Performing Arts : Music, Dance and Drama

What is art?

  • Art is an expression of all characteristics of the human mind aesthetically”.
  • These characteristics, i.e. the varied human emotions, are known as ‘RAS’.
  • In Hindi, ‘ras’ literally means a sugary juice.
  • It signifies the ultimate satisfaction of ‘aanand’. Human emotions can be categorized into nine sub-headings or ‘navras’.

They are:
1. Hasya — laughter
2. Bhayanak — evil Shringar — aesthetics
3. Rudra — chivalrous
4. Karun — pathos
5. Vir — courage
6. Adbhut — astonishing
7. Vibhatsa — terrifying glory
8. Shaanti — peace
9. Shringaar — decorating one’s self

  • Music from time immemorial has been the most popular art form of India. They are Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ne

Performing Arts : Music, Dance and Drama

Earliest tradition of Indian music

Ancient Period

  • Sama Veda’s slokas
  • Bharata’s Natyashashtra (compiled between second century BC and second century AD)
  • Matanga’s Brihaddesi compiled between eight and ninth century AD
  • Sangeet Ratnakara written by Sarangdeva in the thirteenth century mentions 264 ragas
  • Samudragupta, King Bhoja of Dhara and King Someshavra of Kalyana patronised music
  • Gupta monarch Samudra Gupta was himself an accompolished
    musician (some of his coins, he is shown playing on the Veena)
  • Jayadeva of Orissa produced the most brilliant raga kavya, the Gita Govinda-theme of love of Radha and Krishna
  • Abhinavagupta’s (993-1055) Abhinavabharati
  • Saivite Nayanars and Vaishnavite Alvars

Medieval Period

  • Sufi and Bhakti saints
  • Qawwalis
    were sung in Sufi khanqahs
  • kirtan and bhajan became popular with the Bhakti saints
  • Kabir, Mirabai, Surdasa, Chandidasa, Tulsidasa, Vidyapati
  • Amir Khusrau
  • Legendary ruler of Malwa, Baz Bahadur and his wife Rupmati introduced new ragas
  • Kitabe Navras written by Ibrahim Adil Shah II during the seventeenth century is a collection of songs in praise of Hindu deities as well as Muslim saints
  • famous musician of Akbar’s court was Tansen, Baiju Bawra
  • Humayun was said to have illustrated Indian texts on music. Akbar composed songs and encouraged musicians.
  • Swami Haridas
  • Pundarika Vittal was a great scholar of music who wrote the famous Ragamala.
  • Hindustani Music-Mira Bai, Tulsidas and Surdas.

Division of Indian Classical Music

  1. Hindustani Classical Music
    • North India
    • Delhi Sultanate & Amir Khusrau (AD 1253-1325)
    • Hindustani musicians trace their descent to Tansen.
    • Styles-Dhrupad, Dhamar, Thumri, Khayal and Tappa
    • Tansen’s music had the effect of magic,
    • Akbar’s courtiers patronised Musicians like Baiju Bawra, Surdas
    • popular ragas are: Bahar, Bhairavi, Sindhu Bhairavi, Bhim Palasi, Darbari, Desh, Hamsadhwani, Jai Jayanti, Megha Malhar, Todi, Yaman, Pilu, Shyam Kalyan, Khambaj
    • Stringed instruments the most famous are sitar, sarod, santoor and sarangi.
    • Pakhawaj, tabla and Mridangam are precussion or tal giving instruments.
    • Flute, shehnai and nadaswaram are some of the chief wind instruments.
    • Musicians associated to a gharana or a particular style of music which function in gurushishya parampara
    • Famous Gharana-Gwalior gharana, Kirana gharana, and Jaipur gharana
    • kirtan, bhajan, ragas contained in the Adi Grantha and singing in the Majlis during Muharram
  2. Carnatic Music
    • South India
    • Shyam Shastri, Thyagaraja and Mutthuswami Dikshitar
    • Purandardasa
    • Thyagaraja is revered both as a saint and an artist and epitomises the essence
    • main compositions are known as kriti and are devotional
    • notable musicians of this period are Maha Vaidyanath Ayyar (1844-93), Patnam Subrahmanya Ayyar (l854-1902) and Ramnad Srinivasa lyengar (l860-1919)
    • Instruments-Flute, veena, nadaswaram, mridangam, ghatam
  3. Similarities between Hindustani & Carnatic
    • Carnatic alapana is similar to alap in Hindustani classical
    • Tilana in Carnatic resembles Tarana of Hindustani.
    • Both lay stress on tala or talam

Folk Music

  • Rajasthani-Mand
  • Bhatiali of Bengal
  • Ragini-Haryana
  • Folklore (describe historical events and important rituals)
    • Kashmir’s Gulraj
    • Pandyani of Madhya Pradesh
    • Muslims sing Sojkhwani

Dances of India

  • Rig Veda mentions dance (nrti) and danseuse (nrtu)
  • Harappa-bronze statue of a dancing girl
  • Lord Shiva as Nataraja
  • Classical dance forms like Kathakali, Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Manipuri, Kuchi pudi and Odishi
  • Bharatanatyam and Mohiniattam developed as an important aspect of the rituals in temples
  • Yakshagana, a form of Kathakali in Kerala, tells us stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata
  • Kathak and Manipuri are mostly related to the stories of Krishna and his leela (exploits)
  • Odissi is related to the worship of Lord Jagannath
  • Krishna leela and the stories related to Lord Shiva was the theme of Kathak-Romantic gestures contained in Thumri and Ghazal
  • Folk Dance
    • Assam-Bihu
    • Garba of Gujarat,
    • Bhangra and Gidda of Punjab,
    • bamboo dance of Mizoram,
    • Koli, the fisherman’s dance of Maharashtra,
    • Dhumal of Kashmir,
    • Chhau of Bengal
    • Mask dance of Ladakh
    • Wangla of Meghalaya,
    • Bhutia or Lepcha dance of Sikkim
  • Natyashastra of Bharata
  • Facial expressions, body movements, hasta mudras and the footsteps have all been brought together under three broad categories namely, as nritta (pada sanchalan), nritya (anga sanchalan) and natya (abhinay)
  • Both men and women took keen interest in dance but generally women dancers were looked down upon in society
  • In the medieval period Kathak dance form was promoted by the Muslim rulers
  • Wajid ali Shah was a great patron of music and dance
  • modern day dancers like Pt. Birju Maharaj all have come from the Lucknow
  • Local Dance-Manipuri dance, Santhal dance
  • martial dances
    • Chholia of Uttranchal,
    • Kalari paittu of Kerala,
    • Thang-taa of Manipur
Dances Well-known Dancers of Modern India
Kathak Pt. Birju Maharaj, Pt. Shambhu Maharaj, Sitara Devi, Pt. Gopi Krishna, and Pt.
Lacchu Maharaj
Bharatanatyam Saroja Vaidyanathan, Padma Subhramaniam, Geeta Chandran
Odissi Kelucharan Mahapatra, Sanjukta Panigrahi, Kiran Sehgal and Madhavi Mudgal
Kuchipudi Swapna Sundari, Satya Narayan Sarma, Raja Reddy, Radha Reddy and Sonal
Mansingh
Musicologists Bharata, Matangamuni, Naradamuni, Pt. Sharangadeva, Pt. Somnath, and Pt. Ahobala, Pt. Vyankatmakhi, Pt. Ramamatya, S.M. Tagore, and Acharya K.C.D.Brihaspati

 

Drama

  • Kautilyas Arthshastra mentions musicians, dancers and dramatic shows
  • Bharata wrote Natyashastra and created the plays known as Asura Parajaya and Amrit Manthan.
  • Natyashastra is one of the greatest texts written in the field of drama and other performing arts
  • great Bhasa who wrote plays based on the stories of Udayana,
    the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Swapana Vasabdatta being his masterpiece
  • second century B.C. Patanjalis’ Mahabhasya- Kamsavadha and Balibandha
  • Bharata has mentionednat (male artists), and nati (female artist)- concept of an enclosed area for drama. There is mention of a community called’ shailoosh’ which had professional drama companies
  • Professional singers called kushilavas
  • age of the Buddha and Mahavira, drama was a means of communicating the principles of their respective religions
  • Kautilya’s Arthashastra Vatsyayan’s Kamasutra, Kalidasa’s Abhijnan Shakuntalam were all written in Sanskrit
  • Vidyapati- dramatist, introduced Hindi and other regional languages in the form of songs
  • Umapati Mishra and Sharada Tanaya
  • folk theatre (Instruments- dhol, kartal, manjira, khanjira)
    • Bengal – Jatra, Kirtania Natak
    • Bihar-Bideshia
    • Rajasthan – Raas, Jhumar, Dhola Maru
    • Uttar Pradesh – Raas, Nautanki, Svaang, Bhaand
    • Gujarat – Bhawaii
    • Maharashtra – Larite, Tamasha
    • Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka – Kathakali, Yakshagana
  • Kuntleshwar Daityam is a drama that testifies to the fact that Kalidasa belonged to the Gupta Age
  • Russian named Horasim Lebedev founded a Bengali theatre which marked the beginning of modern Indian theatre in India.

Popular Dramas

NAME WRITER
Meghadutam Kalidasa
Abhijnan Shakuntalam
Padmavati Madhusudan
Harshacharitam Bana Bhatta
Neel Devi Bharatendu
Satya Harish Chandra
Andher Nagri Jai Shankar Prasad
Chandraval
Ajatshatru
Rajyashri
Chandragupta
Prayashchit
Karunalaya
Bharatendu

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