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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 /

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नाट्य वेद to Bharata Muni to spread it in the world. Bharata guided

the gandharvas / गंधवव and apsaras / अप्सरा to perform natya / नाट्य,

nrtta / नतृ and nritya / नतृ्य 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

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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 / मदंृगम 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 / उदऩु, druva / द्रवु, soudasabda / सौदशब्द, kavada / कवाडा, gita / गीत, cintu / चचटूं, desikattari / देशीकत्तरी, 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 / द्रऩुद, soodagita

pushpanjali / सूदचगता ऩुषऩांजभऱ, ragangayatri nritta / रागंगायत्री नतृ्त,

suddhayati nritta / सुद्धयती नतृ्त, sabdanritta / शब्दनतृ्त, devanritta / देवनतृ्त, roopanritta / रूऩनतृ्त, gita prabandas / गीत प्रबंध and darus / दरू. During the Maratha period these items were replaced by new

items like jakkini / जक्क्कनी, hela padam / हेऱा ऩदम,् suba leela / सूबा ऱीऱा, padakelika / ऩदकेभऱका, dhootya padam / धूतय ऩदम,् adyatma /

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अद्यात्म, neethi padalu / नीतत ऩदाऱू, valveechu / वल्वीछु, vendukollu / वेंदकुोल्ऱू, gopika geetam / गोपऩका गीतं, dandakam / दण्डकम, vilvedu / पवल्वेडू, gujjari / गुज्जरी, sringara padam / श्ींगार ऩदम ् and kuravanji / कुवजंी. 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 सारामतृ 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 / कुददथाडवु,

Jaaatiadavu / जातीआडवु, Tattumettuadavu / तटू्टमेटू्टआडवु, Mei adavu / मेई आडवु, Irudhi adavu / इरुचध आडवु, Mettu adavu / मेटू्ट आडवु, Nadai

adavu / नड ै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,

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music, choreography and presentation. This tradition continued till

the beginning of the 20th century. The decline of the devadasi / देवदासी 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 / नटू्टवनार. 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

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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

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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.

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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 / अरैमंडी position the feet are slightly towards the front like in ‘V’ shape.

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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

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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 / कोरव ै 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

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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

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‘mridanga bodhinim / मदंृग 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.

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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 रंजनम and Sabharanjita chintamani / सिारंक्जत चचतंामणण 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

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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.