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Home , Meenakshi Chitharanjan, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Pandanallur

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Detail Study Of , Devadasis-Natuvnar, Nritya And Nritta, Different Bani-s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 13 Pandanallur Bani

Pandanallur / ऩंडन쥍ऱुर is a village in Taluk in of State. It is located 65km towards East from district headquarters Thanjavur, 9 Kms. from Thiruppanandal, 267 kms. from State capital . /

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

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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 Shankar did with his guru Ustad Allaudin Khan (marrying his daughter ) 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 (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 , , 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 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.

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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 , , Prema Satish and others.

Chokkalingam Pillai and Subbaraya Pillai laid stress on anga suddham / अंग सद्धामु 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. He would often say, “I have given you the foundation, now build on it." While bemoaning the decline of items like Alarippu and Jatiswaram, Subbaraya Pillai stressed on the importance of music in dance. “Adavus must be set to music first. Dance is one; the style differs only due to different creative minds. Talam / ताऱम is

6 important, but music is the sole inspiration for choreography... My grandfather used to compose while singing."5

Non hereditary lineage of Pichayya bani spread to T.M. Arunachalam, younger brothers Vasudevan / वासुदेवन and Govindarajan / गोववंदराजन. Each distinguished and taught many students and provided musical support. While Arunachalam and Vasudevan remained south bound, Govindarajan went to Delhi and sang for Sikkil Ramaswamy, Indrani Rehman and M.K. Saroja, before teaching and Jamuna Krishnan. The Pichayya school became a full- fledged college named after this illustrious guru in Tanjore. This college contributed significantly to the teaching and enrichment of Bharatanatayam in Tanjore, when other gurus and masters had flocked to big cities to teach and get employed in institutions. In the claims of revival of the form, this migration was important in that period and helped further the fortunes of both the gurus and the form.

The Pandanallur style is renowned for its masterpieces in choreography: some of the main gems in its repertoire are the Tanjore Quartet pada-varnams / ऩद-वणणम (Sakiye, Sami Ninne, Mohamana, Danike, Adimogam, Yemanthayanara, Yemaguva, Sami Nee Ramanave, Sarasijanaba) choreographed by Meenakshisundaram Pillai. Also, part of their heritage are the valuable jatiswarams (in ragams Vasantha / वसंता, Saveri / सावेरी, Chakravakam / चक्रवाकं , Kalyani / क쥍याणी, Bhairavi / भैरवी), which are miniature masterpieces of elegant abstract adavu choreography.6

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Thematic presentations, which had already started gaining popularity in the early 1970s were not adopted as an alternative performance by the Pandanallur gurus and the margam was mandatory. Central to the extensive Pandanallur repertoire were compositions of the Tanjore Quartet including treasures like pada varnams tana varnams, sabdams, jathiswarams and thillanas. The performances of the Pandanallur gurus always opened with an alarippu, and the jatiswaram was a must. Kautvam and todaya mangalam, or even the pushpanjali did not feature in the Pndanallur repertoire of those early years. The post varnam segment of the performance would include padams and javalis / जावऱी of great composers, as also compositions of Gopalakrishna Bharati and Bharatiyar amongst others and include items like Natanam adinaar / नाटनम अददनार and

Natanam seiyum paadanar / नाटनम ससयुम ऩादनर. There were also songs in a lighter musical vein like Dikku theriyaadha kaattil / दद्कू

तेररयाध काजटटऱ, Teeraadha vilayattu pillai / तीराध ववऱायाट्टू वऩ쥍ऱै as also occasional songs from the Kutrala Kuravanji.7

Pandanallur Jayalakshmi and Pandanallur Sabaranjitham from hereditary families were among Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai’s famous students. One dancer who captured the majesty of the Pandanallur style was Pandanallur Jayalakshmi. Born in 1930, she learnt many varnams, padams etc. from her guru. Meenakshisundaram Pillai was to be honoured for his amazing choreographies by the Raja of Ramnad, Shanmukha Rajeswara Sethupati. For the occasion, he composed a special varnam for Jayalakshmi in ragam Vachaspati in praise of the raja. When her guru took her to perform this in front of the raja, they fell in love at first sight and she became his queen in 1946. After a glorious dancing

8 career of about 15 years, Jayalakshmi retired gracefully. She gave her first public concert at Music Academy and her orchestra was one of the first to be seated on a dais. This was a change since till then the musicians would stand behind the dancer and play. She was famous for her dazzling technique and understated abhinaya. During his apprenticeship, Subbaraya Pillai watched Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai teaching her and accompanied her in performance during his youth. Among the dancers of Pandanallur, Sabaranjitham (1916-2000) was an outstanding dancer of her times. It is said that by age 9, she had mastered a whole margam. Her vocal accompaniment to the recital of Thangachi of the same place at Tiruppanandal Mutt impressed the pontiff so much that he requested the veteran nattuvanar to present her in her maiden Bharatanatyam performance then and there, contrary to the custom of conducting the arangetram at Lord Pasupateeswara temple in Pandanallur. Sabaranjitham gave such a brilliant performance that Meenakshi Sundaram himself was astonished at her skill and maturity. Later, Sabaranjitham had her formal arangetram at Pasupateeswara temple in Pandanallur with Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and Chokkalingam Pillai conducting the performance. The Madras Music Academy featured Sabaranjitham with her cousin Nagaratnam in 1935 and her solo in 1936. Probably these were the early performances of Bharatanatyam artistes on stage. A mesmerized Rukmini Devi requested her to accompany her guru and train her in nritta, her forte. A refined artiste, she assisted Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai when he taught Mrinalini Sarabhai. At Kalakshetra, she met her life partner Sadasivam and retired in 1940 against her husband’s wishes. Sabaranjitham / सबरंजजथं’s daughter Balachandra also danced at the Music Academy.8

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Kalyani Ammal / क쥍याणी अ륍माऱ of Thiruvalaputtur was one of the famous exponents of the Pandanallur style. Her daughters Rajalakshmi / राजऱक्ष्मी and Jeevaratnam / जीवरटनम known as the ‘Kalyani daughters’ were renowned artistes. Jeevaratnamala commenced her training from age 5 with her uncle T.K. Swaminatha Pillai, disciple of Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. After 3 years, she was blessed to come under direct tutelage of ‘thatha / ताता’ under whom she learnt for 8 glorious years. She blossomed into a fine artiste and in a span of 15 years, presented over 200 performances all over India, including Madras Music Academy in 1953. Regarding her training under Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, naatyarambham / ना絍यार륍भ started off on the basic “teiyaa tei / तैया तेई” on the spread out paddy grains, while a long stick was held by two other traditional dancers on either side, with the teacher and the taught in the centre. The sadir vilakku / साददर ववऱा्कू was lit throughout the session. ‘Thatha’ taught both nritta and abhinaya but he never conducted the recitals. It was always his son Muthiah Pillai who conducted nattuvangam for her recitals accompanied by her maternal uncle A. Krishnamurthi Pillai on violin. At least ten variations were taught for each hasta viniyoga / हत ववननयोग. Radhika Pillai, the niece of Jeevaratnamala continues the family tradition.9

Nirmala Ramachandran was a disciple of Pandanallur Chokkalingam Pillai and Tiruvalaputtur Swaminatha Pillai. Travelling widely to spread the art form, Nirmala carried forward the Pandanallur tradition for five decades and more. During her six-year stay in Russia, many Russian girls trained under her.

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Alarmel Valli is trained under Pandanallur Chokkalingam Pillai and his son Subbaraya Pillai. Music is of paramount importance in the Pandanallur bani. It is also a style, which attaches great importance to the purity of lines in dance movements. Valli's dance is all this and much more with the additional fragrance of her own sensitivity and inputs thorough her knowledge of Carnatic music of the Veena Dhanammal tradition. Valli says, “Dance is not only seen but heard as well, where a dancer sings with her body.” Over the years she has evolved her own style where there is “an effortless synchronization of apparent contradictions–linearity and lyricism, symmetry and sinuosity, precision and poetry.” She explores many complex layers of meaning in the poems and lyrics, giving them visual and melodic dimensions.10

Alarmel Valli, on whom film director Meshram made a fetching film that captures the beauty of the Pandanallur form and brings out its quintessence says: “While Chokkalingam Pillai (Periya Vadyar / ऩेररय वडयार) was a formidable figure, who would brook no nonsense and would not suffer incompetence or casualness lightly, Subbaraya Pillai (Chinna Vadyar / चचꅍन वडयार) though exacting in his standards, was also the gentlest of gurus. These great masters were repositories of the collective consciousness of many generations of dance gurus. My gurus taught while seated, never actually dancing the adavus. Even in abhinaya, Subbaraya Pillai would demonstrate a line of a song with the subtlest flicker of an eye, just suggesting the flow of the arm, or turn of a hasta. The beauty of this method of teaching was that it stimulated the imagination and compelled the student to internalize the lessons taught, so that a creative student could evolve a strongly etched individual style within a style. Central to the extensive Pandanallur repertoire were compositions of the Tanjore

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Quartet with focus on songs steeped in classicism. I remember Subbaraya Pillai speaking of sarakku / सर्कू (substance) and minukku / समनु्कू (glitter) adavus, stressing the fact that sarakku adavus had to be the bedrock, so to speak, on which the composition rested – adavus like the suttradavu / सूत्रडवु, kudittu mettadavu / कु ददटत

मेट्टूआडवु, tat tai ta ha / तत तै ता हा – that emphasized the natyarambha. The ‘curved straight line’ of the natyarambha is infinitely difficult to maintain precisely.”11

Meenakshi Chitharanjan, daughter of an IAS who became Secretary, Culture Dept., pays tribute to her gurus Chokkalingam Pillai and Subbaraya Pillai. “Subbaraya Pillai was extremely tradition bound and reluctant to make any changes. He believed small changes lead to big changes and very soon the form will be lost. However he never tired of creating many new versions of old compositions which helped in maintaining novelty and freshness to the items. His unique talent was in composing nritta patterns. In this area his creativity flowed with so many complex, intricate and interwoven patterns of movement. He never composed by working arithmetically with the tala. He would just sing the melody, while wielding the stick and simultaneously created patterns which would just fall into place with the music. Music and movement merged effortlessly which was a joy to watch. He always remarked that music and movement should walk together hand in hand like lovers in a park. In the field of abhinaya he strongly advocated minimalist approach, clarity in thought and subtlety in expression. Do little to convey a lot effectively. No frills, fancies, storytelling and drama. When questioned they would always say the art form had seen bad times and just been revived and children from good backgrounds were

12 coming forward to learn. It is the duty of the teacher to maintain high level of dignity and restraint. However he also believed with age and experience the dancer could then explore and develop ideas with certain maturity. As a person, he was very simple in habit and disciplined in his diet which I think was responsible for his good health, well-being until the age of 94. He was never commercial and the fee structure was just nominal for him to lead an adequate life. The only thing they insisted was being treated with respect, insist on their name being bolder and bigger than the student! And make sure of a reserved seat on the train when travelling! He had strong principles and would never accept another guru’s student or take back a student who had gone to any other nattuvanar or guru.12

The son of renowned mridangist Pandanallur Srinivasa Pillai, Pandanallur Pandian hails from a traditional nattuvanar family. He had rigorous training in understanding the nuances of nattuvangam from Pakkiriswami Pillai. Later, he had advanced learning under Indra Rajan. For the last 20 years, he has been a Bharatanatyam instructor in Kaladiksha, the dance school run by Meenakshi Chitharanjan. He is also the director of Pandanallur Natyalaya in Chennai and Udumelpet.

If Bharatanatyam is known today worldwide, the credit goes to many pioneering gurus and nattuvanars of whom two reigned supreme - Guru Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and Guru Muthukumara Pillai – two different banis but same form because under them, most of the first generation of front ranking Bharatanatyam dancers were trained. These two gurus singularly created a path for others to follow. While many benefitted from the path shown, they branched out to their own journeys, as is only natural with real talent.

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