Tamil Nadu - Art, Culture & Heritage @ whatisindia.com

Bharata Natyam is poetry in motion, tracing its hoary origins in the Natya Shastra, written by the great sage, Bharata, it is a highly traditional and stylized dance form. Crystallized in the cast-iron mould of Bharata's technique, this art form grossly disallows new-fangled innovations or gimmicks except in repertoire and forms of presentation. Emerging far back in the labyrinthine twists of ancient history (as information for the date conscious, 4000 B.C. is the ascribed date to the Natya Shastra), Bharatanatyam has been immortalized in successive generations, as much by the sinuous grace of great dancers as by the nimble fingers of renowned sculptors who have demonstrated the perfection of Bharata's technique in the flowing lines of temple sculptures.

Bharatanatyam is a classical dance form of South India, said to be originated in Thanjavoor of Tamil Nadu. It was known as "Daasiyattam" since performed by Devadasies in temples of Tamil Nadu long ago. The name 'Bharatanatyam' is derived from three basic concepts of Bhava, Raga and Thaala. The modern Bharatanatyam was systematically regularized by well known 'Thanjavoor Brothers', Ponnayya, Chinnayya, Sivanandam and Vativelu.

The dance is performed in the stage as Nritham, Nrithyam and Natyam. Bharatanatyam is based on the theories of the books 'Natyasaasthram' and 'Abhinaya Darpanam'. The dance form is based on 'Adavu' (steps) and 'Hasthamudra' (hand gestures). There are 64 basic 'Adavu' and they are divided into 9 parts, on which 'Thattadavu', 'Naatadavu', 'Kuthithumettadavu', 'Mandiadavu', 'Sarikkal' and 'Thattumettu' are very important. Communication is done through 'bhavabhinaya' (facial expression) and 'hasthamudra' (hand gestures). The performance starts with the prayers to God Ganapathi and worship of Nataraja Moorthi.

The sequence of the dance performance is 'Alarippu', 'Jathiswaram', 'Sabdam', 'Varnam', 'Padam' and 'Thillana'. After 'Thillana', with a 'Mangala Slokam' the dance program ends. Normally the performance lasts for two to two and half hours. The costume is paijama and jacket of Kanchipuram silk and Banaras silk. The dancer wears a lot of ornaments of shining stones on neck, ears, hands, and head, jasmin garland in the hair and foot trinklet with small bells.

The music of Bharatanatyam is based on Carnatic classical music. The instruments used are Veena, Flute, Mridangam and Violin. The dance direction is done by 'Nattuvanar' giving the Thaalam using hand symbols and singing 'Vaaythari'. There will be two singers also. Some of the famous Bharatanatyam performers are Bala Saraswathi, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Rugmini Arundel, Kamala Laxman, Padma Subrahmaniam and Chithra Visweswaran. Panthanalloor Meenakshi Sundaram Pilla, Panthanalloor Chokkalingam Pilla, Padmasree Vazhoor Ramayyan Pilla and Adayar Laxman are some of the famous 'Nattuvar'.

Kolattam
Kolattam, derived from Kol (a small stick), and Attam (play) is the name of a charming Tamil dance practiced by groups of young girls. A festival connected with this art has both a cultural and a religious significance. According to legends, once there lived an Asura called Basavasura who could not be controlled by anybody. Some girls joined together in a group, went to this Asura and played Kolattam with charming music. The Asura was so pleased with the divine music and grace of the girls, that he gave up all his evil designs. This has since been celebrated as Kolatta Jothrai in a number of places in Tamil Nadu.

'Basava' - the bull, the personification of Shiva is the centre of the Kolattam festival, commencing every year on the new moon day of the October-November and ending on the full moon day. Daily, girls take their bath early in the morning in the holy rivers and they pick up a handful of grass and water in a small container and return to the place where they have installed the clay idol of Basava. The girls then offer the grass to lord Basava, place the water near the bull and worship. While playing Kolattam the girls visit some houses in the village to play Kolattam in each house. On the purnima day, scheduled for the immersion of Basava, the girls dressed in new clothes placing the Basava in a decorated palanquin ultimately immerse it in a river. In every stage of the festival, each girl has one stick in each of her hands and the stick in the hand of each girl is struck against those of the other girls in rotation, producing beautiful music.

Kavadi
Lord Muruga or Subrahmanya, the son of Lord Shiva, has annihilated all the evil forces of demons. He is said to be reside in six embattled field-camps called Padaiveedus. Palani and Thirupparakundram in Madurai district are two such holy places. They are hillocks described in mythology as carried by a giant called Idumban slung on the two ends of a pole placed on his shoulder. This Idumban became one of the principal devotees of Lord Subrahmanya. He has a shrine half-way up the Palani hill and receives the first honours from all devotees proceeding to worship Subrahmanya. Actually the worship of Lord Subrahmanya without paying homage to Idumban is considered ineffective. The carrying of Kavadi by pilgrims is symbolic of Idumban carrying the hillocks, the abodes of the Lord slung on a pole.

There are several kinds of Kavadis- the milk and rose-water Kavadi being the principal ones. The central shaft of the semi-circular wooden structure is placed on the shoulders and the pilgrims dressed in yellow costume and decorated with garlands, undergoing many privations to fulfill vows. They dance their way through the streets and up the hillock under the hypnotic music provided by the drum, the pipes and the tom-tom.

It is a Tandava as opposed to the Lasya form of dance. Extreme devotion prompts some Kavadi dancers to disfigure their lips. The lower lip is pierced through for the insertion of a copper or brass ring, often with a view to maintain silence. The dancers subject themselves to rigorous austerities and try to get rid of their ego, anger, lust and other vices. They dance to the tunes of Kavadi-c-cindu, sung by admiring groups of devotees who follow the dancers. The divine songs are rendered in charming music by a trained singer and repeated by others in chorus and the emotion-chocked dancer goes into raptures hearing them. Sometimes they react by shifting the Kavadi over their shoulder, head, nose etc. in see-saw position displaying great artistry with many a pose and movement in rhythm, unaided by hands.

Kavadi-c-cindu, a peculiar folk art of Tamil genius has blossomed into a literary and technically brilliant form. It gives a lilting tune and inspiration to listeners and relieves the bearer of the Avid of physical pain. It is also called Vazhinadai-cindu. It is sung by pilgrims while trekking long distances, to forget the tedium. The Kavadi-c-cindu is sung not only by pilgrims on the march but also in temples. In some temples, it is sung on the last day of Navarathri in different metres. In Tiruchendur and in Palani, the cindus are sung with Nadaswaram before the deity starts in procession. These songs describe the romantic relationship of Muruga to Valli.

Karakam Dance
Karakam is a folk art developed along with the cult of Mariamman. It is of two varieties- the religious and the professional.

The religious type is called Sakti Karakam. A small pot is filled with water and sealed with a coconut. Flower wreaths decorate it and a lime fruit is placed at the top of the Karakam. The temple priest or his nominee carries it with great ceremony and sentimental attachment since this is one of their hereditary privileges. The professional type is known as Attak Karakam and is performed anywhere by anyone with necessary practice and skill. It is one of the Tamil Nadu's regular showpieces at the republic day floats in New Delhi every year.

The Attak Karakam or balancing of the pot on the head is accompanied by peculiar musical instruments called Pampadi, Urumi, Thavil, Nadaswaram and Thamukku which are among the distinctive components of Tamil music. The Karakam dancers wear a close fitting dress and look like warriors. They remind one of the Kudak-Koothu dancers described in the literary work, Chilappadikaram.

The word Karakam denotes a pot or kumbham filled with sacred water for purificatory purposes. During ordinary rituals all the seas of Varuna, the Lord of rains and the seven sacred rivers are supposed to be attracted and confined in the Karakam and released only when the final ablution is performed and the water is poured or sprinkled over the heads of the worshippers. In Tirunelveli district, Karakam is also called Amman Kondadi or a way of eliciting the blessing of the goddess.

The Karakam dancer smears his bare body with holy ash and sandal paste and wears a short skirt. On his head, he balances a pot filled with uncooked rice, surmounted by a tall conical bamboo frame, covered with flowers. He starts from a holy spot or a square and goes to the temple in a procession. Dancing with quick steps, he brandishes a sword or a staff while two people beat the drum and blow on a long pipe. From a slow tempo, the dance rises to delirious frenzy, when the dancer becomes oblivious of himself. Though he tumbles and leaps, he somehow retains the pot on his head without touching it. Background music is provided by Nayyandi Melam.

Puravai Attam
Puravai Attam also known as Poikkal Kuthirai, is a dummy horse show. The dummy horse is made of jute, cardboard, paper, and glass. The show is performed by men as well as women. The main attraction is the richly decorated cardboard horse. The dancer uses this as his dress. He gets into it through the holes made therein and looks as if he is riding on horse back. Wooden stilts are tied to the dancers feet and these can be successfully used only after months of experience. The purpose of using the stilts is to prevent the dancer from being harmed by snakes or scorpions.

This dance is performed by a pair of dancers impersonating a king and queen. Sometimes, they indulge in acrobatics and they entertain the folk for hours together. The dummy-horse show is one of the chief attractions in the republic day festivities at New Delhi and folk artists are sent from Tamil Nadu every year to perform this show.

Arayar Natanam
Arayar Natanam is enacted in December-January in Shrirangam and other Shri Vaishnava temples by groups of musicians and a dancer who are engaged to recite the sacred hymns called the Thiruvaimozhi. This class of choirists called Arayar or Chanters are on the temple staff receiving allowances and perquisites. They wear a uniform which includes a Kireetam or special conical cap as their badge during the chanting. While chanting the hymns, they also use a pair of cymbals made of bell-metal. One of them assumes the postures. In between their recitations, they utter the glory of the presiding deity by singing Kondattam. The Araya's practice a certain esoteric system of dance wherein the postures are conventional and present situations associated with lord Krishna's Juvenile Pranks.

Podikazhi Attam
Podikazhi Attam is a popular dance among the fishermen of the coastal villages near Pondichery during the festival of their favourite deity Muruga. Eight to sixteen men in their traditional costumes perform the dance to the accompaniment of drums, and music is performed mostly by women.

Navasandhi
Navasandhi meaning nine directions is a dance performed to the accompaniment of music at the flag-hoisting ceremony, which heralds the annual festival of the temple at Tiruchendur. Several other dance traditions have been noticed in a number of temples in Tamil Nadu. The dances performed by the Palanquin-bearers of the Lord are other variations of the drama tradition combining music and dance.

Kuravaik-Koothu
This is a type of dance in which seven girls form a circle clapping one other's hand. This dance is referred to as Aichiyar Kuravai or the dance of the cowherd women in Chilappadikaram.

This dance has a peculiar musical significance. The seven notes of the musical scale are arranged in a circle and the seven girls are called by the names of the seven musical notes viz Kural, Tattam, Kalikkilae. The Achoponga Folk dance is a remnant of this defunct dance. In this dance, a number of girls form a circle and do simple rhythmic movements, singing and clapping their hands according to the rhythm.

Kazhaikoothu
This is a dance performed by standing on bamboo poles. A specimen of this occurs in bas-relief sculptured in the Sri Andal Temple at Srivilliputhur. The dancer balances himself standing on two poles, each two meters long, dancing to the accompaniment of a two-faced drum played by his wife.

Kummi
In Kummi, girls sing several songs. Kummi consist of common Kummi and the Oyil Kummi. In the common Kummi, the dancers are rhythmical and the girls dance in different postures. The rhythm of both dance and music delights the audience. The word Kummi is said to be derived from Kommai and means to 'dance with clapping of hands' to time and singing poems in a metre adopted to Kummi dance.

Oyil Kummi
Oyil Kummi or Oyil Attam is performed by large groups of men wearing bells on their feet and narrating mythological stories. The invocation song prays to gods and also instructs the participants to give adequate space for the movement of the neighbours legs and prevent their coming into physical contact.

Bommalattam or Pavakkuthu
This is puppet dance and this art form is used to spread religious stories. Simple folk believe that it is auspicious to have this performance in their village and that its performance will ward off evil spirits/epidemics and bring prosperity. The main themes are the stories from the Ramayana, the Mahabharatha and the Bhagavatha. This show is manipulated by strings and iron rods suspended from above. The stage is so setup that the puppets alone are seen through an opening roughly about four metres in height. The puppets are moved by skilled and experienced players who stand behind, unseen by the audience. The puppets are tied to the player's hand with black strings which are not visible.

The performance usually begins at 10 pm. and is over by about 4 am, the following morning it is continued for a week or ten days. On either side of the stage big earthen castor oil lamps are placed. The screen is a big black cloth about three metres high. In front of this curtain, the puppet make their appearance. When the chandramati puppet and the dancing puppet appear, the manipulators behind the curtains have themselves to do all the bodily movements and dancing. Their legs and arms have full work. The scenes in which chandramati tears her garland to pieces and laments on the cremation ground are great attractions.

Leather puppet show
The leather puppet show introduced from Maharashtra to Thanjavur is sometimes held in Tamil Nadu. These puppets are made of thin goat skin carefully cured to make them translucent. They are cut and joined in such a way that the limbs can be moved. They are painted with ordinary dry and deep colors as men, women, gods, goddess, demons and animals. Many of them being as tall as human beings. Operated from below, they are made to gesticulate, move and dance with considerable skill.

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