Definition Of Bharatanatyam

Bha + ra + ta + natyam = Bharatanatyam Here,
Bha = bhava or expression,Ra = Ragam or melody,Ta = Talam or rhythm, Natyam = Dance,
therefore , together is called 'BHARATANATYAM'

History Of Bharatanatyam

Bharatanatyam is the oldest of all the classical dance forms of India. Bharatanatyam in its solo form as we see today is indeed an authentic classical dance form. Its origin date back to more than 2000 years when man could see Gods and Goddesses on the earth. Also there is a story related to the origin of dance which says that -

Lord Brahma - who wrote the fifth veda, asked sage 'Bharata' to take this fifth veda to spread its words and disseminate the information. For this work rather this task, Bharata chose to write 'Natya Shastra' - the science of dance. It is a masterpiece, which is most comprehensive and compelling in the techniques of Indian Classical Dances. The palm leaves on which Bharata wrote are still preserved in two holy temples in Tanjore and Malabar.

Tanjore secular community developed Bharatanatyam with 'Natya Shastra' as a guideline and not as a choreographic tool. At first women called 'Devadasi'- Maidservants of God, performed Bharatanatyam in temples in praise of God. Now coming further after about 900-1000 years, in this period the technology had increased dramatically. The world had experienced changes drastically but Bharatanatyam had changed very little. It retained its beauty, popularity and secularity.

As we leave behind 200-300 more years, still dance continues to have strong secular ties. In this period- transformation began to take place and Bharatanatyam began to take its modern shape and beauty. During this transformation, the great saints, poets and musicians used their ability to create or weave beautiful melodic tales coupled with Bharatanatyam to form rhythmic story, which a dancer would tell. Now a 'Devadasi' - Maidservants of God, accompanied by musicians would use classical dance to tell the ancient stories of God. As the evolution took place, Bharatanatyam began to move out of the temples and into the palaces of kings and queens. At this stage Bharatanatyam dancers broke into two categories:-

1. The traditional temple Devadasi - Maidservants of God,
2. The entertaining non-secular Rajanartika - Dancers to entertain kings and queens.

In this period, dance was considered more for entertainment than as an art. The dressing style and costumes were changed and dance started losing its dignity. The beauty of this spiritual art was lost and it was done for entertainment than devotion. During the early 20th century Bharatanatyam had lost its identity and there was hardly any reputation for dance. By God's grace there were few poets in southern India who had great respect & regard for dance and they wanted to bring back its glory to the present. Also it was people like Anna Pavlova, E. Krishna Iyer, Udayshankar, Rukmini Devi whose tremendous efforts brought back the beauty of this art and they gave a new life to dance.

Anna Pavlova a renowned Russian Ballerina found Uday Shankar (choreographer), in her troupe and suggested him to discover his own dance heritage. This made a landmark in the history of revival of the dance in India. E.Krishna Iyer, a practicing Barrister and a freedom fighter was destined to play an important role in the revival of Bharatanatyam. E.Krishna Iyer dressed like a female Bharatanatyam dancer and performed in the public to remove the stigma attached to this art. For nearly 7 years he battled with the leaders of the "Anti -Nautch" movement. Rukmini Devi, daughter of respected Sanskrit scholar- A.Nilakanta Shastri decided to enter the field of dance. She took her lessons from Devadasi Gowri Amma & Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. She gave her first dance recital in 1936.

From then the course of Bharatanatyam changed significantly. She removed unpleasant elements from dance, devised artistic costumes, used 'padams' (An item in Bharatanatyam) to spread the spiritual importance. She contributed a lot in removing the stigma of the eroticism. Bharatanatyam no longer remained base or vulgar. Efforts of these great people and other poets revitalized the traditional beauty of Bharatanatyam.