The origin of Bharathanatyam

  Dance has an important status in the society, it is not only a medium of  entertainment but also a medium which depicts several facts of life in a beautiful aesthetic way.

"GEETHAM AVADHARAYA, VADYAM AVADHARAYA , NRITHYAM AVADHARAYA"

 The above words mean classical music, classical instruments and classical dance respectively were offered as prayer in the process of worshiping of god in temples.

      Bharathanatyam  is a dance form which originated in Tamil Nadu , south of India .  Tanjavoor or Tanjore district of tamil Nadu is regarded as the mother of many other classical dance forms of India and it has a temple named Bruhadishvara- which is the temple of lord Shiva where thousands of  Bharathanatyam dancers assemble on Shivarathri in the a  holy Shrine to dance.

      History states that this art form  is an assimilation of select portions from all the four Vedas and came to be known as  Natyashasthra which was originally preached and propogated by the great sage Bharathamuni .

         Origin of Natya is the first chapter in 'Natyashasthra' .  When Kruta yuga came to an end and  Treta yuga started ethics and morals got degenerated  , anger or krodha, greed or lobha, jealously or eershye became predominent .

The protection of the world from ASHTA DIKPALAKAS  fell in the hands of mortals. Adharma overtaken had taken an upper hand in the world , so the devas under the leadership of Indra met Lord Brahma .

They requested him to create a Veda which can serve as a means amusement . Accordingly Brahma meditating in a yoga posture recalled all the four Vedas (veda is writing composed between 1500 and 700 BC, and contain hymns, philosophy, and guidance on ritual)  in his mind and took  'words ' from Rig Veda ,'music' from Sama Veda , 'Abhinaya' (expression, feeling) from Yajur Veda and 'Rasa'( dance) from Atharvana Veda he formulated the fifth Veda  (The veda of barathanatyam)"NATYA VEDA".

    

He addressed Indra by telling him that he had trusted and held  Indra accountable for  Natya Veda and instructed him to give this Veda to that one who is intelligent , experienced , fearless, capable of hardship and endowed with good physique and then it was given to Barathamuni to master and propagated this, he with his hundred sons learnt Bharathanatyam, it is told that he had made sure  that the Natyashasthra was well understood , practiced by his efficient children.

      According to Natya Veda he started the performance which  constituted of the 3 vrittis that is Barathi , satvati and arabhati. Barathi means that vachika(words)  ,satvati means that which has satva ,  Arabhati means that which is strong or that which is very loud. Later lord Bhrama added kaisaki  vritti came to be knowledge from   Shiva tandava . Later he approched Brahma as this was not possible by men to perform  he requested creation of 24 apsaras  who were proficient in the shastras of Natya and then he was asked to proceed  preaching bharathanatyam by Bhrama  , It is said that it could have never been completed without the help of sage swati -- who took the responsibility of the music aspect.

   Thus according to the Veda this is how  Natyashasthra took its shape as Bharathanatyam in south India meaning the Natya preached by sage Barathamuni .

      

          We have evidence of its historical relevance by the inscriptions  of kadambas , Ganga, pallavas,chalukya, hoysalas, and many others. Belur , Halebid and  somamathapura  which are a testimony for centuries for the greatness of this art in Karnataka. 

The 3 brothers from Tanjavoor -Chinnaiah , ponnaiah ,Shivanandhum and vadivelu have played a pivotal role in giving a definite form of Bharathanatyam as seen today .Coming to the  mysore state HRH chamaraja wadeyar ,HRH Krishnaraja wadeyar and HRH  jayachamaraja wadeyar were also great connoisseur and patrons of art when it saw a golden age in Mysore .

     

     Bharathanatyam has three major parts   

   1: Nritta

   2: Nritya

   3: Abhinaya 

    1. Nritta is bound by the beats and  Rhythm  of limb movement, it does not convey any meaning.

    2.  Nritya is combination of nritta and emotion.

    3. Abhinaya is an interpretative dance that conveys poetic meaning in gestures through different parts of the body and facial expressions.

      The format of learning Bharathanatyam is as follows -

There are many styles or paramparas in Bharathanatyam  that is mysore , madras,Tanjavoor, pandanallur, vazhavur,kalakshetra and so on and 

these styles have different subtitles.

   Thus this is the story behind the origin of Bharathanatyam an art passed on by the immortals and heavenly bodies who are our protectors . This art form should be treasured that is by preaching and teaching Bharathanatyam and  providing  justice to the art by respecting it. 

I thank my Gurus who have thought me this beautiful art.