• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

PAPER: 3 Detail Study Of Bharatanatyam, Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists Module 13 Pandanallur Bani Pandanallur / ऩंडन쥍ऱुर is a village in Thiruppanandal Taluk in Thanjavur District of Tamil Nadu State. It is located 65km towards East from district headquarters Thanjavur, 9 Kms. from Thiruppanandal, 267 kms. from State capital Chennai. Kumbakonam / कु 륍भकोणम, another major temple-town where the divine nectar fell in ocean churning duel between the asuras / असुर and devas / देव (manthana / मंथन, hence Kumbha / कंु भ) is nearby. Pandanallur / ऩंडन쥍ऱुर is a village in Thanjavur district, the main bani / बानी is called the Thanjavur bani. As Pandanallur is but a small village on Tanjore district, the main bani is Tanjore. Tanjore was the cultural capital of Tamil region. It was where maximum temples were built in 9th -11th centuries, including Raja Raja Chola’s Brihadeeswara, where the karanas / करण of dance too are depicted. The other important temple and bani and karana depiction is at Chidambaram (hence the importance of Kattumannarkoil). It is so called because of four brothers Chinniah, Ponniah, Sivanandam and Vadivelu forming the Tanjore Quartet. They were court musicians under Maratha ruler Serfoji II (1798-1832). Their descendants and marriage alliances led to creation of what is called Thanjavur bani of which Pandanallur is but a popular branch. Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, his son 1 Chokkalingam Pillai and grandson Subbaraya Pillai are the creators and repository of the Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam. These three gurus had a direct access to the Tanjore Quartet compositions as part of their family heritage. The Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam is mainly attributed to Guru Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai (1869–1954), who lived in the village of Pandanallur. Often hailed as the ‘Father of Bharatanatyam,’ he learnt from his aunt’s son, one Kumaraswamy nattuvanar and later went to Tanjore to learn from Mahadevan, the son of Sivanandam of Tanjore Quartet fame. Meenakshi Sundaram married his teacher Mahadevan’s daughter to cement the bonds, as sitar maestro Ravi Shankar did with his guru Ustad Allaudin Khan (marrying his daughter Annapurna Devi) and thus got further linked to the legendary Tanjore Quartet. Meenakshi Sundaram’s father was Satyamurthy nattuvanar and his mother, the daughter of Ponniah Pillai of the Tanjore Quartet. Thus, both by birth as well as marriage, Meenakshi Sundaram was closely associated with the Quartet. This gave him a head-start in propagation of Bharatanatyam far and wide. His name and fame spread quickly and soon he started teaching many star dancers. He had the good fortune of attracting prized pupils who had already acquired some fame, like Ram Gopal (who had learnt first under Kattumunar Koil Muthukumaran Pillai ) and Rukmini Devi (in whose institution later – Kalakshetra- Kattumunar Koil Muthukumar Pillai was the first Bharatanatyam guru to teach). This made other talents like Shanta Rao, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Tara Chaudhry, U.S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabagha Devi, flock to him. His sojourn at the celebrated Kalakshetra lasted a bare six months but in that short time, he attracted all these stars of the style. He did not feel well in the humid 2 climate of Madras, due to its proximity by the sea. His enamoured pupils then followed him to his village Pandanallur, where he trained them. Meenakshi Sundaram’s tradition was continued by A.P. Chokkalingam Pillai and his son P.C. Subbaraya Pillai, K.P. Kittappa Pillai, P.S. Swaminathan. Between them they accounted for the grooming of a third of all the Bharatanatyam dancers of their period. Pichaiyya Pillai, son-in-law of Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, represented another branch of this lineage and his disciples T.M. Arunachalam and Vasudevan, Sikkil Ramaswamy and K.J. Govindarajan added body to the heritage.1 When Rukmini Devi wanted to be his disciple, the maestro was hesitant to take on a Brahmin student, especially someone who was already 30. She was on her honeymoon trip to Australia, with her husband George and in the next cabin was Cloe Nordi, chief instructor of the famed Anna Pavlova. To pass the boredom of the long ship journey Rukmini thought she could learn some steps of western classical ballet but Cleo Nordi chided her by pointing out that India being so rich in its own traditions who learn western form? This brought Rukmini to a resolve to find a Bharatanatyam guru upon her return. She found her Master. It took her a year to finally convince him to agree to train her. Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai broke a taboo as he shared his treasured hereditary knowledge with non- hereditary dancers. He also trained several devadasis such as Pandanallur Jayalakshmi / ऩंडन쥍ऱुर जयऱक्ष्मी, Thangachi Ammal / थाꅍगाची अ륍माऱ and Sabaranjitam / सबरंजजतम. Thiruvallaputhur Swaminatha Pillai, also known as T.K. Swaminatha Pillai, learnt Bharatanatyam for 10 years under Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. 3 The Pandanallur bani reflects the lofty values of its gurus. Its name has always been synonymous with uncompromising classicism and commitment to excellence. Some of the hallmarks of this style are its rich and diverse adavu / आडवु vocabulary, the complexity of its rhythmic permutations, its purity of line, power and precision, its emphasis on symmetry and harmony, its lyricism and musicality and its emphatic rejection of anything remotely smacking of the gimmicky or the pretentious. Intense musicality has always marked the bani where melody and movement flow hand in hand, as inextricably linked as a word and its meaning. Subbaraya Pillai always emphasized that music needed to be internalized before it could flow as movement and he would sternly warn against pre-composing adavu structures and grafting them on to the song. Pandanallur theermanams are habitually crisp and short, crystallizing beauty and perfection of movement and solkattu / सो쥍कट्टू with complexity of rhythm in small capsules – complex art in miniature. The adavus faithfully mirrored the rhythmic structure as the Pandanallur gurus frowned on the practice of uttering cascades of solkattus that were all sound and fury, while the dancer’s feet merely picked out the rhythms. The emphasis was on natyadharmi / ना絍यधमी rather than lokadharmi / ऱोकधमी, on lyricism and understatement rather than on overt drama. The kulukku nadai / कु ऱु쥍्कू नडै (lilting walk) was a consistent element in all the abhinaya segments, a sort of substratum layer over which the abhinaya was constructed. Clarity of hastas and wide sweep of the arms while performing abhinaya, were also key characteristics. Meandering digressions in the name of sanchari bhava were anathema for these gurus. In their interpretation of padams and javalis, vulgarity in any form was 4 strictly eschewed. In fact, their keen sense of delicacy often led to some of the more explicit charanas being omitted from their choreography. The focus was always on content rather than packaging, on substance rather than sensationalism. The frequent lapsing into unwanted, prolonged poses or acrobatic renderings of nritta were innovations eschewed by the Pandanallur gurus. If at all any ornamentation took place, it was strictly endorsed by the context and aesthetics of the dance.2 After Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Chokkalingam Pillai (1893–1968) became the guru of the Pandanallur style. Chokkalingam Pillai’s leading disciple was Mambalam Geetha, who not only maintained the purity of the Pandanallur style, but was also known for her brilliant technique as well as her portrayals of the dramatic roles in the Tanjore Quartet varnams. She is said to have performed actively in the 50s and 60s. He also trained other leading dancers such as G. Kausalya, Sucharita, Indrani Rehman and others. He moved to Madras to teach. His son Subbaraya Pillai (1914–2008) grew up in the village of Pandanallur and was an apprentice under his grandfather and father. He has trained dancers Alarmel Valli, Meenakshi Chitharanjan, Prema Satish and others. Chokkalingam Pillai and Subbaraya Pillai laid stress on anga suddham / अंग सुद्धाम and araimandi / अरैमंडी. Even at age 75, Chokkalingam Pillai's dedication was such that he guided not only advanced students but also beginners, teaching for hours. Tala was marked by thattu kazhi / टट्टू क煍ही more often than finger counting (the thin supple kazhi is whittled from guava wood).3 Subbaraya Pillai began training with his father first and continued with Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. He started accompanying the 5 students of Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai at a young age, as a vocalist and assisted in nattuvangam. His proficiency as a vocalist was widely known and he was respected equally for his expertise in nattuvangam, which had an innate musical quality, bringing forth the unique touch of the great master. “Composing adavus based on the musical pattern of the swara / वर segments without exploiting the rhythmical frame too much in pure dance sections, keeping in mind the importance of the link between music and the adavu patterns is an important feature of this tradition,” said Subbaraya Pillai in his interview to The Hindu, a few weeks before his demise in May 2008. He was a dedicated adherent to the values imparted by his forefathers in the field of Bharatanatyam, focusing on aspects of proper paddhati with perfectly aligned rhythmical nuances set to intricate musical elements that are integral to this tradition.4 With the support of Sarangapani Iyengar, Chokkalingam Pillai and Subbaraya Pillai pioneered the concept of the 10-day Natya Kala Conference in December 1947, where demonstrations in the morning and performances in the evening were conducted with many outstation artistes participating. Subsequently, Subbaraya Pillai (Vadyar) headed the Lalitha Subramaniam Natya Palli for many years. Revered for his gentle ways and total dedication, Vadyar was also known for his generosity of spirit. His students affirm the fact that though he did the choreography, they were free to develop their individuality.

Load more

  18

Copy Link