An Indian Art

Guru Mangudi Dorairaja Iyer (1900 – 1980)

Originally from Mangudi, a small village in Tanjore, the versatile exponent of the Melattur style of dance was a sanyasi who mastered the Srividya Upasana. As a music expert , he authored books on mridangam and dance, and, as an guru of Bharatanatyam, he re-established the Suddha Nrittam, Bhattasa Natyam and Perani Natyam.

Guru Mangudi Dorairaja Iyer's father was Ramanatha Bagavathar, a famous vocalist and a Hari katha exponent. The talented boy learned music from his father and the mridangam from Sri Anganna Naickar and Tanjavore Vaidhyanatha Iyer. He soon became an accompanist to many well-known musicians. His Tamil drama “Mithra Pasam” in the early 1932 was later adapted to a stage production which he directed. In 1939 he and his friend Sri P.K. Moorthy co-authored a handbook on mridangam, "Mirdanga Swabodhini"

Mangudi studied Bharatham and Nattuvangam with Melattur Natesa Iyer, a prominent figure among the Bagavatha Mela gurus of Melattur. Based on the dance drama tradition of Melattur, he developed a solo dance of this style, having learnt the theory. His work in the music and dance section of Gemini studios provided him with the opportunities to futher develop his style. Mangudi's attention now was attracted by the teachings of Sri Vidya Upasana and Bharatham. He introduced the “Chidanandha Natya Mandali”.

Guru Mangudi Dorairaja Iyer's book “Swabodha Bharatha Navaneetham” (1957) was based on years of research into rare works like”Kohaliyam”, “Nagarjuneeyam”, “Bharatha sastra Mooiam”, “Abhinaya Darpanam”, and “Natanadhi Vadya Ranjanam”. The book explored all of Bharatanatyam, and is an invaluable source of knowledge for both learners and experts. Some of his students were the famous Roshan Vajifdar, Pushpa Bhuyan and Yamini Krishnamurthy.

His style, exuberant and graceful, later evolved into what is known today as the Mangudi style, dominated by bhakti rasa. It lays emphasis on crisp adavus, accurate jathis, gathis, fluid variations or patterned korvais and perfect geometric poses. It stresses the dramatic elements, i.e. characterisation, as the themes of the performances are based mostly on stories from epics and puranas. Mangudi paid special attention to the right application of the principles of "loka dharmi" and "natya dharmi" at appropriate situations. He introduced a special protective cotton belt that the dancers are supposed to wear.

About Bharatanatyam

Bharatanatyam is evenly divided between three elements Nritta, Nritya and Natya .

Nritta : Rhythmic Element.Interprits the language of rhythm with the help of body movements.

Nritya : Combination of Rhythm with Expression.Conveys poetic meaning with the help of expressions, rhythmic gaites and postures. eg. Varna, Shabda, Pada etc.

Natya : Dramatic Element.Performing for a theme like Ramayana, Mahabharata etc.

Nritta
Nritta can be broadly divided into Chari, Karana, Angahara and Mandala. Movement of a leg is called Chari. Movement of both the legs is Karana. 3 Karanas make a Khanda. 3 to 4 Khandas make a Mandala. 4 to 9 Karanas make a Angahara. 4 to 5 Angaharas also make a Mandala. 108 Karanas and 32 Angaharas are defined in Natyashatra. The 13 Nritta Hastas (explained later) are used to perform nritta. The rythmic body movements along with hand gestures are called Aduvus. Number of aduvus constitute a Jati. Jati will generally end with a Muktaya or Teermana.
There are varieties of Aduvus like

• Tattaduvu
• Mettaduvu
• Nataduvu
• Kattaduvu
• Kudittamettaduvu
• Maiaduvu
• Mandiaduvu
• Jati
• Nadai
• Ardi

There are 12 aduvus in each of the above explained. Hence 120 aduvus exist in total. Only about 70 - 80 are in practice. The aduvus are more or less Karanas. Hence can be concluded that there are 108 aduvus. The 108 Karanas or Aduvus are carved in the Chidambaram Temple in Tanjore, Tamilnadu, India. To perform an aduvu aramandi, bending of the knees is very very important.

The entire body is divided as Anga, Pratyanga and Upaanga.
Anga
Anganyatra shirohastau vaksha paarshwakateetatau
Paadaviti shaduktaani greevamapyapare jaguhu
Head, Hands, Chest, Waist, Bottom, Legs are the Six Angas. Some people include Neck also.

Pratyanga
Pratyangaani twathaskandhau baahoo prushtam tathodaram
ooroo janghe shadityahurapare manibandhakau
jaanooneekoorparamiti trayamapyadhikam jaguhu
Shoulders, Arms, Stomuch, thighs, Knee are the Six Pratyangas. Some people include Wrist, elbow and Ankle also.

Upaanga
Drushtibhrooputatarashcha kapolau naasikaahanuhu
Adharodashanaa jihwaa chubukam vadanam tatha
Upaangani dwadashitaanyanyaanyangaani santi cha
Paarshnee gulbautathangulyaa karayoho padayostale
Sight, Eyebrow, Eye lids, Eye balls, Cheeks, Nose, Gums, Lower Lip, Teeth, Tongue, Chin and Face are the 12 Upaangas. Few people include Heels, Fingers, Feet, Palm also into upaangas.
Pratynaga and Upaangas should move along with the Angas.
Anga Lakshana, the way of moving body parts, are described below.

• Shirobhedha - Head Movement
• Greevabhedha - Neck Movement
• Drushtibhedha - Eye Movement
• Paadabhedha
• Mandala - Standing Posture
• Utplavana - Leaps
• Bhramari - Circling Movement
• Chari - Leg Movement
• Gatibhedha - Charecteristic walks and
• Hastas or Mudras - Hand Movements
• Asamyuta Hasta
• Samyuta Hasta
• Deva Hasta
• Dashavatara Hasta
• Navagraha Hasta
• Jaati Hasta
• Bandhu Hasta
• Nritta Hasta

When all Angas(main body parts) coordinate (along with pratyanga and upaanga) the artist is said to have Angashudhi. Anga meaning body parts and shudhi, meaning perfect. Any dancer should try to achive this perfection. The Natyashastra, which talks about all aspects of Bharatanatyam, quotes shlokas to perform all the above movements. All the above said movements are dealt in detail in the respective links.

Shirobedha

Samam Udvahitam Adhomukham Alolitam Dhutam
Kampitancha Patavruttam Utkshiptam Parivahitam.

Samam = Keeping head straight
Udvahitam = Lifting the head up
Adhomukham = Putting the head down
Alolitam = Rotating the Head Clockwise & Anti-clockwise
Dhutam = Nodding the head as if to say "NO"
Kampitam = Shaking the Head
Paravruttam = Lifting the head from right side
Utkhiptam = Lifting the head from left side
Parivahitam = Nodding the head as if to say "YES".

Greevabhedha

Sundareecha tirashcheena tathivaparivartita prakampitachabhavagny gneyagreeva chaturvidha

Sundari = Neck movement on both sides
Tirashcheena = Above movement with increase in speed
Parivartita = Movement to the corners
Prakampita = Moving the neck like a rooster

Drushtibedha

Samam Alolitam sachi pralokita nimeelite Ullokita anuvruttecha tathachivavalokanam

Samam = Looking Straight
Alolitam = Turing eye balls clockwise & anti-clockwise
sachi = Looking to the sides without turning the head
Pralokana = Looking to the sides alternatively without turning the head
Nimeelana = Looking down
Ullokana = Looking Up
Anuvrutta = Looking Up & Down
Avalokana = Looking deep down.

Origin of Bharatanatyam

The Gods & Godesses pleaded Lord Brahma to create another veda which would be simple for the common man to understand. It is believed that considering this request Lord Brahma created the Panchamaveda, Fifth veda, Natyaveda, an essence of the other four vedas. It is believed that he has taken pathya (words) form the Rigveda, abhinaya (gesture) from the Yajurveda, geet (music and chant) from Samaveda and rasa (sentiment and emotional element) from Atharvaveda to form the fifth veda, Natyaveda.

After creating this natyaveda, Lord Brahma gave the same to sage Bharata and asked him to popularise this veda on earth. Following the words of Lord Brahma, sage Bharata wrote Natyashastra or the Science of Dramaturgy, a great, comprehensive work on the science and technique of Indian drama, dance and music.Bharatanatyam might have got its name from sage Bharata also.The dancers still follow this work to perform.

There is also another story which says that Godess Parvathi tought this dance form to Usha, daughter of Banasura, a demon. Usha taught the same to the Gopikas of the city of Dwaraka, Lord Krishna's birth place. Thus the divine dance form Bharatanatyam was introduced to the mankind.

In Indian mythology,Lord Shiva is considered as the supreme lord of dance. This divine art form is performed by Lord Shiva & his wife Goddess Parvathi. The Dance performd by Lord Shiva is known as Tandava, which depicts his violent nature as the distructor of the universe. The tandava performed with joy is called Ananda Tandava and performed in violent mood is called Rudra Tandava. There are 7 types of Tandava. Namely Ananda Tandava, Tripura Tandava, Sandhya Tandava, Samara Tandava, Kaali tandava, Uma Tandava and Gauri Tandava. There are few people who believa that there are 16 types of Tandava. Tandava has vigourous, brisk movements.The dance performed by Goddess Parvathi is known as Lasya, in which the movements are gentle, graceful and sometimes erotic also. Some scholars call Lasya as the feminine version of Tandava. Lasya has 2 kinds. Jarita Lasya and Yauvaka Lasya.

The art form has definitely gone through lot of changes over the years. In olden days it was performed mostly by female artists. They were called Devadasis, who would perform in the temples. These devadasis were accomplished artists who would sing, dance, play many instruments. They were well worsed in sanskrit & other languages which helped them to interpret compositions which they would perform. But this tradition came to an end as the devadasis lost their position in the society.


Then dance entered the royal courts. Here the artists called Rajanartakis, performed in the courts of kings who gave them shelter.Even these were accomplished artists like devadasis.

The next well-documented period of dance history is far more recent. In the first half of the 19th century the dance tradition was revitalized and defined anew through the contributions of four talented brothers (known today as the Tanjore Quartet)Chinniah, Sivanandam, Ponniah and Vadivelu. By coordinating their diverse talents, the four managed to organize all the basic dance movements of pure dance into a progressive series of lessons [adavu chapters]. Each adavu (basic unit of motion) was taught in systematic order and then combined with others to produce choreographed sequences based upon the rhythmic contour of a musical composition (Krishnamoorthy Pillai). In addition the brothers composed new music specifically for the dance, and introduced a different sequence of items which integrated the various aspects of dance and music into a carefully coordinated, aesthetically sound progression. This infusion of creative energy marks the early 19th century as one of the most innovative periods in the history of Indian dance.

The contribution of Udayshankar, Rukminidevi Arundale and Balasaraswathi, in the 20th century, cannot be forgotten at this juncture.

Even though Bharatanatyam has gone through lot of changes, it still has its roots deep into the religious and rich mythological heritage of India. In the modern day scenario it is performed by both male & female artists. Many learn as a hobby and few make it as a profession. Whether taken as a hobby or a profession it certainly needs lot of practice,concentration and dedication.