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Appearance of "Narasimha in Prahlada Charitam' (Bhagwatmela, Melattur).
most popular attabhishekam' and Gajendra Mokshame Pranduka Shabdam' is thescribed. The bolamidi "Shabdams?
shabdam' are favourithabdam',
remain, they may look at one of the panels to know where the end of that dance is.
At the end of this house, on the left hand, is a painted recess, where the women cling on with their hands, in order to better stretch and loosen their bodies and legs; there they teach them to make the whole body supple in order to make their dancing more graceful. At the other end, on the right, is the place where the King places himself to watch them dancing.
Solo dancers have taken items from the Kuchipudi dance-dramas, called 'Shabdams' and present them on the stage as separate items of dance. The most popular are by Pandit Kasinath of Melatur. His 'Manduka Shabdam', 'Prahalada Pattabhishekam' and 'Rama Shabdam' are favourites. The ‘Manduka Shabdam' is from the story "Gajendra Moksham', where the frogs playing in a pond are described. The bols are spoken like the sound of jumping frogs. The main rasa in all Kuchipudi Shabdams' is 'Sringara.'
BHAGAVATA MELA NATAKAM IN TAMIL NADU When the Empire of Vijayanagaram fell, it was the Nayaka Dynasty of Tanjore that patronised the Bhagavatars. Achyutappa Nayak (A.D. 15611641) gave land to 500 families at Merattur and Soolamangalam. Raghunatha Nayak (A.D. 1614-33) was a great scholar, patron and poet of Dravidiar and Sanskrit literature. He invented a new type of veena called 'Raghunatha Mela' and was the author of the Yakshagana Parijatapaharana. In his court were great writers including two women, Ramabhadramba and Madhuravani.
Vijayaraghava Nayak (A.D. 1633-73) was the last of the Nayaka kings
playing in a mann is from the story
the sound of
TWENTY-NINE
