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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
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www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
Until as late as 1940s, female dancing in the north was usually relegated to the courtesans and nachwalis who specialized in the art of dance, music and poetry. Their artistry varied in many ways depending on their status ranging from those who entertained the royal, courtly and aristocratic gentry to those who performed for the commoners. Traditionally, the courtesans who entertained the royal and aristocratic men, were trained in Kathak by male court dancers. In spite of the virtuosic artistic capabilities of the nachwalis, their dance was considered socially less respectable as their performance was geared towards entertainment of mortal men. Public dance performance was absolutely a taboo for respectable grihastha women in north Indian society.
Several other non-brahmanic forms of artistic performance identified as the "people's theatre," also developed during the late bhakti period, categorically fall in the all-male genre of performance, namely, the Chhau dances of Bihar, Bengal and Orissa; Yakshagana of Karnataka; Yatra of Bengal; and the Nautanki of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. In each of these forms, female roles have been traditionally performed by men. Majority of the forms of people's theatre all over India, regardless of their secular nature of performance, were directly or indirectly influenced by the bhakti movement and its devotional fervor. The "sacred" and the "secular" became intrinsically and inseparably inter-woven such that the portrayal of one was qualified by the nature of the other and vise versa:
Chhau dance forms developed around the 18 and 19th centuries in the regions bordering Bihar, Bengal and Orissa as a celebration of the Chaitra parva or the Spring festival. Seraikella Chhau of Bihar was traditionally performed by men from royal families, while Mayurbhanj Chhau of Orissa and Purulia Chhau of Bengal continued to be performed by male artists from different castes trained in the art. All Chhau dances are martial in their approach to dance movements, themes, music, and costumes. Using martial weapons such as the swords, shields, sticks and clubs, Chhau is essentially the glorification of the veer rasa or the "heroic," focusing either on heroic Epic characters, or mythic beings, animals, birds, aspects of nature, or simply, a heroic mood, state of being, or condition. Chhau is conspicuously a male dominated art form. These dances are dedicated in honour of Shiva and Parvati, although martial themes and selected war-time episodes from Indian mythology and the Vaishnava Epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana, are also enacted. Male practitioners train and perform the heroic and forceful tandava as well as the soft and graceful lasya aspects of the dance. Female roles were traditionally performed by men.
Yakshagana of Karnataka revels in temple worship and ritual performance using themes from the Epics. It is an all-male dance-theatre where the bhagawatar plays the lead role as the ritualist, singer, dancer and actor, connecting all elements of the drama together. Heroic themes depicting valor and battle scenes are more common although, lasya dances are also performed as a part of the ritual.
There is a belief that Yatra theatre of Bengal may have emerged from the bhakti Some Issues on the Gender Politics in the Bhakti Genre of Indian...
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