History of Bharatnatyam

Bharatnatyam is an artistic yoga that involves the movement of the body parts in a very artistic and pleasing to the eye.

The term Bharatnatyam was introduced in the mid thirties by S.Krishna Iyer and later spread by Rukminidevi Arundale. It comprises of Bhava, Raga, Tala, and Natya put together as Bharatanatyam.

Natyashastra is often reffered to as the Bible of Indian classical dance. It is said that the Gods and Goddesses pleaded Brahma

[the creator, as per Hindu Mythology] for the creation of another Veda, which was understandable by common man.

So, Brahma created the fifth Veda, which is a combination of the existing four vedas [Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva Veda].

He propagated this veda on earth through Sage Bharatha, who wrote it down as Natyashastra.

Brahma took pathya [words] from the Rig veda,

Abhinaya [communicative elements of the body movements] from the Yajur Veda,

Geeth [music and chant] from the Sama Veda, and

Rasa [vital sentiment, an emotional element] from Atharva veda,

to form the fifth veda - the Natya Veda.

Bharatha, together with groups of Gandharvas and Apsaras performed Natya, Nrtta, and Nrtya before Lord Shiva [the Lord of Devine Dance]. Thus Natya became the authoritative form of classical Indian dances. The term "Bharatnatyam" partly owes its name to Sage Bharatha.

The creation of Natyashastra is very important in the kaliyuga (the age of destruction of the world, as per Hindu mythology). Centuries ago, there were many dancers - priestesses in the Hindu temples in south India, called Devadasis. They would sing, dance and play many musical instruments.

Gradually, in the first half of the 19th century, Bharatnatyam was revitalized and redefined by the contributions of four talented brothers, known today as the Tanjore Quartet; Chinnaiah (1802),

Ponniah(1804),

Sivanandam(1808), and

Vadivelu(1810).

The Tanjore Quartet organized all the basic Bharatnatyam movements of pure dance into a progressive series called Adavus. They composed new music specifically for Bharatnatyam and introduced a different sequence of items that brought out the various aspects of dance and music. In the 20th century, the founder of Kalakshetra, Rukminidevi Arundale, restored the social status and the image of Bharatnatyam. By passing the art of dance from generation to generation, it has acquired the many forms such as the Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Kuchipudi, and many more.

The compositions of the Tanjore Quartet were in praise of the following rulers:

1. Pratapa Simha {1739-1763}

2. Thulaja {1763- 1787}

3. Amarasinha {1787-1798} 4. Sarabhoji {1798-1833}

5. Shivaji {1833- 1855}


They also contributed towards other affairs such as ,

1. Reshaping the art of Bharatia into concept form for the first time.

2. Evolving the primary syllabus for teaching dance and classifying the Adavus.

3. Evolving the present concert pattern for Sadir Katcheri.