Natya Shastra - the 5th Veda

Hi everyone,

I want to divide my blog post every week into 3 parts.

1. Some learning regarding the art form.
2. Something interesting related to dance or music from our puranas or history.
3. Discuss reviews from the weeks’ news papers or magazines or from programs on TV or Radio.

Natya Shastra is the greatest book of theory or grammar ever written in the history of Indian classical dance. This was written by the great sage Bharata. The scriptures in Hindu religion are called Vedas, we all know. Veda, comes from the root vid, meaning wisdom. They are divided into 4. Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana.  Mahabharata, the great Hindu Epic, due to its greatness is accepted as the 5^th Veda. Natya Shastra is called the ‘other 5^th Veda’. Also all art forms come under ‘Gandharva Veda’,one of the sub-scriptures or Upa-Vedas. Upa- Vedas are also 4 in number. The other 3 are Ayurveda (medicine), Arthaveda (Finance) and Dhanurveda (Martial Arts). What other recognition does the art form need?

Earlier in ‘Old stone age’ people used to communicate through gestures and expressions. Later in ‘New stone age’ language developed. Slowly,language took the lead. Now we need to explain in detail before every piece is performed, in a dance performance. Just like various languages evolved, various dance forms also evolved.

Each state in India, just like having a language on its own, has its own classical dance form too. To mention a few, Bharathanatyam – Tamilnadu, Kuchipudi – Andhra Pradesh, Mohini attam and Kathakali – Kerala, Odissi – Orissa. Kathak came in due to Islamic influence. One thing in common in all these styles is God and religion. Even though Kathak came in through Islamic influence, it has blended so well with Indian thoughts and Hinduism. Christian and Islamic stories have been performed by great Bharathanatyam dancers. This proves, music and dance have no barriers like caste, creed, religion, language, country or even continents. Various Jugalbandhis( combination of 2 or more styles performed side by side) are also performed both in music and dance which brings out the ‘Unity in Diversity’, not only within the country but also between countries.

This week's update: Recently, in music concerts either in sabhas or TV or Radio, I am seeing Ragas Pantuvarali or Purvikalyani being sung too often. Mohanam has become very rare. Also I enjoyed the story of ‘Daksha Yagam’ narrated with the help of photographs of a ‘Kathakali’ dance drama, in the magazine ‘Culturama’, April 2014 edition.

Bye for now.