Kathak

1.1 Where does the word come from?

Kathak is a classical dance of north India. Its name comes from the Sanskrit word katha, which means story. A kathakar is a storyteller.

So Kathak began as storytelling through movement, gesture and music.

Storytellers acted out episodes from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana. Tales of Krishna and Radha were favourites.

The Mahabharata itself mentions storytellers called kathaks. This is one of the earliest mentions.

1.2 How old is the dance we see today?

Kathak is widely believed to have started in the temples of ancient India. It grew out of the storytelling culture of those times.

Still, a form that looks like modern Kathak appears only around the 15th and 16th centuries. Even then, in the 15th century, people did not call it Kathak. They used more general words.

Kathak follows the rules of the Natyashastra. This is an old Sanskrit text on drama and dance, linked to Sage Bharata. Scholars compare Kathak’s spins with the movements that Bharata describes.

Kathak had no single birthplace. It grew from the meeting of many north Indian cultures.

2.1 What changed in the royal courts?

From the 16th century, temple support faded and royal courts rose. Kathak moved from temple spaces to the durbars of Mughal and regional rulers.

Its focus changed. Before, it was mostly story and devotion. Now it stressed skill and elegance.

Nritta means pure dance, with no story. It became more important. Two features stood out.

• Tatkar is intricate rhythmic footwork.
• Chakkar is a graceful spin.

Dancers matched these to the beats of the tabla or the pakhawaj. Dancers also held rhythmic “conversations” with the musicians to show their skill.

Costumes changed too. They became richer and took ideas from Persian styles. Long flowing tunics, churidars and dupattas made the spins look smoother.

The music used Hindustani instruments such as the sarangi and the sitar. The tabla became more common later.

2.2 What did the Bhakti movement add?

While courts polished the technique, the Bhakti movement gave Kathak fresh devotional energy. Bhakti means loving devotion to God.

Poets such as Surdas, Mirabai, Kabir and Tulsidas wrote verses that Kathakars performed. The dance showed the joy of devotion, the pain of separation and the bliss of union with God.

Devotional gatherings in Varanasi and Mathura kept this side alive. Themes also grew wider. Kathak began to carry secular and romantic subjects too. It took in poetic forms such as the ghazal and the thumri.

3.1 What is a gharana?

A gharana is a school of Kathak with its own style. Each Kathak gharana has its own flavour. All of them share the same basic grammar of Kathak.

The old way of learning was the guru-shishya system. A student learns from a teacher, often inside one family. Hereditary families of dancers and musicians passed Kathak down this way in princely states and noble households.

For more on the idea, read Gharanas: The Lineages Behind India’s Classical Arts.

3.2 What is special about the Lucknow gharana?

By the mid-nineteenth century, Kathak was said to be at a low point. It was revived at the court of Lucknow under Nawab Wajid Ali Shah.

He loved dance and practised it himself. He worked with leading families of kathaks. They later formed the Lucknow gharana.

The Lucknow style stresses grace, refinement and subtle abhinaya. Abhinaya means expression through the face and hands.

It also brought thumris and ghazals into the performance. This made Kathak feel like poetry in motion. It grew under both Asaf al-Dawlah and Wajid Ali Shah.

To read about the Nawab himself, see Wajid Ali Shah.

3.3 What about Jaipur and Banaras?

The Jaipur gharana grew under Rajput courts. It prefers strong footwork and solid rhythm patterns.

The Banaras gharana kept its devotional side. It mixed in local styles.

In the Janakiprasad gharana of Banaras, spoken rhythm syllables are woven into the footwork. These are called natawari bols.

4.1 Who kept Kathak alive after the courts faded?

After royal support declined in the mid-nineteenth century, new keepers appeared. These new keepers were professional women artists, many of them courtesans. Many bore names such as Bai or Jaan.

Famous names include Gauhar Jaan, Siddheshwari Bai, Akhtari Bai (later Begum Akhtar) and Zohrabai Ambalewali. They came from the Lucknow and Banaras traditions. They kept the expression and song alive through thumri, dadra and other semi-classical forms.

Then came the late nineteenth-century Anti-Nautch movement. The British, shaped by Victorian morals, used the word “nautch” to look down on courtesans’ dance. Dance gained a bad name in polite society.

Many artists changed Bai or Jaan in their names to Devi to claim respect. As courtesan culture shrank, hereditary guru families became the main keepers of Kathak.

4.2 How was Kathak revived after 1947?

In the mid-twentieth century, India’s classical arts saw a revival. It was driven by a wish to show cultural pride against colonial rule. Scholars and artists described Kathak as a refined art with ancient roots, not as “nautch”.

In the 1930s, Madam Menaka (Leila Sokhey) staged Kathak at venues abroad. This showed the world its depth.

After independence in 1947, the Sangeet Natak Akademi and regional academies opened dance schools. They set syllabi and gave artists stages. See Sangeet Natak Akademi for more.

The Kathak Kendra in New Delhi began in 1964 under the Bharatiya Kala Kendra. In 1969 its administration passed to the Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Gurus such as Shambhu Maharaj, Lacchu Maharaj, Birju Maharaj, Sitara Devi and Kumudini Lakhia made Kathak a modern stage art with national and global fame.

5.1 What do the key Kathak terms mean?

Learn these four terms in pairs.

• Tatkar: intricate rhythmic footwork. Chakkar: a spin.
• Ghungroo: strings of small metal bells tied on the ankles. Taal: the repeating beat cycle of the music.

Ghungroos turn sound into “visual rhythm”. They accentuate the footwork and echo the taal.

Two common traps follow. Do not mix up the gharanas: Lucknow means grace and abhinaya, Jaipur means footwork. Do not mix up the terms: tatkar is the footwork and chakkar is the spin.

5.2 Who was Birju Maharaj?

Birju Maharaj was born Brijmohan Nath Mishra on 4 February 1938 in Handia, in present Uttar Pradesh. He died in New Delhi on 16 January 2022. He belonged to the Kalka-Bindadin line of the Lucknow gharana.

His father was Jagannath Maharaj, known as Acchan Maharaj. After his father died, the nine-year-old trained under his uncles Shambhu Maharaj and Lacchu Maharaj.

He taught at the Kathak Kendra, where he served as head of faculty and director. In 1998 he retired and founded Kalashram.

He took Kathak beyond mythology. His ballet Roopmati Baz Bahadur told a historical love story.

His honours include the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1964) and the Padma Vibhushan (1986).