ART OF NATYA THROUGH THE AGES

BY Dr. SHANTI MAHESH DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC QUEEN MARYS COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS) CHENNAI.

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION METHODOLOGY ART OF NATYA THROUGH THE AGES CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY

ABSTRACT
The one word, the name, by which Indian dance as we know today was known universally right into the first quarter of this century was nautch. Bharata Natyam, Odissi, ballet and the rest are all labels that have gained currency only during the past sixty years or so. Before that, all Indian dancing, especially in the eyes of the West, was just plain nautch. The word, however, implies more than mere dancing, for it connotes a whole atmosphere. From the present state of Indian classical dance it is difficult to reconstruct its position in Indian society prior to its elevation as a classical art form through transplantation to the concert stage.

INTRODUCTION
Dance in traditional Indian culture permeated all facets of life, but its outstanding function was to give symbolic expression to abstract religious ideas. The close relationship between dance and religion began very early in Hindu thought, and numerous references to dance include descriptions of its performance in both secular and religious contexts. Since traditional Indian society has never clearly demarcated secular from religious activity, it is difficult and unnecessary to ascertain in which milieu the dance may have originated. This is an attempt to analyze the placement of the art of dance from ages.

METHODOLOGY
The interesting view of Indian dancing makes anyone research the richness of the art. has framed the essence of this paper. This is an attempt to analyze the placement of the art of dance from ages.

ART OF NATYA THROUGH THE AGES

There has always been some ambiguity surrounding the secular and religious components of the dance tradition but the earliest references in the Rg Veda and the early law texts such as the Laws of Manu and the Arthasastra stress the secular function. Descriptions of the dance by early European travelers, particularly the Portuguese, mention both court and temples performances, often by the same girls, emphasizing the difficulty of dividing the secular from the religious in India. Early literary references to dance are also ambiguous about the purpose of the dance. The Rg Veda employs a dancing girl as a metaphor when describing dawn, but no attempt is made to link dance with religious activity, nor is there any indication of the disrepute in which dancers were later held. Although this first reference is from a religious text, it is no more than a poetic metaphor, and lends no support to the idea that Indian dance began as religious ritual. The secular importance of dance is affirmed very early from very ancient times viz. Arthasastra, the Laws of Manu etc which list dance as one of the many accomplishments of courtesans. There are references to dance in many works like Meghaduta of poet Kalidasa. Dance was not restricted to only Hindu temples. It appears to have been

performed in the temples of all the three indigenous faiths of the subcontinent. An inscription dated A.D.1270 at Gaya records dance in a Buddhist shrine where Worship there (offered) thrice a day by means of instrumental music in the highest key(panchama gata) and Dancing Girls Bhavanis who were Rambha(a celestial dancer) were attached to the temples and were dancing round wonderfully. Somdeva, the eleventh century Kashmiri writer also refers to dancing in temples. The eleventh century Jain reformer, Jinavallabha, in his Sanghapattaka was concerned about the large number of dancing girls distracting monks in the Jain temples of Rajasthan. Just as dancers formed part of the court of Indra, the celestial king, it became the custom for kings to have certain ceremonial activities performed by the dancers, such as holding the royal umbrella, fanning the royal couple with yak-tail fans, and being present at state occasions like royal consecrations. Many of the customs, continued and Abbe Dubois, a priest working in south India in the nineteenth centruy, records that when a king or distinguished visitor made a formal visit to the temple, he should properly be accompanied by a certain number of devadasis. In the royal courts the king assumed god-like powers and the same ceremony was accorded to him as to the god in the temple. In fact, court ritual was modeled on temple ritual, and while dancers were important adornments to a court, the royal devadasis could be transferred to religious duties or vice versa. It is recorded of king Jalauka of Kashmir that : A hundred out of this seraglio who had risen to dance in honour of the God at the time fixed for dancing and singing he gave out of joy of Jyestharudra [Siva]. This practice was not restricted to Hindus. A twelfth .century inscription records the transfer of a dancing girl from one of the Buddhist Temples. (Stupa or Cave) at Salonapura to the harem of a local king. In Tamil Nadu in the twelfth century, Rajendra Chola ruled from Tanjore; under his orders four hundred temple dancers were brought from nearby temples to be attached to the Brhadisvara temple of Tanjore. The inscription that records the event is important as it names all the temples, both Saiva and Vaisnava, that had dancers attached to them. Undoubtedly Rajaraja.s centralizing of the dance tradition around his temple and court made Tanjore a focus of culture in south India and it was this early patronage of the Chola kings that led to the standardization of the Bharata Natyam form of dance as it is known today. Without patronage, either by rulers or temples, the professional dancing class devadasis, which included teachers and musicians, could not have developed the art to the high standard that it achieved. From the time of the Cilappatikaram (fourth tosixth century A.D.) in which Madavi, the dancer and courtesan, receives a garland from the king after her first public performance, there are numerous references to dancers receiving royal recognition for their excellence. The Chola king Vira Rajendra I (1063-70) ordered some land at Tiruvorriyur to be reclaimed and the produce used for services in the temples including maintenance of dancing masters and girls. Kings seem to have been generous in their support, and records of their generosity can be found in inscriptions. Aditya II (10th c. A.D.) gave land for a dance performance during Tai Pusam, and three dances to take place beginning the

day after the festival of Vaigasi Tiruvadirai, for which the dancer was to receive some paddy. Rajendra Chola Deva (1012-44) and Vikrama Chola (111-35) also gave some land to support the cost of dance recitals at certain festivals. Some kings did not limit their encouragement to professional dancers but encouraged members of their own family, of high birth, to learn the dance. This was probably to give them grace in deportment and they performed for their own entertainment as well as that of other courtiers. Perhaps the standards of the dance altered when it was thus performed by amateurs. One of the Portuguese travellers who visited Vijayanagar records that the royal ladies of Vijayanagar were taught the dance. Two other Portuguese travellers, Nuniz and Pietro della Valle (1623-4), record seeing dance. We understand how dancers and teachers grew up and got trained in the traditional manner. Many scholars have extensively studied the tradition of the art of dance. Some kings did not limit their encouragement to professional dancers but encouraged members of their own family, of high birth, to learn the dance. This was probably to give them grace in deportment and they performed for their own entertainment as well as that of other courtiers. Perhaps the standards of the dance altered when it was thus performed by amateurs. One of the Portuguese travellers who visited Vijayanagar records that the royal ladies of Vijayanagar were taught the dance. Two other Portuguese travellers, Nuniz and Pietro della Valle (1623-4), record seeing dance. Today the dance is no longer restricted to any particular group for whom it was once a vocation, but has largely become an accomplishment for everyone. If we take Classical dance, there is the earliest treatise called Natya Sastra in the original Sanskrit and the Bhagavad Gita. Anyone trying to understand completely the essence of the classical art and philosophy could get fully absorbed in the spiritual heritage of India. Our nation has innumerable doyens in the art of dance, the historical representation of how the art survived with performance by women who offered it to the Almighty in various rituals. If we consider the history of our region in the country, the dance of the Devadasi-s has a distinctive identity of its own and is distinct from Bharatanatyam or Kuchipudi, although the source is the same. There are stalwarts like Rukmini Devi, the doyen of Bharatanatyam who could surge forward in the pursuit of this divine art, overcoming all the social barriers. She was married to Arundale, a westerner and a pioneer in theology. Her evolutionary growth in dance could fructify into her dream institution Kalakshetra at Chennai. There are many Dancers in each variety of Dance- classical or Folk in our country. There are umpteen kinds of Folk dances also which demand intricate nuances and list of artistes may be available if we peruse records, hence not mentioned in this Paper. Dancers and dance aspirants in America in the early decades of this century were interested in learning Hindu dances . so described to avoid confusion with the dances of the American Indians because of their curiosity about the cultural traditions of the fabled land of India.

CONCLUSION The glimpse of the survival of the art before ages, awareness of aesthetic performers with special fervour, is presented in a nutshell in this article.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. BOOKS i] The Sacred Dance of India by Mrinalini Sarabhai Pub: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, First Edition 1979 ii] Siva in Dance, Myth and Iconography by Anne-Marie Gaston Pub: Oxford University Press, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras reprinted with minor additions, 1985 II. JOURNAL Sruti.