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"Bharathanatyam, , the embodiment of music in its visual form, is an artistic yoga (natya yoga),
for revealing the spiritual through the corporeal.
Angikam bhuvanam yasya
Vachicam sarva vangmayam
Aharyam chandra taradi
tam vande satvikam shivam.
The meaning of the above shloka:
We bow to Him the benevolent One
Whose limbs are the world,
Whose song and poetry are the essence of all language,
Whose costume is the moon and the stars... |
It is said that the term "Bharathanatyam" partly owes its name to sage Bharata. According to the legend Gods and Godesses pleaded with Lord Brahma for another Veda to be created that would be simple for the common man to understand, which is particularly important in Kali Yuga. Granting their wish, Lord Brahma created the Panchamaveda, the Fifth Veda, or NatyaVeda, a quintessence of the main four Vedas. Brahma took pathya (words) form the Rigveda, abhinaya (communicative elements of the body movements, cf. mime) from the Yajurveda, geeth (music and chant) from Samaveda, and rasa (vital sentiment and emotional element) from Atharvaveda to form the fifth Veda, NatyaVeda. After creating this Veda, Lord Brahma handed it to sage Bharata and asked him to propagate it on earth. Obeying the fiat of Lord Brahma, sage Bharata wrote down Natyashastra. Bharata together with groups of the Gandharavas and Apsaras performed natya, nrtta and nrtya before Siva. The three distict elements of Bharata Natyam are Nritta (rhythmic dance movements), Natya (mime, or dance with a dramatic aspect), and Nritya (combination of Nritta and Natya).
We can also conclude that the name Bharatanatyam is derived from three basic concepts of BHAVA - expression, RAGA-melody, TALA –rhythm & Natyam-the dance.
Bharatha natyam is ,in fact, strictly traditional and purest form of dance. This 3000 year old art is still as fresh and fascinating as it must have been when it inspired the sculptors who have left their imagination on stone.It is known as DaaSiYatam since it use to be performed by the deva-dasi's or the temple dancers in the temples of tamil-nadu long ago.. A Bharatanatyam performance starts with the prayers to lord Ganesha or “Natarajan” dancing incarnation of lord Shiva. The music of Bharatanatyam is based on Carnatic music. The instruments used are veena,
flute, mridangham & violin.
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