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Part 3
The Bhagavata Mela Nataka
Before I conclude I wish to
refer to two allied dance forms of South India which are as old as the
Bhratanatyam if not older than the Sadir. The first of these is the Bhagavata
Mela Nataka, the main centre of which is Melattur. The art was also being
practiced at Sulamangalam, Uttukadu, Nallur and Tepperumanallur, all in the
Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu.
During the reign of the Nayak
rulers of Tanjore, several villages were donated to Brahmins who were experts
in dance. A number of such families appear to have migrated from the Kuchipudi
area in Andhra Pradesh and settled down in these villages to establish the
Bhagavata Mela tradition on the model of the Kuchipudi tradition. The earliest
to arrive was Narayana Tirtha, a sanyasin of Advaitic persuasion, who wrote
the ‘Krishna Lila Tarangini’ on the model of the ‘Gita Govinda’ and also
established a Bhajana tradition at Varahur.
The Bhagavata Mela tradition
is closer to Uparupaka concept than the solo Bharatanatyam as the former is
Natya in its real meaning. A number of dance dramas were written in Telugu and
danced during temple festivals entirely by the males of the village concerned.
The main playwright was Melattur Venkatrama Sastri, who was a senior
contemporary of Tyagaraja, and he wrote about a dozen such dramas some of
which are presented even today.
The three aspects of the
histrionic art viz, Nritta, Nritya and Natya find full scope in these dramas.
The footwork, the movements of the body, adavujatis and tirmanams closely
follow the Bharatnatya tradition and abhinaya follows the accepted
conventions. The present exponents of this art are all amateurs engaged in
different vocations but they assemble at Melattur every year and perform the
dramas during festivals. The music is purely Carnatic classical. Unless
immediate steps are taken to resuscitate this dance form and make it
presentable in cities, it might become a matter of the past in the coming
years.
The Kuravanjis
The second type of dance
drama is the Kuravanji (literally meaning a ‘kuratti’) which is another
product of the Tamil soil. Thee dance dramas were originally being performed
in temples by female dancers and the technique employed was that of the
classical Sadir Nautch. Tanjore again became the centre of this tradition with
hundreds of Devadasis being attached to the Brihadisvara temple.
The Tyagesar Kuravanji, by an
unknown author, which used to be performed at the Tyagaraja temple at
Tiruvarur during the time of Shahaji (1684 – 1710) was the most famous of the
Kuravanjis. Later, nearly a dozen such works came to be written in Tamil on
several deities and patrons like Sarabhoji and these offer excellent material
for enacting dance dramas by competent dancers. The chitrakavya variety of the
Uparupaka can be seen in Kuravanji dance dramas which give plenty of scope for
vipralambha sringara, the sakhi playing an important role as the nayika’s
messenger. The central character in Kuravanjis is, however, the Kuratti, the
gypsy fortune teller and special folk tunes and dances are employed for her
part. Otherwise, the music is purely Carnatic.
Dance Explosion
During the past three decades
there has been, in the dance field, a proliferation which may be called an
explosion. Dozens of dance schools have come into existence and hundreds of
girls are practicing Bharatanatyam today as a supplementary qualification.
This has come in for caustic criticism from some quarters but the onward march
of the art cannot be arrested by such prophets of doom. The revival of
interest in this prestigious art form of Tamil Nadu has done the art a lot of
good. Hundreds of dance compositions have been unearthed, published and
choreographed. Modern techniques are being adopted for costumes, stage décor,
lighting and publicity. The printed programmes and brochures greatly enlighten
the average viewer and enable him to appreciate the art better than ever
before.
Bharatanatyam is on the
march, sensitive to all the winds that blow in the sphere of world dance and
reacting to exotic influences with some side of its genius. The future is
perhaps going to be golden age in its long and colourful history.
Concluded |
