________________
Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
6.
7.
8.
9.
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
imparting moral instruction as well. Finally, he recites the Mukti-Mangala Bhatima - seeking forgiveness of the Gods and the audiences for any flaws in the production and presentation of the play, and promoting the path of righteousness.
Chakiars are descendents of the sutas or story-tellers, mentioned in the epic Mahabharata (Khokar 1984:97).
The Chakiar was accompanied on the drum specifically by a member of the Nambiar (brahmin) caste. A Nangiar, usually, the drummer's wife played the cymbals.
Kathakali performance transforms the stage into a world of Gods, super humans, demons, ogres, mythical birds and animals. By using the term "character" training, I refer to both meanings: firstly, intensity of training in "character role playing" where actors consistently. work on intensifying particular character roles they specialize in and secondly, the disciplined development of the actor's inner personal character made suitable for such an intense spiritual practice (see, Zarrilli 2000).
There is a story that Tulsidas, inspired by the Sanskrit Epic Ramayana, wrote the Ramacharitamanasa in the vernacular language, enraging the brahmin pandits who immediately outcasted him. The vernacular version of the epic, nevertheless, achieved great popularity among the masses in northern India and continues to be recited to-date.
10. Historians believe that the Devadasi system of (exclusively female) temple ritual dance was a pan-Indian practice until pre-Mughal period, however, for reasons unknown, the Devadasi system survived only in the southern and probably far eastern regions of India. Very little documented information of its prevalence in the north is available to us.
11. According to Charlotte Vaudeville, "Though she [Radha] is frequently mentioned in the Indian literature, at least from the time of Hala, her emergence in the cultic and devotional sphere of Vaisnavism as Krishna Gopala's beloved and sakti is known to have taken place rather late, certainly not much earlier than the 16th century" (1982:2).
12. In Barbara Stoler Miller's view, "Radha is one of the most obscure figures in early Indian literature. Until Jayadeva made her the heroine of his poem, she appeared only in stray verses scattered through various Puranas, anthologies of Prakrit and Sanskrit poetry, works of literary esthetics, grammar, poetry, drama, and a few inscriptions" (1977:26).
13. Social and political situations during the 16 through the mid-20" century compelled women to withdraw into domesticity. This time period witnessed numerous invasions on India by the militant Muslim tribes followed by imperial British rule contributing to the social and political unrest, leaving the country in a constant state of war.
14. It is ironical that in 1932, the first Indian female to become a legislator and Vice-President of the Madras Legislature, Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi, took a feminist stance in disdainfully attacking the devadasi system insisting that the institution cultivated immorality and promiscuity among young girls dedicated to the temples. It was only to the credit of the single handed and audacious effort of a male brahmin lawyer, E. Krishna Iyer, followed by Rukhmini Devi that the temple art of the devadasis, in the form of Bharatanatyam, continues to thrive today (see Khokar 1987). 15. Guru Pankaj Charan Das who hailed from a traditional Madeli family connected to the Jagannath temple in Puri, guru Kelucharan Mohapatra who was a gotipua dancer in his youth, and guru Some Issues on the Gender Politics in the Bhakti Genre of Indian...
27
For Private and Personal Use Only
