Bharatanatyam Arangetram

Bharatanatyam Arangetram

A glimpse of Indian classical dance repertoire

Devatanam sirastastu gurunamasya samsthithaha |

Vakshsthaschaiva vipranam seshetwaniyamo bhavet ||

Meaning as per the Natya Shastra : Salutations should be offered above the head to the gods, in front of the forehead to gurus and scholars, and in front of the chest to Brahmins . There is no rule regarding salutations to others.

The typical arangetram begins with Mallari. The word Mallari literally means to 'wrestle with lord'.Mallari in dance is a passage of sollukattu set to a certain ragam and talam. It is executed in 3 speeds bringing out the nrita aspects of the dance.

In carnatic music Mallari is associated to Nadaswaram instrument, the Mangala vadyam meaning an auspicious instrument. Rendition of Mallari is an important part of of the repertoire. During deepa aradhana’s and temple processions Mallari is played with this instrument along with Tavil. The common ragas in which Mallari’s are presented are Gambheera nattai, Nattai, gowla, and Arabhi.Mallaris, come in varied forms and thalams, and are generally set to ragam Gambheera Nattai. There is no sahithyam or lyrics in a mallari.

You would see in a performance that the musician renders the ragam Nattai set to Adi talam elaborately and plays sorkattus beginning in madhyama kalam, gradually increasing the tempo into duritha kaalam and subsequently reduce the tempo to vilambam.Once again, the artiste switches over to madhyama kalam, duritham and does thisram before increasing the pace to duritham and finally comes back to madhyama kalam thereby ending the Mallari piece.

The second piece shall be the Dhyana sloka :

It is traditional to start a dance practice with a dhyana slokam. 'DhyAna' is a Sanskrit word that means meditation and 'Slokam' means a prayer.

This is a popular shloka in praise of Lord Shiva, who is said to be the King of Dance. The dancing form of Lord Shiva is known as 'Nataraja and we have hand gestures (mudras) for this slokam too.

“Angikam bhuvanam yasya

Vachikam sarva vangmayam

Aharyam chandra taradi

Tam namah satvikam shivam.” The meaning of which would be:

Whose limbs are the world,

Whose song and poetry are the essence of all language,

Whose costume is the moon and the stars…

We bow to Him the benevolent One.

Alarippu shall follow next.

The Alarippu meaning flowering bud is traditionally the first actual dance piece that Bharatanatyam dancers learn and perform in this type of classical dance recital. It is an invocation piece which comes after the Sloka and Mallari, symbolizing the offering of respects to both God and the audience.

It is a dance ritual accompanied by a nattuvanar and a mridangist. According to T. Balasaraswati “Alarippu, which is based on rhythm alone, brings out the special charm of pure dance. The movements of Alarippu relax the dancer’s mind and thereby her mind, loosens and helps to coordinate her limbs and prepare her for the elaborate dance. Rhythm has a rare capacity to invoke concentration. Alarippu is most valuable in freeing the dancer from distraction and making her single-minded.”

Alarippu begins with Atamis or neck movements followed by Mandi adavu in the second half, which culminates into vibrant foot work and teermanam adavu.

This dance is a pure nritta offering in double and treble rhythms, there being absolute harmony of movement between the head, the hands and the feet. Hands joined above the head, feet touching, the dancer begins with 'rechekas' or neck movements with the eyes and the hands acting in unison. The same 'rechekas' are later executed in a semi-seated posture or the mandi adavu, after which, rising, the dancer moves back to the starting position.

Natesha kautukam is one of the most beautiful pieces of the rendition.It is in praise of the Lord of the dance Shri. Nataraja. The earliest mention of the formal Kauthuvam in Tamil literature dates back to the work in 1725 AD by Supradipa Kavirayar.

It is a hymn a song of devotion in praise of a deity. It was performed by the devadasis as part of the daily rituals, or on special occasions or during the festivals. Most of the Kavutuvams are dedicated to a particular deity. For eg, the Chidambara Natesha Kauthuvam by Gangai Muthu Nattuvanar is dedicated to the deity at the Chidambaram Natarajar temple and similarly Nachiyar or Andal Kauthuvam is dedicated to the shrine at Srivilliputhur.

Whereas, there is no apparent mention of a particular kshetra or shrine in the Subramanya and Ganesha Kavutuhuvams. Kauthuvam have an unique structure – it begins with a rhythmic recitation of sollukattu, followed by lyric recitation in the same santham (rhythmic metre) as the sollus and the later a melodic rendering of the lyrics and ends with a sollukattu. Sometimes Thattimetti for the lyrics when repeated the second time may be seen.

Musically most Kavuthuvams are composed in Nattai, Gowlai, Arabhi, Varali, Hamsadhwani and Sri Ragam. Gangai Muthu Nattuvanar and the Tanjore Quartet have penned most of the Kavutuvams.

Jathiswaram is another Nritta piece. Jathiswaram brings out three aspects of dance – unity of music, rhythm and movements. Ragam and thalam are the major aspects of Jathiswaram.

Raga can be understood as special musical space where certain patterns of swaras or tunes live in. Raga has it own mood. It guides flow of melody as a canal guides the river.

Thalam and kalam (tempo) give feeling of time. They make melody move on, define how fast it should flow.

Besides general thalam and kalam of music composition, which are constant, each dance adavu in this piece has its own rhythmic pattern. Sequences of adavus are fitting inside avartanam as sketches are fitting pages of artist’s sketchbook.

Jathiswaram reminds us of the mountain river – streams of melodies appear here and there divided by stones of rhythmic patterns spread all along the main canal of Ragam, bending gently to and fro, following shape of the mountain.

Message of Jathiswaram is beauty. It is pure Nritta item, thus anga shuddha (proper postures and movements) in combination with flow of melody and rhythm should evoke sense of harmony and joy of dance in hearts of spectators.

Jathiswaram includes one jathi (sollukattu) and several korvay-s with mai-adavu in between.

First two-three korvay-s are executed to Pallavi, one korvey as a rule includes Pallavi in combination with Anupallavi, next korvais are executed to Charanas.Here the advaus are performed to swara patterns. Like Sa , ni , da , pa. There is no Sahityam unlike swarajathi. Every Jati is alternated by swarams. A jathiswaram has Charanams which are sung in swarams and followed by Pallavi every time. There can be three or more charanams.

Jathiswaram are in different Ragams and Talams. The Tanjore quartet compositions are widely performed. Some famous compositions are:

Kalyani ragam Rupakam, Ragamalika in Misrachapu and Vasantha in Rupakam.

The music of this piece does not convey any specific meaning; as a result, the dancer and audience are simply left with the pure joy of rhythm, melody and movement.

Shabdam is a Bharatanatyam Item in which the Expressions (or Abhinaya) are introduced for the first time in the repertoire. The song (sahityam) is usually separated into stanzas and between each stanza, you'll have a simple Korvai (nritta steps). Each stanza can contain a different story or all of them put together is one single story. But essentially the whole item is about one person, one theme.

This item is usually set to the Misra Chapu Thalam and Ragamalika (different Ragams or Tunes for different stanzas). Misra Chapu Thalam is a series of 7 beats (1-2-3 ; 1-2-3-4 or tha-ki-ta ; tha-ka-dhi-mi)

The movements here are leisurely. In the Shabdam, emotions are withheld at the beginning; thereafter, when the dancer has clarified herself, they are released in a measured and disciplined manner.

Shabdams are also referred to as Yasho Geethams . They have also inherited an Islamic Influence of repeating the Salaam or Namostute (paying respects to the Almighty or the King) at the end of each line. This pleased the patrons. Initially Shabdams were composed and rendered in one Raaga. But it is now a common practice to use one Raaga (or tune) for each stanza and present the composition in Ragamalika.

In many performances the dancer shall be presenting to you the Ayar Sheriyar Shabdam. It is a very famous shabdam in Bharatanatyam narrating about Lord Krishna and his miracles and mischievous games in Vrindavan.

In this story, Magician Krishna is playing his flute, and no one, neither his mother, father, not gopis, know it. His hair is curly and beautiful as its flowing at him playing the flute, at this time his face is radiant like flames. His music makes the deer forget his body. Krishna’s lips are like coral stone. His beautiful delicate fingers caress the flute, his eyebrows are dark and attractive. His music makes the gopis, forgetting their chores, run to hear him and praise him.

Varnam is the most enthralling, interesting and a challenging item in a bharatanatyam recital. It is a piece-de-resistance where in the expertise of the dancer is known.

There is a perfect synchronisation of Bhava, Raga and Tala, thus giving the dancer abundant scope for displaying her rhythmic talents along with rich and variegated abhinaya. It is also a measure of one of the 'Dashapraanas' (the 10 vital characteristics of a good dancer), that is 'ashrama'(endurance), since it is the longest and the most demanding item where in the dancer uses her feet dancing to the Adavu-Jatis, the hands and the hastaas indicating the meaning of the song, while the feeling (inner emotion) is portrayed by the satvika abhinaya through subtle facial expressions.

Varnam creates an impression of beauty, grandeur and profundity while depicting the changing moods of love for the hero who is a God. The mood is of Shringara Bhakti- the worship through love.

The structure of Varnam: is divided into two sections:

The 'Purvaranga', that is, the first half comprising pallavi, anupallavi and muktaayi swara, also called as chitta swara with abhinaya being alternated with pure dance steps. The second half is the 'Urraranga', also called as the 'Ettugada' or 'Charana' comprising ettugada sahitya and ettugada swaraas. Also there are two kinds of Varnams- one is Pada Varnam and the second is Tana Varnam.

Taana Varanam is mainly intended for musical practice. Much of it is in middle or fast tempo. Though it has sahitya but the sahitya does not have much room for the exposition of rich and variegated abhinaya.

Whereas Pada Varnam which is also known as Chouka Varnam is sung in slow tempo (chaukakaala meaning vilamb or slow tempo) and hence give ample scope for abhinaya as well as the nritta.

The most popular Pada Varnam Devar Munivar in Shanmukhapriya ragam set to Adi talam composed by the legend Shri. Lalgudi Jayaraman is a masterpiece creation.

The song of this varnam is split into three stories. In the first story the dancer describes the fight between the gods and the demons over the nectar or amruta. As the sea is churned the nectar rises and is taken by the gods. Soon enough though the demons conceitedly steal the nectar at which point the gods approach lord Vishnu for help in returning the nectar to them. Lord Vishnu takes the form of a beautiful woman and tricks the demons into giving her the nectar so she would distribute it appropriately between the two parties. Taking the nectar she began to pour it in the hands of the gods telling the demons their turn too would come. However when she went to pour the nectar for the demons there was none left and in this way Lord Vishnu ensured the success of the good over the bad. The moral of this story is that good shall always overcome the bad.

In the second story the dancer describes how Pandavas are invited by the Kauravas to play a game of dice. By cheating, the Kauravas ensured that the Pandavas lost everything including their kingdom then when they had nothing else to lose the Kauravas tell the Pandavas to bring in Draupadi. When the Pandavas lose that toss as well Draupadi is forcibly brought into the court. She begs for mercy but is harassed and calls upon Lord Vishnu for help. Seeing her plight the lord rushed to her rescue by making her a saree of never ending length thereby protecting her reputation. The moral of this story suggests that one cannot win in life by cheating.

In the third story the dancer tells the tale of a great king who holds a yagna and offers his prayers to the lord and then hosting a charity for the people of his kingdom. He spots amongst the crowd a stout brahmin whom he calls towards him questioning him as to what he wants from the charity. When asked the brahmin answers that he simply desires three steps of land and that he would be content with it. The king says proudly that the brahmin’s request would be fulfilled. The Brahmin then grows to reveal his form as Lord Vishnu. At this point he takes one step which covers the earth and one step which covers the heavens.The king astounded at such glory kneels before him. The lord asks where he shall place his third step and the king offers his own head. The lord obliges and the king is humbled. The moral of the story is to be humble in life.

Anandanardhana Ganapathim is a famous kriti in Nattai ragam set to Adi talam. Kritis form the backbone of any typical concert and is the longer format of a Carnatic music song. Kriti also means Creation.

In this piece the dancer portrays the greatness and splendor of Lord Ganesha. The expressions of the dancer shows the devotion of Lord Ganesha to his father Lord Shiva who always resides in his heart as the supreme. The piece also describes the divine beauty of Ganesha and narrates as to how Lord Ganesha always fulfills the wishes of the needy and ensures that all those who sing his praise are always honored.

The tumaka Chalata Bhajan shows a mother’s love for her son. This composition belongs to a group in which Sri tulsidAs imagines himself to be part of the scene at rama’s birth and his growing up in dashrath's palace.

The dancer describes via gestures the growing up of Rama as imagined by the composer. The poem goes like this:

The anklets on his feet make a tinkling sound as the toddler rama walks unsteadily everywhere. Bubbling with laughter, he falls, gets up , runs , stumbles and falls to the ground. Seeing this, the queens of dashrath, his mothers run and pick him up and hold him on their laps. Using the pallU of their sarees, they clean the dirt and bruises from his limbs , and comfort and caress him in many ways . Completely surrendering themselves to him with their bodies , minds , and material possessions , they speak soft and sweet words of comfort.With lips that are redder than a coral , his mouth utters extremely sweet (madhur madhur) words while beautiful nose rings dangle from his lovely nose.Poet Tulsidas is thrilled at the face of Ram, which has the glory of the Sun Baby Ram is exactly what he imagined him to be.

The next piece Thillana is a brisk and a lively number performed towards the end of a concert. Usually a carnatic vocal or a Bharatanatyam concert culminates with a Tillana followed by a short mangalam. Most of the Tillana’s include the word ‘Thillana’ in the lyrics. It is predominantly a rhythmic composition.

Tillana usually has jatis as a part of the composition and few lines of Sahityam in the charanam followed by Muktams ( Patterns of swarams) or Sollus. Tillana consists of a Pallavi, Anupallavi, Sahityam and Chittaswaram. The composers enjoy the freedom to add the Sahityam based on the presiding deity of the composer or their Ishta devata (beloved god).

Melattur Veerabhadrayya is said to be the earliest composer of Tillana’s in the 17th century. The Modern day composers like Late Shri Papanasam shivam, Shri Lalgudi Jayaraman and Shri Balamuralikrishna have also composed exciting Tillanas for Dance.

The Kapi Thillana composed by Ramanathan Pillai and sung by Prince Rama Varma in Adi Talam Tisra Gati is a very popular piece in the world of Bharatanatyam.

The meaning of the piece goes like this: Oh sanctifier/purifier of the fallen , Oh consort of Siva , I have placed my faith/believed in [the protection offered by] your feet. Please protect me , who has desired/sought your compassion , Oh lady with lotus -like eyes ! Is it in my capabilities to talk about or praise your greatness , Oh protector of the people who bow down to you? Aren’t you the all powerful (Adi Shakti), the one that this prime/principal disciple of varadachariar bows down to and prays to?

The repertoire concludes after the Thilana with a small mangalam piece performed by the dancer. Mangalam- Meaning ending the performance. Here the artist will again salute god, guru & the audience for making the performance a success.