CHAPTER -4
KUCHIPUDI DANCE
It derives its name from the village of Kuchelapuram, in
Andhra Pradesh, India. As a classical form of dance, drama and music, Kuchipudi
enjoys a unique place among the Indian classical idioms. Kuchipudi grew largely
as a product of the Bhakti movement beginning in the seventh century A.D. It
was in the 14th century, however, that the ascetic Siddhendra Yogi appeared on
the scene and gave Kuchipudi a new definition and direction.
KUCHIPUDI
SPECIAL CHRACTERISTICS
Compared to the other Indian classical dance styles,
kuchipudi is closest to Bharthanatyam in terms of technique, but it has its own
unique characteristic, both styles feature a half-sitting posture as the basic
position and strong rhythmical foot work. But kuchipudi has a certain light-
footedness and many graceful hops and leaps that distinguish it from
Bhrathanatyam. It is less angular, with ‘rounded’ arm movements and
characteristic bobbing,bending and swaying movements which are unique to
kuchipudi
Kuchipudi is characterized by fast rhythms and fluid
movements, creating a unique blend of control and abandon, strength and
delicacy. This is the reason why it is calssicla,creative and communicative
with a distinctive feel and flavour. It is imbued with sensuous
Satvikaabhinayam and succulent vachikabhinayam. Being a narrative art form teh
emphasis is on abhinaya and natya. Due to its affinity with teh yakshagana
style, the kuchipudi technique has in it some basic elements of folk art,
especially its primeval vigour, its unsophisticated directness and its
exquisitely earthly sensuousness all manifesting the impact of folk form with
its concomitant high energy levels along with classical touch
Kuchipudi dance dramas represent a happy synthesis of this
classical and folk repertoire with less rigid postures, more emotions with free
and fluid gestures and movements.
Story of the village
Almost every corner of
the Kuchipudi village, reverberates with swaras and the jingle of ankle bells,
one discovers.
This village is perhaps
the only place in India, which has given its name to a classical dance-form.The
history of this village and its inhabitants is interwoven with the evolution of
the exquisite dance form of Kuchipudi.
This Andhra Pradesh
village was originally known variously as ‘Kuchelapuram,' ‘Kuchelapuri' (one
legend holds that Krishna's devotee Kuchela was from this place ), ‘Kuchennapoodi'
(after Kuchenna, a famous disciple of Siddhendra Yogi) and ‘Kuchipundi.' It was
populated by Bhagavathulu and their families.
The
propagation of bhakti through artists called Bhagavathulu, who sang the stories
of God (Bhagavatam) and danced too, was common in south India through the
centuries. In this region, the dance was known as Kuchipudi Bharatham. The village has
produced some of the greatest classical dancers and teachers of the country.
FOR THE LEGIONS OF KUCHIPUDI PRACTITIONERS, THE VILLAGE
REMAINS A HALLOWED SPOT many call it as
“PILGRIMAGE CENTRE.” many others refer a visit to THIS VILLAGE as TO A
“WONDERFUL TEMPLE” AND “CULTURAL TREASURE.”
History of
the village
The
village of Kuchipudi is six miles away from Srikakulam, the ancient capital of
Satavahana Empire and benefited from their patronage towards classical and
performance arts. After the fall of Mauryan Empire, the Satavahanas extended
their domain in the North West and South, until Andhra embraced a great portion
of the Indian Peninsula. Satavahanas ruled from the middle of the 3rd century
B.C. to the first quarter of 3rd century A.D.
Geo-political
staus of India from 200 BC to 200 AD:satavahanas’ expansions toward North East
and North West.
Perhaps is
the name Andra from the raga Andri
Natya Shastra refers to Andhra region in connection with a particular
style of dance in the context of representation of different modes of Vrittis,
especially Kaishika Vritti, delicate and graceful dance movements. A particular
raga by the name, Andhri, was a contribution of this region to the music of
India. Mention of these specific techniques, various ancient folk dances and
Yakshagana tradition of this region played an important origin for evolution of
the most comprehensive classical dance form in India. Yakshagana is the musical
play sharing the characteristics of opera and ballet combined in one
presentation. It originated in Andhra and received patronage in Karnataka and
Tamilnadu. More than 800 works were produced by 465 authors. Of which 542 works
are available, some in print and others mostly in manuscript.
Natya Shastra is the oldest surviving text on stagecraft in the world
and it precedes one of the oldest and greatest epics of history, Valmiki’s
“Ramayana”. It is believed to be a creation of Lord Brahma, who issued it to
all classes of people to study and practice as the “5th Veda”. Though it was
written about 2000-2500 years ago, it is believed that Natya Shastra is based
upon much older Natya Sutras widely in practice throughout the country at the
time. Unfortunately, there are no surviving copies of the Natya Sutras. Natya
Shastra is incredibly wide in its scope and included many practices from
various geographical regions and discussed their appropriate placement in the
proposed classification. It covers as many and diverse aspects such as, music
(raga, tala, sruti, and instrumental knowledge), stage-design (mandapa), dance
(rules & classification of dances, acting, expression of bhava, eight kinds
of rasas, choreography, and direction), makeup, and virtually every aspect of
the stagecraft. Therefore Natya Shastra is studied and researched by scholars
in dance as well as musicians because it is the only text that gives such
detail about music and instruments of the period.
Founder of Kuchipudi as a systemized and unique
style with distinct features
The
earliest-known maestro from this village was saint Siddhendra Yogi (who lived
some time between 11th and 13th century). Based on Bharata's Natya Shastra,
Nandikeshwar's Bharatarnava and Abhinaya Darpanam, Siddhendra systematised and
streamlined Kuchipudi.
His sterling
contribution was ‘Bhama Kalapam,' a Telugu dance-drama, where the lyrics, tunes
and script (trouryartrikam) were by him. To have this enacted, Siddhendra Yogi,
also a great choreographer, selected a group of boys from Kuchipudi and trained
them. This was a milestone in the history of the dance-form and village.
“Later,
Kuchipudi village was granted as a gift to the Bhagavathulu by an impressed
Abul Hasan Tanisha of the Golconda Nawab dynasty in the 17th century,”
Sri Siddhendra Yogi
We now come to the his greatest
offering:- Bhama Kalapam. Even in the case of Bhama Kalapam’s authorship, the
portions written by Sri Siddhendra Yogi have not been clearly identified.
Centuries of additions and improvisations have rendered the original text
unrecognizable. While all extant versions of Bhama Kalapam acquiesce to his
primary authorship, scholars are never sure which are the exact parts which he
has written. Infact, the most famous Sathyabhama daruvu itself has changed so
much from Sri Siddhendra Yogi’s rendition:
Sri Siddhendra Yogi's version:
Bhaamane!! Sathyabhamane!!
Bhamaro, srungaara jagadabhiraamane, mukhavijitha
Hema!! Bhamane, Dwarakapuraadhuni raamane, vayyari
Sathyabhamane!!
The current version of Bhama
Kalapam is attributed to a Mangu Jagannatha Kavi of Aakiveedu in West Godavari
district.
Sri Jagannadha Kavi's version:
Bhaamane!! Sathyabhaamane!!
Vayyaari muddula, Sathyabhaamane!!
Bhaamane, padiyaruvela komaloolandarilona,
Sathyabhamane!!
Of Siddhendra Yogi’s version, we
know for sure that Vighneswara Stuti, Saraswathi Sthavam, Vennela Padam
(Bhama’s Pravesa daruvu), the questioning by “mandayaana” about who Bhama is,
and then Bhama’s song “Bhaamane Sathyabhaamane” existed.
It is a great loss, that no
concrete records of Sri Siddhendra Yogi’s life or activities exists. This, in
itself has been the reason for several severe disagreements in the academia on
everything from his birth to death to Bhama Kalapam. We hope ardently that
present day and future researchers will take up this matter and solve the
existing riddles.
Sri Sidhendra Kala Peetham in Kuchipudi village
However for centuries,
the dance-form was confined to Brahmin families and males. They were forbidden
to teach the art to their daughters. All female roles were performed by men, in
a tradition called stree-vesham or bhrukumsa (female impersonation). Groups of men traveled from village to village
enacting stories from the Hindu mythology. As in Elizabethan theatre men
portrayed the roles of women.
“The dancers were part
of itinerant troupes and often performed throughout the night. That is why
women were kept out, for practical reasons and not because of male chauvinism,”
says stree-vesham icon Vedantam Sathyaranarayana Sarma, a Kuchipudi-resident.
The real fact is no one can clearly put a specific date on how
this art has emerged as a field; however there are records that date back to
4000-5000 years from present day. As these traditions emerged and more material
documentation methods were developed, additional evidence began to accumulate
and helped us understand more about Indian cultural roots and various
socio-political circumstances that influenced our culture.
How to
understand any dance tradition in India
In order to understand any classical dance tradition, one must study
different facts of that art form such as its origin, history, and theoretical
background in addition to considering socio-political and cultural contexts
including language, music, customs and traditions. Most art forms in India are
directly or indirectly dependent on the Hindu mythology, philosophy, sculpture,
painting, human psychology and yoga. India, with its vastness and magnitude of
her culture, several classical dance forms emerged with common theoretical
background. Each of these classical dance forms can be traced to different
parts of the country owing to their place of origin.
Kuchipudi in 20 th century
In the 20th century,
teacher-performer Vedantam Lakshminarayana Sastry of this village became
another trailblazer like Siddhendra. He broke the convention by taking the
dance form to non-Brahmins, women and devadasis. This was taken forward by
Bhagavathula Vissaiah. Many established dancers, such as Bharatanatyam legend
Mylapore Gowriamma, went to Vissaiah to enhance their knowledge of abhinaya
nuances.
In-1941-Vedantam-Lakshminarayana-Sastry-with-Uday-Shankar-left-and-Thandava-Krishna-righ
Popularization of kuchipudi
Another famous son of
this village is the legendary Vempati Chinna Sathyam who relocated to Chennai.
With his outstanding creativity and brilliant choreography, he spread the art
form across India and abroad. His brother Vempati Pedda Sathyam, Pasumarthi
Krishnamurthy and Vedantam Jagannatha Sarma, followed another pioneer, Vedantam
Raghavaiah, to Chennai and took this sensuous art to the film industry. They
choreographed Kuchipudi-based dance sequences for many Telugu movies. He
brought to life and liveliness this dance forms complete poetic expression of
life’s variegated moods, and expressed them through systematized manifold
rhythmic patterns, melodic gestures and subtle facila expressions, creating a
new world of ecstasy and ethereal existence.
Kuchipudi
dancers set a Guinness World Record
Over 2800 kuchipudi
dancers , including 200 plus natyagurus created a Guinness World Records on December 26th
2010 performing Hindolum Tillana at GMC BALAYOGI Stadium in HYDERABAD
Kuchipudi performers from around the world.
The spectacular show performed by dancers from 15 countries
and every state was staged in praise of Kuchipudi choreographer Siddhendhra
Yogi. The 11-minutes programme was part of the concluding ceremony of the
three-day second International Kuchipudi Dance Convention
Tadepalli Satyanarayana Sarma
Tadepalli Satyanarayana Sarma in Stree vesham
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