Indian Dance Through Ages

Dr. Pranaame Bhagawati
Apr 28
11 min read

यो नृयत ामा भावैरयतभतः |

सनदहत पापान जमांतर शतैरप ||

“He, who dances in deep devotion and sacredness with the feeling of happiness and joy, is completely freed and relieved from all his sins of the present and previous births.”

- Dwarka Mahatmaya

WHAT IS DANCE?

Dance is a divine and immortal art form. Its emergence could be dated back from a very early time; when seasonal change stimulated the feelings of the beings, when the beings realized the beauty in nature and in them when they felt that, they are into this world with a mission – a mission to glorify and beautify their thoughts and feelings through movements, sounds, patterns, symbols and gestures. They tried to beautify their surroundings including themselves. And from there, dance took its form. It is a blend of movements, beauty, intellect, feelings, emotions, concepts and messages.

Dance skirts through the purity of senses and the urge of wisdom. It is the language of beautiful body gestures and expressions that knows no geographical boundary or religion. It is ancient and is one of the most powerful forms of self-expression that is presented through movements and rhythm. Dance in the Oxford Dictionary is defined as, moving rhythmically. From varied points of view, dance is regarded as one of the best performing art that is a very good blend of science and art. It is a beautiful and aesthetic way to feel life by releasing emotion and physical blocks and unleashing creativity. It as a subject alone deals with and is responsible for different types of developments in a person. Moreover, besides primarily dealing with the development of physical and mental aspects, it is also responsible for the development of Bodily Kinesthetic Intelligence in an individual.

Dance has proved to be helpful in many physical and mental developments. There are theories and proofs placed by many scientists, psychologists and physicians who say that dance reacts to the body, mind and soul as medicine does to an illness. Many of sociologists found dance to be a core element in developing social and communication skills among humans. Moreover, dance is a composite art form. It helps one to be acquainted with other associated allied arts like music composition, knowledge of different musical instruments, costume designing, stage sets and decorations, lights and sound, script writing, event management and others. Dance has a lot more to contribute to an individual with the development of Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence, making one Body Smart, interactive and extrovert. It enhances one’s personality by embedding extraordinary and impeccable characteristics.

Wilhelm Wundt, a German physician mentioned that, in the early days, dance was the only such medium and identification for humans that helped them to express themselves completely. Also, many psychologists agree that human feelings and communications were identified through the movements of hands, wrists and legs, different facial expressions and other limbs. Even, Pythagoras, the great Greek philosopher and mathematician used to give importance to dance in many of his theories and used to take his disciples to religious and holistic dancing.

From time immemorial, dance has been attached to not only humans but also animals and birds. It has revealed the innate feelings and manifested extraordinarily beautiful physical gestures of a being from ages. It has been related to the human race from a very ancient time, probably from the time of their commute. In earlier days, people used to gather and dance around the fire celebrating joy and happiness.

The early men used different movements and gestures to express themselves and used to make groups with synchronised and identical movements to hunt their prey. They have engraved dance postures in caves, stones, metals, etc. In many monumental sites, there are engraved pictures of dancing movements. During the archaeological survey of Mohenjodaro – Harappan civilization, a metal statue of a dancing girl was found. Drawings and sculptures art works have been found caves which confirmed about a strong existence of dance during early times. Such evidences also established the extant of group dancing or community performance.

In some cultures, dance is worshipped. It is related to spiritual subjects and is believed to be a creation of God. Dance is itself a threshold of an artistic path from where an individual is acquainted with different art forms like music, drama, singing, costumes, stage decoration, etc. that helps the individual to flower with vividness. Dance is an expression of joy, wonder and happiness of a soul in any part of the world. It is a universal language that binds everyone together with the expression of oneself and the entire mankind.

Many physicians, psychologists and sociologists believe dance to be an important tool for making a developed and civilized society.

HISTORY OF INDIAN DANCE

आंगकम भुवनम यय

वाचक ं सव वाङ ् मयम

आहाय च ताराध

तं नुमः (वदे) सावक ं शवम्

Angikang Bhuvanang Yashya Vachikang Sarvavangmayama |

Aaharya Chandrataaraadi Tang Numaha Satvikang Shivam ||

I bow down to Shiva, who possesses the Saatvik qualities, whose Aangik (body) structure

is the whole world itself, and whose Vaachik (speech) is Vangmaya meaning that, it is all

the sounds that emerge in this Sansaar (world); and whose Aaharya (jewellery or

ornaments) are the Surya (Sun), Chandra (Moon) and Nakshaktra (Stars).

~ Abhinaya Darpan

India is a land of rich culture and art forms. There are many ancient temples and historical monuments that prove the age-old relationship of not only humans but also of the Gods with dance. In India, dance is sacred and is believed to be a creation of God. Many carved statues and idols of Gods and Goddesses depict moments of dancing and playing musical instruments like the dancing Nataraja who created the Tandava dance, Goddess Saraswati playing Veena, Lord Ganesha playing Mridangam, Lord Krishna playing flute and dancing on the hood of the serpent named Kaaliya, etc.

According to many mythological and legendary scriptures, it was the spiritual beings that practiced dance art form in Heaven and later it came to earth. The belief and legends related to the origin and emergence of Indian traditional dances emphasise their sacredness and divine origin. With pertinent to many such scriptures, if dance is pursued with sacredness and offering worship it is conducive to well-being, good health and knowledge, while deviation from the conventional belief leads to misfortune, illness and even death. This belief is still in practice by dance practitioners. In Dwarika Mahatmaya, it is mentioned that,

यो नृयत ामा भावैरयतभतः |

सनदहत पापान जमांतर शतैरप ||

Yo Nrityati Prahastaatma Bhavairatyantabhaktita: |

Sanirdahati Papani Janmaantar Shatairapi ||

Meaning: He, who dances in deep devotion and sacredness with the feeling of happiness and

joy, is completely freed and relieved from all his sins of the present and previous births.

Through different archaeological surveys, there emerged many statues and other evidence related to dance. There are many dances in India that differ in terms of geography, region, identity, performance, costume and presentation, but their root has a deep relation with mythology and spiritualism. Its emergence is based on spiritual and celestial beings and nymphs. In ancient Indian scriptures, dance finds its place in a very high state. The Natya Sastra written by Bharata Muni during 1st century BCE to 3rd century CE is the foremost and ultimate Sanskrit treatise on Hindu dramaturgy, codifying all the essentials of performing arts like theatre, dance, acting, poetics, aesthetics and performance norms whilst focusing it as the tool to attain religious enlightenment.

Sarvopadesh Jananang Natya Loke Bhavishyati |

Dukhartanang Shramartanang Shlokartanang Tapasvinaamah ||

Meaning: Natya (drama) gives Upadesh (advices) to all and bestows peace to the bereaved

ascetics and those who are burdened with sadness and labour.

The Indian classical dances are based on performing upon the episode or story from the great Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Epics and other ancient Indian scriptures and Sastras. This is why it is known as Sashtriya Nritya. And most importantly, as the vital elements and concepts were drawn from the four Vedas viz. Rig Veda, Sam Veda, Atharva Veda and Yajur Veda, hence the Natya Sastra is also considered to be the fifth Veda. All the Indian classical dances have a close connection with the Gods and Goddesses. It is also believed to be the highest medium to achieve liberation ‘Moksh’ from this world overcoming the cycle of life and death.

The dramaturgy is a complete amalgamation of Gayan (vocal music), Vadan (instrumental music) and Nritya (dance). And all these three performing arts inclusively relays happiness to the mind of the spectators. Hence, a Natya (drama) was preferably more intriguing for the common people. While defining the velocity of its acceptance, we need to understand the role- play of its two major components, namely ‘Rupaka’ and ‘Uparupaka’, who are also the key concepts of Shilp Sastra. Rupaka is the main or the major form of Natya and the Uparupaka is the minor form. Under the topic of History of Indian Dance, why are we trying to understand these points of Natya here? It's because, during the ancient time, Natya was a wholesome presentation wherein Gayan, Vadan and Nritya together were into practise in order to present a single performing art classic. And so in Rupaka, which is the major form of drama, actors represent characters and in Uparupaka, which is a minor form of drama, performers present symbolic representation focusing more on the Aangika Abhinaya with help of characters and their actions, potently and predominantly showcasing it through bodily movements, dance and music. Hence, the Uparukapa wherein dance is involved can be considered as the aesthetic of a Natya that has the potency of brining out the Rasa amidst the spectators and conjoining it with the understanding of the theme of the Natya which is presented as a Rupaka.

Moreover, some literatures of the Vedic period mentions about personals who are responsibly included in Yagya (Vedic ritual) and Natya Karma (theatrical action) namely Shailoosh, Nat, Nartak, Sutradhaar, Bharat, Kushilav, Vit, Vidushak, Maagadh, Bandi, Sabhaasad, Paaripaashvark, Kiraat, Muk, Abhyagaar, Gayak, Vadak, Bhaat, Vaitaalik, Plavak, etc. to discourse their respective works as required during such rituals.

Dance has evolved and moulded with different archaeological histories, societal developments, historical invasions, assimilation and migration of various art-practicing communities and many other relevant instances.

PRE - HISTORIC ERA

There have been pieces of evidence found in form of visual arts in primitive caves and rock paintings in central India, now present Bhopal displaying the contemporary life and daily activities like hunting, riding horses with swords and shields, etc. One such visual art has been traced to around 5500 B.C. or a period just later than the Mesolithic period wherein it depicts a hunting dance.

In earlier days, people used to gather and dance around the fire celebrating joy and happiness. The early men used different movements and gestures to express themselves and used to make groups with synchronised and identical movements to hunt their prey. They have engraved dance postures in caves, stones, metals, etc. In many monumental sites, there are engraved pictures of dancing movements.

Some drawings of performing ‘Chalit’ dance are also found in the caves of the Ajanta. The sculpturous art of Deogarh and the cave paintings in the Bagh caves of Ajanta displays the Stick dances. Other sculptures at temples like Belur, Konark, Hazara Rama, etc. bring forward collective or group dancing.

During the excavation in different places like in Lothal, Mirzapur, Udaigiri, Patna, Kathiawar, Mahabalipuram, etc. many artefacts were found which reflects the association of the people of that ancient time with dancing and expressional moments.

BRONZE AGE (c. 3300 – c. 1800 BCE) :: Indus Valley Civilization

Through different archaeological surveys, there emerged many statues and other pieces of evidence related to dance. The remainings of the Harappan or Indus Valley Civilisation (2600 – 1700 BCE) disclosed many practices in relation to dancing. Apart from a large number of Mother Goddesses, toys, votive animals and a collection of humorous figurines. Out of all these, unique was the metallic sculpture of a young dancing maiden of the Mohenjo-Daro time found along with the torso of a male dancing figure. The Mohenjo-Daro Harappan civilization reached its peak of being an established civilization and its excavations yielded proof of classical dance being practiced over 5000 years ago.

The discovery of the ‘Dancing Girl’ is indeed a great way to learn the cultural practice or at least knowledge the inhabitants of the Indus Valley Civilisation were having. The ‘Dancing Girl’ sculpture was of bronze, made in lost – wax casting about c. 2300 – 1750 BCE and was discovered in the city of Mohenjo – Daro (in modern-day Pakistan) by the British Archaeologist Sir John Hubert Marshall who initiated excavation in Harappa in 1920.

Mr. S. L. Rao, the Superintending Archaeologist of the Archaeological Survey of India mentioned that the delineation found accustomed similarities to the stance of the famous bronze statue of the ‘Dancing Girl’. This clearly states that the artisan of Bhirrana had a clear understanding of the poise and purpose of the former.

IRON AGE (1500 – 200 BCE) :: Vedic Period

The Vedic period (1700 – 600 BCE) is traced towards the end of the Bronze Age and early Iron Age in the history of India. The Vedic period is the period wherein all the Vedas were composed in the northern Indian subcontinent between the end of urban Indus Valley Civilisation and the second urbanisation.

This period took an enormously new shape by decendants from the northwest mountains who named themselves as the Aryans. They in Vedic Scriptures, mention about personalities like Nat, Nartak, Sutradhaar, Bharat, Kushiluv, Bandi, Gayak, Plavak, Sadasya, Sabhasad, etc. that are evident, who used to be present and be part of the rituals (Yatha – Yogya). The Vedic period is the most important phase in Indian dance history in learning the aesthetic variations and in-depth knowledge it provided to various subjects like dance, dramaturgy, fine arts, crafts, music, poetry, etc. as well as to humankind. It was very well remarked by Prof. Weber, "The time of the Vedas cannot be definite as the phase is too ancient for our modern machinery and tools to be able to trace it. Presently, our available resources are unable to take us to that developed phase of the ancient time."

According to Kalidasa’s ‘Malavikagnimitra’ there used to be dance competitions in the Gupta period. There were people who used to assess the dancers’ talents, qualifications and disqualifications and at the completion of the whole presentation, they used to present their thoughts and award the Guru (instructor) of the winning danseuse. It is worth mentioning that, the practice and understanding of dance by humans found its trace during the Vedic period.

Moreover, during this Vedic time, dance was an important part of rituals to propitiate Gods and calm natural forces. The concepts like worshiping of 'Dikpaala' or 'Astadikpaalaka' (8 guardian deities of directions) as per the Silpa Sashtra, the emergence of the understanding of the Trinity (Lord Brahma, Shri Hari Vishnu and Sada Shiva Maheshwara) and inducing men to express their thoughts in an aesthetic manner by Indra Dev (King of Gods) were chapters traced during the Vedic age.

SPIRITUAL ASPECTS AND BELIEVE :: NATYOTPATTI

Lord Brahma, the first member of the Hindu trinity created the fifth Veda, known as the Natya Veda. This fifth Veda would give them artistic and aesthetic knowledge and would bring them closer to the knowledge of other Vedas and Holy Scriptures. So, to create the Natya Veda, He extracted and took the following elements from the existing four Vedas:

Word or ‘Pathya’ from Rig Veda

Expression or ‘Abhinaya’ from Yajur Veda

Music or ‘Geet’ from Sam Veda

Aesthetics or ‘Rasa’ from Atharva Veda.

Lord Brahma taught this Natya Veda to a sage named Bharata (Bharata Muni) and intended him to prepare a Natya (drama). Bharata Muni prepared a Natya named ‘Asura Parajaya’ and staged it in front of the Gods and demons. The Natya portrayed defeat and destruction of the demons. This naturally offended them and they all demanded an explanation from Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma then formalised and explained the purpose and concept of Natya. He generated the nature of Natya that, it is meant to entertain and not to produce and project any concern about any particular deed, character, behaviour, or experience.

Later, two more plays were projected – ‘Amrit Manthan’ and ‘Tripura Daha’, and this time, it was presented in front of Lord Shiva. Nataraj Lord Shiva, being the creator of dance encouraged the involvement of dance in drama. This according to Him would enhance the beauty and content of the presentation. Shiva instructed His devotee Tandu muni (Some believe Tandu muni is Nandikeshwar) to teach Tandav dance to Bharata Muni. Bharata Muni learned the dance and also inculcated his learning in drama and combined these two forms to write one of the greatest books on the art of theatre, the Natya Sashtra. A proper date has not been able to trace, but it has been dated from the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century A.D.

Bharata Muni was instructed to spread dance on earth. He along with his hundred sons (some belief them to be his disciples or attendants) accomplished this task. He also sent his disciples on an invitation by King Nahush of Pratishthanpur who thought of introducing Natya Vidya (knowledge of drama) in his kingdom.