Bharatanatyam

Last year some time in may my husband and I visited chennai with the whole purpose of visiting and studying Kalakshetra - a dance and music school set up by Rukmini Devi Arundale -who was a pioneer in reviving bharatnatyam in the 20th century. My experience at Kalakshetra was very spiritual and beyond words ! - but I will save the post on my travel to Kalakshetra for some other day and time. This post is about the dance itself - its origin and popularization in the twentieth century.
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Bharata Natyam is perhaps the oldest among the contemporary classical dance forms that are practiced in India and elsewhere in the world. This dance, like any other dance, is intended to provide spiritual satisfaction to the performer and aesthetic experience to the spectators. It can be called an exact art (or even scientific art) since it is set to an excruciatingly detailed grammar. Every part of the body is involved in this dance form and most of the expressions emanate from the eyes. It can be choreographed and performed to the lyrics in any Indian language.

The origin (and antiquity) of Bharatha Natyam has an interesting story behind it. The celestials, it seems, were concerned about the decadence of humanity and tried to rectify the situation. They approached Brahma and requested him to simplify the Vedas so that the humankind can follow the code of conduct prescribed for them. Brahma then distilled the essence of the four Vedas, taking some aspect of each one and created a fifth Veda. He wanted this Veda to be spread among humanity not through text but through a performing art. He entrusted that task to a sage called Bharata Muni, who wrote up the rules for the dance in his text known as Natyasastra and taught them to heavenly damsels and a hundred of his disciples. The performing art incorporated the elements of drama and dance and was called Bharata Natyam.

Historically the origin of Bharata Natyam has been placed in the period between 2nd century BC and 2nd century AD based on sculptural evidence. The development of this dance form through the next seven centuries has been studied from monuments of ancient dynasties, and temples in various parts of India. After the 10th century, Bharata Natyam seems to have developed mainly in southern India and gradually got restricted to a region known as Tamil Nadu. Around the 14th century technical illustrations of dance movements were incorporated as part of the architecture of the temple towers and pillars. The temples in the cities, Kumbakonam, Madurai, and Chidambaram were the major centers of such sculptural capture of the dance form.

In its present form, Bharata Natyam developed from an earlier version called sadir (also known as daasiaattam) which probably evolved between the 17th and 19th centuries. This dance, sadir, was performed by young unmarried women who dedicated themselves to God and performed dances during ceremonial activities in the temples. They were called devadasis (servants of God). In addition, there was a much more pristine dance form in ancient Tamil Nadu called koothu, which is also a forerunner to the modern Bharata Natyam. Various saint-poets and musicians infused Bhakthi through the lyrics which have a rich literary content. The musical compositions formed the core repertoire of Bharata Natyam. In the early 19th century the Thanjavur Quartet (disciples of Muthuswami Dikshitar) consisting of Ponnaiyya, Chinnaiyya, Sivanandam and Vadivelu refined the sadir version and gave it the present form and name which was further popularized in the 20th century among the public by E. Krishna Iyer (an eminent artiste) thereby removing the stigma attached to it. The musical compositions for dance by the Thanjavur Quartet form the bulk of the Bharata Natyam repertoire even today. Mylapore Gowri Amma and Rukmini Devi Arundale were some of the doyennes who helped develop the art further. The latter established Kalakshetra (in Chennai, India), primarily as a music and dance school to promote this art. High standards have been set and achieved through systematic and intense training of students. Introduction of several designs of artistic costumes added more luster. Through the work of several dedicated artistes, Bharata Natyam has metamorphosed from a concealed art within the temple walls to a glamorous one much to the admiration of connoisseurs.
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This post is a excerpt this article - http://www.maheethadance.envy.nu/bharathanatyam.html - due credit goes to them.
The pictures on this post are of Rukmini Devi Arundale and have been taken from various sites.