PAPER 5

DANCE, POETS AND POETRY, RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY AND INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE

MODULE 21: AND KATHAK

Kathak, as the only Indian classic dance to draw from both Hindu and Islamic influences, has an opportunity to blend cultures, regardless of religious differences. This becomes important in wake of the fact that there has always been religious influence on Indian arts. While many saw Kathak as an ancient tradition traversing a long route, since times of ancient history and orality, Margaret Walker, director of the School of Music at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, disagrees. Having deconstructed the history of the classical dance, Walker argues that Kathak is a 20th-century revival dance form that draws from a variety of sources, harking specifically to Hinduism and . As in the earlier part we have successfully established the fact that Kathak saw an unprecedented efflorescence during the bhakti period, could one say the same of Kathak and Sufi links. Meditative practices of the Sufis, especially the repetitive whirling and pirouetting, and the Sufi imagery of dance, would certainly suggest it.

Emerging around the year 800, the Sufis were originally pious devotees, whose poor woolen clothes showed their humility. "Sufi" comes from the Arabic word “suf” which stands for wool. Above all, the Sufis sought the divine reality or ultimate truth that stands above all the illusions and deceptions of the material world. In order to achieve ecstatic union with God, they incorporated techniques of sound and movement -- chanting and music, swaying and dance. Believers joined in tight-knit brotherhoods or tariqhs / तारीकः, each following a charismatic leader (shaykh / श뵍ख).

While the Islamic courts later went on to patronize music and dance, more is owed to the sufi shrines. It was the footprint of Sufi influence across India in the religious, meditative and performative practices, during the early centuries of Muslim rule in India. “ / धिक्र’ or “Zikr / ज़िक्र” is the repetition of God’s name as a meditative exercise. It was the prescribed method of devotion for the Sufis. “Dhikr” is usually done individually but in some Sufi orders or

‘silsilahs / सिऱसिऱा’ it is instituted as a ceremonial activity. In some silsilahs, particularly the popular Chistiya / धिज़ततया silsilah, music and dance were permitted forms of “Dhikr”. For this, while in other parts of the world the Sufis had been prosecuted, in India they found a more welcoming environment, and these mystical music sessions called ‘Sema / िेमा’, became a defining feature of in India.

Sufism is believed to have passed through three stages in medieval

India, of which the first was the / खानगाह stage that lasted till the end of the 12th century. The Khanqah was a place where wandering Sufis congregated to pursue the devotional life under a master, although there was no special bond between master and student. The second stage was the / ताररका stage, which began in the 13th century and was distinguished by the formation of schools around masters. There was a -murid / पीर-मुरीद (master- disciple) relationship and each Khanqah was defined by a degree of systematization, differentiation and specialization. At the time of Feroz Shah Tughlaq (1309-1388), one hundred and twenty were built. He built a major at Hauz Khas that became one of the most important centres of Islamic learning. The third and final stage of Sufism was the Taifa / ताइफा stage, which commenced from 15th century onwards. Veneration of the Pir, who was an intermediary between the disciple and God, became the hallmark of this stage, resulting in the Pirs being recognized as saints. Their orders became hereditary and their shrines were empowered by the

“barkat / बरकत” of the saint to become centres of devotion. This is also the period when women began visiting the shrines, and even though they were not allowed to enter, they were happy to make offerings from the outside, in the hope that the Pir would mediate with the supreme power, on their behalf. Many devotional practices at these shrines developed at this stage, which were similar to Hindu practices like circumambulation, touching relics, lighting lamps, candles and incense, fasting, witnessing miracles, offering ‘nazar / निर’ to the successors, and singing devotional songs.

By this time, Sufism had really captured public attention and affection, and huge crowds would throng the shrines, participating in the Qawalis / कवाऱी and other mehfils / मेहफफऱ, or gatherings. Some of these mehfils also included songs that would be sung and performed by the renowned musicians and dancing girls of Delhi. While dancing girls had no direct association with religious institutions, being patronized mostly by the court and the aristocracy, it became a custom for them to visit the shrines of saints revered by Hindus and Muslims. Here they sang songs in praise of the prophet and poems composed by Sufi poets. There was also a tradition of gatherings in the homes of living Sufi saints. Their shrines became important centres of cultural life of Delhi in the medieval times.

As medieval Indian prospered with towns, marketplaces and cantonments coming into being, the sensibilities of the Indians moved from the fixity of Sanskrit to a more flexible environment with a lot of give and take of languages, traditions and features. This was the environment that gave the intellectual space for the rise of the Sufi faith and the . Even today, the Sufis are the power that has made Islam the world's second-largest religion, with perhaps 1.2 billion adherents. They are not a sect of Islam, but rather heirs of an ancient mystical tradition within both the Sunni and Shia branches of the faith. The word "Sufi" conjures up images of mystical poetry or dance. Thirteenth century poet was a legendary Sufi, as are Turkey's whirling . But these are just the most visible expressions of a movement that runs deeply through the last thousand years of Islam.

Mention must be made of one of the less acknowledged strands of Indian Sufism- the mystical Krishnaite tradition developed by Muslim Sufis. In the verses that these Sufis composed, which are still widely sung in the north Indian country-side, the love [lila] between and his gopis forms the central image and motif, symbolising the perfect attachment between the Sufi and God. Two names stand out in this context- that of Malik Mohamed Jayasi and Ras Khan. Malik Muhammad Jayasi (1477-1542), who wrote the first significant work in the Awadhi dialect, established a flow of love-linked cult

(Premashrayi Dhara) in 'Nirgun Brahmopasana / ननगुणु ब्राह्मोपािना' selecting the medium of the story of 'Padmawati / पद्मावती' and 'Ratnasen / र配नािेन'. By the metaphor of meeting and separation- 'Sanyoga' and 'Viyoga', he dictated the lesson of Gyan and Yoga. Accepting this very basic concept, Jayasi in his “Padmavat” wrote about erotic, worldly love and spiritual unworldly love in 'Masanavi

Shaili / मािनावी शैऱी'. It is believed that his ancestors were resident of Arab, and they came into India probably in connection with their business. He lost his one eye due to attack of smallpox in his very early childhood. His parents left this world when he was a child and wandered here and there with saints and . Later, he lost all his sons to death following which he felt such severe detachment (Vairagya) from the world that he entered the world of the sufis. He made the Sufi saint Shekh Mubarak Bodle his Guru and accepted the path of Sufi religious faith. His fame as a Sufi saint spread abroad and from his works he explained the Sufi ideas.

In using Krishnaite imagery, these Sufis performed a dual purpose: making their doctrines more intelligible to the masses, and bringing Hindus and Muslims closer to each other in a shared universe of discourse. The most well-known of the Indian Muslim Sufis who wrote principally in the Krishnaite mould was the sixteenth century Ras Khan. Ras Khan’s name means ‘mine of nectar’. Much of the little that we know about his life is shrouded in myth and mystery. His actual name is said to have been Ibrahim Khan, and he was born in the village of Pihani in the Hardoi district in what is now Uttar Pradesh. As to how he embarked on the Krishnaite path, there are great differences of opinions. According to one story, as contained in the medieval text Bhaktakalpadruma / भ啍तक쥍पद्रमु , he once travelled to Brindavan along with his Sufi preceptor. There he fell unconscious and had a vision of Krishna. Thereafter, he remained in Brindavan till he breathed his last. Another version has it that Ras Khan fell in love with a very proud woman, but later, on reading the Bhagwat Purana he was so deeply impressed by the unselfish love of the gopis for Krishna that he left his proud mistress and headed straight for Brindavan. There are several more, that can’t be recounted here in the interest of brevity. The fact is that Ras Khan began living in Brindavan, composing and singing the Krishnaite Sufi poetry for which he is still so fondly remembered.

Raskhan spoke both and Persian, and wrote in Braj Bhasha. He translated the “Bhagwat Puran” into Persian. Ras Khan's verses, in his best known work “Premavatika / प्रेमवाटिका” which consists of fifty- three verses, mostly deal with the nature of true spiritual love, using the love between and Krishna as a model. His verses in have become a part of the Kathak abhinaya repertoire. The poetry of Raskhan focuses on the "Lilas" of Lord Krishna, such as Bal Lila, Chir Haran Lila, Kunj Lila, Ras Lila, and Panghat Lila. Apart from Lilas, Raskhan has also created poems on , Ganga and the festival of . Many dancers have used his evocative poetry in kathak. Shovana Narayan created and entire evening out of his poetry in 2002, called “Ras Rasik Raskhan” based on the eternals Lilas of Krishna that Ras Khan had so eloquently written about, but also on the fact that he regarded Krishna as the Supreme Godhead who actually has no physical form. In effect, then, what we have here is a Krishnaite form of Sufism. In fact in a 1980 work, Shovana Narayan had anticipated this link. She used for the first time the poetry of Rumi, and drew sufi vaishnav parallels juxtaposing rumi’s verses with the poetry of Surdas and Bihari, in the production called “Ney: Bansuri”

In contemporary times, possibly the first dancer to call in distinctly Sufi poetry to populate and inspire Kathak dance was Maya Rao. When Rao was in Moscow as a post graduate student of choreography, as part of her course work, she was expected to take up a theme, adapt a script, and present a sort excerpt, no more than a scene or two, to the panel of examiners. It was then that she thought of Amir Khusro, as the poet was a promoter of peace. In fact the word Meer in Russsian meant peace, and as the republic of Tajakistan was then part of the erstwhile Russia, she felt that there would be an instant connect. She collected lot of information on Amir Khusro from the oriental manuscript section of the Moscow library. She got the renowned composer of music, Balsanyan, a Nehru awardee and the composer of the ballet “Shakuntala” on which she was a consultant, to compose the music in the Tajik style, and that is how the idea of a choreography called “Amir Khusro” was born. On her return, in 1970, the centenary committee invited her to present a ballet of Amir Khusro on the occasion of his seventh centenary celevbration. The ballet was very successful and was performed in Delhi, Kashmir and his birth place Itawah in Uttar Pradesh, before travelling to other parts of the country and overseas. The sitar, tabla, tarana and Qawali were all a major part of the production, chosen as he was credited with having created them. It was finally invited to Russsia as well, completing the circle.

In 2014, Shashwati Sen danced the poetry of Amir Khusro for the Dilli ka Apna Utsav. When it came to the Rang, she danced draping dupattas of different colours on herself, so that in the end Raas she pirouetted in complete silence, there was every colour moving along with her. In 1980 renowned Kathak dancer, Shovana Narayan performed a composition called “Ishrat-e-Farda / इशरत-ए-फदाु”. This was based on the works of Amir Khusro, Kabir, Lal Ded, Rabia-al- Basra. In the first version, Ishrat-e-Farda was performed to verses of Amir Khusro and Kabir. Later from mid-nineties, verses of Lal Ded and Rabia-al-Basra were added. This production was performed at various times and on various occasions and at various venues of Delhi and Lucknow since 1980.But even earlier, Shovana had worked on a Sufi theme when in 1974, she created a work called “Omar

Khayyam / ओमर ख뵍याम” this was a memorial programme for her first guru, Sadhona Bose. It was performed at Kala Mandir, Calcutta. The script culled out from the works of Omar Khayyam reflected the transiency of life and the desire of each soul to be ultimately united with the universal soul. Later, in 1998, she created “The Search

Within: Antar Yatra / अॊतर यात्रा”, this work was created as an international collaboration with an Austrian curator, Werner Dornik. “The Search Within” was for Shovana a spiritual journey. For each the journey was a personal journey and seldom was it a smooth one. Some may realise the transient nature of life and the material world, while seeking union with the divine. With the immortal poem of Ali Sardar Jafri, “Abla –pa” serving as the link, the Sufis’ journey was described in the thoughts of mystics like Amir Khusro, Kabir, Maulana Rumi, and the lady mystics- Lal Ded of Kashmir and Rabia Al Basra.

Shovana has also used the poetry of Bhakti and sufi poets as well as modern ones when she has dealt with a theme. For instance in her work “Chand” she used the poems of Malik Muhammad Jayasi, Surdas and Harivanshrai Bachchan, to convey many facets of how the moon appeals to us, and how we engage with it.

In more recent times, US-based Indian dancer Aastha Dixit, disciple of Pt. Birju Maharaj and Malati Shyam, got inspired by the Sufi way of life that she has studied in her visits to the Khanqah-e- Niyaziya. She plans to take a distinct Sufi style of Kathak across the world. Her love for Sufism and admiration for the medieval Persian poet Amir Khusru brought the Kathak exponent to the dargah, which is looked after by descendants of the great Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti of Ajmer . The Sufi tradition is a shared one between Indian and . It is therefore no surprise that Nahid Siddiqi has also worked on Sufi poetry of Bulle Shah & Aamir Khusaro. The Sufi way of life evidently inspires the young generation as very recently, Smt. Kumudini Lakhia choreographed a 'Sufiana Gazal' by poet Amir Khusrau for dancers Aakash Odedra and Sanjukta Sinha.

At the Fez Sacred Music Festival, that also makes space for dance, in 2012, young Kathak dancers Anuj Mishra and Niha Singh performed singly and in a duet. Similarly at the World Sufi festival in Nagaur, in 2015, Paras Mal Solanki and the other members of the Malani Sanskratik Kala Kendra, from Jasol, in Barmer performed as did a Gair Group. For the first time a fusion was experimented with at the Sufi Festival, with Kathak Dancer Anupama from Jodhpur. This experiment captured the sounds of drums, sticks and ghunghroos, performing together.

Mention must be made of the sizeable body of work created by Rani Khanam. Rani claims that “Islam is my faith. Kathak is my life”. It is a natural step for me to explore the self in terms of the other, it pours from my heart. I practise Islam and I practice dance. I decided to learn in order to seek the truth in dancing to Islamic Verses. Since my birth I have been hearing the Azaan and the verses of Koran, which I have also studied. They create divine vibrations in my body, moving me closer to spirituality.” Rani draws our attention to the fact that there is a body movement that is made while reading the Koran.

These verses are also in “tarannum / तरꅍनुम”, she says, and so the musicality of Bhakti poetry and the inherent musicality in the reading of the verses of Koran appeal to the aesthete in her. Since she belongs to a Chishtiya , she is a Murid of the Khankahe- Nijami, in Barielly. This shrine has become a spiritual centre for classical artistes. Many legendary masters like the Dagar brothers; Pt. Birju Maharaj, Naina Devi ji etc were Murids of this khankah. The Khankahe- Nijami's Dargaah Sharif is the only shrine in India where ‘Urs’ (annual Festival) is celebrated with Mausiki (Music) & Raqs (dance). “Like the others, every year since 1996, I have regularly giving ‘haaziri’ (performance) here by presenting Kathak with Sufiana compositions. Having been born a Muslim, I feel I have a great and added advantage, as I understand the beauty and intellectual background of these mystical compositions”, says Rani.

Because Rani works often in the context of Sufi poetry and Islamic verses, her work has been hailed as “the crescent in Kathak”. Her first composition “Hamd” (which means a poetic piece in praise of Allah) was in 1995. It commenced with Islamic verses or Kalma / क쥍मा that are the opening lines of the Koran Sharief “Bismillah-ur Rahman ur-Rahim (In the Name of God, the Compassionate, and the Merciful)”. Another performance was based on the Sufi poetry of Khwaja Usman Haruni, who was the master of great Sufi ‘Garib Nawaz’ Khawaza Mounniddin Chishti of Ajmer – “Na Mi Daanam Ke Akhir Chun Dame Deedar Mi Raqsam / Magar Naazam Bai Zauqe Peshe Yaar Mi Raqbam (I do not know why a glimpse of You makes me dance / But I take pride in the fact that my love for You makes me dance). Rani has also danced select Ghazals and poetry of the immortal Sufi poets like the afore mentioned Sufi saint, Amir Khusrau, Bulleh Shah, Lal Ded who is also called the second Rabia, Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, Hazrat Shah Niyaz Ahmed, and many more, as part of regular concerts too. Since 1999, she has been choreographing these spiritual ‘sufiana’ compositions in the form of ensemble work. Some of her memorable choreographies for a group are- “Bismillah / बबज़तम쥍ऱाह”, “Hamd / हमद”, “ / क़핍वाऱी”, “Andaz-e-Raqs / अॊदाि-ए-र啍ि”, “Nizbat / नी煍बत, “Sufiana Ghazals”, Tarana”, “In the Name of Allah”, etc. “In the name of God”, Khanam showcased her concept of the body as the flower and the soul as it fragrance with slow graceful movements to the tune of Amir Khusrau and Rumi poetry.

For the past two decades, Rani Khanam has performed regularly at reputed international festivals. Her ensemble represented India through ICCR in the “Salaam - International Festival of Islamic Arts”, in London with legends of Sufi musicians, singers & dancers from around the world. This was curated to show the world the beauty and peace of Islam. Here she performed “The Sound of Spell”. A Sufiana dance performance for inauguration of the Islamic Art Museum in the presence of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, their Majesties the King and the Queen of Malaysia was another highlight. She also performed in the India week at Tlemcen, in Algeria, that had been declared the Islamic culture capital of the world, for the year 2011. A significant presence at the international Sufi festivals, Rani has collaborated with other great Sufi Musicians, Singers & Dancers, and studied the medium of Sufism very closely and carefully. Among the Sufi musicians, scholars and followers of Sufi saints that she has worked with are masters from Egypt, Turkey, Yemen, Iraq, Kenya, Morocco and even China.

Finally, Manjari Chaturvedi is a well known name associated with a form called Sufi Kathak. Sufi Kathak is a new art form created by Manjari Chaturvedi. Manjari Chaturvedi is a Kathak dancer of the lucknow Gharana who has been experimenting with Darbari Kathaki and Sufi Kathak. In the former she associate with actress Neesha Singh to do popular shows telling the story of the tawaifs and dancing girls of India in a programme called “The Lost Songs of the Courtesans”. In the second format she has a larger body of work, as she often collaborates with different sets of musicians. She has combined the mysticism of Sufi tradition with her dance to create a rather dramatic school of performance, called Sufi Kathak. Some of her collaborators have been the langas / ऱॊघा and mangyars / माॉगणणयार, qawals amongst others. She has done more than 250 concerts in 22 countries and takes great care to present herself and the programme with great elegance and an old world charm in costuming and jewellery. Manjari was part of the first ever edition of Jahan-e-Khusro created by Muzaffar Ali. Ali has since been her promoter. Even Astha Dixit has been part of the Jahan –e-Khusro Festival in 2013, where she danced with the whirling dervishes and also to live singing by Malini Awasthi.