Bharatanatyam

1.1 What is Bharatanatyam?

This dance comes from Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight classical dance forms of India. One government magazine calls it a dance form more than 2000 years old.

1.2 Who first danced it in temples?

Women called devadasis danced it in temples. A devadasi was a woman who gave her life to the service of a temple. She was thought of as married to the temple deity. Her dance was one of the offerings made to the god.

1.3 How big was this tradition?

In Chola times, the Brihadishvara temple at Thanjavur is believed to have had up to 400 temple dancers. They lived in the temple towns. This shows how central dance was to temple life.

1.4 What was the dance called then?

It was called Sadir. Sadir was the dance as devadasis practised it. Their daily work kept Sadir alive over the years.

2.1 Which old text does the dance follow?

Bharatanatyam links back to the Natya Shastra. This is an ancient text on the art of performance. It describes 108 positions of Shiva’s dance of triumph. Each position is called a karana.

2.2 Can we still see these karanas?

Yes. Images of these positions still exist on temples of Tamil Nadu. A dancer can stand in front of a temple wall and see the same poses carved in stone.

2.3 Where does Shiva come in?

Shiva’s victorious dance is called the tandava. A Bharatanatyam dancer can take these postures on stage. Read the Tandava article for the full story.

3.1 What did the British think of temple dance?

British rulers looked at temple dance with suspicion. In the early twentieth century it was banned. The dance came to carry a stigma. It was linked to the devadasi system, which many people wanted to end.

3.2 Who wanted to save the dance?

E. Krishna Iyer did. He agreed that the abusive devadasi system had to end. But he feared for the dance itself. He said the art reached beyond that system. He wrote against the move in the press.

3.3 How did the name change?

Krishna Iyer was at the head of the Music Academy. He passed a resolution there in 1932. It gave the old Sadir a new name, Bharatanatyam. The new name removed the stigma and gave the dance a fresh start.

3.4 Did the idea work?

Yes. Muthulakshmi Reddy, who led the move against the devadasi system, later said Krishna Iyer was the reason Bharatanatyam became an art of every household. The Sangeet Natak Akademi also honours him for his part in the revival.

4.1 How did Rukmini Devi begin?

In 1927 her brothers took her to see a sadir show. She said it opened a new world of rhythm and meaning. She chose to learn the art. Her guru was Pandanallur Meenakshisundaram Pillai.

4.2 When did she first dance in public?

Her first performance was at the Diamond Jubilee of the Theosophical Society in 1935. Some people threatened to boycott the show. She went ahead. She was the first dancer from outside the professional class to dance in public.

4.3 What did she found?

In August 1935 she, her husband George Arundale and her brother met friends to plan an arts centre. On 6 January 1936 it opened inside the Theosophical Society campus at Adyar, Chennai. It was first called the International Centre for Arts. It later became Kalakshetra.

4.4 What did she change in the dance?

She gave special attention to the music, the choice of songs, the costumes and the stage. These changes helped turn temple dance into a modern stage art.

4.5 What honours did she receive?

She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1952. The Press Information Bureau calls her the first woman to be nominated to it. In 1956 she received the Padma Bhushan. Read her full story in Rukmini Devi Arundale: Reviving Bharatanatyam.

5.1 What did the law do?

The state passed the Devadasis (Prevention of Dedication) Act in 1947. It declared the dedication of a woman as a devadasi unlawful and void. This held even if she agreed to it.

5.2 Why was it passed?

The Act said that the practice led many of the women to a life of prostitution. It said it was necessary to put an end to it.

5.3 Why does this link to dance?

The law ended dedication, not dance. The art lived on and moved to the stage. Reformers helped girls from many homes learn it. Mrinalini Sarabhai is one dancer who helped take it out of the devadasi closet.

6.1 What are the three parts of a dance?

Dance teachers split the art into three parts. These are nritta, nritya and natya. The easy way to remember them is steps, steps plus feeling, and a full play.

Source: NCERT, which quotes the Abhinaya Darpana.

6.2 Which book gives these definitions?

These definitions come from the Abhinaya Darpana. It is a text that classical dancers widely follow. They are not stated as the Natya Shastra’s own.

7.1 What traps repeat?

• Sadir or Bharatanatyam? Sadir is the old name. The new name came in 1932.
• Who renamed it? E. Krishna Iyer pushed the 1932 resolution. Do not credit Rukmini Devi.
• Who founded Kalakshetra? Rukmini Devi Arundale, in 1936.
• Which dancer, which institute? Match the dancer to the place she founded.

Sources: Times of India, Kalakshetra, Indian Express.

7.2 How did SSC CGL test this?

The 2024 paper named a dancer and asked which institute she founded. Mrinalini Sarabhai was a Bharatanatyam and Kathakali dancer. She and her husband set up Darpana in 1949. She had learnt Bharatanatyam from Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai.