Sacred Dance of India

Author(s): Mrinalini Sarabhai
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Page 11

'Bottukattal' Symbolically, she was married to God A golden Tält was given to her as the symbol of marriage The study of Bharata Natyam lasted seven years under the 'Nattuvanars', who were the gurus and musicians of the dance The great 'Nattuvanars' of Tanjore, Chinnaiah, Ponnaiah, Shivanandam and Vadivelu, arranged in sequence, the Bharata Natyam programme for a solo dancer Ponnaiah and Shivanandam were gurus in the Brihadeesvara temple of Tanjore and their patron was Raja Sarabhoji (A D 1711-28), who was deeply interested in dance
Chinnaiah taught at the court of Maharaja Krishna Rajendra Odayer of Mysore and Vadivelu was the musician at the court of Maharaja Swati Tirunal of Travancore, himself a distinguished musician and composer There was great impetus given to the arts by royal families and Rajadeva (A D 985-1106) had four hundred dancing girls during his reign, who were part of the temple rituals and with them were Nattuvanars, musicians and mridanga players, all supported by the Raja
The dancer in Bharata Natyam begins her training by first learning the basic dance steps called 'adavus'
Once the 'adavus' are mastered, usually over a period of one year, these are combined into 'jatis', 'theermanas', or 'arıdıs' (endings) A series of 'Jatis' are recited and these syllables are called 'Sollukattus', very similar to the language of the drum The pupil studies each step through the direction of the Nattuvanars (dance teachers) who beat out the rhythm on the wooden block with a 'thattu kazhı' (rhythm-stick) The 'jatis' are the dance units of Bharata Natyam
Bharata Natyam Pose-Mallika
Adavus (basic steps of Bharata Natyam)
Sarıkkal Adavu.
Katta Adavu