Samipya 2008 Vol 25 Ank 03 04

SR No.: 535849
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: R T Savalia
Publisher: Bholabhai Jeshingbhai Adhyayan Sanshodhan Vidyabhavan
Publication Year: 2008
Total Pages: 164
Language: Gujarati
Classification: Magazine, India_Samipya, & India
File Size: 15 MB

Page 4

Some Issues on the Gender Politics in the Bhakti Genre of Indian Dance-theatre Performance
Dr. Purnima Shah*
The bhakti movement starting from the 9th century AD dominated the religious and cultural landscape of Hinduism in medieval India and evolved with a revolutionary potential branching out over centuries in many directions, most prominently, one in which it provided its devotees with an emotionally charged ecstatic experience through a dramatic enactment of devotion to one's personal God. The rise of the bhakti form of Vaishnavism and the popularity of the idea of erotic mysticism gave an impetus to the emergence of several regional dance-theatre forms all over India, during the 16 through the 19th centuries, which were practiced by the devotees as a mode of devotional expression and religious realization, demanding highly specialized artistic training and techniques of performance.
Several socio-religious factors contributed to the wide spread popularity of the Vaishnavite bhakti during this period: while the hard core intellectuality of the (Shaivite) Advaita dogmas and doctrines were closely guarded within the brahmanic fold and were not easily accessible to the masses, the poetic renderings of the bhakti saints enjoyed an unprecedented mass appeal through centuries. The earlier prevalence of extreme Tantrism which, in some corrupt cases was led to licentiousness and hence denounced by the brahmins and questioned by the common people as well. Many bhakti saints, namely, Kabir, Suradas, Ramdas, Mirabai, Tulsidas and several others, challenged the rigidity of orthodox Brahmanism in both the social and religious spheres, denying caste hierarchies and preaching for tolerance and love. Sufism also influenced the bhakti movement with its emphasis on ecstatic devotion towards God. Finally and importantly, the popularity of Vaishnavite bhakti was also a form of a religious response against numerous invasions on India by various central Asian and other Muslim tribes and the consequent expansion of the Mughal empire in India. It was under these radical and subversive religio-political circumstances and within such a highly devotional ambience that the dance theatre forms discussed in this essay emerged.
One common factor governing the bhakti genre of dance-theatre forms was that they were strictly all-male troupes, formed largely by brahmins. The founders and practitioners of these forms conceptualized, glorified and celebrated the female principle "sakti," and even centralized their lead female character role as divine in the art of their performance, however, the inclusion of women in any theatrical capacity was vehemently denied. In this essay, I will first discuss the religious context of the various dance-theatre forms which emerged during the bhakti period from 16" through 19 centuries as a performative tool for enacting one's devotion towards a personal God. Ecstatic bhakti was central to the * Asst. Professor of the Practice of Dance, Duke University Dance Programme, Durham, North Carolina, USA
Some Issues on the Gender Politics in the Bhakti Genre of Indian...
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