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Part 2
The Tanjore Quartette
The advent of the Tanjore
Quartette comprising Chinniah, Ponniah, Vadivelu and Sivanandam marks a new
era in the history of Bharatanatyam as it led to the introduction of the
present pattern of a recital viz., Alarippu, Jatiswaram, Sabdam, Padavarnam,
Padam, Ragamalika and Tillana. At the time of Serfoji’s death in 1832,
Chinniah, the eldest among the Quartette was 32 and Vadivelu, the youngest,
was 21. Originally they were Oduvars of Tamil origin and were brought to
Tanjore to recite Tevaram and do Nattuvangam at the Big Temple there. They
learnt music from Muttuswami Dikshitar and also became proficient in Telugu
and Sanskrit to the extent of writing compositions in those languages in
addition to Tamil. They served Sivaji (1833-1855), the successor of Serfoji,
for a longer period and composed songs in praise of him. The most gifted and
versatile among the brothers was Vadivelu who later migrated to
Tiruvanantapuram to become the Asthana Vidwan in the court of Maharaja Swati
Tirunal. He died there in 1847, the year in which Tyagaraja and Swati Tirunal
also passed away. The other three were also patronized by Swati Tirunal and
the ruler of Mysore, in whose praise they wrote compositions.
Their Compositions
The compositions of the
Quartette form the backbone of the Bharatanatyam performances of today but the
editions of these songs need complete revison from the chronological point of
view. Much of what they popularized must have been handed down to them by
their forebears who belonged to the time of the ruler Tulaja or even before.
The prabandhas of Venkatamakhi and Ramaswammi Dikshitar, the varnams of Swati
Tirunal and a suladi have been printed without disclosing the names of the
composers.
The Navasandhi kavutthuvams
and the Pancha murti kavutthuvams have been copied from the ‘Natanadi vadya
ranjanam’ written by one Gangamuttu Nattuvanar of Tirunelveli and published
with the help of Ambalavana Navalar. This work also contains Kavutthuvams on
Kali of Tiruvalangadu, Vishnu of Tiruchengodu, Andal of Srivilliputtur,
Chokkanathar of Madurai and Mahalinga of Darukavanan. Also four Telugu sabdams
composed by Melattur Kashinathayya and dedicated to ruler Pratapa Simha (1741
– 1764) of Tanjore. These include the Manduka Sabdam which is very popular in
Kuchipudi dance recitals.
The Present Dance Sequence
The present Alarippu –
Tillana arrangement of our Bharatanatyam recitals is the most logical and also
follows texts like the Sangita Muktavali. The alarippu is a pure nritta item
found in many forms of dance as an invocation and is known by different names
like Pushpanjali. This may be compared to a warm-up item like the Tana Varnam
in a music concert. This is followed by the Jatiswaram which is again another
nritta item performed with simple adavu patterns. The Sabdam is the first item
performed with abhinaya. This was called Yasogiti formerly. It invariably
consists of four lines of literature and is commenced with Kambhoji in Mishra
Chapu tala.
The Varna is the
piece-de-resistance in a modern Bharatanatyam recital requiring skill in
abhinaya, tala and the execution of intricate adavu jatis. Pada varnams are
compositions in Sringara Rasa or in praise of a deity, king or patron and
contain a pallavi, anupallavi and sahitya of the chittaswaras is alternated
with increasingly complex accelerated jatis, tirmanams and adavus. Similarly
for the charanas, swaras and swara sahityas.
The Padam
The term ‘padam’ is a unique
type of composition which plays an important role in the present-day
Bharatanatyam recitals. The Natya Sastra of Bharata mentions the padam as an
indispensable constituent of the Gandharva. Bharata has used the word ‘Padam’
in the sense of Sahitya of songs to be used in a drama for abhinaya. The
characteristics of a Padam are that it is intended for Nritya or dance with
gesticulations. A Padam should be full of bhava or emotional appeal and the
motif is gradually expanded in the charana culminating in a climax in the last
charana. Kalidasa and Jayadeva have used the term ‘padam’ in different
contexts. But the fact that Jayadeva’s Ashtapadi-s were being employed for
abhinaya in dance recitals is clear from the work ‘Pada Abhinaya Manjari’
written by Vasudeva Vachasundra of the North in which abhinaya has been
indicated for each word of the sahitya in the Bharatanatyam style. This work
has been published by the Saraswati Mahal Library.
Today, the Padam is a
well-defined composition, known for its slow tempo, saturation with the
sringara rasa and nayaka-nayika bhava as its motif. The composers have drawn
their inspiration from poetic works like the ‘Sringara Tilaka’, and the ‘Amaru
Sataka’, the ‘Rasa Manjari’ of Bhanudatta and ‘Sringara Manjari’ of Saint
Akbar Shah. In a telugu work called ‘Sringara Rasa Manjari’ by an unknown
author, the padams of Kshetragna are cited as examples for describing
nayaka-nayika bhedas. The padam plays an important role in the present day
Bharatanatyam recitals and is the mainstay for the abhinaya part of the
programme. Only mature artistes can do justice to the padams and it is idle to
expect very young girls to depict the emotions, however well they are trained.
The present day recitals are
concluded with Javalis and Tillanas but the latter is more important from the
dance point of view as it is full of sollukattus and adds tempo to the
concluding part of the performance. Occasionally, a short charana in praise of
a God or a king is added at the end. Tillanas are older than Javalis.
Part 4 - The Bhagavata Mela Nataka >> |
