PAPER 5 DANCE, POETS AND POETRY, RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY AND INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE MODULE 9 SHAIVA PHILOSOPHY THROUGH DANCE When someone says the words “Dancing Shiva” a dancer can immediately conjure up a mental image of a yogi with a loincloth made of tiger skin, matted hair dancing feverishly. Thanks to the plethora of literature and poems on Shiva, a dancer can put her hand in a basket of ideas and pick any story to describe the dance of Lord Shiva. Within India, from the Pahari / ऩहारी and Guler / गुऱेर miniature paintings, to the bronze images of the Chola Empire; from the sculpted pillars of Somnath / सोमनाथ to the friezes of Orissa, Shiva has been portrayed in numerous ways dancing. In fact, geography was never a restraint as we find dancing Shiva in the Far East, like Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam. Origins of Shiva Dancing Hinduism is probably the only religion where Gods like to dance. However, Shiva and Vishnu (and their various avatars) are more predominant in displaying their prowess in dance and their mastery over it, and rightly so. This is mainly attributed to the Natyasastra and the mythology of how dance came into being. As per legends, Shiva was the progenitor for dance. Being a dancer par excellence, he taught his dance to Tandu, who taught the art form to Bharata and Parvati and she in turn taught this to Usha, daughter of Asura Bana and an ardent devotee of Shiva. She was wedded to the prince 1 of Dwaraka, Aniruddha and thus the art form was transferred to the mortals. Usha trained the milkmaids of Dwarka who, in turn, passed it down to the women of Saurashtra. 1, 2 There is another reason also why Shiva is depicted dancing by our ancient sculptors. As per agamas and Saivaite philosophy, Shiva is worshipped as the Linga murti in the sanctum sanctorum or as the मूर्त ि is Arupa Rupa / अ셂ऩ 셂ऩ, that ﴂmain deity. This Linga Murti / लऱग is both formless and with a form. It is believed that for the benefit of his devotees Shiva manifested into various other forms called Maheshwara murtis. According to different schools of Saivism, there are either 25 or 64 Maheshwara murtis. Nataraja murti is one among these Maheshwara murtis. Among the forms that Shiva took the ones that are important for dance will be seen in detail below.3 According to Saivaite literature, Shiva danced 64 types of Tandava dances, which he danced in 64 different locations. While it is a common perception that Shiva dances only the Tandava dance, he also dances non-Tandava dances. In the Sangam poem of Kalitogai Aaru ari and anarukku the poet describes Kodukotti / कोडूकोट्टी, गम, and Kapalam / कऩाऱम types of dance byﴂडरﴂPandarangam / ऩ Shiva. While, Kodukotti (danced after destroying Tripura) and Kapalam (danced after the severing of Brahma’s head) are associated with the Sivaleela, Pandarangam was a war dance performed by Shiva on the battlefield. 3 His dances have been described in detail in Tamil literature such as Tirumalainathan’s , ﴂUmapati’s Koyil Puranam / कोईऱ ऩुराण Chidambara Puranam / चिद륍बर ऩुराणम, Sekkizhar’s Periya Puranam ददरम, and inﴂऩेररय ऩुराणम , Tirumoolar’s Tirumandiram / र्त셁म / Unmai Vilakkam / उन्मै विऱ啍कम. 2 Manifestations of Shiva dancing Nataraja murti / नटराज मूर्त ि This form of Shiva is frequently depicted and dominates as THE form of Shiva apt for dance. Nataraja, meaning Kind of Dance, is an amalgamation of a deeper and transcendental philosophical thought given to us by our ancestors. The image of dancing Shiva in this pose is replicated in numerous ways over the centuries and the zenith was achieved in the hands of the Chola period sculptor. ग त्रालसतﴂTaking inspiration from the Bhujanga trasita karana / भूज करण mentioned in the Natyasastra, Nataraja can be described as having the right hand in pataka or ardhachandra hasta, left hand in dola / डोऱा hasta positioned across the body. Alternatively, the right hand can show the damaru / डम셂 with a simhamukha hasta / मुख हस्त and the left hand shows alapadma hasta / अऱाऩद्म ﴂलसह हस्त. Another variation is tripataka on the right hand and mrigashisam on the left hand. The right leg is in the half-sitting or ardhamandali pose, while the left leg is lifted and is in kuncita pada stance. There are variations of this pose done by dancers where they take the Nataraja pose and lift their right heel. द मूर्त िﴂ Somaskanda murti / सोमस्क Somaskanda (expanded as Saha-Uma-Skanda) is the form of Shiva where he is seen with Parvati and his son Skanda. Although the iconography of Somaskanda is that of a seated Shiva, this manifestation takes a prominent role in Bharatanatyam. The reason is Somaskanda is the main deity at Tiruvarur, known as 3 Thyagaraja swamy. This temple in the Thanjavur district is well known for its development in sadir and current day Bharatanatyam. The devadasis employed in this temple performed dances and Kuravanjis which were in praise of Thyagesa, as he is also known. The famous devadasi dancer T. Balasaraswati popularized the Bhairavi varnam Mohamana / मोहमन composed by Ponnaiya Pillai of the Tanjore quartet. This varnam is in praise of Tiruvarur Thyagesa / र्त셁िा셁र 配या गेश and when Satyajit Ray made a documentary on her, she chose to dance a shortened version of Mohamana varnam. Other than the Bhairavi varnam, Rupamu juchi / 셂ऩमु जुिी (Todi raga by Ayyasami Nattuvanar, not Muthuswamy Dikshitar as popularly believed), Yela nannesevu / ये쥍ऱा नन्नेसेिु (Purnachandrika raga by Ramaswami Dikshitar) and Entanine telupudura / एनटनीने तऱे ुऩुदरु ा (Khamas raga by Subbarama Dikshitar) are compositions in praise of Thyagaraja swamy and are still performed by Bharatanatyam dancers. Roopamu Juchi varnam is a standard repertoire of Kalakshetra, where Rukmini Devi Arundale choreographed this varnam keeping in mind the architecture of Tiruvarur temple. In a particular sanchari where Lord Thyagesa is shown coming out in procession, the choreography with the Nadai or walking gait is an imitation of the procession as seen in Tiruvarur. Tripurantaka Murti / त्रत्रऩुरान्तका मूर्त ि In this story, Shiva destroys the three demon cities (Tri-Three and Pura-city or place) with a single arrow. As per Kalitogai, a Tamil 4 Sangam literature, Shiva dances the Kodukutti dance after burning the Tripura. Ardhanareeshwara Murti / अधनि ारी�िर मूर्त ि As mentioned in the prayer song of Kalitogai, Shiva is also described as dancing the Kodukutti dance while taking the Ardhanari form. 6 Gajasamhara Murti / गजस륍हार मूर्त ि In Gajasamhara murti Shiva kills the elephant headed demon Gajasura and is usually depicted with Shiva having his right leg on the elephant’s head and using both hands he has flayed open the skin of the asura elephant. At the same time, his left leg is lifted up. In sculptures, Shiva is facing his back to the viewer and has his right leg pointed sideways has his upper body twisted, making this pose a difficult yet an elegant one when done correctly. According to legends, the village of Vazhuvoor in Tamilnadu (ancestral place of Vazhuvoor Ramaih Pillai) is where this leela of Shiva was enacted. Also, the Todayamangalam of the Shiva temple of Vazhuvoor Jaya Suddha Puri Vasa / जय शुद्ध ऩूरी िास was sung at the beginning of every performance by Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai. Brahma shirascheta murti / ब्रह्म लशर�िेत मूर्त ि After severing the head of Brahma, Shiva dances the Kapali / कऩाऱी or kapalam / कऩाऱम dance with Brahma’s head in his hand. This dance is mentioned in Sangam literature Kalitogai. Other murtis of Shiva that are important to dance are: Bhujangalalita / गत्रास murti, Sandhyanrttaﴂगऱलऱत murti, Bhujangatrasa / भुजﴂभुज / / ध्यान配ृ त murti, Sadanrtta / सदान配ृ त murti, Chanda tandavaﴂस 5 ,गाधर murti, Kirata / ककरात murtiﴂडि murti, Gangadhara / गﴂदताﴂि Maatangaari / मातन्गरी, Shankara Narayanar, Jvarabhagnam / हार murti, Kamaﴂगम or Javahara murti, Kalasamhara / काऱसﴂ煍िरभ Dhahana / काम दहन murti. Songs on Shiva Among the many songs on Shiva, Bharatanatyam has probably the largest collection of compositions that are popular and frequently performed even today. Keertanams on Shiva Keertanam literally means a song in praise of a deity. Shiva Keertanams were composed by Muthutandavar, Gopalakrishna Bharati, and Papnasam Sivan. More ancient are the hymns sung by 63 Nayanmars or Saivaite saints. The Keertanams Idadhu padham / इडद ु ऩदम ् in Kamas raga and Adi Tala by Papanasam Sivan, Bho Shambo / भो श륍भो in Revati raga And Adi Tala by Dayananda Saraswati are popular. Gopalakrishna Bharati composed some iconic songs on Shiva such as Aadum Chidambaramo / आडूम चिदा륍बरामो in Behag raga and Adi Tala / आदद ताऱ, Eppo Varuvaro / एप्ऩो ि셁िरो in के ट्टू िाडी ﴂChenchuruti raga and Adi Tala, Karanam Kettu vadi / कारण in Poorvikalyani raga and Adi Tala, Natanam Adinar / नटनम आडीनार in Vasanta raga and Adi Tala. 7 Being a dance form that originated in Tamilnadu, Bharatanatyam dancers often used the Thevaram / थेिारम hymns and other saivaite 6 poems to start the performance. Sometimes, one witnesses a small abhinaya on this and the dancer segues into the alarippu immediately. The popularity of Saivaite hymns can be seen in the trend of reciting the Thirupugal / र्त셁ऩुगऱ composed by Thirugana sambandar as the underlying lyrics for a non-lyrical composition such as the alarippu. One such Tevaram hymn of Appar or Thirunavukkasar is Kunitha Puruvamum / कु र्नथा ऩु셁िामुम , where the saint describes the countenance of Lord Nataraja. He paints a imagery that consists of bow like eyebrows, coral like lips, matted locks, red skin smeared with milk colored ash. He then says those who have darshan of this divine dancer are blessed to be born in this earth.