out various paddathis and still has ample scope for
improvisation. The difference in style depends upon the general
outlook and the aspect of specialization. E.g. one school emphasises

13
on complicated rhythm patterns, another on soft and graceful
movements and so on. Interested students whether learnt from a
nattuvanar or institution was serious about learning and absorbing
all the nuances from their gurus and took it to a professional level.
They realized that it was their responsibility to bring back this divine
art and spread it to as many students as possible. In the Paper—2 of
pedagogy of learning Bharatanatyam, we will see how the
methodology adopted today as compared to the earlier two
generations have changed in a great way to suit the requirements of
the rasikas as well as students.

14
 PAPER: 3
Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And
Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 24 Bharatanatyam Teaching In The Universities

Dance education refers to education or training that leads to

theatrical/professional dance training, as opposed to dance in
education, which is limited to dance in elementary, secondary and
higher secondary schools where dance is offered as a useful tool for
physical and personal development and as a way to developing
higher learning skills.
In India, this distinction is not always clear. Some universities, claim
for instance, that whether or not students emerge as dancers for the
professional stage, they should be given a sufficiently high level of
physical training to allow for careers in dance. On the other hand,
Universities offering dance education and other pre-professional
institutions are beginning to offer courses in dance notation,
anatomy, music, theatre and other related subjects previously not
thought to be essential to dance training.
Teaching classical Indian dance to students outside the traditional
Tamil belt or outside of India, the Bharatanatyam teacher has to
constantly adopt new techniques in the instructions. One must learn,
understand and appreciate how Indian classical dance teachers
negotiate their teaching practices when they teach their traditional
discipline in a multi-cultural setting where contemporary educational
strategies are implemented. Traditionally, in India, the guru taught
and the disciple (student) imitated, but outside there is more
conversation between the teacher and student. This is almost a part
of the training where the teacher needs to explain the reasons to a
student about a certain dance phrase or step in a particular way.
As we treat dance as an art form, and not only as ritual for
dedication, the practice and aesthetic enjoyment of dance becomes
a highly subjective, personalized matter whereas, as an art form, it
should be universal and objective. This situation would and does
create a rather contradictory situation. The true dancer/artiste is
primarily a creature of her/his creative instincts and so, naturally,
dances to accord with once own ideas and personality. It is here that
one may be accused of violating the basic principle of the guru-
shishya parampara / गुरु-शिष्य परं परा . The result is often a setback to
a creative career leading either to timid stagnation or to open
defiance. And as we know, both are artistic disasters.

The solution to this complex problem lies in defining and

understanding the true meaning of dance education as understood
in Indian tradition and interpreting it in terms of the contemporary
ethos. By this process traditional values would receive due
importance but, at the same time, give considerable
manoeuverability to the individual dancer or shishya to create
her/his own avenue of artistic communication. There are attitudinal
changes also to contend with. These changes are sweeping away the
old norms and values of our tradition-bound art form. It seems the
sanctity of learning has all but disappeared. In its place we find an
atmosphere which smacks of rank commercialization. This problem
has achieved a very significant relevance in the contemporary dance
scene in India due to the conditions prevailing today. But while
decrying the erosion of the guru-shishya paramparã, one cannot
dismiss the conditions which led to it and are here to stay. The way
out of this impasse is to strike a rational and reasonable balance,
retaining the values of the traditional paramparã and casting them
into a full-time training program responsive to contemporary
demands and changed circumstances.

As a part-time amateur approach cannot serve to propagate classical

dancing or meet the demand for serious practice, dance training
must become a part of university curriculum on par with other full-
time professional courses. The university set-up would also restrict
commercialization and exploitation. The practical side of training
must retain the traditional guru-shishya parampara, involving
traditional gurus; the theoretical or textual side should be dealt with
by academically trained teachers and dancers. The students must be
systematically taught the textual basis and sanction of contemporary
dance practices. This approach alone will help in preserving the
purity of dance practices, aiding a comprehension which is absent
today in traditional training.

Let’s look in detail at the University Dance Education with a case

study. This will allow a student to think and make sensible choices.

First established as the “Sangit Shala / संगीत िाऱा ” in 1886 by the

Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, it later became the College of Indian
Music, Dance and Dramatics (popularly known as Music College),
part of the Faculty of Fine Arts, when the Maharaja Sayajirao
University of Baroda was formed in 1950. Established in July 1950,
the Department of Dance became a part of the College of Indian
Music, Dance and Dramatics, M.S. University of Baroda. Since then
the Department has established a unique character of amalgamating
traditional practice of art-dance teaching, i.e. the Guru-Shishya
parampara with the contemporary practice of art education. In 1986,
the College got complete Faculty status and is known as Faculty of
Performing Arts, one of the star institutions in India providing in-
depth study of the classical performing arts.

Sayajirao Gaekwad III was the pioneering Arts education proponent

and to him goes the credit of creating the first school of Music in
India. For the first time in the history of Performing Arts Education in
this country, the M S University of Baroda set a seal of recognition to
the teaching of performing arts at the university level. All the
spadework that went in to making of the M S University was guided
by one specific objective: to create a university that would depart
radically from the general pattern prevailing in our country. Anxious
to keep pace with the times without sacrificing any of its inheritance,
MS University again opted for innovation in establishing a home for
the arts as the 20th century reached a halfway mark. Any casual
observer is sure to be struck with the synthesis of the new and the
old that evolved in this University. Here was a conscious effort and
realization of the potential importance of the Arts, its education and
practice, as the inherent and most needed aspect of an individual’s
growth as well as the character building of a society which leads to a
strong, healthy and vital nation.

In the field of classical performing arts, the traditional mode of

learning-teaching is through guru-shishya parampara, a one to one
interaction, an intense emotional bonding, and strength of
knowledge received through long and vigorous training. This system
created “a professional artist” to carry forward the message of Indian
thought and philosophy. Keeping this in mind, best of both guru-
shishya parampara and modern educational methods came together
to offer a professional comprehensive course in Performing Arts. It
encouraged strong practice, independent thought, bold
experimentation and intense research activity. The establishment of
this faculty was extremely bold and futuristic The synthesis of these
arts, envisaged by this faculty, makes it a center of comprehensive
study in subjects whose recognition in our country up to
independence was at its best but arbitrary and precarious.

COURSES

Though the inherent knowledge remained the same, university

education of performing arts then and even today, is like climbing
against an avalanche. The design and structure of courses needed
vision, knowledge and conviction. The experts of that time did not
fall short. A synthesis of old and new practices evolved into a zest for
new experiments and the courses, from the level of part time
diploma for young students (age 12+), to the full-time
undergraduate, post-graduate and doctoral programs, were devised
and planned by the experts with this frame of reference. It is perhaps
one of the kind, and the first, in the whole country. The faculty has
its primary objective as the training, on a professional level, of
students in the arts of music, dance and drama. Concentration is on
the development of individuality so as to enable a student to create
new art forms. The courses are so designed as to provide a broader
outlook on art and life and to foster a balanced sensibility so that the
student contributes to cultural and artistic life. As far as our
information goes, there is no university faculty in India, other than
this, which simultaneously provides tuition in the closely related arts
of music, dance and dramatics combined with the courses in
humanities. The specialized course consists of intensive practical
training, sound knowledge of cultural and historical background,
relevant contemporary trends and aesthetics. Though many are
attracted to the practical side, they are not still awake to the
importance of the theory and academic value of these arts. The
study of the academic side has found an important place in the
various courses taught here.

Since the very inception of the Dance department in 1950, it was

decided that in imparting training, equal emphasis would be laid on
the theory and practice of dance. The qualified students may not
merely become versatile dancers but also accomplished teachers,
critics, historians and artistes. Bharatanatyam, the dance style that
was part of the Baroda court since 1886, and Kathak of the north
were selected for specialization. Since then, the Department of
Dance continues to offer courses leading to DPA (Diploma in
Performing Arts, 4 years, part-time), BPA (Bachelor of Performing
Arts, 3years after HSC), MPA (Master of Performing Arts, 2 years
after UG), PG Diploma in Nattuvangam (one year) and Ph.D., all with
specialization in Dance. The courses are continuously revised every 5
years, so the students are knowledgeable of contemporary thoughts
and practices as well as acquiring a strong technique base.

The theory courses are common to both the styles. From first year to
the final MPA, a student studies Indian Dance in-depth, its origins,
development in different historical, cultural background, details of
the technique, major texts, its inter-relationship to other arts,
aesthetics, transition from the temple to the theatre, contemporary
developments and so on with the study of the folk and tribal dances.
The introduction to World Dance, the dances of South-east Asia,
Japan, China, Ballet, Modern and Post Modern Dance, and Laban
analysis opens a vast area of knowledge, interest and appreciation to
the world cultures. The student is offered in second study, another
art form. Along with the theory, one is trained in humanities subjects
such as aesthetics, cultural heritage, languages and the art of
production, design, light, make-up, and costumes. To encourage in-
depth academic study and research, it is a must for a MPA student to
do a dissertation on the subject of their choice.

The studio practicals are held in the mornings for three hours, 6 days
a week. To keep alive the closeness and core of the guru-shishya
system, the class intake capacity is very small, maximum 10 per class.

For specialization in Bharatanatyam, the whole of the first year of

BPA is devoted to 1. The training and conditioning of the body, 2.
Teaching all Adavu-s in the 4 speeds and execution in all five Jati-s. 3.
The students must recite the whole of Abhinaya Darpana, 4.
Maintain a journal of all items, and 5. Be able do the Nattuvangam
and recitation of the Adavu-s.

In the 2nd and 3rd year of BPA, a whole margam is completed with
minimum eight items and same is the case for the two years of MPA.
The gradual but very hard work and the advanced training to more
complicated, extensive, in-depth items both in Nritta and Abhinaya,
with Nattuvangam-playing, singing, journal maintaining is a must. As
are dance composition and choreography. Students are encouraged
to perform their creations at departmental gatherings. The base of
Bharatanatyam remains the Kalakshetra school. Being a University,
the spirit of universality and open-ness is encouraged. So the flavor
of the Tanjavur school is absorbed and today we may call it the
Baroda Bani/school. For first 3 years, now 6 semesters, student
learns mostly from 3 different teachers and in the Masters, for the 2
years they learn from one teacher. So as one can see, all the
parameters of the traditional system are fulfilled with much more
added for the free and democratic India.

The regular day of all the students starts at 8 am with prayers and
Abhinaya Darpana, and dance exercises. The practicals continue till
11 am. After a brief break of 15 minutes, class of dance theory of 1
hour, than 2 hours of electives, library work and their own or
production practice. Evening study of other art form or attend
diploma class for Nattuvangam. So it is an 8am to 8pm exercise,
under the watchful, guiding and friendly eyes of the teachers who
are also on campus. This all with the fees between Rs 5000 to Rs.
7000 per year! So what is the difference between the traditional
guru-shishya and modern University training? No one can become an
artiste in 5 years. After PG, the student needs to do a lot more
practice, work with senior artistes and so on. As we all know too
well, the demands of the professional field are very different.

FACILITIES

The faculty and the department have extensive library for the
major areas of performing arts and dance. The student can also
make use of the library of the university that is considered one of
the most extensive as well as that of the Oriental Institute, the
GOS series. There is facility of recording room, audio library, ward-
robe with costumes, ornaments and make-up, dressing rooms and
the practice studio-s. For the senior classes, musical
accompaniment is provided with Mridangam. All these give ample
scope to the students and the teachers to develop further in their
fields, experiment, research and create. Also coming together of
all the arts under one roof provides creative interactions and an
appreciation of other forms. The students are continuously
exposed to and are able to interact with eminent scholars and
practitioners of dance and the allied fields through extra-mural
lectures, seminars, workshops, visiting guests, conferences and the
like. They often perform for the department and the faculty
concerts and presentations. In 1995-96, the first “Kal Ke Kalakar”
festival of Gujarat was started in the faculty which was later picked
up by the Gujarat Sangeet Natak Akademi. The students are
awarded merit scholarships, fellowships, gold medals and offered
professional performance opportunity. The staff gets all the
benefits of working in a residential university supported by the
UGC.

Along with performances of Kathak and Bharatanatyam, the

department encourages training in and performances of folk-
dances and modern, creative dance. Alumni of the department
have settled in India and other countries like the USA, UK,
Australia, Japan, Singapore, Canada, Kenya, Nepal, Mauritius, and
Bangladesh where they teach and perform. A lot of our students
work for the TV channels and teach dance in the schools creating a
sensitive audience.

STAFF and PRODUCTIONS

Eminent artistes and the senior staff members have created and
produced a number of dance-dramas. They were and are
performed in India and abroad, in dance festivals, seminars and as
public performances. These stage presentations provide the
students with performance opportunities and training in the art of
production. Apart from regular grants, the department has a
special production grant to enable the faculty to create and further
its scope. The teachers are recognized for their services in the field
and are recipients of state, national and international awards and
grants. Many students opt for teaching Dance at schools and
colleges. Many dance students earn a living by opening their own
dance institutions. They also can apply for fellowships for higher
training to Dept. of Culture, Govt. of India. Many students in the
past have received fellowships from Ministry of HRD, Delhi. Dance
students are also settling in USA, Canada, Singapore, Mauritius,
Europe. Most of the theatre students have joined professional
Marathi theatre in Mumbai, Television Channels, Films and they
prefer to work as freelance artists. Some pass NET, PET and enroll
for Ph.D.

RESEARCH

The system of dance notation through “stick” figures was developed

in the department in Bharatanatyam around late 1960s. As the dance
education got formalized, the need for preservation arose. Students
not coming from the Tamil cultural milieu and also a lot of foreign
students of many nations needed some way to remember their items
other than the “oral” tradition. They did not want to leave things to
memory and perception. During the last 30 years the system was
extensively developed and used by all students. Path-breaking work
of using Laban’s LMA started in the department in late 1980s which
even continues today with support of United States Education
Foundation, Department of Culture, Govt of India and such.

Most of the other Indian Universities and Institutions of higher

learning of Dance have almost the same agenda with their special
character. They are dedicated to enlighten the mind, manifest talent,
develop abilities, promote creativity and preserve aesthetical values
while training and encouraging students to meet the creative and
intellectual challenges of the 21st century.
We will look into a few of them here to understand the development
better.
For example, Centre for Performing Arts at University of Pune is
popularly known as Lalit Kala Kendra and it works on a self-
supportive basis. For the first time, full time. Professional and
Residential courses in Dance are on a Gurukul pattern. Gurukul
pattern means students at the centre continue to learn their art with
eminent Gurus in the field while studying for graduate and post-
graduate courses. They divide their time between Guru's residence
and classes on the campus. But they do not live in the houses of the
gurus. At this juncture, one is not sure, other than those who
belonged to the community of hereditary dancers/musicians, who
actually lived in the house of the guru and studied dance earlier. The
students have to complete contain credits as per the syllabus with
the Gurus. The Gurus pass on the grades after completion of their
practical course to the university at the end of every term. All the
theory classes are conducted at the university.

The Rabindra Bharati Act, 1981, in its Preamble has clearly stated the
goals of the University. The tasks assigned to the University shall be
“... to encourage in conformity with the ideas and thoughts of
Rabindranath Tagore, the integration of cultural heritage of the
nation consistent with its linguistic and socio-economic history and
enable it to function more efficiently as a University encouraging and
providing for instruction, teaching, training and research in various
branches of learning and course of study, promoting advancement
and dissemination of knowledge and learning and extending higher
education, to meet the growing needs of society and to make the
constitution of various authorities of bodies of the University more
democratic.''
Indian classical dance brings out the quintessential cultural ethos of
the diverse regions of India. The diploma and certificate programs
offered by Alliance University Department of Performing Arts impart
the fundamentals of classical dance forms and provide a holistic and
integrated approach to the understanding of the performing arts of
India. Performing arts education in Indian classical dance at the
Department includes practice, aesthetics, the study of allied arts and
the discovery of individual creative potential.
Kalakshetra was founded in 1936 by the vibrant visionary Rukmini
Devi Arundale, and the Institution stands testimony to her dream of
creating a space where the essence of Indian thought would find
expression through artistic education. An institution she established
with the vision “of imparting to the young the true spirit of Art,
devoid of vulgarity and commercialism." The intent of the institute is
to create a consummate performer, one who is an adept dancer, and
has a thorough understanding of the theoretical, literary and musical
basis of the traditional art. The Kalakshetra dancer is renowned for
his/her impeccable form. Dance drama, is part of the legacy of
Rukmini Devi. Kalakshetra has a repertory company that performs
extensively through the year both at the festivals in the institute as
well as in other cities both in India and abroad

Some of the major Universities offering graduate courses in dance

are:

 Department of Dance, Faculty of Performing Arts, The

Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, MSU
 Banaras Hindu University – Varanasi, BHU
 Rabindra Bharati University – Kolkota, RBU
 University of Calicut, Kozhikode
 The Nalanda Dance Research Centre's Nalanda Nritya Kala
Mahavidyalaya, Mumbai, Maharashtra
 Visva Bharati, Sangita Bhavana, Shantiniketan
 Tilak Maharastra Vidyapeeth, Pune
 Department of Centre for Performing Arts, University of Pune ,
Maharashtra
 Department of Dance, Punjabi University, Patiala
 Bhaskara College of Arts, Kannur University
 Institute of Visual & Performing Arts, Mangalayatan University
 Visual Performing Arts, MUA Aligarh
 Centre for Performing Arts, Savitribai Phule Pune University
 Kalakshetra College of Fine Arts
 Alliance University, Bangalore
 Department of Dance, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada
University, Aurangabad
 Khairagarh University, MP
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 25 Modern Works In Bharatanatyam

Bharatanatyam, from its very inception, has been an act of creativity

and choreography, virtually a new stringing of old beads. One prefers
this metaphor of the garland as the dance has mostly been a
sadhana / साधना and offering, at times to temple deities, at times to
kings and nayakas / नायक and at times to new Gods like the nation.
The art has seen choreographing and re-choreographing of its
historical narrative, the repertoire and the vocabulary of the dance
to respond to new requirements. The very art of christening sadir /
सदिर or dasiattam / िासीआट्टम, the dance of the Devadasis as
Bharatanatyam was an act of creativity.

Even before that historical records reveal that the dance was given a
new and never before fixed concert structure. This then became to
be understood as the dance we know today as Bharatanatyam.
Dancers of Bharatnatyam can easily seek kinship with the apsaras in
the epics, and the devadasis and courtesans of yore, but to imagine
that classical Indian dance is timeless or that the stories narrated in
these dances have been handed down untouched and unshaped
from ancient unrecorded times, is little naive. Dance has always
been malleable. It has constantly reinvented itself and learned

1
continuously to speak a language that is relevant to the audience in
attendance. Thus, classical dance, like everything else, is modern.

Dancer Anita Ratnam, who has worked in India and globally,

acknowledges that “The dance they perform today is a modern
Bharatanatyam. It does not have a 5,000-year old history. The
Bharatanatyam of today was constituted in the 18th and 19th
century. During independence it took on another modern dimension.
It is India’s modern dance form of the 20th century. So we have to
look at it from that modernist lens. We have tried to hitch
Bharatanatyam to an ancient timeline which is not true.”

While Rukmini Arundale and the Kalakshetra school of dance is

credited with ‘reviving a tradition,’ she is often criticised, particularly
by feminists, for ‘sanitising’ the dance form. However, by the time
Arundale took on her onerous task, the dance form as it was
practiced by the devadasis was anyhow a lost art, and
the devadasi way of life was ceasing to exist.

Arundale could not have revived it at all without making it palatable

to a conservative upper-class, coaxing them to send their young
daughters and sons to learn the art. However, she cautions against
the tendency to revive the ancient form of dance without completely
understanding the devadasi tradition. The desexualisation of the
repertoire and choosing to go the ‘Bhakti route’ was required in
order to make dance acceptable to an audience that had lost its
appreciation for women living the life of the devadasis. The
desexualisation of dance allowed its comeback, giving artistes an
opportunity to view it through a modern lens and shape it to reflect
modern interpretations of gender and sexuality.
2
Further with music being relegated to a hobby and language teaching
being limited dancer today neither know the music that was
essential to the ancient art of the Devadasis nor do they know
ancient Telugu, or Tamil or Sanskrit. So they only learn the
movements, without understanding the resonances or living the
feeling. Thus often what really impresses is what is true, lived and
felt. Such things, given the life of the dancers, located within the
often contrary pulls of modernity, are often things that speak to the
dancers more urgently. This is the reason why even Bharatanatyam,
often believed to be a bastion of conservatism, is constantly being
embellished with new choreographies. In this module we look at
some of the new and modern work that he emerged from the spring
board of Bharatanatyam.

Several Bharatanatyam dancers have adapted repertoires and cast

them in different moulds for a modern audience. Even the myths are
interpreted through modern lenses. Classical art is narrative-based,
and very often the dancer, be it a man or a woman, becomes what
the story needs him or her to be. So, as a dancer, you transcend
yourself and your gender, to become a man, or a woman, or a tree,
or an animal or a creature. At the same time, there is that suspension
of belief. The audience knows this is a woman, but in this story, she
plays a man. In that way, the stories that Bharatanatyam dancers, in
fact all Indian dancers tell, have passed through modern lenses and
are modern interpretations. This is possibly why Balasaraswati
referred to the dance having freedom through discipline and not
freedom from discipline.

3
In many cases, the dancers have used allied arts like theatre to
create a different presentation, or to say familiar things, but
differently. Many viewers and critics have dismissed such work as
being ‘Hybrid’ or being confusion rather than fusion! True hybrid
work goes beyond changing a movement, beyond adding film
projection and beyond wearing a black leotard and a black saree! A
true hybrid success looks at relooking and choreographing from the
inside. Playing with tradition comes from someone who has
mastered the tradition and then can ‘play’ from the inside by
relooking, reworking and re adapting from the inside.

1984 was a very significant year for Bharatanatyam. It received its

biggest challenge from Chandralekha. Trained in classical
Bharatnatyam and a student of the famous Bharatnatyam teacher,
Ellappa Pillai, she became a legend in her own land in the 1950s. In
1972 gave up dancing from lack of faith in the fixed norms of classical
Bharatnatyam. For 12 years she paid her way by writing and by
designing political placards. She also took part in the Indian
movements for women and the environment. The turning-point
came in 1984, as Chandralekha took part in an east-west encounter
of Indian and European dancers in the Max-Mueller Bhavan, in
Bombay. This event proved to be the start of her new career, and a
year later she produced her first new choreographed production,
Angika, which is acknowledged as a milestone in the history of Indian
dancing. Starting with Angika, she called all her performances
‘celebrations of the human body’, since she believes that the body is
as important as the spirit.

Chandralekha’s dancers do not wear the classical Bharatnatyam

make-up and are dressed as simply as possible. Her style is based on
4
Bharatanatyam but blends it with yoga and Kalarippayyatu, the
martial arts dance-style from Kerala. In the following years came new
productions, which made her well known for her clear and radical
attitudes. In India her innovative ideas and works caused a furore.
Conservative critics accused her of breaking the rules and of
rendering Bharatanatyam banal. This made her India’s most
controversial choreographer but did not prevent her from further
influencing and renewing classical Indian dance.

As a sign of her distance from traditional Indian dancing,

Chandralekha does not have her dancers perform the traditional
pranam, prayer, at the start. She counts as being a feminist, even if
she herself disagrees, as she says ‘I am not a feminist; I am a woman
– and therefore feel responsible for women´s equality. Her work Sri,
is about equal rights for Indian women. On three levels this
choreography shows ancient myths about women’s power. It is
about equal rights during mating or the act of creation, about
women’s loss of power and about regaining self-confidence. Yantra,
is a piece about sexuality, sensuality, spirituality and the female
principles of our culture. Her stark choreography and polemical
statements on dance could also be seen in her 1989 work,
Leelavathi, based on the first of the four parts of “Siddhanta
Shiromani” - the "Crown of Treatises", a mathematical text by the
12th century mathematical astronomer, Bhaskaracharya.

Mahakal of 1995, has all the magic of Chandralekha's earlier

choreography which has its roots firmly in classical traditions, yet
speaks of a defiance born of newer thought processes and
contemporary ideas. A powerful visual interpretation of
time, Mahakal encapsulates the essence of each yuga, using her
5
hybrid kinetics of Bharatanatyam, yoga and the techniques
of Kalaripayattu. Her 2000 production Sharira – Fire and Desire, in
which she again focuses on the relationship between body and
feelings continues to be evergreen. Even today, Chandralekha is
controversial in India, though she has long since been internationally
acclaimed. Chandralekha has received many prizes like the Sangeet
Natak Academy Award in 1992, the international Time Out/Dance
Umbrella Award for the best dance-performance in Great Britain,
and the GAIA Award in Italy.

Lakshmi Vishwanathan is a dancer who blends her traditional

training with masters such as Smt. Kousalya, Courtalam Ganesan
Pillai and Sankari Krishnan of the T. Kittappa Pillai School and guru K.
Elappa, Vempatichina Satyam, and T. Muktha. The legendary E.
Krishna Iyer had presided over her arangetram. Being an innovative
dancer, Lakshmi had mastered hundreds of dance items when she
decided to move away from mythology and choreographed path-
breaking works. In 1995, she did the history of Bharatanatyam
through dance, a production called Banyan Tree, followed by a
production Vidya Sundari, based on the real life story of Bangalore
Nagaratnammal. Both of these productions captured elements of
intangible heritage. She also produced Chatur Anga, a big group
production with ten dancers. It had four aspects of freedom as its
theme and used the poetry written by India’s freedom fighters of the
early 20th century.

Mallika Sarabhai, activist and Indian classical dancer, daughter of a

classical dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai is trained in both Bharatanatyam
and Kuchipudi. Mrinalini Sarabhai was a pioneer in including social
themes in Bharatanatyam-based works such as her 1949 creative
6
choreography in Manushya, and a critique of dowry deaths in
Memory Is a Ragged Fragment of Eternity (1963). In an essay entitled
Choreography, Mrinalini Sarabhai wrote “The time factor has given
all art a new dimension. Let dance speak in the language of old, but
let dancers speak in a contemporary language, but with complete
artistic integrity”.

Mallika Sarabhai is a performer who has specialized in using the arts

for social change and transformation. In this respect she carries
forward the concerns of her mother. Despite having played the role
of Draupadi in Peter Brooks’ Mahabharata for five years, she too
decided to question mythology. Mallika who describes herself as a
communicator and believes that it encompasses her many roles as -
dancer, choreographer, publisher, activist, writer and actor was
nominated as one of the thousand young women who were
collectively nominated for the Nobel Prize in 2005, Mallika started
creating her own work, in dance and in performance, since 1989.

In 1989 she performed the hard-hitting solo theatrical work, Shakti:

The Power of Woman. Her performance Sita’s Daughters has toured
the world and been performed over 500 times in three languages.
After that, she directed and acted in numerous productions
reflecting current issues and awareness among people. Amongst
them are, An Idea Named Meera, In Search of the Goddess and
SvaKranti: The Revolution Within. Mallika Sarabhai also wrote the
script for the play Unsuni based on Harsh Mander's book Unheard
Voices to raise awareness amongst children in elite schools and
colleges to the real issues facing India’s marginalized. In 2014 she
recreated, Kadak Badshaahi, a multimedia production on the 603
year old history of the city of Allahabad that ran to full houses and is
likely to be made into a film now. But how much of dance remains in
7
Mallika’s work, and how much of Bharatanatyam can be seen in it is
questionable. But over the years, the performances have brought her
various awards - Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2000), Knight of the
Order of Arts & Letters, French Government (2002), and the Padma
Bhushan (2010).
Anita Ratnam trained in Bharatanatyam under Adyar K Lakshman
(1969 – 1978), and further strengthened her dance vocabulary at
Kalakshetra, Chennai (1974 – 1976), under S Sarada and Sarada
Hoffman. Trained also in the Kerala dance-theatre traditions of
Mohiniattam and Kathakali (1968 – 1978), Anita as a performer and
choreographer, embraces both the traditional and contemporary
streams of Indian dance to extend the frontiers of her art. In fact,
Anita Ratnam names her style, “Neo-Bharatam,” in order to evoke
something “new” yet rooted in her own base of Bharatanatyam.

Ratnam has coalitions with many Indian and international dance

theatre companies. With them, she has done several unique works
such as A Map to the World (1997) with American poet Joy Harjo,
The Inner World (1998) with Pangea World Theatre of Minneapolis,
Daughters of the Ocean (1999) with Shobhita Punja, the writer, Dust
(2001) with Mark Taylor of Dance Alloy in Pittsburgh, United States
and Vortext (2002) with Peter Chin, a Canadian dance artist. In the
year 2002, Ratnam was invited as a spectator to the Post Modern
Dance Festival at Leipzig, Germany. In 2007, she presented her solo
operatic performance 7 Graces at Joyce Soho, New York in alliance
with Hari Krishnan, a Canada-based dancer and choreographer.

Inner World based on ancient Tamil poems of Love and War, was
presented first in India and then with the Pangea World Theatre of
Minneapolis in USA. As the soundscape moved from Tamil to English,
Anita moved beyond the familiar classical dance, to create a
8
framework that including the spoken word, syllables from Tamil folk
music, body stances from Yoga, and postures of prayer and
meditation – a choreography that reflected contemporary impulses
with echoes from an ancient past.

Daughter of the Ocean: Discovering the Goddess Within was a 60-

minute piece of contemporary dance theatre, built around the myths
of the Hindu goddesses in 1999. Written with the hope of seeing how
Hindu myths could help us find patterns in our lives to understand
ourselves. Anita had artistically, intelligently and with great honesty
captured in it – the essence of Indian philosophy- a tearing away of
Maya and re-discover the "goddess/divinity" within all, that grows
into our tree of passion and compassion. It was presented with
dialogue, stylised abhinaya and humour.

Dust, an artistic endeavour by her and American choreographer

Mark Taylor, is based on the writings of Alexander David Neel. This
30-minute work, with original music by Alice Shields, was the result
of a three-year period of dialogue and experimentation between
Anita Ratnam and Mark Taylor (Dance Alloy) on the kinetic and
esthetic potentials of mixing traditional Bharatanatyam and
contemporary post-modern movement forms. The music and
movement images for Dust were drawn from the writings of
Alexandra David Neel, a European Buddhist scholar who was one of
the first Westerners to enter the forbidden city of Lhasa, Tibet as
well as from photographs and sound sources of Tibetan landscape
and culture. Ratnam escapes the charge of `fusion work' in this
deeply realized work by claiming that “I've taken the spatial
challenges of modern dance and the attacking geometry of
Bharatanatyam to really take the choreography to a third place”.
Dust was choreographed on two dancers from each company -
9
Anusha Subramanian and L. Narendra Kumar and Andre Koslowski
and Gwen Ritchie who bring alive the exciting blend of two cultures
that reflect the ancient with the modern. Alice Shields, the music
composer created the sound sources that included Tibetan trumpets,
Tibetan ritual conch shells and Indian music.

Seven Graces is a dance-theater performance by Anita Ratnam,

created in collaboration with Hari Krishnan (inDANCE, Canada). It
references the Buddhist Goddess Tara in a modern context, offering
a journey to aesthetic eternities, exploring the aura and grace of the
feminine transcendental. It embraces the many moods of human
experience, Tara’s seven eyes, seven colors, seven chakras, and
contrasts the moods of movement and stillness, rage and serenity. It
used a mixture of artistic forms like classical dance, martial arts, folk
dance and western opera.

Her most recent solo production, Neelam...drowning in bliss featured

songs and chants from a range of devotional literature, including
Andal, Annam Acharya and Muttuswami Dikshitar. In this piece,
Bharatanatyam — with its characteristic leg stretches, rhythmic foot
striking and ‘Dhi Dhi Tai’ flourishes — was the predominant influence
in the movement vocabulary, with jatis (composed for different
pieces by Karaikudi Krishnamurthy and KSR Anniruddha)
interspersing some of the vocals. She also created freer movement
designs, as in the undulating arms to suggest the mythological ocean
churned by the gods and demons. Besides the danced allusions of
gesture and posture and movement were the visual allusions of the
set and props: an installation of lotuses, an arrangement of parrots,
garlands used by the dancer to convey a variety of meanings – from
the swayamvara of Lakshmi risen out of the ocean of milk, to the
Lakshman rekha laid to protect Sita, to Rama’s bow. Costumes by
10
Sandhya Raman and Rex and visual design by Rex were inseparable
aspects of the aesthetics. A number of noted singers, including Sikkil
Gurucharan and Subhiksha Rangarajan, temple artists and
percussionists lent their artistry to the production. The
choreographic consultant was Hari Krishnan. Additionally, G. Raghu
Raman of Delhi played the flute live during interludes between the
pieces, and sometimes joined in with the recording. This was a
difficult task but he proved equal to it. His opening cadences were
highly evocative. Neelam ... exemplified how today’s performing
artistes are engaging with inherited tradition.

Dancer Rama Vaidyanathan has worked on several different

choreographies that bring in different themes. In some cases she
uses freshly written poetry in keeping with the theme in her
production, Flight of Birds - a full margam of Bharatanatyam built
around birds, she has used commissioned poetry to round off the
theme. She commissioned a Sanskrit scholar called Divyanand Jha for
Sanskrit poetry and the pattern that they follow is that knowing her
precise requirements, she writes the poem or at least the concept in
English and he translates it into Sanskrit, in an appropriate metre. In
some of her woks she has used poetry in different languages- as in
the case of her programme on Kashmiri Sufi poets. In her production
Mad and Divine built around Kashmiri poet Lal Ded and Marathi poet
Janabai, she has spoken word segments. She has worked along with
theatre director Arvind Gaur, in directing the dialogue portions.
Although Arvind Gaur has worked also with Mallika, Rama’s work
cannot strictly be called dance theatre in the way that Mallika, or
even Anita have treated it, as it is more in the nature of speech or
vachikabhinaya, to take forward the theme.

11
Noticeable also is Bharatanatyam dancer Geeta Chandran’s work is
using dance as a vehicle to build social bridges. Geeta was trained by
Swarana Saraswati who belonged to the Tanjore Devadasi
Parampara. Among her choreographies that deal with social issues is
Aval on gender, Sivam on environmental sensitivity, Pankh on
women’s rights, and Imagining Peace on religious harmony. In this
production, a film made by photographer and film maker Vandana
Kohli was integral to the production. Her path breaking
choreography with puppeteer Anurupa Roy of the Kat Katha puppet
company, Her Voice is on the theme of the futility of war and
violence, and how women get most impacted by it. In Mythologies
Retold that pointed to the evil of female foeticide she was artistically
inspired by the archival painting collection of the Rasaja Foundation.
Actor dancer Rashmi Vaidyalingam was her creative collaborator in
this. Geeta has also forayed into Dance theatre. Her creative
explorations with Rashid Ansari lead to the performance, Kaikeyi, a
solo theatre exposition in which the character and her psychology
was unveiled by Geeta using her skills in dance, movement, singing,
narration and acting. Geeta has always been very sensitive to the
impact of costume and shares a deep interest in the textile traditions
of India. She has worked extensively with handloom visualise Shashiv
Chandran and designer Sandhya Raman.

Voicing women’s concerns, Parul Shah of Baroda created Nirguna

collaborating with Jin-Wen Yu, chair dance at University of
Wisconsin-Madison and Abhishap with Peggy-myo-Choy. Parul’s
Buddhatattva had blessings of the Dalai Lama. In a unique attempt,
she created Rajyalakshmi, as her homage to Shrimant Sayajirao
Gaekwad III and the M S University which is the torch-bearer in
bringing arts to the higher education.
12
Thus it is the efforts of such dancers, to cast tales in modern times
and re-interpreting forms and their presentation, in an excited,
positive and proactive manner, instead of mourning the loss of an
older tradition, has helped cast Bharatanatyam and classical dance in
a more relevant light, and made it more relatable to today’s far more
distracted audiences.

13
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 26 Presentation And Performance Of Bharatanatyam

At the functional level, Bharatanatyam has three aspects:

Nritta / न्रित्ता: Abstract dance movements with rhythm, but without

expression of a theme or emotion. Also called pure dance.
Nritya / न्रित्य: Interpretive dance, using facial expressions, hand
gestures, and body movements to portray emotions and express
themes.
Natya / नाट्य: The dramatic aspect of a stage performance, including
spoken dialogue and mime, to convey meaning and enact narrative.1

Adavus / अदावुस and nritta hastas are the foundation of nritta.

Adavus and the full range of hastas / हस्त, together with abhinaya /
अभिनय, make up nritya. The use of abhinaya and character provides
the dramatic element, or natya. Abhinaya enters all aspects of the
dance, including nritta, nritya, and natya. For vachikaabhinaya /
वाचिकाअभिनय, you should understand the lyrics of the music.
For angikaabhinaya / अंचगकाअभिनय, knowing the language of
gestures is the key. For aharyaabhinaya / आहाययअभिनय, an aesthetic
sense is sufficient. Some familiarity with the Indian style of dress and
decoration helps, so that the costumes don’t seem so unusual that
they are distracting. Satvikaabhinaya / सात्त्वकअभिनय evokes a
response to the emotional state of the dancer.2

The basic unit of dance in Bharatanatyam is the adavu. Each adavu is

a combination of steps or positions with coordinated movements of
the feet, legs, hands, arms, torso, head, and eyes. Adavus (like
araimandi / अरै मंडी) give Bharatanatyam its distinctive look.
The adavus, numbering around 120 in all, are divided into numerous
groups and subgroups. Some adavus are accompanied by rhythmic
syllables, or sollukattus, that put together the steps of the adavu in a
time sequence or meter. Sollukattu, which in Tamil means spoken
(sol) structure (kattu), is a verbal description of an arrangement of
beats or steps. For example, the phrase, “thai-yum-that-that thai-
yum-tha” / थई-यौम-ठाट थाई-यौम-था is the sollukattu / सोल्ऱुकट्टू for
an adavu named Nattadavu. Various sollukattus have phrases like
“thai-ya-thai-yi” / थाई-या-थाई-यी, “tadhing-gina-thom / ताचधंग-चगना-
थोम”, and “kita-thaka-thari-kita-thom.” / ककता-थका-थारी-ककता-थोम
3

The hand gestures of Bharatanatyam are called hastas. Sometimes,

you may hear them called as mudras, or hasta mudras / हस्त मुद्रा.
There are one-handed and two-handed hastas, there are lots of
them, and they all have names. When a hasta is employed in a
specific context for a specific purpose, it gets a special name for that
use. In general, when the hastas are used to denote deities, celestial
bodies (like the nine planets), or relations, their names are changed
according to the application. All the hastas find use in nritya, but only
a subset of them are used in nritta; these are also called nritta
hastas. During nritta, the hastas convey no meaning. They are purely
decorative. In nritya, the hastas are a vital aspect of the expressive
language of the dance. They describe things and objects, they
express concepts like truth, beauty, or the passage of time, they
depict thoughts, words, and actions, and they combine with facial
expressions to show emotions. The same hasta, used with different
arm movements or in a different context, can have a different
meaning. This is how the Tripataka hasta can be used for fire or a
tree, and can also become the Vishnu hasta.4

The facial expressions of Bharatanatyam are called abhinaya. The

dancer may enact many passing feelings (sancharibhava / संिारीिाव)
to show the effects (anubhava / अनुिाव) produced by the causes
(vibhava / वविव) of the emotional state, and to reveal the fullness of
the dominant emotion (sthayibhava / स्थायीिाव). In Bharatanatyam,
there are navarasa or nine emotions :

Shringara / श्ींगार (love,eros), veera / वीरा (valor,heroism), karuna /

करुणा (sadness), Adbhuta / अद्भुत (awe, amazement), raudra / रौद्र
(fury), hasya / हास्य (laughter, humor), bhayanaka / ियानक
(fear), bibhatsa / बििस्थ (revulsion) and shanta/शांत (peace), and
countless passing feelings that may be enacted.5

The Natya Shastra / नाट्यशास्र lists 8 types of nayikas / नान्रयका based

on their emotional circumstances. In addition, there are
categorizations like the ten graces of women, the ten stages of love,
etc. Characters may also be classified according to their stature, as
uttama / उत्तम (noble, divine), madhyama / माध्यम (human),
and adhama / अधम (base), as well as according to their moral
disposition, as swakiya / स्वकीय (faithful wife), parakiya / ऩरकीय
(married but longs for another), and samanya / सामान्य (courtesan).
6

The music compositions for Bharatanatyam allow passages of

abstract dance to be interposed in the performance. The sequences
of syllables are called sullokattus or jatis. A passage of rhythmic
syllables during the recital is called a teermanam / तीमयनाम. The
artistry in composing a teermanam is in the interaction of
the jati passage with the rhythm of the musical composition. 7

The margam or the linear format of a traditional secular

Bharatanatyam recital meant strictly sticking to starting with an
invocatory shlokam / स्ऱोकम / pushpanjali / ऩुषऩांजभऱ (offering of
flowers to space/gods/ gurus) and then dovetailing in technique
showing item Alarippu, in which various stances and structure of
Bharatanatyam could be seen. The margam / मागयम consists of
alarippu / अऱाररऩ,ू jatiswaram / जन्रतस्वरम, sabdam / सब्दम, varnam /
वणयम, padam / ऩदम ् / javali / जावऱी, tillana / न्रतल्ऱाना and sloka /
श्ऱोक.

As described by the late T. Balasaraswati, the format reflects a

marvelous scheme of aesthetic progression, as well as a unique
architectural conception. In a lecture delivered at the Tamil Isai
Sangam, Madras, translated from Tamil by the late S. Guhan and
reproduced in ‘Bala on Bharatanatyam,’ a monograph published by
the Sruti Foundation, the legendary exponent of Bharatanatyam said
8

“I believe that the traditional order of the Bharatanatyam recital, is

the correct sequence in the practice of this art, for revealing the
spiritual through the corporeal. The greatness of this traditional
recital-pattern will be apparent even from a purely aesthetic point of
view. In the beginning, alarippu, which is based on rhythm alone,
brings out the special charm of pure dance. The movements of
alarippu relax the dancer's body and thereby her mind, loosen and
coordinate her limbs, and prepare her for the rest of the dance.
Rhythm has a rare capacity to concentrate. Alarippu is most valuable
in freeing the dancer from distraction and making her single-
minded. The joy of pure rhythm in alarippu is followed by jatiswaram
where there is the added joy of melody. Melody, without word or
syllable, has a special power to unite us with our being. In
jatiswaram, melody and movement come together. Then comes the
sabdam. It is here that compositions, with words and meanings,
which enable the expression of the myriad moods of Bharatanatyam
are introduced.9

The Bharatanatyam recital is structured like a Great Temple: we

enter through the gopuram (outer hall) of alarippu, cross the
ardhamandapam (half-way hall) of jatiswaram, then the mandapam
(great hall) of sabdam and enter the holy precinct of the deity in the
varnam. This is the space which gives the dancer expansive scope to
revel in the music, rhythm and moods of the dance. The varnam is the
continuum which gives ever expanding room to the dancer to delight
in her self-fulfillment, by providing the fullest scope to her own
creativity as well as to the tradition of the art. Padams now follow. In
dancing to padams, one experiences the containment, cool and quiet
of entering the sanctum from its external precinct. The expanse and
brilliance of the outer corridors disappear in the dark inner sanctum;
and the rhythmic virtuosities of the varnam yield to the soul-stirring
music and abhinaya of the padam. Dancing to the padam is akin to
the juncture when the cascading lights of worship are withdrawn and
the drum beats die down to the simple and solemn chanting of sacred
verses in the closeness of god. Then, the tillana breaks into
movement like the final burning of camphor accompanied by a
measure of din and bustle. In conclusion, the devotee takes to his
heart the god he has so far glorified outside; and the dancer
completes the traditional order by dancing to a simple devotional
verse.”10

As the above passage reveals, Balasaraswati believed Bharatanatyam

is grounded in bhakti and that “it is justified in being called yoga
because it is a spiritual discipline perfecting the mind to thought-free
serenity.” But the traditional margam is no longer considered de
rigueur. In other words, what was once considered the format of
Bharatanatyam has lately been modified many a time by all and
sundry. It has yielded place to many variations, as well as to dance-
dramas and miscellanies presented by groups of dancers trained in
Bharatanatyam. Thus, while the margam can be considered most
suited to unfold the major dimensions of the dance, it cannot be held
that, unless it is used, a Bharatanatyam recital ceases to be one.11

The symbolism apart, the pure metre (alarippu), the music and
metre (jatiswaram), the word, music and metre (sabdam), and the
elaboration and lofty expression of all these facets (varnam), music
without metre (padam and javali), metre and melody in abstraction
(thillana) reveal the logical evolution of the dance and pacing of the
margam format.12 The Thanjavur Quartet’s concert format is still
being followed though the jatiswaram and sabdam have become less
common.

A Bharatanatyam presentation usually consists of either of three

possibilities: A full margam format presentation, maintaining
traditional items like alarippu to thillana mode. In this, normally a
progression of items is shown and a debut performance must
showcase each so the level and standards of student can be
ascertained or established. Till the 1980s, most veteran dancers of
yore like Balasaraswati, Indrani Rahman, Kamala, M.K Saroja, then
next generation stars like Yamini Krishnamurthi, Padma
Subrahmanyam, Sonal Mansingh, used to undertake a full margam.
This was important to show and see. They had the requisite learning
and long training and stamina to back with substance to show. In
last three decades most next generation dancers started doing
theme-based shows to show beyond the margam format, though not
sacrificing the form, like Malavika Sarukkai, Alarmel Valli and Urmila
Satyanarayanan. In last decade, those who haven’t learnt long
enough to showcase margam properly or feel the need to depend
only on traditional format, have taken to a combination of the two:
To do one group varnam (so students get chance to dance) and/or
show one or two padams that are not stamina intensive. Some have
made only facial abhinaya as mainstay because they can’t do
technique or bend the body. Lastly, those who have just learnt a
smattering of the form and can’t do full show resort to mix and
match: one technique, one theme, one group and some abhinaya
items. Yet another is to make one subject the theme, say Andal /
अंदऱ, Ahalya / अहल्या, Ravana / रावण or Chandalika / िंडाभऱका,
environment or empowerment. Third option is to do either group
works of say an alarippu (Chandralekha in ‘Angika / अंचगका’ or her
students/ clones) or take group of students and teach them one
varnam or padam or make one thematic group presentation.

In thematic presentation, a theme is taken as leitmotif. Say Spring

(Ritu / ऋतू) or Varsha / वषाय or modern themes like women’s
empowerment and gender equality. This trend started when
educated city dancers in 80s did not wish to do margam / मागयम only
and organizers and sponsors also desired something novel, thus
making thematic presentations, so one theme could be depicted for
one hour. Malavika Sarukkai is a prime example of making it her
mainstay now in last decade or others before her. Malavika finds
experimenting with new themes challenging as there is no structure
to fall back upon and one cannot resort to familiar patterns. She is
known for her thematic presentations on ‘Ganga Nitya Vaahini’
(homage to river Ganga), ‘Thimakka’ (the lady who planted banyan
trees), ‘Khajuraho: Temples of the Sacred and the Secular,’ ‘Yatra,’
‘Vamatara: To the light,’ etc. “We cannot dance to the theme of
bride-burning or corruption in the classical format. The classical
dances are not about depicting reality, they are about transcending
the reality,” says Malavika Sarukkai.13

Traditional artistes like Vyjayanthimala insist that though art and

activism are a part of life, it will not be reflected in her
dance. Priyadarsini Govind is a much sought after dancer of the
traditional repertoire. Kittappa Pillai’s disciple Narthaki Nataraj is
acclaimed for her pure Bharatanatyam style as well as her work in
bringing ancient Tamil literature to light and life. Alarmel Valli’s
extensive research on Sangam poems for over two decades has
resulted in a significant repertoire of dance poems. Valli feels that
folk and popular arts are a better tool for protest. “It looks forced if
we use Bharatanatyam to talk about violence, rape or corruption.
The way I see it, classical arts are a way to harmonize the mind,
elevate it but they cannot be directly connected to what is happening
on the streets.” 14

Part of the criticism faced by classical dancers today is that they

perform old tales and myths whose relevance in our times needs to
be questioned. Also, there is pressure from festival or conference
organizers as well as corporates to present theme based
performances. This gives rise to a whole new take on the
presentation of Bharatanatyam by way of poems/songs used,
costume and music. Even spoken words in other languages are
interspersed in a Bharatanatyam presentation.

According to Lakshmi Vishwanathan: “For serious artists, the need to

re-invent their repertoire is as important as their understanding of
the aesthetic values. Our rich literary heritage can be explored for
nuggets of beauty when it comes to presenting new items. With a
view to present ‘epic’ women other than the usual heroines such as
Sita or Draupadi, I shifted through Tamil poetry and found
remarkable verses on two mothers, Kousalya and Devaki. They are, in
my opinion supremely selfless women whose voices can be heard if
we care to listen,” While the intensity of a Karaikkal Ammayar can
give scope for both tandava and lasya in depiction, the sweet words
of Andal in ‘Nachiyar Tirumozhi’ are like the song of the kuyil bird she
sends as a messenger to Lord Ranganatha. In Kannada, we have the
passionate verses of Akka Mahadevi. To dance to some of M.S.
Subbulakshmi’s Meera bhajans is a pleasure because the simplicity of
ideas affords an eloquent opportunity for bhava. Dance and poetry
are inseparable. To choose the right verses from the great bank of
our classic writers is a task worth straining one’s abilities for.
Bharatanatyam has grown. While the standard repertoire is no
longer standard, the old gems such as pada-varnams and padams
are irreplaceable for their grandeur and honest classicism. However,
a new repertoire for special programs culled out of rich literature
and tuned tastefully is sure to make the rasikas sit up and watch!” 15

Geeta Chandran’s ‘Gandhi: Warp and Weft’ focusing on Mahatma

Gandhi playing the role of hero in the epic of India’s freedom
struggle, has been acclaimed for its sensitive portrayal. Her
choreographies ‘Her Voice’ and ‘Imagining Peace’ articulated her
conviction that dance can be a vehicle to build social bridges. Her
‘Kaikeyi’ and choreographies on the themes of drugs have thrown
the spotlight on issues of social stigma. ‘Mythologies Retold’
addresses the social curse of female feticide. Geeta is also known for
using Bharatanatyam to amplify gender and environmental
issues. Rama Vaidyanathan’s ‘Chitravali’ actually had her performing
Bharatanatyam to a backdrop of miniature paintings and an all
Hindustani music ensemble! Her ‘Mad and Divine’ on women saint
poets was a huge success. Urmila Sathyanarayanan is happy with
doing the margam and also thematic productions like ‘Panchali’ of
Mahabharata or ‘Meera: The Lotus of Prem’ on the saint poet.
Srekala Bharath, disciple of K.J. Sarasa is known for her group
productions like ‘Aru Padai Veedu’ on 6 abodes of Muruga,
‘Chakravarthi Thirumagan’ on Ramayanam, ‘Sri Thyagaraja
Vaibhavam’ on St. Thyagaraja and so on. Apart from margam,
Kavitha Ramu is also known for thematic solos like ‘Navarasam,’
‘Mathurapuri Nilaye’ on goddess Meenakshi. All these dancers are
well known for their traditional margam as well as thematic
presentations.

Natyarangam, the dance wing of Narada Gana Sabha in Chennai, is

known for its thematic Bharatanatyam annual festivals on themes
unvisited by Bharatanatyam artistes. Some of the festivals over the
years are Bhoopala Bharatam on kings, Ramayana Bharatam on 6
khandams / खंड in 5 languages, Daasa Bharatam on saint poets,
Kshetra Bharatam on holy places, Teertha Bharatam on holy rivers,
Bharatam Kathai Kathaiyam on Tamil short stories, Vande Mataram
on India’s freedom struggle, Baandhava Bharatam on relationships
etc. This festival offers young dancers a platform for experimentation
and exploration of new horizons in Bharatanatyam, encouraging
them to use their creative skills. Some presenters conceive evenings
devoted to only padams, only varnams or only javalis!
Bharatanatyam is also juxtaposed with other dance styles.

The Cleveland Festival commissions group Bharatanatyam

productions on chapters of Ramayana and Mahabharata
choreographed by eminent teachers like Radha, Jayanti
Subramaniam, Radhika Shurajit, Narthaki Nataraj, Anita Guha, etc.
Gurus specializing in dance dramas are Krishnakumari Narendran,
Sheela Unnikrishnan, Anita Guha, Chitra Visweswaran, the
Dhananjayans and B. Bhanumathi to name a few. Kalakshetra is of
course famous for its dance dramas with a few students now doing
solo recitals. Kalakshetra product Sheejith Krishna actually
choreographed ‘Man in the Iron Mask’ a few years back.
In expressional dance, Kalakshetra has not held as much sway. A
stylistic school represented by Kalanidhi Narayanan started
influencing Bharatanatyam dancers in the 1980s and has been
gaining ground ever since. Narayanan and her disciples are
undeniably the most visible face of Bharatanatyam expression today.
And, paradoxically enough, this style, emphatically emphasizing the
titillating aspect of sensual love, is now being taught in Kalakshetra.
16

While young, upcoming dancers outside India, both Indian and non-
Indian, religiously follow traditional repertoire of items, dance gurus
come up with special group productions and collaborations
influenced by the environment they live in. Hema Rajagopalan’s ‘The
Flowering Tree,’ ‘The Magic Ring’ (based on Kalidasa’s Shakuntala),
‘Dance of Life’ on various religions, etc. and performing with cellist
Yo-Yo-Ma; Ranee Ramaswamy’s ‘Sacred Earth’ incorporates Warli
paintings and ‘1001 Buddhas’ includes Taiko drums; Mythili Kumar’s
‘Prithvi – The Earth,’ ‘Kalidasa’s Ritusamhara,’ ‘Rivers’ and ‘Surya the
Sun God’; MalathiIyengar’s ‘Mustard seeds,’ ‘Paintings of the divine,’
‘Sacred Geometry,’ ‘Patanjali’ etc.

“There’s Christian yoga and Christian Natyam where through

Bharatanatyam, Mary and Jesus are glorified. In Bharatanatyam
schools abroad, they are taught three version of Bharatanatyam - a
Hindu version, a secular version that speaks of human rights
violation, feminism or the like and a Christian version - and told to
perform according to the audience,” says Rajiv Malhotra, the Indian-
American author and founder of Infinity Foundation. 17
A Sinhalese Bharatanatyam guru, who learnt the art in Chennai
under Adyar Lakshman in the early 1960s, has added a Sinhalese
flavor to popularize it in the Sinhalese community which, in the past,
had shunned it as the “dance of the Tamils.” Thanks to Guru Miranda
Hemalatha, in Sri Lanka today, Bharatanatyam is almost as
“Sinhalese” as it is “Tamil” and is as popular among Sinhalese girls as
it is among the Tamils. Presently, there are about 15 established
Sinhalese gurus in Colombo alone. A teacher of 48 years standing,
Miranda has adapted for Bharatanatyam, themes from Buddhism
and Sinhalese traditional lore and used Sinhalese songs.18

Undoubtedly, compulsions are inspiring different manifestations of

Bharatanatyam!
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 28 Aharya Of Bharatanatyam

Aharya / आहायय is an integral part of traditional Indian dances. In fact,

aharya denotes and depicts a style specifically, and its
accoutrements are very specific as are its aesthetics. Bharatanatyam
as a form is very strict or rigid about its costume.

The traditional dance costume of devadasis was the tight bodice or

choli and gold embroidered draped sari, a silk cloth of nine yards.
Bright colors with wide borders of contrasting colors were favored.
The sari was pleated in front, and the long end was draped over the
left shoulder and wound around the waist, the embroidered end
falling in front. The other end tied at the waist was folded and
brought through to the back and tucked in at the waist. The
traditional ornaments were of gold set with rubies and diamonds and
decorated with pearls. The jeweled band that frames the face
consisted of small gems and pearls strung on threads. The pendant
worn on the forehead was attached to a string of pearls and gems
covering the parting of the hair. On either side on top of the head
were the sun and crescent moon ornaments. A golden disc on the
crown of the head was encircled with white jasmine or mogra / मोगरा
flowers and a cluster of flowers decorated the back of the head. The
long plait of hair was covered with the gem studded jadai naga / जडै

1
नाग, the hooded serpent symbol of space and eternity. The cup
shaped earrings were attached to ear ornaments. Nose jewels
included the diamond droplet under the tip of the nose and the
semicircular ornament attached to one nostril. A gold belt was worn
around the waist. Bracelets and armlets decorated the arms. Neck
ornaments were the pendant and mango garland inlaid with gems.1

The ancient Tamils were great seafarers and had access to imported
gems which they used lavishly. Tamil Nadu was well known for its
stone-studded jewelry, especially those set with cabochon rubies.
Rubies, uncut diamonds and emeralds were set with great precision
and beauty in etched gold on a solid base. The bridal headdress or
thalai saamaan / तऱें सामन consists of ornaments that outline the
forehead and hair parting and are flanked by the sun (symbolizing
brightness and power) and the moon (peace and romance). The
serpentine jada nagam adorns the whole plait beginning with a small
jewel shaped like Adishesha / आदीशेष and ending with a kunjalam /
कॊ जऱम or tassels. The rakkodi / राकड़ी, a circular jewel carrying the
design of a peacock tops it all. The maanga malai / माॉगा माऱे
(mango necklace), kaasu maalai / कास माऱे (coin necklace), pendants
shaped like swans, peacocks and parrots are typical south Indian
items that adorn dancers today. The vanki / वाॊकी (armband),
odiyaanam / उडीयाणम (waist band) nose stud and jhumki / झमकी
(swinging ear ornaments) are also derived from the heritage bank of
Tamil Nadu.2

The Kaccham / कच्हम saree and blouse for the Bharatanatyam

dancer probably dates back to the Nayak period. The devadasis in

2
the early decades of the century wore the Thuyya saree – silk tissue
with zari and an extraordinary amount of jewellery. Rukmini Devi
spearheaded a renaissance of our textile heritage in addition to
dance. E. Krishna Iyer is also said to have played a role in the design
of the Bharatanatyam costume.3

When the art of the devadasis emerged as Bharatanatyam, a new

style of costume was created for the dance but most of the
ornaments have remained more or less the same. Now silver has
replaced gold and artificial stones for gems. Called temple jewelry,
these are lighter to wear and still look beautiful. The revivalists
designed a less cumbersome type with a stitched sari. The araimandi
(bent knees) position being basic and specific, legs are covered and
need flexibility, thus while originally a silk or velvet pyjama / ऩायजामा
was used in 1930s, soon western influence and travels by leading
exponents like Ram Gopal, made for more fashioned leg tunic, with
flair and fan. In Bharatanatyam, while mistakenly the credit for
creating the front fan goes to Rukmini Devi, photographic evidence
shows Ram Gopal did these 10 years before she even came on stage!

In the mid-1900s elaborate accessories for men was common,

making them looks like gods. “I was never satisfied with the crudely-
made jewels and ornaments that are used in the traditional
dances of today in the four main schools. After a minute
observation and detailed search of the bronzes, sculptures and
paintings, in the temples scattered all over India, and the
cave paintings of Ajanta and Sigiriya in Ceylon, I sought to
capture the fine and brilliantly coloured robes, ornaments
and jewellery depicted in these most authentic references that were,
beyond doubt, far superior to what most of the actor dancers wear

3
in the four styles of the Indian dance today,” says Ram Gopal in his
autobiography. He is seen wearing quite ornate jewellery and
elaborate head gear in some photos, as are other dancers like Uday
Shankar, U.S. Krishna Rao, and Bhaskar Roy Chowdury. It was an in-
thing in the pre- and post-independence dance history. Krishna Rao
used to wear a stitched pyjama costume with pleats in the front.
Nala Najan also used to wear stitched pyjama costume with front
pleats as well as a stitched shirt-like top with three quarter sleeves or
full sleeves tucked into his dhoti costume.4

While the female dancers have a number of styles to choose from,

like sari, skirt or pyjama type, the male dancer’s choice is limited. For
male body there is no need to cover chest, so the costumes of men
now are simple, usually a dhoti covering the lower body and no
upper garment. The men also wear ankle bells or salangai to
showcase rhythmic control and tala. They wear a necklace or two,
waist belt and armlets, sometimes bracelets and even clip on
earrings. Belt and armlets hold biceps and stomach muscles flat
while dancing. Men also accentuate their eyes with kohl, since it
serves an important purpose in the dance. Alta in palms and soles
depict energy chakras. Nowadays, men generally do not use alta /
अऱता on their hands or feet though there are exceptions like dancer
Justin McCarthy. Among present day dancers, Vineeth always wears
a sleeveless tunic with his dhoti costume. Nowadays, since men are
doing a lot of body building, some male dancers like Zakir Hussain
and the tall Kiran Rajagopalan wear a dupatta falling on either side of
the neck covering the body muscles and displaying only the middle of
the chest. On heavily built male dancers, this also helps to hide their
girth or chest hair!

4
The current male dance costume of wearing the dhoti / धोती / veshti
/ वेष्ठी for practice and for performance was probably made popular
by Kalakshetra male dancers. Not only was the unstitched draping
comfortable for the dancer, it is quite easy to wear as well. Stitched
versions of this dhoti/veshti costume are available. At the same time,
other variations of male dance costumes abound with dance
costume tailors.5

The uniqueness of Bharatanatyam is firmly imprinted by the

elaborate costumes that the dancers wear. It is this look that gives
the dance its final USP. Probably, ever since Bharatanatyam was
conceptualized in the temple environs, costumes have been an
integral feature of this classical dance. Ancient sculptures portray
women bare above the waist, with a loosely draped dhoti-style
garment tied below. Later, they began to tie a cloth above; when
stitched clothes came to India that modified into a blouse. The sari
was traditionally wrapped in the Maharashtrian style, passing
between the legs, like a dhoti. In ageing photos of the devadasi
dancers, one sees them wearing several layers of skirts, or being
draped in saris in a different way.6

The costume most in vogue today - the stitched pleated costume -

evolved sometime during the 1930s. This costume consists
of “pyjama costume” where the dancer slips into a pair of loose
trousers that are pleated at the thigh and knee to provide for
flexibility. A knife-pleated fan, either to knee length or mid-calf, links
the two legs of the pyjamas and unfurls with geometric precision as
the dancer strikes the ubiquitous Bharatanatyam ‘araimandi’
posture. A variation on this basic style is the ‘cycle cut’ pyjama where
the lower ends are not stitched together, but are clenched tightly by

5
the ankle bells. Or it could be a skirt costume which is a sari stitched
like a skirt; or a sari costume which is cut and stitched to drape like
(what else?) but a sari. Fans, pleats and borders are aesthetically
maneuvered to give each dancer a unique look. In fact, the costume
has evolved constantly and variations of each style are undertaken to
provide for distinctiveness. Whatever the style, glamour of this
classical dance from South India is indeed its dazzling costumes made
from the famous Kanchipuram silk saris woven in the region,
especially in Tamil Nadu. The costumes are crafted from these
elaborately woven saris, and are stitched in several alluring styles.7

Since women dancers have modesty as mainstay, even the blouse is

covered with a layered covering tied at the back. The tight tunic
costume suited young female dancers and older ones could use sari,
loosely tied to afford movement, as Balasaraswati used to wear in
old age or Kalanidhi / कऱाननधध Narayanan does while showing
abhinaya. Half sari culture came in 60s when middle-aged dancers
who were still in their prime could wear it and dance with comfort.
Ornaments were specific: even the back of head had a decorative
bird – the mythical annapakshi - and the sun and star on side of head
to show Shiva’s head adorned with the moon and the sun (angikam
bhuvanam yasya / अन्गगकम भवनॊ यस्य…).

Costumes for dancers in films were loud and garish, with breasts
being accentuated to showcase size. While it looked vulgar, many
film stars succumbed to it to look appealing to the masses, which
had no class. Box office ruled!

But today, like everything else in Bharatanatyam, costumes too are

being modified to suit the changing visual aesthetics of the dance
and to flatter the particular physical frame of the dancer, even while

6
keeping a sharp eye on how the clothed body will look in motion.
Several renowned dancers have added punch to the evolving dance
costume. Yamini Krishnamurthy abandoned the melaku / मेऱक्क
(dupatta) favoring a fan that added mystique to her blouse. With her
tall frame and sharp movements, her costume improvisation worked
like magic. But alas, when others tried to embrace that style, they
ended up looking rather shabby.8

Padma Subrahmanyam was inspired by sculpture to design coiffures,

costumes and jewellery to suit her karanas. Vyjayanthimala Bali
dazzled with her uniquely draped sari that bestowed on her the
unerring image of a dancing goddess on the stage. With a careful eye
choosing best of Kanchi silk weaves, her costumes were as much
discussed as her dance. Leela Samson worked extensively on
evolving a sari style that flattered her dance persona and
emphasized her unique style. Among the younger generation,
Malavika Sarukkai and Priyadarsini Govind have both moved the
costume dialogue. Malavika’s quick changes of fans and
Priyadarsini’s innovative mixes of fabrics and patterns have yielded
new visuals to their dance. Costume designers like Sandhya Raman
and Lakshmi Srinath have researched on costumes for dance and are
enabling several dancers to alter the visual aesthetics of how dance
can be clothed.9

Costumes color and pattern palette has evolved too and changed,
from sharp colours to Madras checks, the famous character of
Kurathi wearing such in Kalakshetra or Padma Subrahmanyam
productions. From bold strong colours to mute; from shocking pink

7
to soft rose, combinations are aplenty and southern textiles afford
shine and gleam.

In contemporary dance of Bharatanatyam muted cotton and avant

garde minimalism abound and this too looks neat. Kalakshetra
students are so keen to show they learn dance, they walk all over
Madras city (Chennai), on buses and on cycles, in practice costume as
though the 100 plus acre campus of the grand old institution has no
space for them to change from class dress and go out in town,
normally! Veteran Bharatanatyam guru M.K. Saroja disliked this
disregard to art so much she wrote letters to editors of Sruti
magazine and The Hindu and also to the authorities of Kalakshetra.
The Dhananjayans, alumni of Kalakshetra, seconded her stand.

Bharatanatyam costumes for women resemble Indian saris, but are

specialized for the dance. Despite the resemblance to saris, they are
not single pieces of cloth, but combinations of a number of specially
stitched pieces. This customization makes them easier to wear, and
easier to dance in than a sari. Most costumes involve pleated pieces
at the waist that fan out attractively during various movements. The
costumes are bright and colorful. They inherit from the sari tradition
the use of contrasting border colors, and the borders of the various
pieces of the costumes form patterns that decorate the dancer’s
form.10

In a detailed interview costume designer D.S. Aiyyelu gave to Sruti

(40) he mentioned various types of pyjama costume. The pyjama
costume is most popular and comes with an attached or separate
pallu. He says the varieties of pyjama type costume are:
-The pyjama with a fan and a blouse tucked in.

8
-The pyjama with a big fan, a tucked-in blouse with attached pallu
and a small fan.
-An old-type pyjama with a vertical border running down each leg
and a big fan in the middle, a short blouse, a pallu tucked in and
covered by a back piece worn over the hip.
-The pyjama with three fans and a separate choli. (The choli for
children has a fan but no pallu)
-The pyjama with short and long fans, the second fan reaching down
to the knees.11

Talking of the second type of costume, the saree costume, he says

there are two ways to do this.
One way is to cut and stitch it according to the required design. In
the other method the six-yard saree is not cut-up, but is cleverly
stitched at the waist and the pallu. On removing the stitches and a
few hooks and string tapes, the saree can be restored to its original
plain form.12
The third type he mentions is the saree-skirt costume with or
without a vertical border running down the centre of the frilled fan in
front, a ‘back piece’ around the hip, and with a separate blouse and
pallu.13
Today Bharatanatyam costume still retains its Bharatanatyam
flavour, so specific to its cultural moorings, though many youngsters
don’t use alta (on finger tips, tips of toes and a circle in the centre of
the palms) as it smudges their dress. This decoration is meant to
emphasize the movements of the hands and feet. They use marker
pen thus making the marks permanent. In the 60s, a Bharatanatyam
dancer changed her costumes almost half a dozen times to perform
the different dances like Andal, Kurathi, snake dance etc, but now
dancers make do with just one or two costumes per recital, partly
9
due to shorter duration of a performance. However minimum 3 to 4
costume changes has become the norm for arangetrams.

Bharatanatyam makeup has a few unique features. Heavy lines are

drawn around the eyes, extending outwards past the eyes. Similarly,
the eyebrows are darkened and extended outwards with liner. The
purpose of this makeup is to accentuate the movements of the eyes
and eyebrows, and make them more visible, because they are an
important part of the dance, especially for expression. 14

“Stage and photo make-up are a bit demanding. Lighting plays a

major role. If the lighting is heavy, you can use heavy make-up and
can use shades. But if the lighting is less, you can use only light make-
up. For photos, the cameraman plays an important role. The angles
and distances he chooses influence the nature of make-up. On the
day of the performance, if the performance was in the evening, the
artistes used to start preparing themselves from noon itself. In those
days, lighting was confined to petromax lights only. So turmeric and
castor oil was first applied to give a yellow tint to suit this type of
lighting. After sometime, the oil and turmeric was removed. Then a
mixture of zinc white, glycerin and sindhuram was applied. Zinc
white mixed with sindhuram gave a good tone and glycerin gave a
good shine. This make-up used to remain for hours. Now, basically
the technique is the same. Based on the tone of the skin and the
body heat, we decide on the make-up. When we put our hand on the
head of the artist, we can feel the body temperature. Make-up tends
to darken if the body heat of the artist is high, so we prefer light
make-up for such people. The face will start looking shiny after
sometime if the face is oily in nature. We consider these factors and
do the make-up. To complete the make-up, costume and hair

10
dressing takes 1 to 1 ½ hours,” says veteran make-up artist
Sethumadhavan.15

The dancer must remember to buy waterproof eye makeup and bindi
as excessive perspiration would make them run down the face during
the performance!

An essential item of the Bharatanatyam costume is the pair of ankle

bells (salangai / सऱागगाई in Tamil, gunghroo / घघ
ॉ रू in Hindi). Ankle
bells are an integral part of a dancer’s aharya for display of rhythm;
hence its role in the performance is of immense importance. Dancers
treat their salangais with utmost reverence. When students
complete formal training in Bharatanatyam and are capable of doing
a margam, Salangai Puja is done. Only after that can they formally
start wearing the salangais and perform on stage. Without
performing the Salangai Puja, no student can wear the salangai, so
this custom is of significance. The salangais are blessed by the
dancer’s guru who ties them to the dancer’s feet for the first time;
they are sometimes placed in the sanctum of Shiva before wearing
them, and they are never worn casually. Salangais are usually made
of rows of brass bells (with an iron ball inside each bell to make the
jingle noise) stitched on to a leather strap or cloth pad that is tied
around the ankles. Salangais have 2 to 6 rows of bells and is used
depending on the prowess of the dancer, like 2 rows for beginners, 4
rows of medium trained and 5 to 6 rows for well-trained dancers.

11
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 29 Books on Bharatanatyam

As per legends, Shiva was the progenitor of dance. Being a dancer

par excellence, he taught his dance to Tandu / तंडू, who taught the art
form to Bharata and Parvati and she in turn taught this to Usha,
daughter of asura Bana and an ardent devotee of Shiva. She was
wedded to the prince of Dwaraka, Aniruddha and thus the art form
was transferred to the mortals. Usha trained the milkmaids of
Dwarka who, in turn, passed it down to the women of Saurashtra. 1, 2
Ever since then, numerous authors and dancers have authored
treatises, books and translations of literature on dance. It goes
without saying that most of the authors were adept in the art form
and were scholars. Thus, they were able to write detailed analysis for
their generation and future generations to follow the text. Even
today, most books on dance are/were written by dancers. Just like
dance, writing skill has become second nature to dancers.

Unlike the books that came out in the last 100 years, where dance
based books concentrate only on dance, the early manuscripts and
literature deal with both dance and music. Music played an
important role in the dramatics and the performance. Thus, many
early books on dance are familiar to music scholars.

1
Bharatamuni authored Natyashastra, the primary source of dance
and dramatics of India. Before the Natyashastra, it is highly probable
that the knowledge was mostly shruti and orally transferred from
generations to generations. Some scholars have found that Bharata
mentions few names of literature that existed in his generation in his
magnum opus. However, currently we do not know what those
literature talk about. 3, 4

There are two debatable points with respect to Natyashastra. First is

the dating of the work, although the majority of scholars place it
between 2BC to 2AD, there are scholars who date it somewhere
between 400 BC – 400 AD, and some date it around 500BC. Second
debatable point is the authorship of Natyashastra. While, one would
think that Natyasastra was written down by a single author, many
scholars have postulated that this was authored by many and that
the name Bharata is not specific to a single person, rather a title
given to a scholar. Nevertheless, Natyashastra and its guidelines
remain a hot topic among dancers, scholars and even today dancers
quote and conduct research on various topics listed in Natyashastra.
3, 4

In 300 BC (some claim as it was authored in 1st century), Dattila

wrote Dattilam / दत्ततऱम. This work deals majorly with music and
specifically Gandharva music, which has direct influence on the
Carnatic music system. Another major work that we have today is
the Brhaddesi / ब्रूहद्देसी by Matanga / मातंग, written in 6th century.
Dattila refers to Brhaddesi in his work to explain certain terms.
Brhaddesi is important work for dancers as this forms a connecting
link between Natyashastra and Dattilam, along with the

2
commentary of Natyashastra, known as Abhinavabharati /
अभिनविारती.
3, 4

Abhinavabharati by Abhinavagupta / अभिनवगुप्त, a Kashmiri Saivaite,

written in 10th-11thcentury is the most well-known commentary on
Natyashastra. This work finds prominence second only to
Natyashastra among dance scholars. This is because, Abhinavagupta
has explained in detail the Rasa theory of Natyashastra and also his
commentaries of Bharata’s work has helped scholars to understand
the complex terms mentioned in Natyashastra. It is notable to
mention that Abhinavabharati is the currently available commentary
on Natyashastra to us. There were numerous other commentaries
written before Abhinavagupta on Natyashastra, as he mentions the
names in Abhinavabharati. However, these commentaries have been
lost and currently none are available to us. Abhinavagupta’s work
sheds light on the technical aspects of dance, clarifying the technical
details given by Bharata and additional information. 3, 4

Here, Nandikeshwara’s / नन्दीकेश्वर Abhinaya Darpana / अभिनयदऩपण

has to be mentioned as a contemporary text that dealt with more
practical aspects of dance. While, it is debatable if Abhinaya Darpana
was considered as a rival or not, the information and step by step
guide is a valuable source for dancers, even today. Starting from the
ideal aspects of stage, dancer, audience; Nandikeshwara goes into
detail of hasta mudras, movements of neck, hands, head, eyes, and
other limbs quite detailed than Natyashastra. In fact, Abhinaya
Darpana is accepted as an influential text that numerous regional
language translations and adaptations exist. Ananda Coomaraswamy
wrote a translation of Abhinaya Darpana .In recent times, PSR Appa

3
Rao combined all these sources and his book has become a standard
textbook for dancers and dance institutions. 3, 4

Silapadikkaram / शीऱऩददक्करम, dated a century later than

Natyashastra (2nd – 3rd Century), authored by Ilango vadigal / इऱांगो
वाडीगऱ has detailed description of the courtesan Madhavi in the
Arangetrukadai section. This section deals with the types of dance
training and dance performance of Madhavi. Just like
Abhinavagupta’s commentary on Natyashastra, Adiyarkkunallar’s
commentary on Silappadikaram sheds more information and
clarification of Ilangovadigal’s magnum opus. 3, 4

Skipping centuries, the 12th century onwards saw a deluge of minor

and major works that have been popularly read and commented
upon. Sangitaratnakara / संगीतरतनाकर of Sarangadeva / सारं गदे व is
front runner among these, where the texts deals majorly with music
and musicality. However, he amalgamates the three aspects of Gita /
गीत, Vadya / वाद्य, and Nritta / नतृ त as Sangeetha / संगीत. He also
touches in detail on Rasa theory. Codification of angikaabhinaya /
अंगगकाअभिनय, and various dance performances such as
Suddhapaddhati / सुध्धऩध्धतत, the Gaundalividhi / गौनडभऱववगध and
the Peranipaddhati / ऩेररणीऩध्धतत are described in detail. 3, 4

Jayasena / Jayasenatipati / Jayappa / जयसेनाऩतत was a military

general in the Kakatiya empire, and he has written a treatise on
dance called Nrittaratnavali / नतृ तरतनावऱी, which has inspired
Kuchipudi performers and scholars. Here for the first time, Jayasena

4
describes the various desi dance forms, amounting to fifteen
different forms. This was written in the 13th century.3, 4

Similar to Nrittaratnavali of Jayasena, Maharana Kumbha / महाराणा

कुम्ि in the 15 century authored Sangitaraja / संगीतराज. Here also,
th

desi forms of dance are described and analyzed in detail. The

Nartananirnaya / नतपनतनणपय of the 16th century authored by
Pandarika Vittala / ऩुंडररक ववठल्ऱ classifies dance in to bandha/बंध
and anibandha / अतनबंध categories. The fourth chapter is exclusively
on dance, while the remaining three are on music. 3, 4

As Bharatanatyam originated in Tamil Nadu, dance treatise and texts

in Tamizh are also notable in influencing the desi / दे शी and margi /
मागी forms. These are Koothanool / कूथानूऱ by Sattanaar/सततानार,
Abhinayadarpanam / अभिनयदऩपण by Veeraraghavaian / वीरराघवाईअन,
Mahabharata Choodamani / महािारत चूड़ामणण by Soman Aryan /
सोमन आयपन , Bharatasenapatiyam / िारतसेनाऩततयम by Adi Vayitar /
आददऱ वतयतर, Panchamarabu / ऩंचमरबू by Arivanar, and others.
5

There are other texts and treatise of dance and music that have
influenced Indian dance and Bharatanatyam. Some of them are:
Hastabhinaya / हस्ताभिनय by Shardula, Bharatakosham / िरताकोशम
by Mahendra Vikrama, Bharata Pradarshika / िारत प्रदभशपका by
Kohala, Dasarupaka /दशरूऩक by Dhananjaya, Sangitasudhakara /
संगीतासध
ु ाकर by Haripala, Sangitachudamani / संगीताचड
ु ामणण by
Jagadekamalla / जगदे कमल्ऱ, Shringara Prakasa / शंग
ृ ार प्रकाश by
Bhojaraja / िोजराज, Sangitasamayasara / संगीतसमयसार by

5
Parshvadeva / ऩाश्वपदेव, Nrtyadhyayah / नतृ याध्याय Nrittadyaraja /
नतृ तद्याराज by Asokamalla, Natya Pradeepa / नाट्य प्रदीऩ by Sundara
Misra and many more. 3

The Thanjavur Marathas, as we know, were influential in establishing

dance by giving patronage to The Tanjore Quartet brothers. It was
during Tulaja’s period(1738–1787) that an important text got
published. King Tulaja authored Sangita Saramrita / संगीतसारामत
ृ .
According to Priyashri Rao, it was somewhere this time period that 4

“The practice of a composition of a text on the lines of the texts like

the Natyashastra or the Sangitaratnakara etc. seems to have ceased.
The focus turned towards the compositions to be employed in dance
presentations.”

Sangita Saramrita has the unique distinction of adavus/आडवु

documented for the first time. The adavu names described are both
in Sanskrit and Tamil-Telugu names, as was prevalently used by
dancers of his time. Listed below is a comparison of the Sanskrit
names with Tamizh-Telugu names and in italics as listed by Lakshmi
Viswanathan6

Sanskrit name Tamizh-Telugu name

SamapadaKuttana / समऩाद कुट्टन Tattadavu/ Thattadavu
KhanatpadaKuttana / खनत ऩाद कुट्टन Kuttadavu/ Kuttuadavu
ParsvaKuttana / ऩारष्व कुट्टन Nattitattadavu/ Natiadavu
PadaparsvaKuttana / ऩादऩाश्वप कुट्टन Dhi-ti-tai adavu/ DhiDhi Thai
adavu

6
Utplutyotthana / उतप्ऱतु योतथान Kudiccu-ezhumbaradu/
KudichuElumbaradu
Santadya-parsni-kuttana /
संताद्य- ऩाश्नी- कुट्टन Tatti-mettadavu / Thattimettu
Mrdusparsana / मदृ स्ु ऩषपण Anukkaraadavu / Anukuadavu
Karsana / कासपन Simiraadavu / Simiradavu
Karsana-pada / कासपन-ऩाद Kadasakkal / Kadasakal
Svastika / स्वत्स्तक Tatti-k-kattaradu /
ThatiKattaradhu
Saranagati / सारं गतत Parikkaraadavu/ ParikraAdavu
Suddhanga / सुद्धान्ग Sittangu
Akuncitapadika / अकंु गचत ऩाददका Endi-k-kattaradu/
EnbiKattaradu
Ekapadika / एकऩाददका Visikkal/ Veechikal
Nipatya-prasaritapada /
तनऩतय-प्रसाररतऩाद VishunduVisi / Vizhinduveechi
Cakra / चक्र Cakkaraccuttu/Chakkarachuthu
Motita / मोटीत Mandi-yadavu/ Mandiadavu

After Tulaja’s work other dance based texts were written by scholars.
For example, Anupasangitaratnakara / अनऩ
ु संगीतरतनाकर by
Bhavabhatta, Sangita(sara)sangraha / संगीत(सार)संग्रह by Narahari
Chakravarty, Ghanashayamadasa, Balaramabharatham / बऱरामिरतम
by Karthia Tirumal, Ragakalpadruma / रागकल्ऩद्रम
ु by AppaDikshita

7
and Srimallakshasangita / श्रीमल्ऱाऺसंगगत by Vishnu Narayana
Bhatakande.5

After Bharatanatyam’s revival and India’s freedom movement

Bharatanatyam based books were published as manuals and Do It
Yourself type of guidebooks. Nevertheless, scholarly books were also
published thus adding new facets to the dance form. In 1938, having
stumbled upon a copy of the NatyaShastra, the American dancer
Ragini Devi authored a book on Indian classical dance in English
called Nritanjali in the same year. This was the first English language
book exclusively on Indian dance.

Since then, dancers have authored books in Bharatanatyam. Most of

these books can be categorized into three types: Coffee table books,
Scholarly work with a specific theme, Guidebook or manual for dance
students to understand the intricacies of the art form. A minor
category of dance books that are currently available are
autobiographies and biographies of dancers. These not only shed the
political, social milieu of the dancer’s upbringing it also sheds light on
the pedagogy and inspiration behind the dancer. Thus, this category
helps a student to understand the goal of the dancer.

Some of the books written by Bharatanatyam dancers are as follows

(not exhaustive):

T. Balasaraswati Bharatanatyam
Leela Samson Rhythm in Joy, Rukmini Devi: A Life
JayalakshmiEshwar Bharatanatyam: How to...: A Step by Step
Approach to Learn the Classical Dance Form,
Hastha Prayogaah: Vocabulary of Hand
Gestures in Bharatanatyam.
U. S. Krishna Rao Dictionary of Bharatantyam
8
Mrinalaini Sarabhai Understanding BharataNatyam
GeetaChandran So Many Journeys by Bharatanatyam Dancer
Anita Ratnam Some dancers of India, Nirmalam / तनमपऱं
Padma Subhrahmanyam Karanas: Common Dance Codes of India
and Indonesia, Bharata’s Art – Then and Now,
BharatakkalaiKotpadu (in Tamizh),
NatyaSastra and National Unity, Legacy of a
Legend, Epic Stories from NatyaSastra (for
Children) and NatyaSastraItihasaKadhaigal
(for Children – Tamizh).
VidyaBhavani Suresh Appreciating Bharatanatyam
V.P. Dhananjayan beyond Performing Art and Culture: Politico-
Socio Aspects, Dhananjayan on Indian Classical
Dance
RaghunathManet BharataNatyam: Du Temple a La Scene
A.M. Gaston BharataNatyam: From Temple to Theatre
Ragini Devi Dance Dialects of India
Lakshmi Viswanathan Women of Pride - the Devadasi Heritage,
Bharatanatyam: A Tamil Heritage
Kamala Rani Essence of Nattuvangam :Bharathanatyam
Guide Book
Lakshmi Lal Guru Kalanidhi : Expressing Dance, Expressing
Life
SonalMansingh Incredible India: Classical Dances
SudharaniRaghupathy LaghuBharatham (Three volumes)
C. Venugopalan Nair Mudras in Bharatanatyam
K. Swarnambigai Naatya Bala Bodhini / नाट्य बाऱा बोगधनी (Basic
Viniyogas in English with Meanings)

9
Kanaka Sudhakar Indian Classical Dance: The Therapeutic
Advantages
SarojaVaidyanathan Classical Dances of India, Bharatanatyam: An
In-Depth Study, Science of Bharatanatyam

Apart from these, dance scholars have also written scholarly works
that have been published. Some of them are (not exhaustive):

V Raghavan Malavikagnimitra Act-II with special reference

to Malavika’s Dance, South Indian Dance and
Dance-Drama, Sri NarayanTirtha, An
Introduction to Indian Poetics, Natyakalai /
नाट्यकऱाई (Tamizh), Ramayana Tradition in
Asia, Abhinavagupta and his works, Kavya-
Nataka-Samgraha / काव्य-नाटक-संग्रह,
Splendours of Indian Dance (Forms-Theory-
Practice)
DaveshSoneji Bharatanatyam: A Reader, Performing Pasts:
Reinventing the Arts in Modern South India,
Unfinished Gestures: Devadasis, Memory and
Modernity in South India
Urmimala Sarkar Munsi Dance Transcending Borders, Traversing
Tradition: Celebrating Dance in India
Mandakranta Bose Movement and Mimesis: The Idea of Dance in
the Sanskritic Tradition
Leela Venkataraman Indian Classical dance: Tradition in Transition,
Bharatanatyam: Step by step, Indian Classical
Dance – The Renaissance and beyond

10
Reginald Massey India's Dances: Their History, Technique and
Repertoire
S Raghuraman History of Tamizh's Dance
S Sarada or Periya Sarada Kalakshetra: Rukmini Devi
Avanthi Meduri Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Visionary Architect of Indian Culture and the
Performing Arts, The transfiguration of
Indian/Asian dance in the United Kingdom:
contemporary Bharatanatyam in global
contexts, Nation, Woman, Representation: The
Sutured History of the Devadasi and her Dance,
Bharatanatyam what are you? and History as
an image: mimesis and parody in
Bharathanatyam.
KapilaVatsyayan Dance Sculpture in Sarangapani Temple, Indian
Classical Dance, The Square and the Circle of
the Indian Arts, Dance in Indian Painting,
Bharata: The Natyasastra, Classical Indian
Dance in Literature and the Arts, Asian Dance:
Multiple Levels
Mohan Khokar Traditions of Indian Classical Dance, Adavus in
Bharatanatyam, Folk Dances, Splendours of
Indian Dance and Uday Shankar
Ashish Mohan Khokar Bharatanatyam, Attendance: Dance Annual of
India
E. Krishna Iyer Bharatanatyam and Other Dancers of India,
Personalities in Present Day Music
G. Venkatachalam The Mirror of Indian Art, Modern Indian
Painters, Travel Diary of an Art Student,

11
 Daughters of the Dawn, Pen Pictures and
Sketches, Unheard Melodies
Saskia C. Kersenboom Devadasi Tradition in South Asia
Nityasumangali
PV Subramaniam or Bharatanatyam
Subbudu
B M Sundaram Varna SvaraJati, Tala Sangraham / ताऱा
संग्रहम (‘Compendium of rhythmic theory’),
MangalaIsai Mannargal / मंगऱभस मन्नागपऱ
(‘The kings of ritual music’), Marabu Tanda
Manikkangal / मरबू तांडा मतनक्कंगऱ (‘Women
who gave the gift of tradition’), and
MarabuValiPerasarangal
Shanta Sherbjeet Singh Indian Dance: The Ultimate Metaphor, The
50th Milestone: A Feminine Critique
Sunil Kothari Bharatanatyam, New Directions in Indian
Dance, Damaru.

12
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 30 Language Used In Bharatanatyam

Although many first generation scholars use the spellings “Geeta,

Gita, and Geet” we stick with correct meaning of the work: Song of
Govinda, hence Geet. It is a common mistake to loosely translate
Indian words like Yog as Yoga and Geet and Geeta, especially Sanskrit
words ending with halant (:).

Since Bharatanatyam traditionally uses Carnatic music as its base, the

number of languages used in Bharatanatyam is almost the same as in
Carnatic music. That is Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and
Malayalam. However, in the last few decades Bharatanatyam has
added new languages as part of its vibrant history. Thus, the dance
form is now more versatile than ever.

Based on Silapadikaaram / शीऱऩददकारम and other Sangam era

literature, Tamil seems to be the lingua franca for early dances in
Tamilnadu. These dances, or koothu as they were called, were in
praise of Indra, the gods who protect the performance stage, and so
on and so forth. Later, with the formatting and codification of
Bharatanatyam or Sadir during the Thanjavur Maratha period by
Tanjore Quartet one saw compositions in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit
and these have been well documented.

1
Some scholars claim that there existed dance dramas during the
Chola period and they were mostly in Tamil. During the Nayaks /
नायक, who ruled Thanjavur, Telugu became the lingua franca for
musical compositions and dance dramas. Raghunatha Nayak and
Vijayaraghava Nayak composed dance dramas in Telugu. Dr.
Swarnamalya Ganesh has recently researched on these Nayak era
compositions and has performed them. According to her, such
reconstruction has helped in understanding the vestiges of Sadir that
are currently used in Bharatanatyam. 1

Vijayaraghava Nayak was a devotee of Mannargudi

Rajagopalaswamy. Hence, his compositions Gopikageetham /
गोपऩकागीतम, Parijataapaharanam / ऩाररजतऩहरानाम, Rukmini
Kalyanam / रुक्ममणी कल्याणं , Rasakridai / रासक्रिडै,
Navaneethachoramani / नवनीतचडू ामणण others, written in Telugu
were frequently performed in court and during festivals and special
occasions. 2

After the Nayaks, King Shahaji of the Maratha period is acclaimed as

one of the greatest composers, whose compositions are a reference
point for dance scholars and dancers. He was proficient in many
languages, making him versatile and able to display his prowess over
the lyrical beauty. Like the Nayaks, the Maratha king’s compositions
were performed during the festivals of the Big Temple or during
special occasions in the court. Since Telugu was the first language he
learnt, apart from his mother tongue Marathi, he has composed
numerous dance dramas and compositions in Telugu. Rajamohana
Kuravnaji, Rajakanya Parinayam, Panchakanya Parinayam,
Leelavati Saharajiyam, Shahraja Vilasam, Sarvangasundari Vilasam,
2
Shahjirajan Kuravanji, Bhoologadevandra Vilasam, Athirupavathi
Kalyanam, and others were composed by him in Telugu and Tamil.
He also composed dance dramas in Telugu, namely Kirata Vilasam,
Ganga Parvati Samvaadham, Parvati Parinayam, Ratikalyanam,
ValliKalyanam, Vigneshwara Kalyanam, Sasipurandaram, and
SaraswathiKalyanam. 2

As his mother tongue was Marathi, King Shahji composed dance

compositions in Marathi as well. They are Lakshmi Narayana
Kalyanam, Ganga Kaveri Samvadham, Lakshmi Bhudevi
Samvadham, Hariharavilasam, Markandeya Charitram, Thyagaraja
Vilasam, Thyagaraja Vinodha Chithira Prabandham and Subhadra
Kalyanam. In Hindi, he composed Viswathitha Vilasamand
Radhavamsithar Vilasam. In Sanskrit, he composed one dance
drama called Chandrasekara Vilasam.2

In Panchabhashavilasanataka, Shahji has shown his prowess over

many languages. The gopis who are in love with Lord Krishna are
addressing him, each in a different language. Thus, the five
languages, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, and Sanskrit are used to
describe their desire towards Lord Krishna. 3

King Serfoji was also a great scholar and a composer. He has

authored hundreds of songs and numerous dance dramas in Marathi.
These dance dramas were put up during temple festivals and in the
court of the King. Unlike his predecessors who wrote dance dramas
or Nirupanas as they are called, with a group of artists in mind,
Serfoji’s compositions were written for a solo performer. Thus, his
Nirupanas can be considered akin to the Margam format of a
Bharatanatyam recital. Also, these Nirupanas, have a similar pattern,

3
starting from Alaru / अऱारू (or alarippu / अऱाररऩ)ू , Sabdham / सब्दम,
Sollu / सोल्ऱू, Varnam / वणणम, Padam / ऩदम,् Tillana / ततल्ऱाना,
Kavutta / कवुत्ता, Swarajathi / स्वराजतत, Abhinaya Padam / अभिनय
ऩदम,् Jakkini / जक्मकनी, Geeta / गीत, Prabandha / प्रबंध, etc. Another
unique aspect of these Nirupanas is that they are all set to one
specific raga and have a unifying theme. In other words, Serfoji had
composed an entire Margam with one raga in mind and a singular
plot, unlike today’s Margam performances that have mix of heavy
and light ragas and have varying themes in varnam, padam, etc. 4

Some of these Marathi based Nirupanas are: Parvathupakhyana

Nirupana / ऩवणतउऩाख्यान तनरूऩण in Yadukula Kambodi raga / यदक
ु ुऱ
काम्बोदी राग, where the story is about the penance of Parvathi to
attain Lord Shiva as her husband. Saripatcha Daav Kalpitha Katha /
सररऩत्चा दाव कक्ल्ऩता in Purvikalyani raga / ऩुपवणकल्यातन राग, where it
describes the game called Saripata / सररऩता between Lord Shiva and
Parvati. Dandanithi Nirupana / दं डतनती तनरुऩण is set in Sama raga /
सम राग centers around the conversation between Lord Rama and
Hanuman regarding the punishment prescribed for various offences
and how to deal with enemies during periods of war. Mahadevachi
Prathana / महादे वाची प्राथणना is set in Suddhasaveri raga / शुध्धसावेरी
राग, where the Goddess Parvati pines for Lord Shiva and prays for his
return. 4

According to documented list of Tanjore Quartet compositions, they

had composed Shabdams, Swarajathis, Padavarnams,
Chowkavarnams in Telugu and Tamil. Some of the popular

4
Shabdams are Sarasijakshulu / सरभसजाऺुऱू, Gokulambudhi /
गोकुऱाम्बुधध, Saami Ninne / सामी तनन्ने. Among the Telugu varnams,
Manavi Chekona / मनवी चेकोना , Saami Ni Ramanave / सामी तन
रम्मणवे, Danike / दातनके, Saami Na Pai / सामी ना ऩाई, Sarojaakshiro /
सरोजाक्षऺरो, Chalamu Jesithe / चऱमु जेभसठे , Ye Maguva Bodhinchira /
ये मागुव बोधधक्न्चरा, and Saami Ninne Kori / सामी तनन्ने कोरी are
popular among dancers. The Varnams in Tamil have a dedicated
following among dancers and rasikas are Mohamana / मोहमना,
Saamiyai Azhaithuvaadi / साभमयाई अज्है त्हूवाडी , Mohalagiri /
मोहऱाधगरी, and Sakhiye inda velayi l सणियें इंद वेऱाई.
5

It has been observed by Mohan Khokar that unlike the Saivaite

themed songs of Bharatanatyam that are predominantly in Tamil, the
songs of Vishnu or Krishna are in Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit, Kanarese,
Hindi and sometimes in Braj. 6
While the margam had remained more or less unchanged with
respect to languages, Smt Anjali Merh created an entire margam in
Gujarati. This is due to the fact that the audiences in Gujarat are
unfamiliar with the languages of the south. This trend can be seen in
the north as well, where the audiences are at home with Sanskrit,
Hindi and Braj. Thus, dancers in Delhi have taken compositions from
Surdas, Kabir, Tulsidas, and other composers and gave them a shape
using Bharatanatyam vocabulary. Geeta Chandran and Leela Samson
have experimented with Bharatanatyam and North Indian languages
and have been well received by the audiences for the fresh feel of
these compositions.

5
In fact, Maharaja Swati Tirunal was adept in setting Carnatic ragas to
North Indian languages. His tillana in Dhanasri raga Gitdhunadiku /
धनश्री राग गीत धुनाददकू is in Hindi and describes love to Lord Krishna.
This Tillana is quite famous among dancers and frequently
performed in a Bharatanatyam recital. He composed 17
padavaranams / ऩदवणणम in Sanskrit and was a left a corpus of
compositions: 50 padams in Malayalam or Manipravalam, 11 in
Sanskrit and 5 in Telugu. 3
The Kuravanjis, on the other hand, were composed from the 17th
century were written mostly in Tamil. With the patronage of the
Nayak and Maratha kings, this genre of musical composition was
written in praise of the kings. An excellent example is the

Sarabhendra Bhupala Kuravanji composed by Kottaiyur Sivak

Kuzhundu Desikar in praise of King Serfoji. In this Kuravanji,
Madanavalli witnesses the procession of the King Serfoji and falls in
love with him. Keeping with the format of a Kuravanji dance drama,
the role of Kuratti is noteworthy. In order to test the Kuratti of her
skills, Madanavalli posts questions to the Kuratti, who in turn proves
that she is well versed in many languages, such as Telugu, Marathi,
Kannada, Hindi and even English indicating her travel to these
regions. 7

Kuravanji dance dramas were not limited to composing in Tamil.

There are kuravanjis that have been composed in languages such as
Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, and Gujarati. Anjali Mehr
choreographed a Gujarati Kuravanji called Shri Chandramauliswara
Kuravanji, which was in praise of the lord Chandramouliswara of
Somnath in Gujarat. This was premiered in 1977.8, 9 As mentioned
earlier she created a whole Margam in Gujarati, with writing original
6
poetry in the same Southern pattern of the Kriti. Her knowledge of
Carnatic as well as North Indian music, versatility in Tamil and
Gujarati, made the Margam very special. Both Kurvanji and the
Margam, in Gujarati retained the authentic Bharatanatyam as well as
translated it for the people of Gujarat. If Gujarati-s or for that matter
an Italian can learn and master the Bharatanatyam with languages
unknown to them, the vice a versa must hold true.

Rukmini Devi Arundale’ contribution in dance is vast like an ocean. At

the same time, her dance productions like the Ramayana series
made Sanskrit as a native language to Bharatanatyam. Her other
productions such as Kumarasambhavam, Jayadeva’s Geet Govinda
are all on Sanskrit. She was a traditionalist, in a sense, when it came
to keeping the language unchanged. Thus, her Kuravanjis -- Kutrala,
Kannappar and Krishnamaari Kuravanjis are in Tamil and Telugu.
Dancer-scholar Padmaja Suresh avers that language is the means of
communication and in dance, it plays a great role as today, we have
varied types of audiences, speaking and following various languages,
coming to view the performances. It is common to have
Bharatanatyam dancers performing to compositions in Hindi and
even foreign languages to reach out without regional barriers. But
what has happened to Sanskrit, the language of NatyaShastra and
the classic age? We see that a classical dancer usually selects Sanskrit
compositions for the first opening number in praise of Lord Ganesha,
including some Shlokas. Later this ‘mother of languages’ is almost
forgotten except when we come across yet another hymn to create
an austere ambience for Shiva or Devi or a Mangalam with Vedic
chanting etc. In between in the repertoire, are the important dance
numbers forming the crux of the performer’s mettle, seen with
compositions like Varnam, Padam, Devarnama or the like. Both the
7
shabda / शब्द and the artha / अथण form the body of Sanskrit kavya. A
Sanskrit Kavi possesses a deep passion for ornamentation of various
things in his surroundings with Alamkara / अऱंकार, literally meaning
‘that which enhances the beauty of speech’.

Ornamentation also helps with elaboration and this is typical to

Indian descriptive ways with poetry, literature, history, dance, music.
When poetry is set to dance or dance uses poetry, the very idea and
basis of sancharis comes from this elaboration. It means one line is
repeatedly used and various meanings are stated or sought. The
same one line can be held to denote multiple expressions and
impressions and this makes the art of classical forms all the more
exotic because nothing stated is obvious but only suggestive. Which
is why one often needs to know text, literary sources and grammar,
in addition to various languages. Today, a modern day dancer barely
knows one language fully, thus the dance too hence remains surface
level sometimes. Earlier generation of dancers knew various
languages specific to the dance form like Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit and
even the teachers or guru could guide but today that’s not the case,
this making the description linear and lacking in depth, as we often
see. This is why dancers look like robots! The audience too is not very
aware or informed sometimes and the critic barely knows to write
English properly, leave alone understand the inner intricacies of a
language. A critic born in Bombay would hardly know what Tanjore
poet is describing and vice versa. This we see a total gap between
perception and the perceived, the depiction on stage and the
depicter. Dance this has undergone several changes due to gals in
language usage and classical dance based on classical languages
needed a classical language like Sanskrit or Tamil to decipher its core
content. Thus, India; biggest lost in colonial times has been language
8
and this was a ploy by the colonial masters to delink India from its
cultural moorings (as Lord Macawlay desired) so that “natives born
had no culture of their own and copied our superior culture”!

Furrher, Padmaja Suresh holds that even God is not only referred as
eternal but also as beautiful, Bhuvanasundara / िुवनसुंदर,
Satyamshivamsundaram / सत्यमभशवम्सुन्दरम etc. The names of
Kalidasa, Bharatrhari and Amaru, among many others, are written in
letters of gold in the genre of romantic literature. Kalidasa’s
evocations of the romantic emotion depict a graceful sensuality and
restrained passion. In Sanskrit -Kavya style, we have Buddhist
literature like Saundarananda and Buddhacharita depicting nayikas
such as Swadheenabhartruka and the amorous elements.
Meghadoota and Ritusamhara of Kalidasa have dealt with these
themes describing women in love-lorn states of various regions.
Besides this, Mayurashtakam andChaurapanchashika have erotic
literature including variously classified women in love.
Ujjvalanilamani of Rupa Goswami, a follower of Chaitanya has
influenced many treatises around those early times. Plays like
Charudatta / चारुदत्त, Mrichchhaakatika / मच्ृ छकदिका have a
courtesan as the heroine and have scope so one can select few
passages from these and compose suitably.

Is Sanskrit being seen as the language of the Gods while other

languages which are the offshoots are chosen as they are easier to
understand and relate to? To a large extent, this is true as Sanskrit
books are decorating the libraries alone with few readers and
Sanskrit and the Natyashastra is hardly taught in dance
schools. There is decline in its status through the ages, thanks to the
English schooling. We cannot afford to brush off its usage in dances,

9
with this opinion as we have a wealth of ample literature that can be
suitably adapted or rather re-adapted from our heritage and also the
resources to translate the lyrics for choreography of a Sanskrit
Varnam or a devotional and love-centric piece as well. It is a
Sahrudya / सरृदय, the connoisseur, who is capable of discerning the
intricate cords of veiled word to sense the aesthetic relish. Of
course, Ashtapadis are the exception as they have been more or less
accepted. Jayadeva, a poet of the 12th century from Orissa
(Bengal claims the poet to be its own because historically two rivers
by same name have flown through the two states!) wrote Geet
Govinda in Sanskrit. Some famous compositions in dance, in
Bharatanatyam are

सणिहे (Sakhi He or Nibhruta Nikunja)

प्रऱयऩयोधधजऱे (Pralaya PayodhiJale or Jaya Jagadish Hare)

चन्दनचधचणत (Chandana Charchita or Haririha Mugdha)

राधधकाकृष्ण (Radhika Krishna or Stana Vinihitam)

यादहमाधव (Yaahi Madhava or Rajani Janita)

पप्रयेचारुशीऱे (Priye Charushile or Vadasi Yadi)

Dance literature, erotic-rhetoric evolved widely from 16th century in

languages like Hindi, Telugu and later Kannada, Tamil and so
on. Considered the high point of Tamil literature, Sangam poetry,
consisting of about 3500 poems, was romantic, called aham / अहम ्

10
meaning inner or household. It also contained heroic poetry called
puram / ऩुरम meaning outer or public.

A padam is a musical monologue, like a kirtanam in structure and

bears the sentiment of love for the Lord through aspects of nayika–
nayakabhava / नायक-नातयकािाव. For example Padmaja Suresh avers
that Kshetragna’s Shankarabharanam padam “evvare /
इव्वरे ”, Govindasamayya’s “manamebhushanamu” / मनमेिूषणम,ु
Muvanallur Sabhapathaya’s “darijucucunnadi / दारीजुचु चुन्नडी”in
Telugu and Ghanam Krishna Iyer’s “tanakkutane / तनमकुिने” in
Tamil. The music set for the padams are rich. Kshetragna has done
yeoman service to Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam / Kuchupidi in
his choice of the appropriate raga to the sentiments. Most padam
compositions deal with the theme of separation in love with ample
scope. Tamil padams are always sung in a slightly faster tempo
usually set to mishra chapu and triputatalas which help to bring out
the musical gait.

The music of the Javalis in Telugu is slightly faster than this. The love
theme is the same, but javalis mostly talk of mundane love. The
music is lighter, the language colloquial with humour and
satire. Some popular ones are entatikuluke / एन्तिीकुऱुके (kalyani /
कल्याणी), Emi mayamu / एमी मायुमु (kambhoji / काम्बोदद). The term
possibly originated from Kannada word “Javadi”, which is a musical
composition of a light. Javali “Sariga Kongu / सररग कोंग”ु by Ghanam
Krishna Iyer is of only two lines, one pallavi and one charanam. In
some javalis, one can find folk tunes incorporated, like in
“Samiradayagade” in Behag. Chinnayya of the Tanjore Quartet,

11
Maharaja Swati Tirunal, Dharmapuri Subbarayar and Tiruppanandal
Pattabhiramayya (composer of “Nee matale Mayanura / नी मािऱे
मायानुरा” in Poorvikalyani) are other famous composers. The tempo
of the Javali is ideally suited for the Khandita Nayika many times.

While items denote love, there is a difference. It is given a higher

level of love not merely between man and woman, king and consort,
gods and goddesses but between soul and god; spirit and matter.
Thus, one sees that Indian languages have also the felicity and facility
to negotiate the physical and the metaphysical; the worldly and the
other-worldly. In that, it connects two world or more and even a
concept like love doesn’t remain confined to mere human, mortal
emotion. This is the beauty of the languages and many poets have
excelled in this subterfuge and used language skills to great
advantage of describing various states of being. The very basis of our
rasa theory, of emotions or bhavas, also is vested in this form of
elaborative discourse, which at one sets off a chain of further
explorations. This is the beauty and bounty of our Indian languages!
And to think down the last many centuries, this has evolved indeed
shows true genius which any foreign invader could not completely
destroy or submerge.
For a novice audience, languages are a barrier in understanding the
plot of a classical dance as they don’t know Sanskrit or language-
specific poetry. For example, in Gujarat, few understand Tamil,
Telugu and other languages, so Gujarati or Marathi was deployed in
dance programs. In France or Canada, French is used in
Bharatanatyam themes. Thus, as per the dictates of the locals and
also to reach a mass appeal, dancers are expanding their repertoire.

12
This need for adapting to newer audiences has also led to dancers
performing to English lyrics. A notable example is Alarmel Valli
dancing to the poems of Arundhati Subaramaniam. Titled Vigil the
poem describes the melancholy and sadness of the nayika in love.
Setting it in swara / स्वर patterns of ragas Charukeshi / चारुकेशी,
Hamsanandi / हम्सनंदी, Vijayanagara / पवजयनगर and Sucharita /
सुधचत्रा and in different melodies, Alarmel Valli / अऱारमेऱ वल्ऱी had
created a new path for connecting with the present day Facebook
generation.10

13
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 31 Bharatanatyam In Films

Bharatanatyam would have not won instant popularity, when in

1940s it was delinked from the devadasi tradition and temple
settings to proscenium stage, had it not been for work of films and
film makers. Many film directors of the period made dance specific
films and also films that showed classical dance like Bharatanatyam
at length, setting off the film careers of dancers like Kamala,
Vyjayanthimala and E.V. Saroja. In fact, films in which classical dance
was used became a regular feature. Many gurus like Vazhuvoor
Ramaiah Pillai directed dances for directors like Subrahmanyam who
gave dancers and the dance a new platform. Their films took up
social causes and issues and also made inroads into psyche and
sociology of dance. Films like Uday Shankar’s ‘Kalpana / कल्पना’
were landmark films but they were on Indian dance per se, not any
one form, as Kathakali, Kathak and shades of Bharatanatyam had
been freely used.

There was a time when producers and directors making south Indian
movies insisted on having at least one classical dance based song in
their movies. The reasons were multipronged. One, the artistes
themselves hailed from the traditional families and with upcoming

1
technology, they took to movies for singing and dancing like fish to
water. Second, the time period was infused with nationalistic themes
and showcasing traditional classical dance was one of the ways to
rejuvenate the pride of being Indian and its hoary past. Lastly, the
actors and actresses in early south Indian movies were trained in
classical music and classical dance, as this was a pre-requisite to
become a successful star. A good voice trained in classical music
ensured that they sang their own songs and a good rhythmic
knowledge ensured that the actor had the choreographic sense to
dance to the choreographer’s tune. Times have changed where
classical music and dance training for actors are no longer a pre-
requisite to become a star. Being someone’s son or daughter with no
training is enough! 1

A cursory glance at the movies made between 1940s to 1960s in

YouTube would make the current generation realize that classical
dance influenced film dances were popular. Discarding the presence
of “filmy-classical” dance in some movies, there are movies that have
showcased a more pristine classical dance that were choreographed
by traditional nattuvanars. There are two ways in which
Bharatanatyam in films can be analyzed.

1. Dances choreographed by nattuvanars either from traditional

or non-traditional background and danced by classically trained
dancers in movies. For eg: Choreographies of Muthuswamy
Pillai, Adyar K Lakshman, Vazhuoor Ramaiah Pillai, etc.
2. Dances performed by classically trained dancers and not
actors. For eg: Kamala Lakshman, Jayalakshmi Eswar, M.K.
Saroja, Vyjayanthimala Bali, Radha Burnier, etc.2

2
In the Tamil film ‘Dayalan / दयऱन’ (1941), there were quite a few
dance sequences performed by the noted dancer and well-known
choreographer of the day Kulkarni, his team and dancers such as
Rohini Dhanam and Usha Bala. Before Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai
began to dominate the choreography space of Tamil cinema, Kulkarni
was active and in demand both in Tamil and Telugu cinema.3
Ramaiah Pillai was one of the first dance masters to get credit as
‘choreographer.’ His first film where he composed dance was
‘Adrishtam / अद्रिश्तम’ (1930s). He composed the dance by accident
because he happened to be on the movie set, where he was
chaperoning his younger sister Radha who was also acting in the film
at that time. The producer felt a Bharatanatyam sequence would be
apt for that particular dance sequence they were shooting and
locating a nattuvanar at such short notice was difficult and could
affect the budget. So, Ramaiah Pillai (who was the only person who
knew Bharatanatyam on the set) himself volunteered to compose
the dance! This coincidence provided him with the confidence to
seriously pursue the art of choreography and he ventured forth to
become a serious, full-fledged nattuvanar at that point. His first film
‘Adrishtam’ truly brought him adrishtam (luck)! The rest as they say
is history.

Kamala (Baby Kamala, Kumari Kamala, Kamala Lakshman) started

making public appearances as a dancer in 1938, when she was four
years old. She was barely 10 when she did her famous snake dance in
‘Jagadalaprathapan / जगदऱप्रतापन’ (1944) choreographed by her
guru Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai. She danced in ‘Sri Valli / श्री वल्ऱी’ to
Munnam Avanudaya Naamam Kettal. She did a double role in the

3
film. It was her film ‘NaamIruvar / नाम्ल्रूवर’ that would make an
impact on Tamil cinema as it was full of patriotism
and Gandhian songs. Its dances helped to revitalize and legitimize
Bharatanatyam, creating a cultural revolution throughout the Tamil
speaking areas of India. Vadiveru Tirisoolam Tonrum Tonrum, Anthi
Mayanguthadi and a pure dance piece in ‘Paarthiban Kanavu /
पार्थिबन कणवु’ (Tamil, 1960), Thaaye Yesotha Unthan in ‘Kula Deivam
/ कुऱ दै व’ं (Tamil, 1956), AadalKalai in ‘Nane Raja / नाने राजा’ (Tamil,
1956) and are some of her notable dance numbers. In Kaana Kankodi
Vendum Kamala dances about Vishnu, Shiva, Muruga, Andal and so
on in ‘KonjumSalangai / कोंजम
ु सऱान्गे’ (Tamil, 1962). In the same
film, Konjumsalangaioli is a beautiful number. Another interesting
piece Brahman thalampoda in the film is the dance competition
between Kamala and another dancer. The dancers actually paint
animals on the floor with their feet (This is seen in a few other dance
competitions in other films). Kamala and her sister Rhadha dance a
lovely duet Vikrama Rajendra in ‘Bhakta Kuchela / भक्त कुचेऱा ’
(Malayalam-Kannada1961). There is even a DD documentary
‘Bharatanatyam’ made in 1954 featuring Kamala with dance
choreography by Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai.

Guru Adyar K Lakshman directed and choreographed dance

sequences for three art films – Subba Sastri / सुब्बा शास्त्री (1966) and
Ananda Tandavam / आनंद तांडवम(1986). In Hamsageethe / हंसगीत
(1975) featuring dancer Jayalakshmi Eswar as a Tanjore dancer,
Lakshman shares choreography credit with Radhakrishna.

4
With his Guru Kanchipuram Ellappa Mudaliar’s permission, in 1962
Udupi Laxminarayan started a dance company Natya Manjari in
Chennai. There were not many male dancers those days. When he
started his dance troupe, he had no help coming in despite his
asking, so he had to do something to sustain his 25 member troupe.
In those days, classical dance was the base for film songs and dance
choreography. Thus, Laxminarayan entered the world of cinema as a
dancer and later directed dance in innumerable films. He has danced
in movies such as 'Raji My Darling,' 'Valliyin Selvan' and 'Paattum
Bharatamum.' A versatile performer, he danced as Manmadha in a
Rati-Manmadha sequence with senior Varalakshmi in 'Harischandra /
हररश्चंि,' a Kathakali dance in 'Thirumalai Thenkumari / र्थरुमऱाई
थेनकुमारी,' and folk dances too to name a few. He has choreographed
for a number of Kannada films including 'Purandaradasar / पुरंदरदास,'
'Lakshmi Kalyanam / ऱक्ष्मीकल्याणं,' the Shiva dance in 'Pon Oonjal /
पों ऊन्जऱ,' Ramayanam song in 'Grahapravesham / गह
ृ प्रवेशम,' song
with the baby in 'Galatta Kalyanam,' the train song in 'Sumathi en
Sundari' in which he also dances. Among new age films, he has
choreographed for 'Kaadhalan' and 'Jeans.' 4

Padmini's Bharatanatyam for Aadumaruljothi in ‘Meenda Sorgam /

मींड़ा सोरगम ’ (1960) is actually a stage performance in the film.
Padmini-Ragini dance competition in ‘Vikramathithan’ (1962) and
Padmini - Vyjayanthimala competition for Kannum Kannum Kalandhu
song in Tamil hit movie ‘Vanji Kottai Vaaliban’ (1958) are still famous
today. Padmini even has a dance competition with the hero MGR
(who actually dances quite badly in the film!) in ‘Mannadhi Mannan.’
In the end, they draw animals with their feet. She has danced in films
5
like ‘Saraswathi Sabatham’ (1966), ‘Thillana Mohanambal’ etc.
Aadumazahgeazhagu is a charming duet by Lalitha and Padmini in
‘Raja Rajan’ (Tamil, 1958). Padmini’s sisters Ragini and Lalitha
(together known as Travancore Sisters) have also danced in many
films, all sisters stunning audiences with their beauty and talent.

Vyjayanthimala’s dance to Kya kya kahoon re kanha in the 1958

Hindi film ‘Piya Milan’ (‘Marma Veeran’ in Tamil, 1956) was
choreographed by V.S. Muthuswami Pillai and was as fabulous as his
direction of Vyjayanthimala in ‘Chittoor Rani Padmini’ (1963). The
former appears to be a preserved example of the Sadir dance of the
devadasi. It wasn’t only the court setting and the costume but also
the actual choreography and body language. He also choreographed
for Vyjayanthimala in ‘Irumbuthirai’ (1960) and ‘Patrani’ (Hindi,
1956).5

Muthuswami Pillai's star students, the cousin sisters Sayee and

Subbulakshmi were the best South Indian “twin dance” duo of Indian
cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. Their speed, precision, flexibility,
springing leg movements, and most of all their ability to dance
synchronized with each other were unparalleled. While Muthuswami
began choreographing for films around 1938, it wasn't until a few
years later that a fateful meeting with P.A. Periyanayaki (Sayee’s
aunt) introduced him to the young girls that would eventually
become his star students and be among the busiest artistes of their
time. Following the hit films ‘Malaikkallan’ and ‘Ratha Kanneer,’ a
spate of film assignments in several languages followed. It was an
odd situation with the dance teacher spending his entire time
teaching just two pupils. For a period of nearly seven to nine years
this is what Muthuswami Pillai appears to have done. What made
6
them unique was their mastery of the difficult combination of speed
plus precision, their effortless movements in and out of seated
positions (half-seated araimandi, fully seated muzhumandi) and
mandiadavus and knee work, their flexibility and deep backbends,
and their lightning fast spins that gave them their "Pambara
Sahodarigal" (Spinning Top sisters) namesake.6

The lovely sisters Sai and Subbulakshmi have done some beautiful
duet numbers in Aplam Chaplam Chaplai Re in ‘Azaad’ (Hindi),
Nayagar Pakshmadi in‘Dr. Savithri’ (Tamil, 1955), O'AyyeO'Amma
and Neeli Megan in ‘Mallaikallan’ (1954), Kadhaval Saathadi in
‘Ratha Kanneer’ (1954), Vazhiya Needozhi in ‘Arivali’ (Tamil 1963),
Vizhiyoduvilayadumkalaichelvame in ‘Karpukkarasi,’etc. Such duet
numbers were known as ‘twin dance’ in those days.

Veteran dancer M.K. Saroja has performed Bharatanatyam items in

Tamil films ‘Krishna Bhakti’, ‘Paithiakaran’ and ‘Nalla Thambi’.
Rukmini Devi’s dance featured in the Tamil film ‘Raja Desingu’ (1937)
and was advertised as one of its high points. Radha Burnier acted
and danced in the film called ‘The River’ produced by Jean Renoir in
1948. In the 1982 Tamil film ‘Kann Sivandhaal Mann Sivakkum,'
Bharatanatyam guru VP Dhananjayan gave a solo performance of
‘Nandanar Charitram' which unfortunately was edited to run for just
five minutes when the film was released. E.V. Saroja and L.
Vijayalakshmi were also popular dancers in films.

Nataraja Mudaliar and his wife Shakuntala were a popular dancing

duo known as Nataraj – Shakuntala. Inducted into dancing by E.
Krishna Iyer, they had trained the 500 dancers who participated in

7
the legendary drum dance in the film ‘Chandralekha’ apart from
being involved in other films.

While in Madras, Tara Chaudhri danced in two Tamil movies. In

AVM’s ‘Vedhala Ulagam’ in 1948, she danced to the choreography of
Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai. In ‘Paarijatham,’ directed by K.S.
Gopalakrishnan in 1950, Tara was seen in the dance sequences. In
both the films, she shared the screen with the famous Travancore
sisters, Padmini and Ragini.7

Way back in 1948, there was actually a film called ‘Devadasi’ about
the story of a poor girl begging on the streets being picked up by a
devadasi woman who changes the girl’s name and trains her in
Bharatanatyam and other dance forms. In films like ‘Konjum
Salangai’ (choreography by Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai, Kanchipuram
Ellappa, M. S. Ramasamy and Thangappan), ‘Salangai Oli’ (about
tragedy in the life of a talented dancer, 1983) and Padmini starrer
‘Thillana Mohanambal’ (dancer and a nadaswaram player fall in love,
1968), Bharatanatyam is undercurrent in the entire movie.
Jayalakshmi Eswar played a Thanjavur dancer in G.V. Iyer’s Kannada
film “Hamsa Geethe” (1975). ‘Swarna Kamalam’ (1988) starred
dancer Bhanu Priya with Dr. Uma Rama Rao as
choreographer. ‘Nache Mayuri’ (1986) starred Sudha Chandran as a
dancer who triumphs with her artificial legs. ‘Shankarabharanam’
(1980) featured Manju Bhargavi. ‘Sringaram’ featuring Aditi Rao
depicts the life of a devadasi in the 1920s, choreography by Saroj
Khan. ‘Dance like a man’ (2004) starring Shobana is about two
Bharatanatyam dancers in the declining years of their professional
lives. ‘Vara: A Blessing’ (2014) is about the daughter of a devadasi
(Geeta Chandran) who falls in love with a Muslim sculptor. ‘O Friend,
8
This Waiting!’ (2012) explores the life of the devadasi employing the
musical form padam as a narrative vehicle.

Though by no means exhaustive, the above mention of films, dancers

and choreographers is an indication of Bharatanatyam’s popularity in
black and white films era and the beginning of the color film years. In
present day films, we only get glimpses now and then of a
Bharatanatyam sequence like in ‘Dalapati, ‘Life of Pi’ to name a few.

Films on Bharatanatyam

Films and books on Bharatanatyam are plenty though not enough.

The reason is: it was expensive to document in 1930s to 1960s. Films
as a medium, even photography was very expensive. Film rolls even
for black and white photos had to be imported from abroad. It is
difficult to realize and understand this in today’s digital age and click-
on-cell phone times but it is true!

Very few films remain of which Ram Gopal’s ‘Aum Shiva’ and Uday
Shankar’s ‘Kalpana’ shot in Madras at Gemini Studios (now Park
hotel) are milestones. In 1970s, Satyajit Ray made a debatable film
on Balasaraswati dancing by the beach, sari flying in face, but at least
it’s a record of the times and the great artiste. University of Rome
made one on M.K. Saroja in 1975. Films Division under theatre
directors like Balwant Gargi made one on Yamini Krishnamurthi in
1980s. ‘Indus Valley to Indira Gandhi’ was made by Padma
Subrahmanyam’s brother’s company Krishnaswamy Associates.

Many films were made for the television by many documenters in

60s and 70s. The list is too long to be enumerated here but Films

9
Division catalogues can be conclusive. Sangeet Natak Akademi too
made documentation but only of its awardees. Doordarshan has
done yeoman service to documenting Bharatanatyam and many
films were made by Mohan Khokar’s protégé Kamlini Dutt when she
joined DD CPC unit and made films for DD Bharati.

Sudharani Raghupathy’s TV serial ‘Bharatanjali,’ an appreciation of

Bhartanatyam, the first of its kind on Doordarshan in 1981 (13
episodes in B&W) and 1989 (8 episodes in color), is one of her
superior contributions to dance. In 1992, Yamini Krishnamurthi
created a 13 part serial on dance called ‘Natyamurti,’ which uses an
Indian temple as its focal point in each part to explore the
connection between temples and dance. Dance serial ‘Aadellenum
Jeevandhi’ produced by Krishnaswamy Associates was originally
produced for Singapore TV – 12 in 1998. TV channel Doordarshan
telecast this series from early August 2001 under the title ‘When the
gods dance’ in English.

Nrithyodaya produced (for Doordarshan) a 13 segment TV serial

‘Bharatiya NatyaShastra’ directed by V. Balakrishnan based on
Padma Subrahmanyam’s research and script, and with her
appearance with a group of dancers from various styles. A milestone
in dance history is the actual performance of the 108 karanas of
Natya Shastra by Padma and her disciples in this film, inter-edited
with the karana sculptures of Tanjavur, Kumbakonam and
Chidambaram temples. The highest TRP ratings to DD dance series
was won by AshishKhokar-Sharmishta Pranab Mukherjee for ‘Taal
Mel’ in 1995-96. Since then she has made one ‘Beyond Tradition’ for
MEA Public Division, featuring Anita Ratnam and Malavika Surukkai.
Chennai based Tapasya Kala Sampradaya made ‘Maraynuduvarum
10
Marabugal’ in an effort to remind students and audiences of the
roots of a tradition that is fast disappearing. ‘From Sadir to
Bharatanatyam’ (2012) made by Vivek Chauhan was commissioned
by Public Service Broadcasting Trust.

The most famous film on a dancer is ‘Bala,’ a short documentary

made in 1976 by Satyajit Ray. Arun Khopkar’s film ‘Sanchari’ (one
who moves in step) is on Bharatanatyam dancer Leela Samson.
Khopkar also made a film ‘Pravah’ on Alarmel Valli. Malavika Sarukkai
in ‘An Unseen Sequence’ directed by Sumantra Ghosal says the film
is about as much her journey as that of Bharatanatyam itself.

11
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 32 Bharatanatyam In Diaspora

Bharatanatyam and the diaspora has happened. Diaspora happens

when a large body of immigrants settles down in an adopted country
and slowly its culture and traditions get established and passed on to
its next generation. Many Indians settled abroad since long but in big
continents like USA, Europe and other smaller parts near east, the
third generation Indians are economically settled and no more
struggling. These societies now take pride in their culture and thus
wish to learn, project, platform traditional arts and teach to their
offspring.

Much more movement is also happening from India worldwide so

lots more people travel now more easily. Earlier only a few privileged
could go, now many do frequently. This has also led to greater
exchange of culture and its practices.

No doubt, it was pioneering foreigners from Europe and USA who

opened our eyes to Indian dances. It was in 1920s great many dance
names like Anna Pavlova, Ruth St Denis, Ted Shawn, La Meri, Louise
Lightfoot came to India and thus made Indian dances popular in their
countries. They created an air, a market/environment as it were,
followed by Indians like Ram Gopal, Uday Shankar, Ananda Shivaram,
Gopinath and others going out to showcase Indian dances.

1
Like Isadora Duncan, who preceded her, Ruth St. Denis was a
revolutionary artiste who felt the need to break from the limitations
of ballet. Knowing full well that the western mind could not
assimilate the content of these dances of the East, with their
gestures and movements that have come down through long
generations as symbols of faith and legend, she made no attempt to
reproduce them. Her aim was to give a fair and beautiful translation
that would help American and European dance audiences come
closer to Oriental cultures. In that she proved to be catalyst. Her
many dances with Indian themes like 'Radha / राधा,' 'Incense,' 'Cobra,'
'Nautch Dance' made many come closer to things Indian and Ted
Shawn was drawn to her art and her. The two got
married. Denishawn the dance school and the dance company was
born! Denishawn toured until 1932 during which time they trained
countless dancers. The most memorable tour from Indian dance
history point of view was in 1925 when the company landed in India
at Calcutta.1
In Calcutta, Denishwan performed at the Empire Theatre. Two of her
favorite items Ruth had included in her tour repertoire were 'Nautch
Dance' and 'Dance of The Black and Gold Sari'. The two items proved
to be most smashing not only in Calcutta but wherever the company
performed. In the south, they extended their trip to include
Madurai, where they marveled at the felicity of the celebrated
devadasi Kamalamba. In Madras, on seeing Mahabalipuram, Ted was
inspired to compose the Dance of Siva for which he got made a huge
brass of ring of Shiva's fire made in metal by a Calcutta foundry, at
center of which he stood himself and danced as Shiva Nataraja! Their
tour of India gave them many insights into India and wherever they
went they opened the eyes of Indians to beauty and greatness of

2
Indian dances neglected under long colonial rule. 2

On the tenth anniversary of her joining the Marinsky, Anna Pavlova

appeared as the lead dancer in a new ballet La Bayadere. This is
based on the life of a devadasi who is loved by a Hindu priest but she
loves a gallant in the local raja's service. Pavlova’s involvement with
India started from this time. On her very first visit to India in 1922,
the lasting impressions Pavlova carried of her visit was of the Ajanta
frescoes. In London, her staff choreographer Ivan Clustine created a
ballet called Ajanta Frescoes but the effort remained amateurish, for
Clustine had never seen the frescoes nor had any idea of Indian
dancing. In India, Pavlova had occasion to attend a wedding, and
now her attention turned to producing a ballet on this. Commalata
Bannerjee was commissioned to devise the music for the ballet titled
A Hindu Wedding. But Pavlova made a greater contribution than this.
She was advised of a young Indian boy who was in London studying
painting who also dabbled in dance and who might prove of help to
Pavlova in designing the ballet. Thus Anna Pavlova discovered Uday
Shankar as a dancer, for he not only designed but choreographed A
Hindu Wedding. He also choreographed ‘Krishna and Radha’ in which
Pavlova invited him to partner her on stage. Thus, India's greatest
genius in dance was born. 3
In 1929, Pavlova was going to Australia via India and Java. A young
bride Rukmini Devi Arundale with her husband George Arundale was
aboard the ship. Their cabin was opposite Pavlova’s and one thing
led to another and Pavlova’s staff choreographer Cleo Nordi inspired
Rukmini to learn ballet while on the long journey. Later, Rukmini Devi
not only helped reinstate Bharatanatyam, but also set up an
institution Kalakshetra, for its teaching.

3
Arriving in India in the late 1940s, Nala Najan immersed himself
whole-heartedly in learning Bharatanatyam. Like all others of his
time, he based himself in Madras and later after his guru
Kattumannar Muthukumara Pillai left Madras for his native place, he
decided to follow him to Chidambaram. Back in New York, Nala
started dancing but several factors made him not succeed. First, men
dancing those days were an oddity, even in New York of the 50s.
Two, opportunities for "Hindu" dances were few. He survived in the
sixties, helping Ted Shawn and Sol Hurok organise tours of visiting
Indian artistes. His official debut took place on February 12, 1960 in
New York City. The famous critic Walter Terry wrote in the New York
Herald Tribune: “Nala Najan, an American youth who ran off to India
to study firsthand the ancient classical dances, made his formal
debut… the auditorium was jammed. The program included cool
classicism of Bharatanatyam....a highly auspicious debut.” Nala Najan
was instrumental in the Seraikella Chhau dancers touring the USA,
with Nala himself providing expert introductions. He was the first
promoter of the form and enlisted Sol Hurok no less, as impresario to
help the form reach many in the USA. His introductions and
commentary on each dance form was very useful because way back
then Indian dances were not well known and clubbed with Oriental
or Hindu dances. It can be said that Nala Najan put India on the
world dance map in USA.4

But for these foreign dancers who came all through the early 20th
century, savored and saved some of our own traditions, we may not
have had a Ram Gopal, discovered by American ethnic dancer La
Meri, or yet another American dancer Ragini Devi who discovered
Gopinath. Australian Louise Lightfoot came and discovered Ananda
Shivaram and many such later examples abound. Writers like Beryl
4
de Zoete (Dutch) and Travernier (French) wrote extensively on
dancing in India. In the decade after this, the slow and steady revival
of Indian dance traditions started and the above foreigners deserve
credit for showcasing Indian dances worldwide, thereby creating not
only an interest (and a market) abroad but also open the eyes of
Indians to their own traditions. While Indian dances have reached
out to most corners of the world now, thanks also to Indian diaspora,
the original catalysts were a few pioneering foreigners and
traditional gurus who inspired many Indians to re-look at their own
dance traditions. They played a significant role in shaping the
fortunes of Indian dances.5

Thus, what started in 1920s has come a full circle now as we are
approaching 2020s! Many Indian dance schools teaching
Bharatanatyam have opened in many parts of world and both
Indians and foreigners partake of it. In USA alone, there must be
over 500 schools, coast to coast.

In the passion for re-discovery of our cultural identity during the

Nationalist movement in India, Bharatanatyam like all other dance
forms, received a new thrust, its revival characterised by a sea
change in dancers and art context. The hitherto guarded privacy of a
tradition nurtured within a community was suddenly full of persons
from non-traditional backgrounds practicing the art form, with the
hapless devadasi sinking into oblivion, except for the inimitable
Balasaraswati, an exception even amongst the devadasis. As art
training institutions proliferated and the dance spread, the
Bharatanatyam dancer in a euphoric post- Independent India
acquired the status of a cultural ambassador, the art form and
practitioners becoming unofficial diplomatic symbols as one of the

5
best embodiments of Indian culture. An organization like the Indian
Council for Cultural Relations was soon created to function as the
cultural arm of the diplomatic corps.6

It was not long before Bharatanatyam dancers as wives of doctors

and engineers serving abroad, cautiously ventured into starting
Bharatanatyam teaching classes in basements. The dance became for
the diaspora, a means of retaining connection with one’s Indianness
while functioning far from home, and also an expression reinforcing
and asserting one's separate ethnic identity, while remaining part of
a larger multi-cultural society. Not by any means part of mainstream
art, Bharatanatyam nevertheless has acquired over the years a more
visible presence and in countries like the United States, and the U.K.
the diaspora is now confident enough to no longer look to India for
leads and legitimacy. The dancers here now are crying to be
recognized in their own right.7

Two conferences held in the United States at Houston and at Chicago

on ‘Indian Dance in the Diaspora’ (September 1-3) and
‘Bharatanatyam in the Diaspora’ (September 6-9, 2001) respectively,
were proof of the more assertive Indian dance presence. While the
first of these events was mounted by Samskriti, under the guidance
of dancer Rathna Kumar, the Chicago conference was presented by
Natya Dance Theatre run by Hema Rajagopalan, ably assisted by her
daughter and disciple Krithika Rajagopalan, in conjunction with
Columbia College, Chicago. The scene in the States today is a far cry
from the days when a Ragini Devi (mother of late Indrani Rehman)
who nurtured an inner conviction of having been an Indian in her
previous birth, began learning Bharatanatyam from Gauri Amma of
Chennai and Jetti Tayamma of Karnataka. Sukanya the daughter of
6
Indrani, one of the panelists in the Chicago conference, recounted
how her grandmother had happened to stumble on the Natya
Shastra in 1928. She even subsequently authored a book on Indian
classical dances. When Ragini Devi returned to her homeland
America, it was to see modern dancer Ruth St. Denis creating,
through her imagination, dance images of an India she had never
visited, though she did travel to this country much later in life. Ragini
Devi, in the attempt to make what she had learned in India
communicate to the western audience at home, even set
Bharatanatyam movements to western music. The western world
was to be soon treated to excellence in Bharatnatyam through
dancers like Ram Gopal, Shanta Rao and later the great
Balasaraswati. In Canada and in the UK, Indian classical dance has
made more headway it would seem with both Kathak and
Bharatanatyam becoming part of the educational curriculum.8

In Europe, France remains number one for learning and teaching

Bharatanatyam followed by UK and others. The French have taken to
Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music like fish to water. For 35 years,
Guru M.K. Saroja went to Paris each year and trained over 300
students, of whom Vidya now heads Mandapa’s Bharatanatyam
section. Dominique Delorme, Shakuntala, Malavika, Amala Devi,
Manochaya are famed performers / teachers in France.

Germany has Arup Ghosh in Munich, Alexandra Romanova, Angelika

Sriram, Katja-Shivani, Margit Kuffemann and Rajyashree Ramesh. In
UK many dancers have settled and continue to teach like Pushkala
Gopal, Usha Raghavan, Geetha Upadhyaya, Anusha Subramanyam,
Chitra Sundaram, Chitralekha Bolar, Geeta Sridar, Deepa Ganesh,
Nina Rajarani, Chamundeeswari Kuppuswamy etc. Institutions like

7
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Universities like Roehampton teach
Bharatanatyam which is even included in school syllabus. Mavin
Khoo, Mayuri Bonham, Seeta Patel are some prominent dancers of
Bharatanatyam.

The presence of Bharatanatyam dance classes at several major

London Tamil temples signifies a new link between the dance and
religious ritual and religious expression in the contemporary diaspora
setting. It also signifies the increased importance assigned to the
dissemination of dancing within religious practice. Bharatanatyam is
currently being promoted as an important subject for study in three
of the main London Tamil temples. Many community elders, dance
teachers, temple devotees, and religious leaders consider it to be
relevant to religious festivals in several other Tamil temples where
performances by teachers, professionals, and students can be seen.
It is taught at most of the Tamil Saturday and Sunday schools, some
of which have significant links with the LTTE (of Srilanka).9

Toronto saw its first Bharatanatyam School in 1975 with the opening
of Menaka Thakkar’s Nrtyakala. Lata Pada founded Sampradaya in
1990 in Mississauga. Trained in Thanjavur style of Bharatanatyam,
she and her dance company present Bharatanatyam and
contemporary works. Sudha Khandwani opened her Kalanidhi Fine
Arts of Canada in 1992. Her notable contribution to the diaspora is
by way of conferences and international festivals. Hari Krishnan,
artistic director of dance, is known equally for his traditional
Bharatanatyam as well as his contemporary works. Jhanak Khendry’s
Bharatanatyam started in 1955 in Chidambaram and later in
Kattumanarkoil under Guru Muthukumara Pillai, in Hyderabad with
T.K. Narayan. In 1968 he met U.S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga

8
Devi of Bangalore in New York City, who gave him the best of the
Pandanallur tradition for the next thirty years. Jhanak Khendry Dance
Company started in 1978 in New York and registered in Canada in
1981. In Montreal, Mamata Niyogi-Nakra, a disciple of U.S. Krishna
Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi, has been teaching the Pandanallur style
she imbibed from her gurus through her institution Kala Bharati that
she founded in 1981. In Vancouver, Canadian dancer Jai Govinda
(real name is Benoit Villeneuve) is carrying on the good work with his
Mandala Arts and Culture. Established in 1994, the academy
specializes in Bharatanatyam and is recognized by Heritage Canada
for its excellence in teaching. Balasaraswati’s disciple Priyamvada
Sankar and her Sankar's School of Bharatanatyam and Vasantha
Krishnan’s Nrithyalaya Foundation are both based in Quebec.

Universities are also proving to be important resource centres and

learning curves, especially with established dancers settled and
teaching there like Anne Marie Gaston in Canada, Lata Pada, Hari
Krishan, Devesh Soneji - all in Canada. In USA, there is east coast with
NYC Tisha School where many like Avanthi Meduri got her doctorate
on Bharatanatyam. Rachel Mattson did her doctorate basing on
Hindu concept of case of Ragini Devi, Indrani Rahman’s mother.
Many more studies are coming out of Columbia, Chicago (Hema
Rajagopalan, Parijata Hombal Verghese) and on the West coast with
Judy Mitoma at UCLA.

Prominent Bharatanatyam schools in the USA to name a few are

Rangoli Foundation for Art & Culture (Malathi Iyengar, CA), Arpana
School of Dance (Ramya Harishankar, CA), Lasya Dance Company
(Vidhya Subramanian, CA), Abhinaya Dance Company (Mythili
Kumar, CA), Natya Dance Theatre (Hema Rajagopalan, IL), Nrityanjali
(Jothi Raghavan, MA), Nritya Sudha's Hindu Temple Rhythms (Sudha
9
Chandra Sekhar, MI), Soorya Dance Company (Prasanna Kasthuri,
MO), Nrithyanjali Institute of Dance (Ramya Ramnarayan, NJ), Nritya
Saagaram Dance Academy (Satya Pradeep, NY), Nritya School of
Bharatanatyam (Padmini Chari, TX), Anjali Center for Performing Arts
(Rathna Kumar, TX), Arathi School of Dance (Revathy Satyu, TX),
Arathi School of Dance (Asha Gopal, AZ). Even in Alaska there are
Bharatanatyam teaching schools and this way the Indian diaspora
community stays in touch with its cultural moorings.

Many Indian parents in the US want their children to learn

Bharatanatyam and perform. Many dance teachers are also
grooming their daughters to continue their lineage like Hema
Rajagopalan – Krithika Rajagopalan, Malathi Iyengar - Lakshmi
Iyengar, Viji Prakash - Mythili Prakash, Mythili Kumar - Rasika and
Malavika, Ranee Ramaswamy - Ashwini and Aparna Ramaswamy etc.
The number of Bharatanatyam dancers in the US is in close
competition to the number in India and is increasing because of
many schools coming up in every other locality.

D. Keshava in Basel, Switzerland and TTB (TeatroTascabile di

Bergamo) in Italy are some most prominent institutions of learning
and promoting Bharatanatyam in last 30 years. There are dance
schools in Spain, Kazakhstan (Akmaral Kainazarova), Argentina,
Brazil, New Zealand, Reunion Islands, West Indies, Ukraine (Ganna
Smirnova), China and even Pakistan where dancers like Sheema
Kermani pursue their passion against all odds. Chandrabhanu,
Anandavalli, Padma Balakumar, RevatiIlanko and others champion
the cause of Bharatanatyam in Australia.The ICCR has also started
sending many dance teachers for short periods to many countries
like Poland, Japan, Belgium, Netherlands, Mauritius and China.

10
In South Africa those who learnt dance in the 40's, 50's and 60's in
India and who had migrated after marriage to South Africa had
managed to set up modest schools and conduct arangetrams and
performances in their local constituency. When apartheid was
dismantled in 1994, the world exhaled in relief and the Indian
community heaved a sigh of relief. KWA Zulu-Natal Dance Theatre
(Vasugi Singh), Kantharuby Dance Academy (Kantharuby Munsamy),
Natyamani Manasa Bharatanatyam Academy (Manasa Devi
Govender) are well known.

In Singapore, Neila Sathyalingam with her husband and Santha

Bhaskar with her husband established themselves with Apsarasa Arts
and Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society/ Bhaskar's Arts Academy. The
Temple of Fine Arts, Suvarna Fine Arts of Ajit Bhaskaran Dass and
Ramli Ibrahim’s Sutra Dance Theatre are reputed schools of
Bharatanatyam in Malaysia with many more in the field.

“We have a large established Indian population in Southeast Asia

that is closely connected to India. The Indians living in Singapore,
Malaysia and Indonesia consider themselves to be a part of greater
India and classical dances are a part of their lives. Indian culture is
trying to broaden its perspective and transcend the barriers of both
India and diaspora,” says Ramli Ibrahim, one of the best-known
exponents and teachers in Malaysia of Bharatanatyam and Odissi.
Ibrahim has groomed some of the finest dancers in Malaysia at Sutra
and at the same time placed Indian classical dance in the context of
the Malaysian experience.10

Other than Indians learning, one reason foreigners are learning too is
the West’s return to spirituality. Many new age trends are taking
shape and roots in USA, Europe, Australia and the near east and such

11
people, both Indians and those coming in contact with them, are
fostering a close interactive relationship with these art forms.

12
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 33 Bharatanatyam - USA

All that USA had known by way of Indian dances was Oriental and
later, Hindu dances. In fact, both the words had derogatory
connotations and /or implications. By first, it meant a vast region
from Constantinople (modern day Turkey) to China, graduating to
being a land of fakirs, and cobras. It also implied the superiority of
the West and its civilization. In one go, the West had not only
appropriated for itself a higher culture, but also decimated an
ancient one. Or many ancient ones that abound as Turkish, Persian,
Indian, Java-Sumatra-Borneo, Thai and Chinese. In some cases, this
trait or manifestation was done out of ignorance and in others, it was
on purpose. This was symptomatic also of trends prevalent then
when America itself was a colony of British and the Boston Tea Party
had not taken place.
Ever since the nautch party of Sahebjan / सहे बजान, Boohribai /
बूहरिबाई and Oomdah / ऊमदाह came to the United States in 1880 and
performed nautch dances in New York City, Indian dance has grown
by leaps and bounds to a well-established presence in the United
States. The tours and trips of artistes both ways, especially in early
20th century also gave an impetus to much closer interactions and
interpolations. Also, thanks to the migration there was a steady
increase of expatriates in the USA. A consequence of this is the
export of dance practitioners who went with their families and are
now well-established names in many parts of the USA, from New
York to San Francisco. 1

1
Today, in North America (including the USA and the Canada) there
are more than 500 schools or centers that teach Bharatanatyam to
young girls and boys. The number of dance schools is directly
proportional to the number of the Indian diaspora, thus one finds
more dance teachers in areas where Indians and people of Indian
origin reside, for example: the greater metropolitan area of San
Francisco comprising San Jose, Oakland and Berkeley. To being with,
Bharatanatyam dancers who came as wives of doctors and engineers
working abroad cautiously ventured into starting Bharatanatyam
classes in their basements and garage. This was possible only after
the change in US immigration policies in the 1960s. Thus, the dance
became for the diaspora, a means of retaining connection with one’s
Indian-ness while functioning far from home, and also an expression
reinforcing and asserting one's separate ethnic identity, while
remaining part of a larger multi-cultural society such as the United
States. Slowly over the decades, Bharatanatyam has acquired a more
visible presence and the label of oriental dance has faded.2
The awareness of the dance form has been a two-way street, where
dancers from the USA (Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Anna Pavlova, La
Meri, Ragini Devi) came to India to learn the mystical form and took
back with them more than they imagined, which they showcased to
the western audience. The audiences at that time were more
intrigued by the exotic nature of the orient and thus these dancers
were able to fill the gap. Also, even as the exotic label wore off, the
dancers were influential in spawning more dancers to whom India
beckoned.
Like Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis was a revolutionary artiste who
felt the need to break from the limitations of ballet. Knowing fully
well that the western mind could not assimilate the content of these
dances of the East she made no attempt to reproduce them. She was
aware that these gestures and movements have been passed on
from generations. Her aim was to give a fair and beautiful translation
that would help American and European dance audiences come

2
closer to Oriental cultures. In that she proved to be catalyst for her
generation, even though current scholars do accuse her of cultural
appropriation. Her many dances with Indian themes like 'Radha,'
'Incense,' 'Cobra,' 'Nautch Dance' made many come closer to things
of Indian origin and Ted Shawn was drawn to her art, and her, and
later got married. Thus, Denishawn, the dance school and the dance
company was born! Denis Shawn toured until 1932 during which
time they trained countless dancers. The most memorable tour from
the Indian dance history point of view was in 1925 when the
company landed in India at Calcutta.3
The scene in the United States today is a far cry from the days when
a certain Ragini Devi (actual name of Esther Sherman, mother of
Indrani Rahman) who nurtured an inner conviction of having been an
Indian in her previous birth, began learning Bharatanatyam from
Mylapore Gauri Ammal of Chennai and Jetti Tayamma of Karnataka.
Having stumbled upon a copy of the Natya Shastra in 1928, she
subsequently authored a book on Indian classical dance in English
called Nritanjali in the same year. Ragini Devi was both a seeker and
a doer and her various excursions in India to see and savor resulted
in lasting impressions in form of books she wrote like The Dance
Dialects of India. She was first on scene in hen Malabar (present day
Kerala) and saw the coming up of institutions like Kalamandalam. It
was she again, who handpicked a young male Kathakali dancer
Gopinath of Travancore (modern Thiruvananthpuram) and made him
world famous. When she teamed up with him, she created new
synergies for Indian dance art in the USA. She lived the life of an
Indian dancer. Modern theorists and armchair intellectuals may see
“cultural appropriation” in this but these were the pioneers who led
the way.
When Ragini Devi returned to her homeland America, it was to see
modern dancer Ruth St. Denis creating, through her imagination,
dance images of an India she had never visited, though she did travel
to this country much later in life. Ragini Devi, in the attempt to make

3
what she had learned in India to communicate with the western
audience, even set Bharatanatyam movements to western music.
Arriving in India in the late 1940s, the American Nala Najan
immersed himself whole-heartedly in learning Bharatanatyam. Like
all others of his time, he based himself in Madras and later after his
guru Kattumannar Muthukumara Pillai left Madras for his native
place, he decided to follow him to Chidambaram and stayed there
for 4 years. He learnt the strict style and due to skill of English
language also noted down several salient features of the form, that
led him to become a critic later of Indian dance in the USA. Back in
New York City, Nala started dancing but several factors made him
unsuccessful. First, men dancing those days were an oddity, even in
New York of the 1950s. Second, opportunities for "Hindu" dances, as
it was labeled, were few. He survived in the sixties, helping Ted
Shawn and Sol Hurok organize tours of visiting Indian artistes. His
official debut took place on February 12, 1960 in New York City. Nala
Najan was instrumental in the Seraikella Chhau dancers for the first
time touring the USA, with Nala himself providing expert
introductions. He was the first promoter of the form and enlisted Sol
Hurok, as the impresario to help the form reach many in the USA. His
introductions and commentary on each dance form was very useful
as Indian dances were not well known and clubbed with Oriental or
Hindu dances. It can be said that Nala Najan put India on the world
dance map in USA.5
Similarly, starting with Uday Shankar (billed as Shan-Kar), Ram Gopal,
Gopinath, Shanta Rao, Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury, Balasaraswati,
Rukmini Devi Arundale’s troupe and others who regularly performed
in the USA, as part of their world tours, have paved the way in
creating an audience base, who were inclined to watch an Indian
dance performance. Also, writers like Beryl de Zoete (Dutch) and
Travernier (French) wrote extensively on dancing in India. In the
decade after this, the slow and steady revival of Indian dance
traditions started and the above foreigners deserve credit for

4
showcasing Indian dances worldwide, thereby creating not only an
interest (and a market) abroad but also in opening the eyes of
Indians to their own traditions. While Indian dances have reached
out to most corners of the world now, thanks also to Indian diaspora,
the original catalysts were a few pioneering foreigners and
traditional gurus who inspired many Indians to re-look at their own
dance traditions. They played a significant role in shaping the
fortunes of Indian dances.6
T. Balasaraswati’s contribution to Bharatanatyam in USA cannot be
undermined. While being an artist in residence at Wesleyan
University, her classes and subsequent dance and music festival
during the Navaratri had become popular so much that Wesleyan
University has its unique tradition of dance scholarship and
performance driven by Balasaraswati’s influence.
Two conferences held in the United States at Houston and at Chicago
on ‘Indian Dance in the Diaspora’ (September 1-3) and
‘Bharatanatyam in the Diaspora’ (September 6-9, 2001) respectively,
were proof of the more assertive Indian dance presence in the
United States. While the first of these events was mounted by
Sanskriti, under the guidance of dancer Rathna Kumar, the Chicago
conference was presented by Natya Dance Theatre run by Hema
Rajagopalan, ably assisted by her daughter and disciple Krithika
Rajagopalan, in conjunction with Columbia College, Chicago. 4
Not just the east and the west coast, but also the Midwest was not
left behind. As a pharmacy student from Bombay, Penny Furgeson
moved to Iowa few years after Independence. Here she established
the Gateway Dance Theatre, where Indian classical dances were
taught by her and others. Before moving to Iowa, she was part of the
troupe of Ram Gopal and Nala Najan giving performances in New
York City. Another example is Rane Ramaswamy who started
teaching Bharatanatyam in Minneapolis and has become a
household name. In 2011, she was nominated as a member for the
National Council of the Arts by the US President Barack Obama. 7 In
5
the Mid-West, the University of Wisconsin established the first
department of Dance in Madison. Since 1984, a special connection
was established when Prof Parul Shah of the M S University of
Baroda was invited to choreograph two Sanskrit plays for Prof Phillip
Zarilli in the Theatre Department for the India Festival in USA. Prof
Mary Alice (Buff) Brennan, then chair of the dance program, an
expert in Laban movement analysis, has collaborated with Prof Shah
since then. Their research in Bharatanatyam using Laban is path-
breaking. Prof Shah has performed and taught Bharatanatyam in the
department working with Prof Anna Nassif, Prof Jin-wen-yu, Prof
Peggy Choy and others producing Nirguna, Abhishap, Imsiberwald,
etc.
Canada was not far behind in spawning dance schools teaching
Bharatanatyam. Toronto saw its first Bharatanatyam school in 1975
with the opening of Menaka Thakkar’s Nrityakala. Lata Pada founded
Sampradaya in 1990 in Mississauga. Trained in the Thanjavur style of
Bharatanatyam, she and her dance company presented
Bharatanatyam and contemporary works. Sudha Khandwani opened
her Kalanidhi Fine Arts of Canada in 1992. Her notable contribution
to the diaspora is by way of conferences and international festivals.
Hari Krishnan migrated from Singapore, artistic director of InDance,
and is known equally for his traditional Bharatanatyam as well as his
contemporary works. Jhanak Khendry’s Bharatanatyam started in
1955 in Chidambaram and later in Kattumanarkoil under Guru
Muthukumara Pillai, in Hyderabad with T.K. Narayan. In 1968 he met
U.S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi of Bangalore in New York
City, who taught him the best of the Pandanallur tradition for the
next thirty years. Jhanak Khendry Dance Company started in 1978 in
New York and registered in Canada in 1981. In Montreal, Mamata
Niyogi-Nakra, a disciple of U.S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi,
has been teaching the Pandanallur style she imbibed from her gurus
through her institution Kala Bharati that she founded in 1981. In
Vancouver, Canadian dancer Jai Govinda (real name is Benoit
Villeneuve) is carrying on the good work with his Mandala Arts and
6
Culture. Established in 1994, the academy specializes in
Bharatanatyam and is recognized by Heritage Canada for its
excellence in teaching. Balasaraswati’s disciple Priyamvada Sankar
and her Sankar's School of Bharatanatyam and Vasantha Krishnan’s
Nrithyalaya Foundation are both based in Quebec.
Prominent Bharatanatyam schools in the USA to name a few are
Rangoli Foundation for Art & Culture (Malathi Iyengar, CA), Arpana
School of Dance (Ramya Harishankar, CA), Lasya Dance Company
(Vidhya Subramanian, CA), Shakti Dance Company (Viji Prakash, CA),
Ragamala Dance Company (Ranee Ramaswamy, MN), Abhinaya
Dance Company (Mythili Kumar, CA), Natya Dance Theatre (Hema
Rajagopalan, IL), Nrityanjali (Jothi Raghavan, MA), Nritya Sudha's
Hindu Temple Rhythms (Sudha Chandra Sekhar, MI), Soorya Dance
Company (PrasannaKasthuri, MO), Nrithyanjali Institute of Dance
(Ramy Ramnarayan, NJ), Nritya Saagaram Dance Academy (Satya
Pradeep, NY), Nritya School of Bharatanatyam (Padmini Chari, TX),
Anjali Center for Performing Arts (Rathna Kumar, TX), Arathi School
of Dance (Revathy Satyu, TX), Arathi School of Dance (Asha Gopal,
AZ).
These dancers have navigated two worlds in choreography. They
have maintained and propagated the tradition of the margam format
among the diaspora, which finds a good audience. Also, devised and
produced newer choreography that appeal to the next generation in
the context of the American culture and politics. Thus, while being
traditional they are also modern and contemporary.
New York City has always been the focal point for Bharatanatyam
ever since Ragini Devi and her daughter Indrani Rahman made Indian
dance a household name in Manhattan. Other dancers soon followed
to NYC. Ritha Devi, Kamala Lakshminarayanan (known as Baby
Kamala or Kumari Kamala), Nala Najan, Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury, and
others. Ritha Devi was both an academician and a performer and
divided her time between India and the USA. Indrani Rahman, who
taught Indian dance at Julliard was a prominent figure in shaping
7
Bharatanatyam diaspora, also spent time between India and USA.
However, Kamala Lakshminarayanan who left India for good after
she felt that the government patronage to artists was dwindling, has
settled in USA. She has been influential in teaching Bharatanatyam to
students in the suburbs of New York City.
As Ketu Katrak analyzes, Bharatanatyam today has become a
common ground for second generation students and their first
generation parents to support each other, who share the same
language and culture. The appeal of Bharatanatyam in its rigor of
daily training, and accompanied by classical Carnatic music often
finds easy support with the migrant parents. In many places, classes
are held once a week for which the students travel with their parents
and spend a major chunk of their time. Additionally, allied topics of
dance (mythology, music and rituals) are also offered by the teachers
or by the dancers visiting America during the summers, where
intensive workshops are held. It is noteworthy to mention that the
second-generation Indian dancers also navigate two worlds at the
same time. This has led to many contemporary productions by
serious dancers of the next generation. These contemporary
productions have involved modern, jazz, yoga and other forms along
with Bharatanatyam influence.8
Another important aspect of the second generation dancers is the
visibility of university dance competitions. These are generally group
productions that have Bharatanatyam and instrumental Carnatic
music as the basic structure; however, they perform to modern
themes and are quite popular among the desi crowd. It is not only
the Indian diaspora that are involved in learning and propagating
Bharatanatyam, but also Pakistani, Bangaldeshi and other Asian
diaspora who are also interested in learning the art form. 8
In the current milieu, American citizens when seeing the dance form
for the first time get transfixed with the costume, jewelry and the
intricate gestures. This has led to many dance schools in the USA
having Americans as students who go beyond their culture. While
8
this might be termed as bordering on cultural appropriation, many
American dancers, some had learnt modern dance, find Indian
classical dance challenging their capabilities and find wide
acceptance among the diaspora. These dancers are applauded by the
Indian diaspora for their dedication and sticking to an alien culture
and tradition, while navigating their American past. Suparna
Banerjee explains the challenges she faced while teaching Americans
in Iowa. In India, and among the diaspora, the parampara or tradition
of guru-shisya is understood and all first generation parents inculcate
the reverence of a teacher to their child. This cultural backdrop,
which is majorly missing among the westerners, was evident with
interaction of students. Thus, as Suparna notes that the pedagogy of
Indian dance had to be changed and modified with the American
setup and this is evident in some dance schools where the teaching
methods of the dance teachers are quite different than the way the
same dance teacher would have learnt in his/her past. 9
However, Kay Poursine, an American who learnt from T.
Balasaraswati, teaches Bharatanatyam as she had imbibed “as it
was” to the American students. While, being criticized Poursine
defends it by saying that the American students are gratified by
learning the dance in the orthodox instruction. Thus, they give no
excuse for their lack of cultural experience. 9
Bharatanatyam in the Indian diaspora has become so famous and
popular that in the 2009 American prime time NBC show called
“Superstars in Dance” featured Indian dancers: Amrapali
Ambegaokar in Kathak and Mythili Prakash in Bharatanatyam. The
topic of navigating two distinct alien cultures always crops up when
one discusses Indian classical dance in the diaspora. For example, in
the same show, it was evident to the judges that these dancers were
born and raised in the US, still their identities as Indian dancers left
an indelible mark that they were unable to judge their dancing
prowess. Thus a transnational migration of dancers has shaped and

9
still shaping the way Bharatanatyam is perceived in the Indian
diaspora. 1
Today we witness a mushrooming of dance teaching schools, which
have become a meeting point for many. Mothers know mythology
will be inherently taught and absorbed by their children learning
dance. Fathers are proud their Indian-ness continues in some form.
Kids learning have a value-addition at school and colleges and also an
additional career choice. All in all, dance has given identity, culture
and characteristics.

10
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 34 Bharatanatyam - UK And Europe

While comparisons are odious (even five fingers of one human hand
are not equal so how can five human beings be?), it is of interest for
students of dance and its evolution that many Indian dance forms
got a boost abroad, long before these were revived and platformed
in India. The economic ties became political and culture was both a
casualty sometime and often a pleasant outcome of this
interpolations. By virtue of advanced technologies (lights, film,
photography) the west was ahead of east in science but east was
ahead in thought, inventions of mathematical concepts, yoga,
philosophy.

In comparison to United States, Europe has been a favorite

destination and a fertile land for Indian classical dance, especially
Bharatanatyam. Due to British colonization, United Kingdom (UK) has
pioneered many spectacular dancers and productions in
Bharatanatyam. It was a troupe of devadasis from Pondicherry who
took Europe by storm in 1838, lasting until 1839. The devadasis
Tilammal (age 30), Ammani (age 18), Rangam (age 14), Sundaram
(age 13), and Vedam (age 6) were accompanied by a nattuvanar,
RamalingamMudali, amridangamvidwan and a tutti (drone like
instrument resembling a bagpipe) player. They were so successful
that their dance and Jacob Haffner, a Dutchman who fell in love with
1
a devadasi while in India, combined are claimed as inspiration for
Petipa’s La Bayardere ballet. These devadasis gave multiple
performances in Paris, London (55 performances at the Adelphi
theatre), Brussels, Antwerp, Frankfurt, Berlin, and Vienna.1

With Anna Pavlova, the Russian ballerina who was living in London
since 1912, Indian dance has had a vibrant history. On the tenth
anniversary of her joining the Marinsky, Anna Pavlova appeared as
the lead dancer in a new ballet La Bayadere. This is based on the life
of a devadasi who is loved by a Hindu priest but she loves a gallant
due to the gratitude towards the local raja. Pavlova’s involvement
with India started from this time.

On her very first visit to India in 1922, with her husband Victor
Dandre, they lamented “we see none of the famed Nautch India is
known for”. This then was the state of Indian dance art under long
alien and colonial rule. It was only natural that such state of affairs
abounds when a country and a culture became a colony. There is
enough historical record to state how over successive long years of
rule, many traditions died due to patronage or politics of the times or
colonial Masters.

The 1922 visit left Pavlova with lasting impressions she carried of her
visit was of the Ajanta frescoes. In London, her staff choreographer
Ivan Clustine created a ballet called Ajanta Frescoes but the effort
remained amateurish, as Clustine had never seen the frescoes nor
had any idea of Indian dancing. In India, Pavlova had occasion to
attend a wedding, and now her attention turned to producing a
ballet on this. Coomalata Bannerjee was commissioned to devise the
music for the ballet titled A Hindu Wedding. But Pavlova made a
greater contribution than this. She was advised of a young Indian boy

2
who was in London studying painting who also dabbled in dance and
who might prove of help to Pavlova in designing the ballet. Thus
Anna Pavlova discovered Uday Shankar as a dancer, for he not only
designed but choreographed A Hindu Wedding. He also
choreographed Krishna and Radha in which Pavlova invited him to
partner her on stage. Thus, India's greatest genius in dance was born.
2

In 1929, Pavlova went to Australia via India and Java. A young bride
Rukmini Devi Arundale with her husband George Arundale was
aboard the ship. Their cabin was opposite Pavlova’s and one thing
led to another and Pavlova’s staff choreographer Cleo Nordi inspired
Rukmini to learn ballet while on the long journey. This started off
with Devi’s desire to learn western ballet to alleviate the boredom of
a long journey but Nordi chided her saying why learn a western form
when India was so rich in its own dance traditions? This reprimand
made Rukmini Devi realize that Nordi was right in her remonstrations
and at once, upon return to India, she applied herself not only to
learning the art form from two veteran masters gurus
Muthukumaran Pillai and Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and Gowri
Amma for abhinaya but also creating an institution where she
appointed the first teacher – Muthukumarn Pillai - as the first master
of the institution. Later, Rukmini Devi not only helped reinstate
Bharatanatyam, but also set up the institution Kalakshetra, for
teaching dance. That Kalakshetra became a bani, or style, shows how
history helps branding.

Inspired by Anna Pavlova, Uday Shankar returned to India and

created his group of dancers. For him the major show at Champ
Elysees in 1931-36 became a turning point. Of course European Wars

3
didn’t help and disrupted some of the arrangements but all in all an
impact was made. Shortly, there were dancers who visited Europe
and UK for their performances. Notably are the ones by Uday
Shankar, Ram Gopal, T. Balasaraswati, and Rukmini Devi’s
Kalakshetra troupe.

After he met Simkie in 1928, Uday Shankar started assembling his

troupe and choreographing some of his earliest productions. In 1931,
he and his troupe toured Europe and the United States that lasted
for seven years! It all began in Paris where he created his own style
of dance and he became famous from his performances in Paris. It
was during this time he produced iconic choreographies like Tandav
Nritya, Kalia Daman, Nautch, Rasa Leela, and many others. His dance
and his productions made a great impact in laying a foundation for
Indian dance in Europe. Not only the European audiences, but he
influenced choreographers in their future works. According to his
biography by Mohan Khokar3

“Audiences, dancers and choreographers in the West were not yet

ready to assimilate the classical dances and dance dramas of India in
all their complexity. But they were ready to appreciate Shankar and
his choreography, with its relatively simple steps and rhythms of foot-
beats and its presentation of themes and stories in such a way that
no knowledge of hasta mudras was necessary for their
understanding.”

A few years later, another dancer that influenced Bharatanatyam in

Europe was Ram Gopal, the Bangalore based dancer, who had learnt
Bharatanatyam from Kattumunarkoil Muthukumaran Pillai and
Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. His dances unlike Uday

4
Shankar’s were much closer to the classical format. However, he had
modified the setting, costumes and the presentation to suit the
European tastes. In 1938, he toured Sweden, Denmark, Holland,
Finland, Norway, Ireland, Switzerland, Poland, UK, and France. His
performances were great success and his trademark performance of
Golden Eagle, Sandhya Tandava had huge approvals. In 1956, he
represented India in the Edinburgh festival. Many films based on his
dances were fodder for artistic explorations and his own films – Aum
Shiva, Dancer in Dust (script) and Taj – were immortal classics. Ram
left no student of note, neither did Shankar, though they had many
followers. It is thus theory of this critic-historian that great dancers
don’t leave nay students, only clones. Many case studies have been
undertaken in classical dance and music and many a top name have
no student M.S. Subbulakshmi, Ravi Shankar, Bhismsen Joshi or Ram,
Uday, Bala, M.K.Saroja, Vyjanthimala. Only ordinary dancers can
have students and leave students. Ram Gopal this strode high on the
U.K.and European scene. So much so, that in a huff he left Indian
1964, when refused land by the Nehru govt. to build an institution.
Years later Ram Gopal settled in the UK and was awarded the Order
of the British Empire (OBE) in 1999, for his contributions to dance.4

Another dancer that made an indelible mark in UK’s dance history

and thereby introducing Bharatanatyam to wider audience was T.
Balasaraswati. Her performance in the 1963 Edinburgh festival
strengthened the fact that Bharatanatyam is here to stay in UK. After
her eight performances, due to the demand of the audiences, she
was requested to stay for longer and subsequently gave eight more
performances, which was a record of sorts. That she became famous
in England through these performances is an understatement!5

5
However, she later focused her work and worth in the USA, where
she found solid support students. Thus UK became an outpost in the
long years.

In UK many dancers have settled and continue to teach like Pushkala

Gopal (London), Usha Raghavan (Italy and UK), Geetha Upadhyaya
(Bradford), Anusha Subramanyam, Chitra Sundaram, Chitralekha
Bolar, Geeta Sridar, Deepa Ganesh, Nina Rajarani, Chamundeeswari
Kuppuswamy etc. Institutions like Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and
Universities like Roehampton teach Bharatanatyam which is even
included in the school syllabus. Mavin Khoo, Mayuri Boonham, Seeta
Patel are other prominent dancers of Bharatanatyam. Avanthi
Medhuri, Chitra Sundaram are some dancers turned scholars and
writers who continue the work, academically.

In the UK, in recent years, the term ‘British South Asian Dance’ is
more commonly used to denote Bharatanatyam, which defines the
dance forms that are made in Britain but the techniques originated
from the South Asian continent. The generic term has raised
eyebrows, since among the diaspora the Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri
Lankans also learn Bharatanatyam or other Indian dance forms in the
UK.This is never an easy fit because competing with Bharatanatyam
is another B- Bollywood and yet another, Bhangra!

UK has been on the forefront of innovations in Bharatanatyam,

where the dancers while trained in the classical form have
collaborated and experimented thereby enhancing the dance scene.
The choreographers have negotiated a space where they deal with
preserving tradition and technique, while innovating and
experimenting.6

6
Interweaving Bharatanatyam and European Classical Music
Angika,which is a British dance company founded in 1997, produced
Triple Hymn in 2000. The choreographers placed both the classical
forms side by side thereby highlighting the cross cultural bonding.
While such experiments are novel how far they become milestone
works, artistically, remains a moot point.

Another Bharatanatyam based dancer who has made a mark in

contemporary dance involving Bharatanatyam vocabulary is Shobana
Jeysingh. Critics find her work neither Indian nor western. Some even
argue if it is Bharatanatyam mould at all. Some of Shobana Jeysingh’s
productions are Duets with Automobiles, Making of Maps, New Cities
Ancient Lands and Byzantium. Her production Surface Tension in
2000, mixed postmodern dance and South Asian movements. In the
words of Avanti Meduri7

“She reemerged dramatically as a contemporary South Asian dancer-

choreographer and took British contemporary dance world by storm.
Jeyasingh articulated a new, aesthetic vision for "contemporary"
South Asian dance in Britain by deconstructing Bharatanatyam dance
vocabulary and urbanized the classical form by combining it with
Western postmodern movement genres.”

In 2015, Shobana Jeysingh revisited La Bayadere, the ballet

composed by Petipa as Bayadere-The Ninth Life. In this she
incorporated contemporary and personal visions; she mixed the
original story along with the first visit of devadasis to Europe in
1838.While this is an updated version, lots of cross cultural
references are also at play.8

The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s founded in India at Bombay by noted

educationist Kulapati Munshi has had worldwide branches in about
7
40 countries promoting Indian cultural values and mission and its
branch in London was opened in 1972 and few years later in 1979
later Tara Rajkumar founded the National Academy for Indian Dance
or NAID, which got rechristened to Akademi: South Asian Dance in
1990s. Akademi has been at the forefront of showcasing Indian
dance in the UK by having large scale productions with spectacular
shows. Akademi organized Indian classical dance performances in
the Westminster Hall as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics in
London. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London had a singular goal of
preserving the tradition of Indian art and culture for posterity, while
the Akademi had designs to enlarge the definitions of the traditional
and classical in the dance forms. This was achieved by cultural
translation and making Indian dance as part of the multicultural map
of Great Britain. 7, 9

Kadam is responsible for bringing out Pulse: Asian music and Dance
magazine in the UK. This magazine is now part and parcel of the
cultural fabric of UK’s Bharatanatyam scene. Chitra Sundaram, a
trained Bharatanatyam dancer arrived in UK in 1980s and performed
Bharatanatyam with “provocative” titles such as, Of Gods and Kings
and Ordinary Men.She was the editor of Pulse magazine from 2002-
07 and showed much originality and spunk in addition to substance
but now Sanjeevini Dutta somehow manages the publication that is
more akin to a newsletter.7

In UK, similar to other countries, Bharatanatyam is considered as a

medium of expression and a vessel for culture propagation among
the diaspora. Thus, for Tamils (including Sri Lanka) in UK the
Saturday/Sunday schools offer the migrant community

8
respectability, highly-valued femininity, mythology and devotion to
the deity of their choice. 10

The presence of Bharatanatyam dance classes at several major

London Tamil temples signifies a new link between the dance and
religious ritual and religious expression in the contemporary
diasporic setting. This has increasingly been viewed as Hindu world
view but when there can be other views, why not this one? It also
signifies the increased importance assigned to the dissemination of
dancing within religious practice. Bharatanatyam is currently being
promoted as an important subject for study in three of the main
London Tamil temples. Many community elders, dance teachers,
temple devotees, and religious leaders consider it to be relevant to
religious festivals in several other Tamil temples where performances
by teachers, professionals, and students can be seen. This has given a
value addition to all and the Indian diaspora community benefits as
being “cultured “It is taught at most of the Tamil Saturday and
Sunday schools.11

Of late, Mila fest has been attracting senior dancers from India and
young dancers who are eager to learn the nuances of
Bharatanatyam. Their festivals are becoming same name dancers,
year after year, as though none other exist! Working on a model of
week-long dance intensive workshops, the Dance India annual series
has top dancers like Leela Samson, Madhavi Mudgal, Priyadarshini
Govind, Rama Vaidyanathan, Bragha Bessell to teach at various levels
of skill. The model has been quite successful that it has been
replicated in Singapore as Dance Asia-Pacific.

Besides UK, France remains number one for learning and teaching
Bharatanatyam followed by UK and others. The French have taken to

9
Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music like fish to water. 40 years ago
Milena Salvini came to India to learn Bharatanatyam (and Kathakali)
and after sometime she realized her true potential lay in platforming
Indian arts, thus she created Mnafappa in Paris. She was recently
awarded the ICCR Honour in 2015 (10 Dec) for her services to Indian
dance and culture.

For 35 years since the 1980s, Guru M.K. Saroja went to Paris each
year and trained over 300 students, of whom Vidya now heads
Mandappa’s Bharatanatyam section. As part of her tour, M K. Saroja
gave performances in England, Switzerland, Italy, West Germany and
many others.3seminal films on her art have been made one each by
University of Rome, one by La Morisse and one by Ram Gopal, her
initial mentor.12

Like M.K.Saroja, another senior disciple of Kattumunarkoil

Muthukumaran Pillai, taught many in France after M.K.Saroja’s
example. There is a deeper connection of how Bharatanatyam
became a household name in France. It was due to the efforts of V. S.
Muthu swami Pillai, and his horde of French students that
Bharatanatyam got established in France. Starting from his first
French student, Verushka alias Menaka, till Dominique Delorme and
Elizabeth Petit there is an unbroken line of students who practiced
with earnest. In return of his efforts, the French Government
awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Letters award to Muthuswami
Pillai in 1985, the first Bharatanatyam guru to receive it. Apart from
Dominique, Shakuntala, Malavika, Amala Devi, Manochaya are
famed performers / teachers in France. 13

In Switzerland, Dasappa Keshava has made Bharatanatyam in the

Mysore style a household name in Basel area. Starting from 1976

10
onwards, with his school Kalasri, he has been imparting the
knowledge he imbibed from the Mysore palace dancer K.
Venkatalakshamma. His daughters, especially Sumitra too continues
in his mould.14

In Germany, the Bharatanatyam dancers are Arup Ghosh in Munich

(M. K. Saroja’s first male student), Alexandra Romanova, Angelika
Sriram, Katja-Shivani, Margit Kuffemann, Rajyashree B Ramesh. The
last is a based in Berlin and doing dance pedagogic research.

In Italy LucreziaManiscotti, Louise Tchabushnig, and others are

pursuing Bharatanatyam most sincerely.

Finland recently saw a unique experimentation of Philharmonic

orchestra along with Bharatanatyam. The Helsinki Philharmonic
Orchestra led by John Storgards along with Carnatic singer Bombay
Jayashri, and the Bharatanatyam dancer Priyadarshini Govind danced
to Indian poems set to Western Classical music. There were lyrical
compositions that were rendered in abhinaya and some rendered in
pure nritta.

All in all, Europe offers a vast kaleidoscopic choice and variety of

banis. Each person has carried something from India and enhanced
the cultural profile and fabric of Europe. No wonder, Indian dance,
especially Bharatanatyam, has won many fans and friends and this
has helped establish its credentials as popular and polished art form.
In the hands and feet of several practitioners, the form has
blossomed to become a beautiful offering as was intended by many
great gurus and pioneers of the form.

11
 PAPER: 3

Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And

Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 35 Bharatanatyam In Singapore

The Early Years 19th Century {Pre-War Year}

Singapore has a relatively short history of Bharatanatyam. Between
the years 1819 to 1945, Indian workers were brought by the British
to Singapore from various Indian provinces like Madras, Bengal,
Punjab, Orissa and Gujarat who carried with them their culture and
folk songs. There are also early 20th century Tamil literary accounts
of courtesans in Singapore. Both Tamil and Telugu-speaking
Devadasi-kalavantulu / कलावंतुलू communities had arrived the region.
In the early 20th century, classical dance and music from South India
were performed by visiting dance troupes. Temples were the centers
of music and dance from the 1920s to 1940s, and provided the
artistes a platform for performance, especially during festivities like
Navaratri and Mandalabhishekam / मंडलाभिशेकम.

After having self-government in 1959, Singapore formed the Ministry

of Culture to encourage the preservation and development of
Chinese, Malay, and Indian dances. Bharatanatyam is said to have
transmitted as one of the first South Asian Arts from India to
Singapore. 1959-1969 are considered to be the pre-professional
dance years as the economy was the main concern during that time.
Therefore, the dance faced the years of struggle for establishment.
The development of Bharatanatyam form in Singapore is based on its
1
social, economic and political development. Although there has
always been a conflict and struggle for the acceptance and rejection
of influence of western dance style, serious efforts have been made
from time to time to preserve the authenticity of the art forms.
Singapore, being a multiracial country, provides opportunities for all
the cultures to grow simultaneously in harmony.

Singapore built its first National Theatre in 1963. People's Association

Dance Company was founded in the 1970s. Indian migrants in
Singapore felt the need of teaching Indian music and dance to their
children in order to protect their self-identity and culture. This
resulted in founding schools for imparting training in Indian classical
music and dance during the early years of 1949-1977. In a period
where formal performance spaces and organizations such as the
Esplanade, the Substation, National Arts Council had yet to
established themselves, temples provided the platform for many
artistes and students for performance during temple festivals.

PIONEERS AND LEADING INSTITUTONS

K. P. Bhaskar and Bhaskar's Arts Academy

A premier academy of performing arts, Bhaskar's Arts Academy Ltd.,
was founded in 1952 by Mr. Krishna Pillai Bhaskar (1925-2013). K. P.
Bhaskar was an award-winning dance artiste, a legend in his own
time and dance icon. In his young age he took training from a
celebrated dancer Gopinath. He also received patronage from the
Maharaja of Travancore. Subsequently he learnt Kathakali, Manipuri,
Kathak, Sri Lankan Kandian dance and even ballet. He also had
privilege of learning under the famous Uday Shankar. Bhaskar went
to Sri Lanka and became close friend of the High Commissioner and
received an opportunity to travel to Australia. On the way he

2
stopped over in Singapore and by a strange twist of fate he remained
in Singapore only for rest of his life. Mrs. Shantha Bhaskar joined her
husband in 1957. Mrs. Bhaskar was trained at Kerala Kalamandalam.
Both husband and wife contributed a lot to preserve, promote and
propagate Indian classical dance, especially Bharatanatyam and
Kathakali. Bhaskar’s maintains a record of the most active, creative
and bright career in the field of teaching and performing. The
Academy also holds Nrityalaya music and dance classes in
collaboration with community centers. The Academy has its own
Kathakali troupe, the only one of its kind in the world outside India. It
also runs a gallery dedicated to Indian visual arts. They expanded
their vision of popularizing Indian dance and music by collaborating
with Indonesian, Thai, Malay and even modern dance styles. In
December 2004, one of the senior students of Smt. Shantha Bhaskar,
Niramala Sheshadri organized an International Dance Conference in
Singapore with the help of her Guru and supported by the National
Arts Council.

Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society

Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society was born in 1949 by a joint effort
of S.N. Durai, K.P.A. Menon and R.V. Subban with a thought of
providing opportunities to Indian children to attend the
performances and expose them to Indian classical music and dance.

In the early years, the Society's main focus was on presenting music
and dance concerts by local artistes as well as artistes from overseas.
But later on, realizing the need of a formal academy for training in
Indian classical music and dance, they concentrated their efforts in
forming an Academy in 1956. It began with the staff of 12 and today
it has Principal, Academy registrar, 22 full time teachers, over 1500

3
members and 1800 students learning different disciplines such as
Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Carnatic vocal music, Violin, Veena,
Mridangam, Hindustani vocal music, Sitar, Tabla and Visual arts.
SIFAS follows the Kalakshetra style and curriculum of Bharatanatyam.
It hires teachers and examiners from Kalakshetra. SIFAS took
initiative to hold a fortnight-long, music and dance festival for the
first time in 2003 to showcase talents from Singapore as well as from
abroad. The festival has now become a regular feature and has
grown bigger and bigger over the years in terms of quality
performances by renowned artistes and large audiences from various
regions. In the past 66 years of SIFAS’ history, several famous
dancers and musicians from India have visited the Academy to
perform and conduct workshops and many joined the Academy to
teach music and dance. The first full-time teachers were a team of
husband and wife, Sankari Krishnan and Vadakancheri Krishnan.
Sankari, an alumna of Darpana (founded by Mrinalini Sarabhai) and
Kalakshetra, taught Bharatanatyam, vocal music and veena and
Krishnan taught mridangam. The syllabus was set for an initial five
years and another three years of advanced course. On the
completion of 8 years, a student receives a Diploma certificate and
‘Visharad' award is given to a student who receives the highest
marks.

Today SIFAS is a biggest institution of Indian Arts in Singapore.

Dr. Uma Rajan

Dr. Uma Rajan played an important role in preservation and
promotion of art and culture in Singapore. Since mid-1950s Uma
Rajan is known for her multiple personalities of being dancer,
musician, choreographer, distinguished master of ceremonies,

4
promoter of classical programmes and adviser to cultural
organizations including Community Centres, early member of
National Arts Council, conceptualizer and first Director of Festival of
Asian Performing Arts.

Rathi Karthigesu
Another important pioneer figure in Bharatanatyam history of
Singapore is Rathi Karthigesu who held center stage from 1950 to
1970. She began her training in dance at the time when dance was
not considered as a respectful art form. With strong determination
and passion to pursue dance she overcame the odds and took
training firstly from K. P. Bhaskar and later from Sankari Krishnan, a
Kalakshetra trained dancer in SIFAS. She performed widely in
Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and the United Kingdom.

Apsaras Arts
Apsaras Arts was founded in Singapore in 1977 by Shri S.
Sathyalingam and Smt. Neila Sathyalingam of Kalakshetra, India. Both
husband and wife are of Sri Lankan origin. Neila also learnt Kathak,
Kathakali, Mohiniattam, and Manipuri apart from Bharatanatyam
from Kalakshetra. She taught in Kalakshetra for a few years and
married musician Sathiyalingam. In the mid-1970s, Sathiyalingam
secured a job as a Regional Manager in a chemical company in
Singapore and the couple moved to Singapore. They established
Apsaras Arts which started with 20 students and grew rapidly in
strength of student numbers and significance. Trained under this
institutions, many senior students have branched out in and outside
of Singapore (Malaysia, Australia, Japan, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom,
France and United states) under the name of Apsaras. Neila ran
classes at Cairnhill and Tanglin Community Centers and was

5
appointed in 1982 by the People's Association (PA) to form a dance
group and perform at various community centers. this was in
alignment with government's intent to involve people across all
strata of society in cultural activities. She has choreographed dance
productions for over 13 Chingay parades which take place every year
during the Chinese New Year. Focusing on creative productions,
Apsaras has groomed into professional dance company since 2007
and participated in many national and International festivals.
Recognizing their contribution in the field, National Arts Council,
Singapore, have chosen Apsaras Arts Ltd., for major grant for the
period April 2014-March 2017.

Temple of Fine Arts

Temple of Fine Arts (TFA), also known as Kala Mandir, was founded
in 1981 by Swami Shantanand Sarasvati of India. Their initial
offerings were student performances and short dance ballets which
grew over a period of time into full-length dance dramas and musical
productions. The spirit created by Swamiji is continued by TFA where
everybody, whether trained or otherwise, joins in during the
preparations of stage productions-home grown musical and dance
talents, script-writers, painters, backdrop creators, housewives doing
make-up and tailoring costumes and even designing and making
jewelry, all performed with a strong family spirit and lots of fun.
Temple of Fine Arts offers both genres of North and South Indian
music and dance. Besides Singapore, TFA has branches in Malaysia
(particularly Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Melaka, and Johor Bharu), in
India (Coimbatore, Pune and Chennai), Sri Lanka, US and in Australia
(Perth). Over the past 20 years TFA has presented many large-scale
productions like Swan Lake, Madame Butterfly, Legend of Princess
Mahsuri, and particularly Ramayana involving Indian, Indonesian and
6
Thai dance forms. Kamakshi Jayaraman, a disciple of Vazhuvur
Ramaiah Pillai, served as dance tutor at TFA from 1984 to 1996.
Rajalakshmi Sekar has been teaching Carnatic music for last 25 years
at TFA.

In keeping with its objective of offering arts and culture to the

masses with less emphasis on financial returns, TFA's approach is not
to charge admission fees for public performances, but instead to
extend invitations to the public and accept donations to meet up the
production cost.

Impact of Bharatanatyam on other communities

Living in a multicultural society helps in exploring cultures and
traditions other than one’s own. Many distinguished Chinese and
Malay artistes have been influenced by the Indian performing arts
and Indian culture.

Richard Tan
The late Richard Tan was the first Singaporean citizen of Chinese
origin to have learnt Bharatanatyam from Kalakshetra and
performed arangetram. He was enchanted by the beauty of an
Indian dance performance by Tanjong Katong Girls School and
decided to learn it. In 1960 he got chance to learn from K.P. Bhaskar.
He soon mastered simple items and was encouraged to perform. He
went on to perform in many variety shows, festivals, temples, and in
the prestigious venues like Victoria theatre. He wanted to pursue
Bharatanatyam more seriously, so he sought an interview with
Rukmini Devi Arundale of Kalakshetra, who was visiting Singapore in
the summer of 1963. He was given admission and in 1965 he
travelled to Madras to join Kalakshetra. His passion for dance
transcended the questions of culture. After training in Kalakshetra he
7
returned Singapore and arranged a programme for Kalakshetra
troupe with the help of SIFAS. He left again for India to learn music
and trained in Thevaram and Tiruppugazh singing. He performed in
the Madurai Meenakshi and Chidambaram temples in India.
Multiracial Singapore has many such examples of bridging cultures
through the medium of art.

Dr. Chua Soo Pong

Dr. Chua Soo Pong, a scholar of Chinese opera, made a mark by
adapting Indian epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata into his own
artistic journeys. Dr. Chua Soo Pong collaborated and worked with
dance pioneers Santha Bhaskar and Neila Sathyalingam for many
years, as part of Singapore's early initiatives to build multicultural
harmony and a Singaporean identity. In his young age he learnt from
K.P.Bhaskar and decided to perform the Ramayana as a Chinese
dance production. In 1971, he first staged a puppet show showcasing
Indonesian puppets and Chinese dialogues. Almost 20 years later in
1988, he wrote the Ramayana as a Chinese play for children, which
he has successfully staged in Singapore and later adapted as
Teochew, Hokkien, Cantonese and Huang Mei opera. These different
genres of Chinese companies have been presented in International
Theatre Festivals in 17 countries since its premiere in Stuttgart,
Germany, in 1991. He also performed in SIFAS production, The Fifth
Lotus in 2002 and Rama Katha in 2009. Dr. Chua Soo Pong's creations
are a great example of multicultural experiments that can travel
beyond Singapore shores.

Som Sud
Som Sud is the founder of Sri Warisan Som Said Performing Arts Ltd..
A cultural medallion winner, she saw Indian dance in 1965 at the

8
rehearsal studio at the National Theatre Club where K.P.Bhaskar was
rehearsing. Som Sud found the dance form so beautiful that she
went to Shantha Bhaskar's home to take the lessons. Those 10-12
sessions became a turning point for her to create Indian dance
pieces. She continued to learn Indian dance and teach Malay dance.
Later she met Neila Sathiyalingam in the 1980s and has continued to
work with her in collaborative projects till today.

Sonny Lim
Sonny Lim, assistant Director, Arts and Culture, Student and Alumni
Affairs Department, Tamasek Polytechnic, had a very distinguished
career as a Bharatanatyam artiste. As a young boy he was inspired by
watching a broadcast of the South East Asian Festival of Arts on
television. He learnt basics of Bharatanatyam at Dr. Chandrabahanu's
academy. After two years of break he joined Shanti Rajendra’s
classes and performed his Arangetram. After seeing his performance,
the president of SIFAS invited him to perform the following year. He
continued giving solo performances with live orchestra. Later he
collaborated with dancer Sharmila Gunasingham for several
productions. He also contributed in writing dance articles and
reviews for local newspapers and magazines. He has formed an
Indian dance group at Temasek Polytechnic.

Osman Abdul Hamid

Osman Abdul Hamid, acclaimed dancer and choreographer, is
associated with the People's Association Malay Dance Group and the
Sriwana Malay Dance Group. A tutor and choreographer of the NUS
Ilsa Tari since 1995, Osman was conferred the prestigious Singapore
Youth Award(service) in 1993 and the Young Artist Award by the
National Arts Council in 1994. He was also appointed as a member of

9
the Board of Directors of the Malay Heritage Centre from 2007 to
2009. Osman has worked with Neila Sathyalingam, Shantha Bhaskar,
Madhavi Krishnan, Manimaran, and Dhananjayans. He has played the
roles of Jatayu and Hanuman in Ramayana.

Yam Boon Fong

Yam Boon Fong, a senior specialist (dance) of the Student
Development Curriculum Division, Ministry of Education, learnt
Bharatanatyam from Santha Bhaskar and Neewin Harshall at
Nrityalaya Aesthetic Society and even performed arangetram in
2011. Before working at the Ministry of Education as a dance
education officer, she taught dance in secondary school for more
than 14 years. She has developed dance modules for the Programme
for Active Learning to engage primary school-children through
creative movement and cultural dance, as well as research-led
projects on the assessment of dance, dance learning outcomes and
safe dance practice.

Low Kok Wai

Low Kok Wai was a trained dancer in various styles like
contemporary, jazz and western ballet. He was very attracted to
Bharatanatyam so he joined SIFAS and started learning under
Balagurunathan. He also got chance to perform in some productions.
Later, he started learning under Dr. Siri Rama. He was culturally close
to Buddhist philosophies and got to participate in a production based
on Buddha in Singapore and India with Dr. Siri Rama. Low Kok Wai
continued exploring Javanese dance and Indian dance at his Master's
programme at the National Institute of Education. He continues his
journey by using Indian Dance movements in contemporary
performances and theatre.

10
New venues
 University Cultural Centre Hall and Theatre was founded in
2000 at the National University of Singapore.

 The Esplanade Theatres on the Bay in the year 2002.

 Lee Foundation Theatre at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

in 2004.

 The Drama Centre, in the new building of the National Library,

which opened in 2005.

 The Concert Hall, Drama Theatre and Studio Theatre at the

school of the Arts, founded in 2008.

 The renovated Capitol Theatre opened in 2015.

Festivals of Indian Dance and Music

 Esplanade hosts the annual Indian festival called Kala Utsavam
in 2002 during the Deepavali festive period. Started as a 3-day
festival, it has since grown into a 10-day festival that presents
an interesting selection of contemporary and traditional
performances by acclaimed Indian artistes from Singapore and
abroad.

 The SIFAS festival of Indian Classical Music and Dance began in

2003, has become a significant and much anticipated event in
the Indian cultural calendar of Singapore.

 Shrutilaya's founder Gayatri Sriram started the Samarpana

Festival of Indian Music and Dance and this year it has
successfully completed fourth year.

11
  Madhuradhwani was started as a celebration of the birth
centenary of musical legend G.N. Balasubramaniam in 2010.

Recent institutions

 Alapana Arts was founded in 1999 by V. Raghuraman

(mridangist) and Banumathy Raghuraman (Carnatic vocalist and
veenaplayer). The institution offers courses in Veena, Carnatic
vocal, Violin, Flute, Mridangam, and Bharatanatyam.

 Global Indian Cultural Centre was started in 2004 by Global

Indian International School. The school offers Indian dance and
music as part of its curriculum until Grade 5 in primary school.
The various disciplines which the GICC offers are Carnatic vocal,
Violin, Keyboard, Flute, Hindustani vocal, Tabla, and dance
forms like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi and Kathak.

 Bharatanjali was founded by a Natyacharya Mani V.

Balakrishnan in 1990 and formally registered as an institution in
2007 after he resigned a job. He is an eminent Bharatanatyam
dancer and teaches it at his institution.

 Kala Peetham is run by a very senior Kalakshetrian Smt.

Sitaravamma Sandrasegaren. Kala Peetham was founded by
Seetharama Sharma and it has many branches across the
world. Sitaravamma taught in SIFAS for more than a decade
and after coming out of SIFAS she started her own school.

 Bharathaa Arts's founders Suganthi Kumaraguru and Jeyanthi

Balasubramaniam are also trained in Kalakshetra style of
Bharatanatyam and have so far received many prestigious
awards.

12
 The Soorya organization was registered in 2005 in Singapore,
focusing on the Indian classical arts. The organization was
started in India 7 years ago by Soorya Krishnamoorthy and it
has spread all over India and in over 20 countries.

 Chitrakala Arts was founded by Chitra Shankar, a disciple of

Saroja Vaidyanathan and she is also trained in Odissi by late
Hare Krishna Bahera and Madhavi Mudgal. She teaches and
performs both Bharatanatyam and Odissi.

 Kanaka Sabha is run by a founder Dr. Siri both in Singapore and

Mumbai. Dr. Siri is currently a second term president of the
Singapore chapter of World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific.

 Chowk was established by Odissi dancer Raka Maitra and later

on she moved on to produce contemporary works too.

 Maya Dance Theatre is founded by Kavitha Krishnan, a trained

Bharatanatyam dancer. After classical training Kavitha was
influenced by contemporary dance and focused on career in
contemporary dance and presented many productions under
the banner of Maya Dance Theatre.

 Aakash Ganga is founded by Maalika Girish Panicker who is a

Kalakshetra graduate and came to Singapore in 1996 as a
Bharatanatyam tutor at SIFAS and served SIFAS for fourteen
long years before she set up her own institution, Aakash Ganga.

 Art Lahree Rangashala is another recent addition to the

Bharatanatyam scene in Singapore. Founded by a
Bharatanatyam dancer, Smt. Minal Merai who holds Master's
degree in Bharatanatyam from Faculty of Performing Arts, M. S.

13
 University, she served SIFAS from 2001 to 2011. After founding
ALR, she presented her first Dance Theatre production
'SHIVOHAM’ in October 2014 with the support of National Arts
Council and Arts Funds, Singapore, which won her great
admiration from one and all.

In the past years many Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kathak, Kathakali,

Mohiniattam and Kuchipudi dancers have come and stayed in
Singapore. All of them have contributed to the growth of Indian
dance in Singapore. In fact, some of them have made Singapore as
their permanent home whereas some of them returned back to their
own countries after temporary stay in Singapore.

Today in Singapore, Bharatanatyam dance style has become

inextricable part of culture. It has not only gain popularity among all
the races in Singapore but has also occupied an important place in
the curriculum of International and local schools as well as National
University of Singapore as a part of CCA (co-curricular activities).
Bharatanatyam is the most commonly practiced dance form in
Singapore.

Apsaras Arts presents Dance India’s Asia Pacific Dance, a workshop

by internationally renowned dancers of India for past four years.
Created by Milapfest, the UK's Indian Arts Development Trust, Dance
India is a visionary dance educational programme designed for
students, teachers, and performing artists of Indian Classical Dance.
Bhaskar's Arts Academy held an international conference on
Bharatanatyam in December 2014. Mainstream media that have
played an important vital role in sustaining and nurturing Indian arts
in Singapore over the last 70 years include print media like Tamil

14
Murasu, The Straight Times, and Tabla and broadcast media like
Vasantham television, Soorya, a Malay channel in Singapore and OLI
96.8 Tamil FM radio station. Even magazines like India se, Vanilla,
etc. have been promoting Indian arts and artistes. The High
Commission of India, Singapore, has been a great source of support
to may event organizers in Singapore by liaising with the Indian
Government’s Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

15