Sacred Dance of India

SR No.: 011117
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Mrinalini Sarabhai
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Publication Year: 1979
Total Pages: 48
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 8 MB

Page 34

and a devotee of Mannaru (Krishna), the deity at the temple of Mannargudi, near Tanjore A patron and composer, uke his father, Raghunatha Nayak, he wrote many Yakshaganas, natakas and durpadakavyas and translated many Sanskrit works into Telugu In his palace, he had a special hall for dancing, where famous dancers like Chandralekha, Krishnajamma and Rangajamma performed
He was a patron of the composer Kshetragna, who dedicated some of his songs to him This king, who was killed with his son in A D 1673 thus ending the Nayaka dynasty, was the patron of the famous astronomer Bhogula Venkatesa, and also of Pandit Venkatamukhi, who wrote one of the most important works of South Indian music, the Chaturdanı Prakasika
It was fortunate that the Maratha kings, who succeeded the Nayakas, continued the patronage and took deep interest in the arts Shahji (16841710), the second Maratha ruler, was called 'Abhinava Bhoja' and wrote many dance-dramas of which 'Pallakı Seva Prabandham' is one of the finest
In Raja Pratap Sinh's time (1739-63) many of the Bharata Natyam items were composed and dedicated to him, as for example, the well-known Hussens Suargatı His son, Tulajaji, ruled for twenty-four years and composed poems in Sanskrit and Marathi In Tulajajı's treatise 'Sangita Samayasara', he described the various basic 'adavus' that still exist in Bharata Natyam It was at this time that the four Tanjore Brothers studied music from the great composer, Muthuswami Dikshitar Thus the arts of Bharata Natyam and Kuchipudi slowly developed together, and separately, each laying stress on
certain aspects of Nritya and Nritta, the expressive and the purely rhythmic. Mallika Sarabhai as "Radha' in Geeta Govinda