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Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Volume 19 Article 10

January 2006

Embodying " " in Natyam: An Indian-Christian Interpretation of "" through

Katherine C. Zubko

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Recommended Citation Zubko, Katherine C. (2006) "Embodying "Bhakti Rasa" in Bharata Natyam: An Indian-Christian Interpretation of "Gayatri" Mantra through Dance," Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies: Vol. 19, Article 10. Available at: https://doi.org/10.7825/2164-6279.1365

The Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies is a publication of the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies. The digital version is made available by Digital Commons @ Butler University. For questions about the Journal or the Society, please contact [email protected]. For more information about Digital Commons @ Butler University, please contact [email protected]. Zubko: Embodying "Bhakti Rasa" in Bharata Natyam: An Indian-Christian Interpretation of "Gayatri" Mantra through Dance

Embodying Bhakti Rasa in Bharata Natyam: An Indian-Christian Interpretation of through Dance

Katherine C. Zubko Emory University

AS the five female dancers from the Indian­ through a performative embodied understanding Christian fine art college of Kalai Kaviri encircle of bhakti rasa, an aesthetic sentiment typically the South Indian brass lamp, or vilakku, defined as a "devotional" mood, contemporary awakening it to life with the flames from their performers of Bharata Natyam106 create a own individual votives, the beginning melody of critical framework that makes fluidity of

a song cues the women to stretch out their arms religious narratives and meanings possible I I in preparation to rise from their seated positions across religious traditions. and dance. As they raise their arms in unison, Through the contextualized Kalai Kaviri : 'i ! the light glinting off their bangles and gold performances of the Gayatri mantra, I will, first threaded costumes, the words Bhur of all, concretely make the distinction between Bhuvah Svah signal the invocatory phrase of the embodied, performed rasa in comparison to the popular Gayatri mantra chanted daily by many predominant textual, philosophical theories on all over the world. By the time the rasa, with special attention to the cultivation of second r~petition of the mantra is completed, the bhakti rasa. Second, I highlight how these bodies of the dancers are fanned out from behind particular boc!.ies dancing specifically on the a single dancer, creating the visual image of the Gayatri mantra shape new meanings of the sun with its rays beaming outwards to all mantra through a condensed performance directions of the universe. This pose aptly analysis. And third, I suggest through a cultural conveys homage to the sun god, Savilr or , reading of the indigenous category of bhakti one of the associated with the rasa, an expansion of Barbara Holdrege's idea Gayatri mantra. lOS At the same time, the of "devotional bodies" to account for embodied choreographer notes that this pose, perfonned knowledge from within the study of religion. I I during cultural programs in Hindu temples and liturgical services in churches and cathedrals Aesthetics of Rasa: Textual and Performed across England during June 2004, also evokes Understandings \, the idea of Jesus as the Light of the World. Drawing upon the Kalai Kaviri presentations of In the traditionally Hindu dance fonn of Bharata the Gayatri mantra as a lens, I argue that N atyam, perfonners tell the stories of the gods

KATHERINE C. ZUBKO is a doctoral candidate at Emory University, U.S.A., in the program of West and South Asian , specializing in and Islam. Her interests in perfonnance, aesthetics, and religion and· the body stem from her own dance training in Bharata N atyam over the last nine years. Having retumed from a year of fieldwork in as a Fulbright Fellow, she is in the middle of completing her dissertation entitled Embodying Bhakti Rasa: Dancing Ac;'oss Religious Boundaries in Bharata Natyam. This article was first presented at the American Academy of Religion, Southeast Region, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, March 2005. The fieldwork for this study was conducted in London 2004 with the generous help of the University Fund for Intemationalization, Emory University.

Journal o/Hindu-Christian Studies 19 (2006) 37-43 Published by Digital Commons @ Butler University, 2006 1 Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies, Vol. 19 [2006], Art. 10

38 Katherine Zubko

and through hand and facial and hunching the shoulders), and fleeting expressions in combination with rhythmic and emotional states of vyabhicari--s (e.g., graceful footwork. Bom and cultivated in a shyness, jealousy, playfulness) to create sthayi­ temple atmosphere, these were seen as bhava-s, or more permanent primary emotions embodied offerings, akin to the beauty of a (e.g., , or love). When these sthayi-bhava-s flower left lovingly at the feet of the deity. are appreciated or tasted by an audience Against the ongoing background and continued participant, they become known as rasas (e.g., practice of Hindu devotion connected to Bharata sr ngara, or erotic love). The nine rasas of Natyam, a process of secularization occurred in erotic love, humor, fear, heroism, fury, disgust, the 1930's, producing different contexts for the wonder, , and sometimes tranquility dance, and different roles - including its are the commonly listed aesthetic moods that designation as a classical Indian dance, artists ideally want their audiences to enjoy. representative of a national art form. One of the Modem Bharata N atyam dancers and effects of this secularization included the scholars refer to this aesthetic recipe from the gradual incorporation of thematic and practical Natyasastra when discussing the production of content from Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and rasa. And yet, bhakti, or a devotional, rasa, other religious traditions. At the same time, the which is explicitly absent from the Natyasastra Hindu roots of the dance tradition became more and other Sanskrit aesthetic texts referred to by embedded through the framing of the these contemporary performers, is the most often reformulated dance practice through Sanskrit mentioned rasa discussed in current speeches, texts on aesthetics. In particular, dancers began writings, program notes, and interviews. Many to view the 2,000 year-old Natyasastra,107 or even cite bhakti rasa as the basis for all Bharata Treatise on Dance-Drama, as the dance manual NatyamYo While there is a fully developed par excellence, to be emulated in their own theoretical understanding of bhakti rasa centered practices as a way of attempting to align the around Krsna in the 16th c. writings of Rupa I, dance form to its ancient, and what some claim Gosvamin found in Gaudiya Vaisnavism, III the I' Ii to be its most authentic state. 108 While some dancers never mention these texts or the ,i danc\:': movements were remolded to match the practitioners of this group when discussing detailed descriptions found in this and other bhakti rasa. According to a performance claimed dance texts,109 it was later that the perspective that pays attention to the contextual chapter on rasa, or aesthetic mood, was keenly framing constructed by the practitioners embraced for its theories on generating ideal themselves, this disqualifies Rupa Gosvamin as audience responses. a primary source for the interpretation of bhakti This chapter in the Natyasastra, as the rasa within the context of Bharata Natyam. In earliest extant text on rasa, became the order to give preference to the ways in which foundation for the development of philosophical· dancers frame their own understandings of . and literary conversations about the nature of bhakti rasa, I will follow Charles Briggs' notion aesthetic enjoyment which hinged upon a ofi "contextualization clues." According to metaphor of "tasting" different emotional moods Briggs, these cues "signal which features of the or flavors known as rasas. Theories on rasa physical, social, and linguistic setting are being I ! mechanically map out what ingredients are utilized at the time in creating interpretive necessary for a knowledgeable spectator to savor frameworks for deciphering the meaning of what one's own personal engagement with an art is being said," 112 or in this case, what is being form. In the theoretical fonnula, vibhava-s, or danced. In this way, the context emerges in each different situational cues (e.g., moonlight, smell ethnographic instance, created within the of jasmine, a secluded grove) combine with the process of the perfonnance itself by the physical· responses of -s (e.g., participants. This performance-centered flirtatious side-long glances, demurely looking approach reveals shifting formulations and down, clasping ones hands behind one's back understandings of bhakti rasa that would

https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jhcs/vol19/iss1/10 DOI: 10.7825/2164-6279.1365 2 - Zubko: Embodying "Bhakti Rasa" in Bharata Natyam: An Indian-Christian Interpretation of "Gayatri" Mantra through Dance Embodying Bhakti Rasa 39

otherwise remain unknown if only the aesthetic considered to be esoteric knowledge, this texts are turned to for authoritative explanations. mantra, adopted by groups such as the Arya Although I would argue that Samaj, now encapsulates a widespread core practitioners of Bharata Natyam perfonnatively Hindu practice. The chanting of this mantra at define bhakti rasa in different ways,113 the dawn and dusk by millions of Hindus' is contextualization cues in the Kalai Kaviri primarily a part of the Sandhya ritual, which also performances of the Gayatri mantra specifically includes bathing, pranayama (breath control), situate bhakti rasa within a primarily cultural and a salutation and offering of water to the sun. framework. Through an enacted bhakti rasa, and books published for the masses culturally framed, space is created for the entry encourage the consistent repetition of this of Indian-Christian devotional understandings of mantra by anyone in order to bring both worldly Gayo..tri mantra to intermingle with already and spiritual benefits, such as prosperity, existing Hindu understandings. By a cultUral longevity, purification of negative , and reading of bhakti rasa, I mean the conceptual self-realization. 118 The four lines of the mantra move on the part of the dancers to detach from a have been read in various ways, with , the particularly Hindu definition ofbhakti in favor Vedic mime for the sun god Surya, noted as the of an Indian secular framework. Devotion is not main addressee. 119 as Universal Mother or Hindu devotion anymore, but in the secular Savitri (the personification of the mantra as a understanding of Indian society, can apply to all ), and Visnu as Narayana/ are also the different religions practiced. 114 This is primary recipients for some devotees. 120 enhanced by a view of rasa as a de-personalized, There have been lengthy commentaries distancing of emotion that spectators appreciate written on the meaning of these four lines,121 as a Universalized aesthetic mood operating as a including nuances based on the devotee's shared cultural aesthetic also not invested in any primary ,deity or a more universalistic contextualized religious tradition. With this interpretation regarding a Creator deity who foundation, the Gayatri mantra, associated with represents the light, rather than a sun god in Hindu devotion, addressing Hindu deities, particular. \22 While these commentaries provide situated in Vedic literature and tied to important insight, detailing connections made between Hindu ritual practices, is expanded beyond an Gayatri mantra and other texts, I will now tum exclusive Hindu identity in favor of being a to what I will call a performed commentary of prime representative of Indian culture through Gayatri mantra ' which utilizes the the embodied interpretation of the dancers. liS contextualization cues to add to the meaning of the mantra. For this paper, these cues are drawn Gayatri Mantra- from written sources such as program souvenirs and song sheets, and oral sources such as Om bhur bhuvah svah English voice-overs, the choreographers' own Tat savitur vareYJyam­ description of the movements, and participant Bhargo devasya dhimahi comments. In addition, I also will, incorporate Dhiyo yo nah pracodayat embodied sources through my observations of the interplay of dance movement and context in Gayatri mantra (Rg Veda 3.62.10), honored as eight different performances that ranged from Vedamata, Mother of the ,116 holds a Catholic masses in cathedrals, an Anglican privileged place in Hindu ideology and practice, wholeness and healing service, to programs in as it is the first mantra taught to a boy of the Hindu temples. twice-born castes at his initiation, or First of all, the background of who and -samskara. A general translation what Kalai Kaviri is, and the placement of reads "Om, earth, atmosphere, sky. Let us Gayatri mantra within its overall dance meditate on the light of the sun god Savitr. May repertoire, in comparison to typical programs of he guide our intellect." 117 Although originally Bharata Natyam, all must be noted as part of the

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40 Katherine Zubko

larger embedded contextual information. Kalai notes and VOIce-over confirm this devotional ! i I Kaviri is a College of Fine Arts specializing in aim, stating that the dancers "dance with a spirit !I conferring degrees in Indian classical music and of devotion," or bhakti. The intended ! dance. Father S.M. George founded the institute predominant mood of bhakti rasa is thus cued in 1977 as a communication center within the through written and oral modes of Diocese of Tiruchirappalli, guided by a vision of communication in preparation for its embodied Ii deepening the inculturation of the Church in presentation in all of the performance contexts. I through indigenous dance, music In comparison to contemporary and dramatic mediums focused on incorporating Bharata Natyam recitals, the Gayatri mantra

: I: Gospel and social value themes. With the served to replace the traditional opening dance , ! financial support of primarily European items, a namaskaram followed· by either an missionary organizations, and the blessings of a alarippu, or puspanjali. Namaskaram is a short succession of chief ministers in Tamil Nadu, the series of movements in which the dancer asks communication center developed into a forgiveness from the Earth goddess for bearing government aided college, affiliated to the stamping of his/her feet and requests Bharathidasan University. The college is blessings from his/her gods, gurus, and those composed of half Hindu and half Christian who are about to watch the dance. The alarippu students, and both learn a repertoire that that follows is an offering of the body through includes traditional Hindu themes, as well as introducing isolated movements in three tempos Christian ones. The literature of the school and in three levels of body positioning (standing, focuses on the promotion of -sitting, and full-sitting). The puspanja/i culture, making it available to all segments of sanctifies the dance space and ends in the dancer society, which includes backwards and other sprinkling flowers on the stage in homage to the castes outside of the current majority of upper­ deities, especially , Siva as Lord of the caste engaged in the practice of Dance. Performances of Gayatri mantra retain Bharata N atyam. The mission of the college an invocatory devotional meaning when they also aims to de-centralize the Hindu identity of take the place of these traditional bhakti oriented these cultural arts by including students and dance items. The Gayatri mantra meets certain choreographed themes from other religions," expectations of these opening dance items particularly Christianity. The through the depiction of a deity being honored, regularly performs in a variety of settings, from offered flowers, his feet being touched and church services to festivals at Hindu temples. 123 brought to the eyes, and the repeated use of the In tenns of the dance repertoire specific , or position, gesture.

! I to Kalai Kaviri during the British tour, the While a thorough analysis of each Gayatri mantra was always the first item moybnent is beyond the scope of this paper, I perfon ned, but was framed differently each time have chosen to focus on two themes that are_ depending on the intended audience and highlighted prominently through the actions of purpose. Other dance items followed it, chosen the dancers, namely light and lotus imagery. In based on liturgical versus ticketed program telIDS of light, the written program and oral settings. These included gospel or parable voice-over accompanying this dance jtem interpretations, folk dances, socially relevant declare Gayatri mantra as worship of a god who dance-drama vignettes, and dances drawn from is the light, leaving it ambiguous as to exactly .other Indian classical traditions with and without which deity it is. However, the hand movements storytelling involved. 124 However, Gayatri of the dancers incorporate a two-handed gesture mantra was consistently the first impression to used for Jesus created by Father Francis 'i set the tone for all the other dance items, and Barboza, a priest and dancer on Christian themes was often noted by both worship and audience in Bharata Natyam. 126 During Christian participants for its impact in inviting people into liturgical services, the passage from John 8: 12 in a devotional frame of mind. 125 The program which Jesus declares, "I am the Light of the

https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jhcs/vol19/iss1/10 DOI: 10.7825/2164-6279.1365 4 r- 1 Zubko: Embodying "Bhakti Rasa" in Bharata Natyam: An Indian-Christian Interpretation of "Gayatri" Mantra through Dance Embodying Bhakti Rasa 41

World; he who follows me will not walk in fanned out bodies of the dancers imitating the darkness, but will have the light of life," was rays of the sun. All of these movements are sometimes spoken either prior to the dance, or done in the physical presence of a vilukku, or after by the priest as further confirmation of the traditional brass Indian lamp, which was lit in intended deity being invoked. This gesture for the dance space by the dancers themselves just Jesus is embedded within the motion of a prior to the music beginning. Set against this circular arc normatively used to communicate physical lamp, the embodied layering of flame the rising sun or the passage of a day in Bharata and sun imagery reinforces and gives expression Natyam. 127 While this layering of gestures to the primary theme of the Gayatri mantra, conveys the overall concept of the rising sun, literally a meditation on light. and thus the sun god Savitr who is addressed in The other major motif found in the the mantra, it now also indicates Jesus as light. performed Gayatri mantra is the lotus. The choreographer herself clarifies the potential Although lotuses, and flowers in general are not dissonance here and its resolution when she mentioned at all in the mantra, the states: choreographer makes distinctive use of the hand gesture for lotus in several different ways.129 It is strange as Christians to perform the The first reference to lotus prefaces the portrayal Gayatri Mantra, since it is a of the sun god/Jesus, indicating the lotus­ worshipping of the sun god. But since pedestal upon which he sits, a common Indian Christians don't worship the sun god, it characteristic for any divine being. 130 The can be taken as light, and thus is not second use denotes a close relationship between only for Hindus. 128 the divine and human, which the choreographer explained to me as "When in God we bloom like Through dance, then, both the Hindu and the lotus.". This personalizes the mantra, using Christian meanings are held simultaneously, and the blooming lotus as a metaphor for potential yet also shift depending on the context ap.d the self-fulfillment. And last, the opening and VIewer. Jc10sing of the lotus is indicated in the hiding and Other movements also portray the idea revealing of the central dancer noted earlier also of light. With the arms stretched overhead, as a light metaphor, with the arching of the fmgertips touching, the outline of a flame comes dancers' bodies also forming a closed bud that to mind. With this shape kept in tact, a physical then opens as the petal-like dancers bend out. embodying of the individual votives that they The idea of a lotus being like a thousand-petal carried in initially, the dancers perform a series sun 131 is' evoked vividly in this image, tying the of movements that imitate the flickering of two primary images of light and lotus back flames in three dominant patterns noted by together. It should be noted here that Bharata audience members. The first pattern is in a row, Natyam dancers give a semi-literal translation of which some said were like the dipam or lamps of lyrics into gesture maybe, once through, but then ,I Dipavali, the Hindu festival of lights; the second there are repetitions in which meanings are a staggering of individual lights bouncing up and layered on, in commentarial fashion, as is down; and third, in a circle pattern with a evidenced through these uses of lotus images as predominant flame in the middle. In this latter a way of building and expanding upon the pattern, a central dancer is partially hidden by meaning of the Gayatri mantra. In these the other four dancers, arching in over her half­ perfonnances, the body illustrations of lotuses seated figure, and then revealed as she rises tall help mark the presence of the divine, make and shimmering while the surrounding dancers allusions back to the sun, and arc metaphors for lower into full dance-sit position. In addition to successful devotees. these light patterns, the double message of sun The gestures, movements, and physical god/Jesus as light of the world marks both the images of light and lotus, associated in Indian begilming and end of the dance item through the culture with divinity, contribute to the creation

Published by Digital Commons @ Butler University, 2006 5 Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies, Vol. 19 [2006], Art. 10 42 Katherine Zubko

of the overall primary rasa, or aesthetic mood of With the Bharata Natyam dancers of the devotion, bhakti rasa. The offering of flowers Gayatri mantra performances, we see a type of and light occurs in India as part of Hindu, devotional body that negotiates religious Christian, and Muslim acts of interaction with boundaries in a way that complicates what many the sacred. 132 Even in this Gayatri mantra, . founding religion scholars, such as W.C. Smith, flowers are offered, and the lotus-feet of the traditionally understand the role of devotion to divine being are touched and taken into one's be: a reinforcement of something already ,i heart. The sun god/Jesus is honored through believed in.134 To interpret these perfonnances, anjali, or prayer gesture, also arguably now a one cannot begin with belief and proceed to part of an embodied "Indian" vocabulary, which interpret everything through solely either Hindu is not the privilege of anyone religious tradition or Christian lenses. In these· instances, a in India. These movements that center around performed Gayatri mantra is providing an light and lotus imagery, combined with Kalai example of how the knowledge of the body Kaviri's larger mission of promoting classical points to a fluidity of devotion in certain Indian culture, and the location in the repertoire contexts based on the marriage of a secularized of the Gayatri mantra as a replacement to bhakti and de-personalized, universalized rasa. traditionally invocatory items, successfully To summarize, in the Gayatri mantra produce a performed culturally framed bhakti performances, bhakti rasa is framed to be read rasa that allows for inter-religious meanings to culturally through combining the written, oral, co-exist. and embodied messages emergent in the performances as contextualization cues. This Devotional Bodies and Religious Categories cultural reading of bhakti rasa defines a . "devotional body"· that moves across The body, as a focus of study, has been circumscribed religious traditions, and can approached through almost every disciplinary sustain, in the case of Gayatri mantra, both field, creating a patchwork of theories from Hindu and Christian meanings. Performed anthropology, philosophy, sociology, and gender aesthetics provides its own clues as to how a studies, to name a few. However, as Barbara performance should be read in certain contexts. Holdrege acknowledges, there is a relative lack In this way, the context emergent within a of body theorizing from within religious studies performance may point towards shifting in comparison to other fields. To correct this political, ethical, cultural or devotional methodological omission in her own specialty of meanings, rath~"r than solely Hindu or. Christian Hinduism, Holdrege outlines what the unique categories. For a Christian witnessing this perspective of religious studies has to offer. She Gayatri mantra in a cathedral, devotion towards proposes the construction of a ritual body, Jesus may be experienced, while a Hindu in the ascetic body, and purity body in collaboration, temple might read a to the sun god through respectively, with the specific Hindu textual the same movements, and yet both these traditions of the Vedic -s and readings co-exist and inform each other, along -s, Upanisad-s, and Dharmasastra-s. with other epistemologies about Gayatri mantra, Important for this paper, is that she hints at the through a shared culturally cued aesthetic construction of a "devotional body," which 'in foundation. Overall, the embodied knowledge her schematic structure would be related to about Gayatri mantra performed here, bhakti texts, although she did,not elaborate on intermingled with other forms of knowledge, this pairing. 133 This study promotes theorizing expands upon and challenges not only what we of a devotional body through not only noting know about Gayatri mantra, but also the preseilt how texts inform and create the bodies of boundaries assumed by the academic definition practitioners, as Holdrege models, but also and categorization of religious practices. includes what the body experiences and creates through devotional practices.

https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jhcs/vol19/iss1/10 DOI: 10.7825/2164-6279.1365 6 Zubko: Embodying "Bhakti Rasa" in Bharata Natyam: An Indian-Christian Interpretation of "Gayatri" Mantra through Dance Embodying Bhakti Rasa 43

105 Savitr is an early Vedic name for Surya, the sun 222; and Bruce Sullivan, The A to Z ofHinduism god. See Klaus Klostennaier, A Survey ofHinduism , (Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2001), pp. 200-1. second edition (New York: State University of New 118 Sadguru Sant Keshavadas, Gayatri: The Highest York, 1994), p. 139. Meditation (London and NY: Kegan Paul, 1993), p. 106 In this essay, I will follow the common Indian 58. English usage for Bharata N atyam as a proper name 119 Klostennaier, Survey, p. 139. that does not require italics to denote a non-English 120 Keshavadas, Gayatri, p. 1. word. 121 See P. Ganapatisastri, Gayatribha$yam (Palghat: 107 Manmohan Ghosh, ed., Natyasastra Ascribed to Educational Supplies Depot, 1986). Bhatata-Muni,2 vols. (Calcutta: Manisha 122 Keshavadas, Gayatri, p. 1. For a Christian Granthalaya Private Ltd., 1967). Sandhya ritual that includes Gayatri mantra, see D.S. 108 See Padma Subrahmanyam, Natyasastra and Amalorpavadass, ed., Indian Christian Spirituality National Unity (: Sri Ramavanna, 1997). (: National Biblical Catechetical and 109 Another important dance related text is Liturgical Centre, 1982), pp. 370-382. Manomohan Ghosh, ed. and trans., 123 Resurgence: Ambitions and Accomplishments, Abhinayadarpanam ofNandikesvara, third ed. Kalai Kaviri Silver Jubilee Souvenir (Tiruchirappalli: (Calcutta: Manisha Granthalaya, 1997). Kalai Kaviri, 2002). The institutional and foreign 110 See Anne-Marie Gaston, "Dance and the Hindu missionary support of Kalai Kaviri, Dravidian Woman: Re-ritualized," in Roles and political interests, and the long time strategy of Rituals for Hindu Women, ed. Julia Leslie (Delhi: inculturation/indigenization within the churches of Motilal Banarsidass, 1992), pp. 149-171; Personal India are all important factors that would be pertinent interview with V.P. Dhananjayan, May 10,2004. for a complete contextual analysis of the Kalai Kaviri III See David L. Habennan, trans., The performances, which, due to space constraints, are Bhaktirasamrtqsindhur ofRupa Gosvamin (Delhi: beyond the scope of this paper. It would be Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and particularly important to mark these influential Motilal Banarsidass, 2003). contextual differences in comparison to individual 112 Charles Briggs, Competence in Performance: The perfonners of Bharata Natyam who choreograph Creativity of Tradition in Mexicano Verbal Art Christian or other non-Hindu themes outside of such ,(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, frameworks for a variety of religious and non­ 1988), p, 15. religious reasons. 113 I argue in my dissertation for shifting devotional, 124 The other Indian classical dance traditions are cultural, political, and ethical meanings of bhakti , , Manipuri, , , and rasa based on a perfonnative lmderstanding of Attam.;Kalai Kaviri incorporated Kuchipudi, aesthetics exemplified in contemporary Bharata Kathak, and Mohini Attam on the tour. . Natyam practices. 125 Based on audience interviews, June 2004. 114 For example, see A.J. Appasamy, Christianity as 126 Francis Barboza, Christianity in Indian Dance Bhakti Marga, (Madras: Christian Literature Society, Forms (Delhi: Sri SatgunI Publications, 1990), pp. 1930). 198-200. Right hand - Ardhapataka (palm stiff and 115 For some, the displacement of the Gayatri mantra facing forward like a "stop" gesture, fingers touching from an explicitly Hindu context raises issues of together, ring finger and littie' finger bent at middle religious appropriation, especially when adopted by knuckles); Left hand - Alapadma (Open palm, another tradition for ritual. Although recognizing fingers spread and staggered, but held stiff, turning this perspective, the focus and scope of this article around the little finger), place directly under the right will remain on the particular Hindu and Christian hand in Ardhapataka. audience responses during perfonnances given in 127 Right hand - Pataka (flat palm, facing forward), London and surrounding areas during 2004. Within held to right of body, Left hand - Mukula (bud, both Hindu temples and Christian churches, the fingers all touching and facing up), held in front of responses were equally positive. right hand .. While holding right hand in place, left 116 P.S. Waiker, The Glories ofGayatri (Bangalore, hand changes from Mukula, making an arc over the Gurukrupa Prakashan, 1990), p. 1. head and resting to the left of body in Tripataka (flat 117 Along with my own translation, I've also palm, facing forward, ring finger bent at middle consulted Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism knuckle). In the Kalai Kaviri performances, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. Barboza's gesture for Jesus replaces these hand

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gestures, but still moves from the right side of the body, arcs overhead, and then rests to the left side of :,1.1 the body, both hands moving together as a single unit. Illustrations of these hand gestures can be found in a number of books on Bharata Natyam, including Anne-Marie Gaston, Siva in Dance, Myth and Iconography (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1982), pp. 36-43, as well as classically in Ghosh, ,il: , Abhinayadarpanam, pp.70-76. , II 1,'1 128 Personal Interview, Stella Marie, June 2, 2004. 129 Alapadma, see n. 23. 130 Heinrich Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization, ed. Joseph Campbell (NJ: Princeton University Press, 1946), pp. 90-102. 13] Zimmer, Myths, 90. ]32 Vasudha Narayanan, "The Strains of Hindu­ Muslim Relations: Babri Masjid, Music, and Other Areas Where the Traditions Cleave," Hinduism and Secularism: After Ayodhya, ed. Arvind Sharma (New York: Pa1grave, 2001), pp.l59-202. 133 Barbara Holdrege, "Body Connections: Hindu Discourses of the Body and the Study of Religion," International Journal ofHindu Studies 2, 3 (December 1998):341-386. 134 See W.C. Smith, The Meaning and End of Religion: A New Approach to the Religious Traditions ofMankind (New York: New American Library, 1962).

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