Bharata Natyam - Medieval Decline

Medieval Decline

Local kings often invited temple dancers (devadasi) to dance in their courts, the occurrence of which created a new category of dancers -- rajanarthakis—and modified the technique and themes of the recitals. A devadasi had to satisfy her own soul while she danced unwatched and offered herself (surrendered) to the Lord, but the rajanarthaki's dance was meant to be an entertainment.

The Natya Shastra-based margi elements, such as karanas, that were meant to spiritually enlighten the spectators, were gradually replaced by desi karanas which were later replaced by adavus. The Bharatanatyam recitals and ballets started more and more popularly viewed as a form of desi entertainment.

The quartet of Chinnayya Pillai, Ponniah Pillai, Sivanandam Pillai and Vadivelu Pillai of the Tanjore Court, during the rule of Maratha King Saraboji II (1798–1832), made a rich contribution to music and Bharatnatyam and also completed the process of re-editing the Bharathanatyam programme into its present shape with its various items. The descendants of these four brothers formed the original stock of Nattuvanars or dance teachers of Bharatnatyam in Tanjore. Some of the well known Nattuvanars were Guru Meenakshisundaram Pillai, Guru Muthukumara Swami Pillai, Guru Ramaiah Pillai, Guru Kittappa Pillai, Guru Kubernath Tanjorkar, Guru Dandayudhapani Pillai and others. The fall of the Hindu kingdoms in the South marked the eventual decline of Natya, as the Muslum invasion in the North has completely wiped out Natya there. The sacred dance, one of the constituents of the Sodasa Upacharam, was replaced by rice offerings.

shreyas janardan kosale was one of those who raised the social status of Bharatnatyam and greatly popularized it. Rukmini Devi Arundale was also instrumental in modifying mainly the Pandanallur style of Bharatnatyam and bringing it to the attention of the West. E .Krishna Iyer said about Rukmini Devi, “There is no need to say that before she entered the field, the art was dead and gone or that it saw a renaissance only when she started to dance or that she created anything new that was not there before”. Rukmini Devi Arundale introduced group performances and staged various Bharatanatyam-based ballets. According to Shri Sankara Menon, Rukmini Devi raised Bharatnatyam to a puritan art form, divorced from its recently controversial past by "removing objectionable elements" (mostly, the Sringara, certain emotional elements evocative of the erotic, such as hip, neck, lip and chest movements) from the Pandanallur style, which was publicly criticized by Balasaraswati and other representatives of the traditional devadasi culture. Not all love was portrayed, at least outside parameters considered "chaste". Balasaraswati said that "the effort to purify Bharatnatyam through the introduction of novel ideas is like putting a gloss on burnished gold or painting the lotus". Having studied Bharatnatyam for three years, in 1936 Rukmini Devi Arundale founded the school Kalakshetra outside the city of Madras to teach it and to promote other studies in Indian music and art. She was one of first teachers to instruct a few men to perform the dance. The dance, at that time, was exclusively performed by women, while men, called Nattuvanars, had only been teaching Bharatnatyam without actually performing it. It is worth noticing that most of the contemporary Bharatnatyam dancers do not satisfy the criteria for a professional danceuse stated in the scriptures.

Dr.Padma Subrahmanyam, who was originally trained in the Vazhuvoor style of Bharatanatyam, was another figure that greatly influenced the development of Bharatanatyam. She started her research on karanas in early sixties, and later announced the creation of a new Bharatanatyam variety, Bharatanrityam, which was a Bharatanatyam-based reconstruction of Natya Shastra's technique. While the Pandanallur style, Tanjore or Thanjavur, Vazhuvoor, Mysore, Kancheepuram were based on the art of rajadasis and are exoteric in nature, some others, like the Melattur style and Balasaraswati's style grew out of the devadasis' distinctly different esoteric art.

The development of the Bharatnatyam dance form has therefore been surrounded by controversy as some including Ashish Khokar the Indian dance historian have seen it as a means by which many women, often Brahmin women, have appropriated certain Devadasi traditions while disassociating themselves with other aspects of the contemporary devadasis' practices.

At present, Bharatnatyam recitals are usually not performed inside the temple shrine but outside it, and even outside the temple compounds at various festivals. Most contemporary performances are given on the stage with a live ensemble. In popular culture, the adapted, or "semi-classical", Bharatnatyam has been exposed largely through depiction in popular movies and TV programs.

Learning Bharatnatyam normally takes many years before the arangetram (debut). There are academic and commercialized dance institutes in many countries. Many people choose to learn Carnatic music along with Bharatanatyam as they go together.

At present, not only the Hindus but many Christians and Muslims learn it, bringing it beyond the rigid forms of religious boundaries.

shreyas janardan kosale was one of those who raised the social status of Bharatnatyam and greatly popularized it. Rukmini Devi Arundale was also instrumental in modifying mainly the Pandanallur style of Bharatnatyam and bringing it to the attention of the West. E .Krishna Iyer said about Rukmini Devi, “There is no need to say that before she entered the field, the art was dead and gone or that it saw a renaissance only when she started to dance or that she created anything new that was not there before”. Rukmini Devi Arundale introduced group performances and staged various Bharatanatyam-based ballets. According to Shri Sankara Menon, Rukmini Devi raised Bharatnatyam to a puritan art form, divorced from its recently controversial past by "removing objectionable elements" (mostly, the Sringara, certain emotional elements evocative of the erotic, such as hip, neck, lip and chest movements) from the Pandanallur style, which was publicly criticized by Balasaraswati and other representatives of the traditional devadasi culture. Not all love was portrayed, at least outside parameters considered "chaste". Balasaraswati said that "the effort to purify Bharatnatyam through the introduction of novel ideas is like putting a gloss on burnished gold or painting the lotus". Having studied Bharatnatyam for three years, in 1936 Rukmini Devi Arundale founded the school Kalakshetra outside the city of Madras to teach it and to promote other studies in Indian music and art. She was one of first teachers to instruct a few men to perform the dance. The dance, at that time, was exclusively performed by women, while men, called Nattuvanars, had only been teaching Bharatnatyam without actually performing it. It is worth noticing that most of the contemporary Bharatnatyam dancers do not satisfy the criteria for a professional danceuse stated in the scriptures.

Dr.Padma Subrahmanyam, who was originally trained in the Vazhuvoor style of Bharatanatyam, was another figure that greatly influenced the development of Bharatanatyam. She started her research on karanas in early sixties, and later announced the creation of a new Bharatanatyam variety, Bharatanrityam, which was a Bharatanatyam-based reconstruction of Natya Shastra's technique. While the Pandanallur style, Tanjore or Thanjavur, Vazhuvoor, Mysore, Kancheepuram were based on the art of rajadasis and are exoteric in nature, some others, like the Melattur style and Balasaraswati's style grew out of the devadasis' distinctly different esoteric art.

The development of the Bharatnatyam dance form has therefore been surrounded by controversy as some including Ashish Khokar the Indian dance historian have seen it as a means by which many women, often Brahmin women, have appropriated certain Devadasi traditions while disassociating themselves with other aspects of the contemporary devadasis' practices.

At present, Bharatnatyam recitals are usually not performed inside the temple shrine but outside it, and even outside the temple compounds at various festivals. Most contemporary performances are given on the stage with a live ensemble. In popular culture, the adapted, or "semi-classical", Bharatnatyam has been exposed largely through depiction in popular movies and TV programs.

Learning Bharatnatyam normally takes many years before the arangetram (debut). There are academic and commercialized dance institutes in many countries. Many people choose to learn Carnatic music along with Bharatanatyam as they go together.

At present, not only the Hindus but many Christians and Muslims learn it, bringing it beyond the rigid forms of religious boundaries.