Place of dance in Tamil cultural history

Subashini PATHMANATHAN

What we know Bharatha Natyam today evolved out of temple dances which have a history which goes back to many centuries. The ancient Tamil kings fostered and developed the arts and promoted religion. The numerous inscriptions found all over Tamil Nadu bear testimony to the seal of the kings who endowed lands to the temples.

Out of these income certain amount were instructed and directed to give for the maintenance of the welfare of the temple priests and temple dancers, and the mentors of dancers as Nattuvanars. Even it is noteworthy to mention here that some of the temple inscriptions clearly indicate that certain amounts of payment was allocated to buy betel and areca nuts for temple Nattuvanar and temple musicians.

Bharatha Natyam was established as a great classical dance of India

According to historical evidence, the Sangam period Silapathikaram contains the wealth of information about dance. During the Chola regime the great temple Thanchai Bragatheswarar was built by great Chola emperor Raja Rajacholan.

To this date, this temple remains as a monument to dance and sculpture of Chola era. One of the temple inscriptions states that four hundred dancers were appointed to serve the deity at this temple. As Tamil kingdom faded away the temple dances declined and eventually the temple dances were moved to the palaces of the petty kings. With the eclipse of Marathi rule Tamil dance lost it‘s total glamour and own identity.

Downfall

After the Marathi rule the British era started. With the coming of British rule, Sathir (the earlier form of Bharatha Natyam) which the Britishers called Nauch began to decline. And the female dancers were socially ostracized. In the year 1947 the performances of Sathir at temples was legally prohibited. The renaissance of Bharatha Natyam began after the first quarter of twentieth century with the aid of Krishna Iyer, and Rukmani Devi Arundale and several others. All of these cultural reformers played major role to revive this art. Sathir was rechristened as Bharatha Natyam due to their untiring efforts of the revivals. Women of upper classes took to this dance. The Madars Music Academy permitted dancers to perform at the Academy. Perhaps the most important influence that stimulated the interest in the art form was Tamil cinema.

The Nattuvanars of the old tradition who took up residence in Madras directed many dance scenes in Tamil cinema and talented young girls like Kamala and Vyjanthimala were trained by some outstanding dance Gurus like Vazhuvoor Ramiahpillai, and Thandauthapani pillai. The presentation of dance scenes in the Tamil cinema impressed the imagination of South Indian masses and established Bharatha Natyam as a great classical dance of India.

Balasarswathi was conferred the title ‘ Sangeetha Kalanithi’ and this marks the ultimate recognition of this great art. Dr.Raghavan by his writings contributed a great deal to recognition of Bharatha Natyam as a classical dance. The Nattuvanars who belonged to a particular caste were called upon to teach the girls from the higher classes in the social hierarchy who took Bharatha Natyam enthusiastically. Today in the classical Bharatha Natyam scene Nattuvanars are a vanishing tribe, because the dance teachers of today take upon themselves the task of rendering Nattuvagam.

Classics

There are a few handful of traditional Gurus are in the classical dance scene. For a student learning Bharatha Natyam under a traditional Guru is entirely a different experience rather than learning under an institution. Learning classical dance under traditional Gurus the sishya naturally imbibes the art, whilst learning classical dance at the institution one only learns the art itself.

Sathir appeared in the Sri Lanka scene especially in the Jaffna peninsula where it was danced in Hindu temples for at least over three hundred years. These dancers were generally referred as devadiyals, which literary means those who rendered service to the Lord. Their Indian counterparts were often referred to Devadais. In Jaffna they were called sometimes as Sinnamela karis or Sathir Karis.The persons who teach them were called Nattuvanars and both belonged to the same social class.

This class tended to live in close proximity to the temples. Lands occupied them are still known as Nattuvakani, it means that the land of Nattuvanar clan.