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Based on the study of Natya Shastra text, the common Indian grammar of performing arts and literature is referred to as Marga in the post-Natyashastra period. Deshis are regional forms of performing arts, many of which are developed based on regional taste.
Marga Natya is the revival and reconstruction of Bharata (sage)’s tradition of dance, music and acting (natya, geeta and abhinaya) as mentioned in his Natya Shastra. [1]
Researcher Piyal Bhattacharya has been working at the Natyashastra with the support of the Sangeet Natak Akademi under their scheme of “Safeguarding Intangible Cultural heritage of India”. [2] [3]
The Natyashastra and other ancient Hindu texts such as the Yajnavalkya Smriti assert that arts and music are spiritual, with the power to guide one to moksha, through empowering the concentration of mind for the liberation of the Self (soul, Atman). [4] , in strength similar to the knowledge of the Shrutis (Vedas and Upanishads). [4] Various medieval scholars, such as the 12th-century Mitaksara and Apararka, cite Natyashastra and Bharata in linking arts to spirituality, while the text itself asserts that beautiful songs are sacred and performance arts are holy. [4]
The goal of Marga Natya, states Natyashastra is ultimately to let the spectator experience his own consciousness, then evaluate and feel the spiritual values innate in him, and rise to a higher level of consciousness. The playwright, the actors and the director (conductor) all aim to transport the spectator to an aesthetic experience within him to eternal universals, to emancipate him from the mundane to creative freedom within.
The function of drama and the art of theatre, as envisioned in Natyashastra states Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe, is to restore the human potential, man's journey of "delight at a higher level of consciousness", and a life that is enlightened. [5]
Bharatanatyam is an Indian classical dance form that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of Shaivism and in general of Hinduism and Jainism.
A raga is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. Rāga is central to classical Indian music and a unique feature of the tradition: no equivalent concept exists in Western classical music. Each rāga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, from the perspective of the Indian tradition, the resulting music has the ability to "colour the mind" as it engages the emotions of the audience.
Bharata was a muni (sage) of ancient India. He is traditionally attributed authorship of the influential performing arts treatise Natya Shastra, which covers ancient Indian dance, dramaturgy, poetics, and music.
Shastra is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense. The word is generally used as a suffix in the Indian literature context, for technical or specialized knowledge in a defined area of practice.
Kuchipudi is one of the eight major Indian classical dances. It originates from a village named Kuchipudi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance, with its roots in the ancient Hindu Sanskrit text of Natya Shastra. It developed as a religious art linked to traveling bards, temples and spiritual beliefs, like all major classical dances of India.
Kathak is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. Its origin is attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern India known as Kathakar ("storyteller"), who communicated stories from the Hindu epics and mythology through dance, songs and music. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word katha which means "story", and kathakar which means "the one who tells a story", or "to do with stories".
The Nāṭya Śāstra is a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts. The text is attributed to sage Bharata, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE.
Sattriya, or Sattriya Nritya, is a major Indian classical dance. It was initially created as part of Bhaona which are performances of Ankiya Nat, one-act plays, originally created by Sankardev, a 15th-16th century polymath from Assam. These dances are part of the living traditions today of Sattra, which are communities of live-in devotees belonging to the Ekasarana Dharma, a Hindu sect established by Sankardev.
Mohiniyattam is an Indian classical dance form originating from the state of Kerala. The dance gets its name from Mohini – the female enchantress avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu, who helps the devas prevail over the asuras using her feminine charm.
Indian classical dance, or Shastriya Nritya, is an umbrella term for different regionally-specific Indian classical dance traditions, rooted in predominantly Hindu musical theatre performance, the theory and practice of which can be traced to the Sanskrit text Natya Shastra. The number of Indian classical dance styles ranges from six to eight to twelve, or more, depending on the source and scholar; the main organisation for Indian arts preservation, the Sangeet Natak Academy recognizes eight: Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathakali, Sattriya, Manipuri and Mohiniyattam. Additionally, the Indian Ministry of Culture includes Chhau in its list, recognising nine total styles. Scholars such as Drid Williams add Chhau, Yakshagana and Bhagavata Mela to the list. Each dance tradition originates and comes from a different state and/or region of India; for example, Bharatanatyam is from Tamil Nadu in the south of India, Odissi is from the east coast state of Odisha, and Manipuri is from the northeastern state of Manipur. The music associated with these different dance performances consists many compositions in Hindi, Malayalam, Meitei (Manipuri), Sanskrit, Tamil, Odia, Telugu, and many other Indian-Subcontinent languages; they represent a unity of core ideas, and a diversity of styles, costumes and expression.
Dance in India comprises numerous styles of dances, generally classified as classical or folk. As with other aspects of Indian culture, different forms of dances originated in different parts of India, developed according to the local traditions and also imbibed elements from other parts of the country.
Pandurang Vaman Kane was an Indian academic, historian, lawyer, Indologist, and Sanskrit scholar. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award in 1963.
Tandava, also known as Tāṇḍava Natyam, is a divine dance performed by Hindu god Shiva. Shiva is depicted as dancing the Tandava in his form of Nataraja.
In Indian aesthetics, a rasa literally means "juice, essence or taste". It is a concept in Indian arts denoting the aesthetic flavour of any visual, literary or musical work that evokes an emotion or feeling in the reader or audience, but cannot be described. It refers to the emotional flavors/essence crafted into the work by the writer or a performer and relished by a 'sensitive spectator' or sahṛidaya, literally one who "has heart", and can connect to the work with emotion, without dryness.
The Sangita-Ratnakara, संगीतरत्नाकर,, literally "Ocean of Music and Dance", is one of the most important musicological texts from India. Composed by Śārṅgadeva (शार्ङ्गदेव) in Sanskrit during the 13th century, both Carnatic music and Hindustani music traditions of Indian classical music regard it as a definitive text. The author was a part of the court of King Simhana of the Yādava dynasty whose capital was Devagiri, Maharashtra.
Rasa refers to the creation and reception of a distinct 'flavor' or quality of something. As a Sanskrit theological concept, rasa was popularized Krishna-centered bhakti traditions, such as Gaudiya Vaishnavism from the fifteenth century. The theological use of the word can be found early, about two thousand years before the Nimbarka or Chaitanya schools of bhakti, in 2.7.1 of the Taittiriya Upanishad: "Truly, the Lord is rasa" This statement expresses the view that God is the one who enjoys the ultimate rasa, or spiritual rapture and emotions.
Indian art evolved with an emphasis on inducing special spiritual or philosophical states in the audience, or with representing them symbolically.
Bhagavata Mela is a classical Indian dance that is performed in Tamil Nadu, particularly the Thanjavur area. It is choreographed as an annual Vaishnavism tradition in Melattur and nearby regions, and celebrated as a dance-drama performance art. The dance art has roots in a historic migration of practitioners of Kuchipudi, another Indian classical dance art, from Andhra Pradesh to the kingdom of Tanjavur.
Nritya, also referred to as nritta, natana or natya, is "dance, act on the stage, act, gesticulate, play" in the Indian traditions. It is sometimes subdivided into two forms: nritta or pure dance, where expressionless movements of a dancer play out the rhythms and phrases of the music; and nritya or expressive dance, where the dancer includes facial expression and body language to portray mood and ideas with the rhythmic movements.
Piyal Bhattacharya is an Indian theatre director and Natyashastra scholar from Kolkata, West Bengal. He is proficient in Sanskrit, English, Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam. He has founded the Spanda Art Space near Garia, Kolkata.
Quote: (…) "the function of the art of theatre, described in the Natyashastra is to restore full human potential, life in enlightenment. The concept of beauty in Indian tradition is, therefore, conceived and presented as the experience of delight at a higher level of consciousness."