Dikku teriyada Attic !

Dear all,

I realize this blog is also quite not as immediate to my previous on as I would have desired. But a lot of travelling had me on my toes, literally. But here I am, to continue the journey.

Im sure you all remember my eulogy to a great mentor in Dr. T.N.Ramachandran sir of Tanjavur. He is a saiva siddhanti and a great scholar, thespian of academia. Now,  I need to talk about how my journey continued from his home (home in this context is his protection  and shelter to my ameteur  and rigid views:-). In Shakespearean terms I was  "Sighing like furnace...sudden and quick in quarrel..." I was very much a young researcher with a lot of ideas of right and wrong, of who's views are credible and who's aren't and who's writings should shape my own understanding of history, art etc. He would patiently hear several of my emotional ramblings. Most of his responses to my childish queries were/are by themselves worthy of publishing. Here is one such from a random interaction with Sir on a sunday afternoon. Him seated and swinging on his oonjal and me seated on a plastic chair opposite him at the mutram of his tanjavur home.

Swarnamalya (childish and argumentative): Sir, Aasai mugam marandu pooche of Bharatiyar is about a young girl having forgotten her beloved Krishna's face. But if she loves him so much why would she even forget him in the first place?

TNR Sir: Do u understand the entire meaning of the lines "
Aasai mugam marandu pooche idai yaar idam solven adi toozi, neesam marakkavillai nenjam enil ninaivumugam  marakkalaamo?"

Swarnamalya: O! sure 
O! friend I have forgotten his beloved face, how can I explain this? my heart hasn;t forgotten the love yet the face has been consigned to oblivion by my mind, is it fair?

TNR Sir: The mind is our most reliable ally and our trusted source. It's very function is to bring memories update whenever required. Because it is the process of budhi, chit, manas and ahankaaram that creates every thought and therefore every memory.

Budhi is the intellect of man. It is the first place which processes a thought. All thoughts. This is the "arivu". It then passes it to the next keeper.

Chit: this is understood as the rationale of a person. We rationalize the received thought which is why it is called "chintanai" where we ponder upon it and take it to the next level.

Manas: this is the heart, Up until now what the head was doing, now the heart takes over. This is where we develop emotions, attachments, detachments, likes and dislikes etc. It allows the thought to become personal, subjective and closer. That is perhaps why love and other emotions are always an appeal to the manas or heart. 

Ahankaaram: This is the ego or the self. The processed and curated thought is now well stored and also acted upon. If I love someone I confess love, if I am angry I show that emotion, if I miss someone I evoke memories about that person willingly to soak in that moment. It is independent, very individualistic and uses the other faculties in aid to represent itself. 

"Dear friend", in this case could be even a soliloquy by the girl to her mind, which is supposed to be her friend and ally. I have been failed by you. I have no capacity of anamnesis. For the lovely face of my Krishna, I am unable to recapture. Who can help me from this state of amnesia? To whom can I complain about this internal malfunction of my system? The system that  never is supposed to fail a person?

I do remember (thankfully / unabashedly) the love he showered upon me. I am unable to still conjure up the face, the lines or the smile". 

There are three aspects to all consequences in man's life. There is the present that happens to him over which he has no control at all. There is a bundle of piled up consequences he has to face as an accumulation of his past deeds and then, there is what he can do based on his present experiences. These are the Prarabdha, sanchita and aagaamya karma-s. When her mind, heart stops listening to her, when she is unable to control them to retain a memory that she so wants to, she blames her mind of treachery, as if it's not her own. This is due to the fact that no matter want we will, our prarabdha is a consequence we have to endure. What a pool of greater memories of his touch and love that the heart  (her heart or nenjam) chose to remember is perhaps her predestined sanchita. A girl who's consequence was that she meet Krishna and become the object of his love and desire for a while, is her bundle of experience of her life. "What can I do?" Her lament of how to handle this predicament is her aagaamya karma. Do I rely upon my faithful, unfailing heart which savours his embrace and loving words or do I still allow my mind which duely failed me? How can I trust now? Whom can I trust now? What can I trust now? What use are my external eyes that can never work without the help of my mind? what use is this life if  my own preceptions were to fail me this way? (kankal irundu payan undo?)

When I heard this...U can imagine how silent, introspective and "shut up" I would have become. So introspective that, from then on, this argumentative researcher became a searcher. He made this haughty head pause to begin to look within.

I have always believed that the characters that we reflect through our arts viz-a-viz these Nayikas (in viraha or seperation, anger- Khandita etc) is not just a representation or encounter of their emotions but an interaction too. I once wrote a research article on Sigment Freud's Psychoanalysis and Bharata's Rasa theory. I found so many parallels and a constant interaction between the seeing and being seen. 

In this case, the girl is lamenting the failure of one of her own trusted faculties. She is desperately trying to use her heart to see if she can glimpse through the visages of what she remembers as feelings but forgets as memory. She is unable to hyperventilate upon any of her memories that bind the libido to the object. Her ego (ahankaaram) hopes to conjure up the image of him which is a lost memory to the mind but a yearning to her body and heart. 

This poem of Bharatiyar according to me is an oblique reference to the death of one's own power over their mind. She laments this failure. But she also knows fully well that this powerlessness is due to the agony of  seperation from Krishna. 

 The only way she can recognize him now is by touching his lips with hers perhaps? It is only the encounters that can come to her rescue. She has to distinguish her and the other within herself to identify Him.

Bharati's words TNR sir thus continued are,

"aasai mugam marandu poche idai yaar idam solven adi toozi

neesam marakka villai nenjam enil ninaivu, mugam marakkalaamo?"

not ninaivumugam (face from memory) but ninaivu mugam. Ye ninaive (O! mind) how can u fail me?

As a dancer, some where between the dance and imagination I  interact with her. I am her. This her is several characters, several women whom I understand, empathize with, absorb, imitate, interact, imagine and thus become. In this process my "self" is emancipated. 

The explanation for these two lines and how it has allowed me to find my thinking roots and wings is testimony to Sir's teachings. As I said, I was to be a mere spectator of my own self who' s perspectives to art, thought and literature changed after every interaction with Sir.

This is how he slowly nudged me towards my own space, even as I staggered cluelessly.

SWARNAMALYA GANESH

Dikku teriyaada attic !

P.S: I wish to share here a small video of my performance of a nayika in separation. But she is different from Bharati's woman, she is haunting herself with memories of him and loves the self imposed torture. 

this video's 7.20 th min is when the pallavai of the padam begins

P.P.S: didnt have the time to edit it to the exact start. 

In all,being a Women: difficult, tedious and absolutely joyous!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0eMEmQLN6A&feature=player_embedded#!

It was laundry day at the Attic !

Hi everyone, I know I have been silent for too long. I was first silenced by the loss of my dear Guru. I then took upon myself to throw that melancholia into finishing much of my research work that was pending. That done, now I am finally back to filling these pages. I have to say. So much to share. I was wondering where to begin. I was pondering if I should continue from where I left off or have a new take off point for the narrative. Then my talk at the ABHAI- Association for BHaratanatyam Artistes of India happened. It was part of a seminar on "socio-economic issues of bharatanatyam dancers-then and now". I was invited to speak for "now". Just as I was preparing to address some of the issues that they had specified to me, I realized there are so many cob-webs around us. I wish to share the paper I read out there with all of you. This is a growing concern for not the dancers alone but to the entire society, I believe. I have also made some suggestions as possible steps solutions. Read on...

"1. Bharatanatyam is a very inclusive art. In a trans- national environment that it is being nurtured now, it would be almost prudish to strongly advocate classicism, allegiance, orthodoxy, or even parameters of performance for, these very terms are themselves still in a rediscovery and redefining stage.

 2. Is Bharatanatyam over inclusive? We must know one thing, a classical practice cannot be over inclusive and still remain classical.

 3. Dancers of the 20th and 21st centuries are constantly facing issues of understanding and accepting the immediate histories and identity. Therefore performing allegiance to them is always questioned. If that allegiance will ensure quality, rigor and a certain accountability to classicism then it is for the dance practitioners to engage in such a deliberation. At an alpine level it would require a clinical approach to ring in and weed out elements of a classical form using academic history but more importantly performative historicity of the 18th, 19th centuries which are essentially our immediate past. But that is a topic for serious academic discussion and I shall keep it for later.

 4. With audiences and their tastes changing, funding structures for performances changing, even their very objectives, supply being enormously higher than demand, dancers have to come to terms with the fact that BN has become a global art. We are no longer dancing to aficionados and discerning rasikas (no, not even in the sabhas). We need newer reflective, critical updating of performative rules and values, as I said earlier, in the understanding of dance techniques and also the discourse that surrounds it all.

 5. There was a time a little over half a century ago when BN might have been endangered due to the cross roads it was at, precariously positioned between the disengaged devadasis and the pre occupied non-hereditary dancers. We have certainly come a long way from there. Today the problem is not whether it will continue as an art of prominence and identity but in what direction? Until a few decades back, questions of respectability were being asked. Will a dancer continue dancing after marriage etc? But today that is not the problem at all. Everyone is dancing, all the time. We are at a time when newer problems have arisen.

 6. What is the direction of this continuum? Where is sustainence? Will merit ensure you reach far and deep into the various performance arenas of national and global repute? What is the purpose of this maddening competition?

 7. There is Darwinism at play here. Nothing wrong. That is a universal rule. BN in the past too has always operated on the survival of the fittest. Therefore, we need to quickly address the question of “fittest”. In a world where e-invites, facebooking, twittering and public relations stands paramount it is passé to stick to old world norms of “waiting in the wings for your turn”. Truth is there are no wings and certainly not a turn. BN today is a commodity. Are we to buy what is sold with amazing publicity employing tremendous marketing skills or are we to look for quality. I am not suggesting that quality is available only in thrift shops and so give up upscale mall shopping. That’s not pragmatic. Its alright let us embrace the popular, but the climb there must be fair and based on certain universal principles.

 8. It is futile to ask for cleaner scrupulous standards in offering platforms from organizers, you will be in solitude if you remain in your “shell”, not socialize, “know” the “people”, you will be damned if you do not send out a million request letters, applications, photos, phone calls, house visits and the jazz. So what do we do?

 9. I know of dancers who don’t want to do these things and then some who cannot do these things at all for genuine economic reasons. Then what?

 10. I have been asked to address some issues concerning one, my being an actor. I think India and Indians came of age a long time ago. The concept of stigma of multiple careers or roles has long vanished. There is a healthy example in Dr.Vyjayantimala Bali to show that entertainment business and classical dance will go hand in hand and stay parallel. I am a dancer from the age of five while I became an actor almost a decade later. With my comprehension of the perfomative history that is handed down to me and with my own research I work on principles that stay within the abuttal of classical BN. But that is for dancers, funding and platform agencies to see and recognize. If anyone is to have pre-conceptions about multiple career choices of dancers, especially when that choice is entertainment and media related then they are not only short sighted but also in denial. Personally, I believe that using that as a reason to debate on a dancer’s adherence to classicism (if at all that’s the concern) would be begrudging of that dancer’s vantage to media attention and other public absorptions rather than issues of adherence and classicism. Let us not forget that devadasis at the turn of the 20th century started appearing in cinema and also in stage plays like harischadra natakam, pavazakodi etc. Therefore cinema is not a bad word, actress is not a dirty word and popularity is not a cuss word!

 11. The second issue is me being a researcher. The problems of a research student, scholar trying to reconstruct older dance forms etc and the difficulties in that realm, are for another discussion. But in general BN for the longest time now has largely separated scholarship and practice. I have seen a lot of eye brows being raised when I used to say I am a researcher. I have seen scholars and dancers schuff at me when I went ahead to do my masters in Bharatanatyam seven years ago. The other issue I have noticed is that age is a huge factor. The pre-conception that younger people really can’t be scholars is also seen. Dancer/ scholars are far and few. It is too primitive to discuss the issues they face yet. But scholarship for dancers will encourage a comprehension of historicity and enable a firm identity. To that extent it is a social issue. Also isolated scholarship in dance without practice sometimes throws the art and science of BN vulnerable to angled, partisan-ed and even jaundiced views and constructions. Therefore, it will be great to have a generation of scholar/dancers who can put in perspective the art in entirety. This is of course not to take away anything from exemplary scholars who contribute to dance history.

 12. Any occupation receives the “professional” status in a society when its presence contributes constructively to the society’s growth and its absence levels a vacuum. The dancing community until the nationalist, colonial iron hand vanquished it from temples, had a very important significant role in the religious sphere of the society’s everyday life. When that very practice came under the scanner the dancing ritual was the first to be hit. We are soon moving towards a time when the diaspora and the dancing fraternity is assimilating not only non-hindu but also non-religious dancers. If questions of ownership of Bharatanatyam as a hindu art are raised in a few decades (God forbid) are we well prepared to face it? Can we rediscover a context for today’s dance and through that to dancers in order to enable a more significant place and relevance to the society it breeds in? I mean not ideal relevance like cultural and aesthetic upliftment which have themselves become matters of personal choice and global assimilation. I mean purpose and relevance like that of say doctors and lawyers perhaps? This was my response to a question that was raised by my good friend and dancer Jayachandran.

13. I wouldn’t dare give one solution to all the above problems. But here is a start, nevertheless. BN dancers are all over the world. The diaspora has an equal stake in BN as we do. Let us not remain in denial. If we consider Chennai as the “hub” of BN practice and performance, then it must create a guild. A guild that recognizes (using fair parameters of economic and resume professional artistes) giving them IDs to entail them fare and portioned opportunities on performance platforms, assess to funding agencies, medical insurance etc. Kautilya in the Arthasastra suggested that unmarried women dancers must be given governmental jobs as spinsters (to spin the yarn). Such was the socio-economic vision of our ancestors. Must not we follow suit? It is appalling to note that dancers have no retirement, let alone retirement benefits.

 14. This guild must take on issues of foul play and come as a mediation body in case of dispute. It must have a grievance redressal cell to help young dancers deal with issues of sexual harassment, exploitation by so-called patrons, organizers, scholars and others. It is all happening. We can pretend “holier than thou” but it is an open secret. It could take up issies of maximum and minimum wages for dancers and ensemble members. It must also enroll and encourage amateur dancers. Those who want to and absolutely must, can continue their marketing and purchasing of opportunities but should never be identified as a professional artiste. The audiences will be made to know the difference. In order to get a professional status they must fall within some stipulated parameters for both performative standards, experience, income and integrity. A time when fair application, audition and selection process must encourage dancers to become marketing savvy, promotion through innovative social networking can be encouraged and the “lobbying” with silk sarees, undue flattery, other “favors” and money cannot buy you platforms and awards.

 15. The guild must later bring under its fold artistic groups like the Bhagavatamela artistes, kaisiki natanam artistes”, folk artistes, contemporary and experimental artistes etc for these are our brothers and sisters and we need to fend for them as well. We are after all what we protect!

16. In short, we are a large number of dancers, scattered all over. We are not a community yet. Can we become one? The immediate history of this art was the disengagement of the artiste community and its rites of passage, assimilation and strict rules of adherence. Now, it seems that that community- ship is the need of the hour again. This is truly the hour of retrospect.

 17. In all…IT WAS LAUNDRY DAY FOR DANCERS, WE WASHED LINEN ALRIGHT, DIRTY OR OTHERWISE…THE IMPORTANT THING IS ARE WE GON
NA COME CLEAN?

 SWARNAMALYA GANESH
AT THE LAUNDROMAT- WITH QUARTERS ET.ALL

here is a  poster done by a person named Shashank on facebook. its perfect for this article, I thought. 

The first light that led me to the Attic

Sri Gurubhyo namaha
I vividly remember the day a rickshaw pulled in front of Raniannadurai street.
My mother and I were walking into the big house. Being a student of Kutralam Ganasan Pillai herself, my mother had very specific choices of whom I should train under and in what sampradayam. I was barely 3 years old.
Sarasa ma was warm and welcoming to my mother as they knew each other from before and was only too glad to take me in. Unlike a few other Gurus in the city who had adviced my mother to wait until I am 7 years old, sarasa ma readily agreed to take me in. She said, if a child has the potential, let us catch her young.
My house was a few streets away and I used to be dropped at class every day. All I remember of the first few years was sitting on her lap watching all the senior girls dance.
She would take classes for hours, tirelessly. She would sing so melidiously and expect the students sitting around, to sing as well.
My salangai poojai was a grand affair. She had trained a mere 8 year old for a two hour debut. Gowri akka (the singer) , Ramdas anna (the mridangist, the great Tanjavur Ramdass) would be at all rehersals from day one. I remember even having regular classes to their music. Such was the musical atmosphere that I got training in.
There was never a timing or a strict fee structure. Sarasalaya was a home. I would reach there after school and spend all evening learning, teaching, singing and dancing. No one would be asked to leave after their class. Knowledge was free flowing. It was upto the dancer to grab as much as she wanted or could.
My arangetram was a huge story. Sarasa ma told me she reposited great dreams and faith in me and hence was inviting the who’s who of the dance world for my arangetram. I was so nervous and didn’t want to disappoint her. She specially composed the Bharathiyar song “ninaye rathi endru ninaikuren adi” along with the Basant Bahar tillana for me. I was thrilled and even today at sarasalaya, basant bahar tillana is known as the piece done for me, by teacher!
Every program was a learning curve with her. She never taught us abhinaya by giving us specific hands or gestures. In her teaching, there was so much freedom that even in class we were encouraged to improvise, interpret. If ten girls are dancing at the same time, teacher expected ten different versions of the same piece. On stage if we improvise, she would admire the effort and move along with us.
As a dance guru and researcher, today when I look back I am amazed at how she effortlessly she blended the gurukula system of imparting knowledge with modernity.
She never sat us down to teach the values and ethics behind sampradaya. Infact, sarasa ma in many ways stands as the melting pot of Old world gurus blending into the cosmopolitan, english-speaking dance teachers of madras. However, the learning atmosphere she provided instilled a great sense of understanding in me for music, dance and their rich traditions.
Over the years she has always been proud of the fact that I sing too. She would always make me sing for others in class as they reherse. I have spent several days over the many years I have learnt with her in class, not only dancing and singing, but also eating, picking out her silk saree for the evening’s concert, ironing them, helping her pick her jewellery for her evening’s concert etc. All through such times she would talk nine to nineteen. From Ramayya vadyar’s classes, music of Bala ma, music nuances in tanjore quartette, to madras dance politics and madhuri dixit’s dance. She had a gift of the gab. Her humor was subtle and very well known.
Being a non-performing Guru, I have never seen Sarasa ma dance much. Even in class she would rarely get up to demonstrate. But the few occasions she has, those are etched in my memory.
On an april afternoon several years ago, she, suddenly, very instinctively got up to demostrate a line from a padam. As the afternoon sun streamed into the hall, her diamond nose-stud (the only ornament she wore on her person that day) shining away, she sang and did abhinaya for the lines “Rama rama prana sakhi…” I think that day changed my life. As a young teenager I had decided that day, that I wanted to become a dancer just like her. And I wanted to wear a nose-ring, just like her too !
Over the many years, she has inspired me to become what I have. All my research and dancing and teaching I owe to her. In 2005, when I did a production based on Silappadikaram, I requested her to do a guest appreance as Madhavi’s dance Guru for me. She was so thrilled. She decked herself up. Puff-sleeved blouse and saree, maatal, odiyaanam, vanki, bullakku et all; and came to the studios. When I played the music she asked me to teach her what I needed her to do. I was stocked and stunned. But she insisted that I direct her and pushed me to do so. That to me is the greatest of day’s of my life.
Vijayadasami at sarasalaya is like new year for me. I begin my dancing year on that day by seeking her blessings and dancing to her music and singing, sitting at her feet. It recharges my artistic batteries to run for the whole year, with her blessings and guidance. This year too was very memorable. Unlike other years when we wouldn’t have much time to perform several pieces, she asked to dance a alarippu, jatiswaram, vrttam and a pada varnam. It was as if she she knew that this was going to be the last Dasami she is going to take class for me.
All my students have the greatest fortune of taking her blessings too. I took them all one day to her. We danced at sarasalaya koodam. She individually blessed all of them. Ranga mandira, both natya and sangeeta shala students respect and look up to sarasa ma and we lovingly follow the sampradaya she has imparted to me.
She is a very strong woman. Being the head of a large matrilineal family. Determined and strong willed. I have never seen her break-down. At the same time, she is also child-like. Loves food, loves to try out new kinds of food. She loves cinema and Madhuri Dixit’s dance. She also used to do great impressions of others and would make us all laugh in class. She is kind hearted and a lover of great music. I know sarasa ma loves sankarabharanam. I made it a point to sing atleast one sankarabharana kriti, padam, pada varnam or atleast a vrttam to her everytime I meet over the last year.
Needless to say I have so much more but cant put down over 2 decades of very eventful years here at once. I feel it is a divine ordain that I had the opportunity to learn from such a great Guru.
She is a pioneer and a leader, not only to women nattuvanar lineage but to the gender at large. I would like to believe that I have imbibed in me not only dance, music and teaching from her but also her strong personality and ability to face challenges and emerge a winner.
On January 2nd 2012, my Guru, my guiding light, my mentor, Sarasa ma attained the lotus feet of the Lord. I was there all day with her, hoping she may wake up and call me “Swarna…inga vaa paa”. She didn’t. It seems she has fulfilled all that she was born to do. She has been a good daughter, a great sister who took take of the entire family. She was a student par excellence, a shadow like follower of Vazuvoor Ramiah Pillai, a very devoted mother to her sister’s daughters. But above all, she was the greatest teacher. She imparted dance, music and values to her disciples as if it were the very air we breathe.
I will always miss you my dear sarasa ma, sarasa teacher. I also know that you will always look down upon me with affection and the protective motherly care and bless me, like you always have.
As I bid her good bye yesterday at 5pm I came back home and I danced for her, while her soul was leaving her mortal coil. For a Guru who had lived all her life for music and dance what else can I do? At that time, as I was overwhelmed, words just poured in my mind and I composed a song on her and sang it.
My tribute to her: describing her dark-hued (syamale) but very charming loving eyes (sarasija lochani), the one who always has a smile (hasite) and who resides in my heart (hrdaya nivasini)
You are a giver of happiness to all, all the time (sadaananda kaarini), you are the embodiment of sangeeta, music and dance (sangeeta kalaa samkshobini), you adopted all your disciples as your own child (sakala siksaa sveeharini) you have the untraceable divine lineage (niradhaara vamsini), you are pure and righteous (nirmala satya hamsini)
You are the consort of Sri Paramesvara (Parameswara nari) you are the torch bearer of the divine art of dance (pavitra nartaka kalaa vihari) you are a divine in mortal form who resides in the lotus of my heart (paramapurusha padmasri) you are hailed by the whole world, my mother ! (dharani prasidha maa janani)
Incidentally, Sarasa amma was very desirously of getting a Padmasri award. She aspired for it for years. Ofcourse she deserved much more. But this was the least and she aspired no more. But this country missed the opportunity to bestow upon her that honour till the very end. Her students are her wealth, her awards. I, hereby through this kriti bestow upon the greatest GURU in the world of arts, my mother, my mentor the Padmasri. She is a padmasri, for she resides in the inner most lotus of my heart, forever.

Swarnamalya Ganesh
Having lost the first light that led me to the attic!
P.S: Click anywhere on the red writing to listen to the kriti that I have composed on my Guru.

Soul searching at the Attic !

Dear all,

Well in the middle of the season we are. I have had a good month, except that I have had to make a few very important re schedules. But I believe that everything happens for a reason.

This time I choose to talk about a very important tradition that had changed my artistic journey forever.

Right about the time when life, both personally and artistically was really rough on me I took one of my pilgrim trips to my haven, Tanjavur. It was the month of april, may about 5 years ago. I wanted a big "time-out" from chennai and hence was stationed at tanjavur for a good 20 days. Tanjavur is not only a center of culture, but all pockets of small villages around it are rich with different cultural identities of their own.

During the time of the Nayak king Achyutappa, who was a great patron of arts, he had encouraged artistes and artisans of various art forms to come to his country. He promised them patronage and honour. It was under his guidance and great patronage that the Tanjavur Bhagavata mela natakams were encouraged. Achyutappa made large endowments for the up keep of this art form. He gifted an entire village as free hold lands for five hundred Brahmin families who had migrated from Andhra. They were the Bhagavatas. this village, which is presently called Melattur was previously known as Unnatapuri and during Achyutappa's time it was called Achyuta Puri. This bhagavatha tradition following the Sri Vaishnava cult, perform various melas (natakas) based on puranic stories. They perform Prahlada Charitram on Nrisimha Jayanti day and continue for the next ten days with Rukmini kalyanam, Usha Parinayam, Harischnadra and other plays.Several other villages including saliyamangalam, neegamangalam, ottukadu all situated nearby too have a bhagavatha mela tradition.

I share with you my experiences.

Secrets of the soul -a divine and defining experience! The Bhagavatamela festival.

Man is one psyche, one whole of which body, mind and spirit are aspects. Every individual has in him this vast whole of consciousness, this great amount of contents of which the conscious self is not fully aware.

Many a times, I ponder about the artistic unhappiness one feels from time to time. While the reasons range from commercialization to marginalization one other important reason is excessive intellectualization too. While looking for a solution we realisation that to regain the lost happiness, the means is to attain inner artistic tranquillity- which is again the very purpose of art.

While, we struggle so hard to recreate a “temple stage” in our city prosceniums, while under the glares of arc lights, sophisticated acoustics, contemporary commentaries and the works we struggle to achieve the inwardization, let alone the more elusive “rasanubhava”, here is a clan of artistes who know no less than absolute inner tranquillity. It was a conscious, yet effortless reach for the “daiva siddhi” that Bharata talks about in the Natya Sastra, as the highest achievement or attainment of aesthetic enjoyment and the purpose of art.

Natya, a drama with music, dance, dialogues, stories, stagecraft and theatrics is best preserved by these dedicated artistes or Bhagavatas. The Bhagavatamela festival at Melattur year after year bings alive the greatest living traditional theatrical art form of Tamilnadu.

As I sat through the different plays I was overwhelmed, overjoyed and this excitement reached a crescendo leaving me tranquil. That’s when I started thinking; Melattur is almost cut off from even the main stream town crowd of Tanjavur or any of the other nearby towns. Just the travel to this place through the almost deserted road increases a sense of anticipation. Add to that a reverence one feels as we move into the streets. We begin to feel at home as we join people, both locals and visitors all gathered outside their homes and talking to each other from their “tinnais”. The air is fragrant with a festive mood. From the oldest living member of the village to even a tiny toddler, everybody is assembling and also assuming a sense of responsibility.
How hard do we struggle here in the city to gather people inspite of all the communication and transportation facilities? The audiences of our modern theatres are at luxury. They feel no obligation or sense of responsibility towards either the art or the artistes. Ofcourse, let us not blame them completely because when we are in the audience, don’t we do the same?

At Melattur, the reverence the artistes- each and everyone of them show (including every member of the musical ensemble) by first paying their obeisance to God at the temple and then getting on stage, the way they sanctify the stage with unhurried rendition of Bhajana sampradaya namasankeertanams, todaya mangalams while sanctifying the atmosphere and space with sugandas like sambarani automatically transforms the “site” or the stage into a reverential space. The message they send out is very clear; “we are about to engage in no ordinary entertainment, hence in the name of God let us endeavour upon this divine journey”. And then there is a beautiful start sans commentaries, explanations or credits. Including the audiences too in the namasankeertanams truly purifies and prepares our mind for the oncoming divine experience. All this stands in total contrast to the blaring of names, titles and laurels won, accompanied by thunderous applause that we are used to in the city. We applaud here at the Bhagavatamela too alright. Example, when Sri.Natarajan, the prime mover of the Bhagavatamela and a senior artiste walks in as Lilavati one cannot resist the urge to want to welcome him with a roaring applause, such in his poise, grace and if I may say, beauty. But when Lilavati and Hiranya have a repartee about his uncontrollable anger or while watching the long drawn powerful conflict between Hiranya and Lord Narasimha one simply not only forgets to applaud but even to breathe. Such is the power of their performances. Sri.Kumar who plays an electrifying and brilliant Hiranya brings out the character with so many shades that while watching his quivering lips and angry eyes one forgets that Hiranya is supposed to be a horrific rakshasha and begins to like the character and his mannerisms. There is no big fuss about drawing a line between loka dharmi and natya dharmi etc here. They are governed by spontaneity and that involvement absorbs us so completely that words of praise or even applause seem simply inadequate and almost silly. We are only filled with a sense of gratitude to God for giving us an opportunity to be a part of such an amazing experience.

Their technique, talent and artistic brilliance shine through with a power that oozes out of each voice that sings, each pair of eyes that express, each hands and legs that move. This power is palpably and directly drawn from none other than Lord Sri Narasimha himself from the temple right opposite to the stage. It is revelling to see how even Hiranya takes his strength from Hari. Everytime an artiste’s eyes fell on the temple, it glittered, dancing with joy and emotion as if, saying to Him “all this is your doing, for you and from you”. This absolute surrender reached the audiences like a wave of current. The young lad who plays Prahlada shines like a fresh pearl, timid and shy and yet showing bhakti and determination through his eyes that never once left the temple site.

The unhurried pace at which the Bhagavatamela natakas gradually unfold, scene after scene, helps the characters blossom and last in the minds of the spectators. This in itself contributes greatly towards reaching the aesthetic pleasure – Rasaanubhava. It is rather simpleton sometimes to expect this same feverish joy within the confines of an A/C auditorium, time clocks and an hour and fifteen minutes iron hand et al; Let us wake up and face the fact that by pushing our arts to the so-called grand venues we stripped much of its chance to unfold and leave a telling impact. The ambience and the audience play a very vital role in the aesthetic enhancement of any art. And if most times all we can have them remember is the colour of our costumes and some frivolous detail about the program that’s no success.
Notwithstanding the tough calls one needs to take on the choice between fast paced items to slow (chowka kala) pieces etc to retain audiences!, even the choice of language for commentary becomes somehow crucial and subject to criticism often. We think and come up with ways of simplifying and spoon feeding the spectators; Indian audiences, NRI audiences. Will the telugu audience like watching a tamizh varnam? Will the tamizh audience understand a telugu varnam? The dilemmas are endless. But at Melattur, which is a tiny village in Tamilnadu with predominantly tamizh speaking people, the Bhagavatamela natakas are presented in pure literary telugu. Ofcourse they do present an occasional tamizh play too like a Valli Kalyanam etc but definitely not with a prime motive of pleasing the tamizh audiences. It is extremely refreshing to see that there is no parochialism what so ever here. It is my opinion that it is only us, in the city who in the name of betterment and reach are over intellectualising the arts. The best tool that these traditional art forms like Bhagavatamela uses against this problem is, simplicity and adhering to tradition. They inculcate a taste for higher standards and understanding in the audiences rather than playing to the gallery. After all, how can the art be a tool of communication if its language is its own barrier or if its commentary leaves no room for interpretation? Of course by saying all this I do not mean to belittle the artistic greatness of those veterans whom we have seen and see as inspiring examples of how we can use the given space and time to create aesthetic joy on a city stage too. However, the accessibility we have to better ambiences, better aesthetics (viz a viz our great ancient temples) and how we almost overlook them and are quickly trading them for modernity and so called globalization urged me to think whether we are stepping into the global scenario without a definitive individuality and are allowing ourselves to be simply swept off our feet.

The religious and spiritual force that drives the Bhagavata mela artistes is telling. This great ritualistic nataka tradition answered many a questions for me. These dedicated artistes or Bhagavatas and faith taught me to never try to please anybody. I have to be truthful to my art and my heart. Criticism for that kind of process is abundant and success rather slow, but I learnt from them how to marginalize that disadvantage and look at the larger, bigger picture, where we might be part of a tradition building process. Of course traditions will have to stand the test of time. That will decide their destiny and future. But I shall strive to search deeper, farther and forever for the roots. I shall in the meantime, uphold what I have been left with, with sincerity and appreciation. How else can we explain how Sri.Venkatarama Sastri’s natakas (lived during the reign of Raja Serfoji) works would be fodder for powerhouse performances year after year, each year drawing the locals (repeat audiences) while being the canvas for stunning performances, fresh and new each time, yet still somehow unchanged for decades.

Afterall, creation is man’s lonely attempt to know his own strange and secret soul and its vocation along with his roots.

With this blog are some of the pictures that I had taken myself of prahlada charitram nataka. They belong to 2006, 07 and 08 I think.


Swarnamalya ganesh
Soul searching at the Attic !

Staring at the silhouette of the Attic !

Dear all,

The music and dance season has begun here at chennai a.k.a madras. I have been swamped with work and I realize that all the serious work that I am doing is setting me off on a different path.

This blog, I decided must be a continuation of Blog number three. Of course I digressed a little in four and five, but only to speak of some essentials.

In Thanjavur there are two most magnificent phenomenons according to me. One is the periya koil and the other is Seekezar Adipodi Dr.T.N.Ramachandran, affectionately called as TNR sir by all. He is a polyglot, a scholar, philosopher, saiva siddanta expert, a writer, a poet, a teacher and much more.

As my car drove into the by lane off the bridge adjacent to the Periya koil, I was a bit nervous. I got down and entered the veranda. All around me were stacks and stacks of books, shelves and cupboards full of books and there in the midst of books and scholars, on a wooden swing was seated the Great TNR sir. Simple and smiling, with his vettalai potti (beetle leaf box). Sir greeted me and introduced me to a dozen men who were seated in plastic chairs around him, chattering away. On my way to his home I was told that he was teaching a class and therefore his students might possibly be there too.

Students they were. Dr.Sivaraman (faculty Sastra university), Dr.Tyagaraja Sarma (Faculty Sastra University), Dr.Subbarayalu (Faculty Alagappa University), Dr.Kudavayil Balasubrahmanyam (the renowned archaeologist), Dr. Sankaranarayanan (English luminary of Sastra), his Guru Sri K.G.Seshadri, Dr.Kausalya, Sri.B.M.Sundaram (musicologist). A visibly awed me, was also asked to sit and participate in the class that evening. I drew up a chair and sat amongst all these distinguished men of merit. The cdiscussion that day was "Tiruvizimazalai Padigam of Appar peruman". For the next one hour I had lost myself. The distinction between the teacher and taught was blurred by high exchange of inter disciplinary knowledge. I heard quoted from Shakespeare and Sekkizar, Kambar and Tolstoy, Einstein and Arivanar. All the 'students" and the teacher shared several common qualities. All of them were older (to me:-)), all of them had the undying passion and aptitude to seek, all of them revered their teacher and the subject was supreme.

I was truly in the presence of Divinity. If knowledge is God then the place where so much knowledge is imparted has to be a divine shrine isin't it?

Not a moment was wasted in any gossip or malicious talk. Every word from every person there was knowledge sharing, ordained. TNR sir's Guru Triloka Seetaraman sir's words hang at the entrance to this house, as a silent witness to such erudition. TNR sir's bakti for Bharatiyar is only too well known.

The class got over and now was the time for them to hear from me. I was asked to share with them the kind of work I wish to do. I stood transfixed. I realized at that very moment that, no matter what I achieve in life, my way of life must be like these great men and all I wanted to do was look around the room, at everyone and say "I want to become you, you,you and you O! sire!"

This august gathering in his house is called "devasabhai". Couldn't agree more. Where goodness is, there God-ness resides. And this is the place. I feebly voiced my thirst to want to know about what was danced during the times of the imperial rulers. After a few rounds of scholarly discussions on that very statement I picked up courage and spoke in "open court" thus, " I believe there is no one better than Rajaraja, Sivapada sekharan, wasn't he?". I had betrayed my callowness in the field of academia with that one statement :-) 

Tnr sir smiled at me and said in his inimitable style, "adu romba serima... aana Milton Maa muni Paradise regained la enna solraar na..."

I sat there with rapt attention trying hard to get past my awe for such scholarship and participating in the actual conversation, but that never happened.

Finally, after two and a half solid hours of ears full of worthy words, mind full of worthy thoughts and hand full of valuable books (given to me by Sir), when it was time for me to leave, as I moved towards my car, TNR sir called out to me "Paeti..."(grand daughter...) I was so over whelmed that I wanted to cry.

Later that night when I was alone in my room, I calmly recollected the evening's events. That is when I realized an amazing fact. All the great "Dr"s whom I had met that evening had not mocked me for my ignorance or my novice. But instead they had all individually offered to help me in my journey. The hall mark of true scholarship. They all had addressed me as Tnr's grand daughter and had extended any help to me, should I ask.

I walked up to the window and drew out the curtains. As I stood staring at the silhouette of the Brihadeeswara Vimanam that night, I felt His blessing upon me. My time had arrived. I was at the gateway. A lock was hanging on it, but nevertheless, I had arrived...at the gateway.

Swarnamalya Ganesh

Still staring at the silhouette of the Attic !

Some hues on the Attic

The Tanjore quartette in the Big temple Painting

The Tanjore big temple was a seat of learning, particularly music and dance. From the time of Rajaraja II this temple premises was brimming with artictic learning and activities. The times of the Nayak rulers consolidated this and the last ruling dyansty of Tanjore, namely the Marattas greatly patronised all art forms. Most of the kings being musicians, dancers and poets themselves their respect and love for arts and artistes was great. It was in the court of these Maratta kings that the architects of present day Bharatanatyam flourished.

The Tanjore quartette lived about 200 years ago. They were the “astana” or resident music and dance teachers of the Maratta court. They not only have taught bharatanatyam but also hindustani dance. This fact is authenticated by their own words in a letter that they have written to the King and signed themselves. The tanjore quartette are the four brothers namely Cinnayya (1802), Ponnaiyya (1804), Sivanandam (1808) and Vadivelu (1810). They were the children of Subbaraya nattuvanar (in the court of Pratapa Simha) and Paramanandam Ammal. They were trained from an early age in the twin art of music and Nattuvangam (teaching and choreographing for dance). They were in service during the time of Serfoji II and Shivaji Raja. They were the students of none other than the great Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar (one of the musical trinity). They are credited with having created a “margam” or path, format which we use in bharatanatyam even today. They were great vaggayakaras (twin art of composing the lyrics and the music simultaneously). Their compositions are preserved in hand written manuscripts in the possession of their family members and their students who have passed it on through generations through practice and traditions.

There is a beautiful painiting of the time of Serfoji II in the front Mandapam of the amman shrine where the Tajore quartette are depicted as doing nattuvangam and singing while a woman is dancing. This goes to prove beyond doubt that they were the appointed dance masters for the Brihadeeswara temple. They were empowered to do so. For these services the Raja had granted them a house near the temple (today opposite the sankara madam on kamakshi koil street) apart from other rights and previleges during temple festivals like Brahmotsavam etc.

They created dances called the Navasandhi kavutuvam which are based on agamic rituals. These are part of the dik bali poja offered to the nine cardinal directions and to the Gods of each direction. This was set to music and dance and performed by devadasis under the mastership of the Tanjore quartette during the Dvaja arohanam (falg hoist or flag ascending day) of any festival. It is truly my blessing that my gurus from the hereditary community have taught me all of the navasandhi and the pancamurthy kautuvams.

The tanjore quartette’s musical compositions are plenty. Their pada varnams, jatiswarams, sollus, javalis, sabdams, tillanas are available to us both thorugh oral traditions and from the Manuscripts they have left behind. However, as mentioned above the Tanjore quartette have not only taught karnatic music and dance but also hindustani music and dance. We have not got muvh material on their hindustani compositions (if there were any) or the kind of dance they taught. From a beautiful painting in the nrtta mandapa outside the Murugan shrine (a nayak period addition) which depicts on either side a karnatic dancer (costumed in south indian dancing style) and a hindustani dancer (dressed in a hindustani style, which resembles closely the present day kathak costuming with a whirling skirt and blouse) we can understand that they were not only teaching and performing both karnatic aand hindustani dances but these were practiced in that very same nrtta mandapa.

There is a very important document at the Saraswati mahal library, tanjavur. This is a hand-written letter from the tanjore quartette signed (in tamil)on behalf of them by Sivanandam . This is in Modi script and addressed to Serfoji II. In this letter they introduce themselves as the appointed music and dance masters at the Big temple were they teach both karnatic and Hindustani dances upon the ordain of the King on the occasion of the marriage of Sowbhagyavati Rajasabai Ammani to Raje Saheb. This letter is a complaint that the temple authorities do not allow them to meet or perform in front of the King. From this it is amply clear that a tarditon of both karnatic and hisndustani music and dance existed in tanjore all the way till the time fot he Maratta rulers. This writer is presently researching on the Hindustani compositions that the tanjore quartette taught to the devadasis, the Tanjore quartette’s contribution to hindustani compositions and the influence of that on present day bharatanatyam.

The tanjore quartette moved to various other samastanams too. While Cinnaiyya moved to the Mysore court, Vadivelu Nattuvanar was patronised by Maharaja Swati Tirunal at the Travancore court. Their music and dance genius has helped shape the dances and music of these regions too.

The Tanjore Quartette returned to the tanjore court again during the time of shivaji raja and contiued their yeomen service to dance and music from there.

Thus, the walls (paintingss), Manuscripts, documents of the tanjore temple and library speak volumes of the presence and importance of the Tajore quartette.

P.S.: This is a part of a paper of mine that was published in a university journal.

Next, on my Sufi experience...Tasawwuf!!!

Swarnamalya Ganesh

From under rubbles of rich remains :-)

Behind the Attic!

Dear all,

Before I continue any further my story I have to speak about something very important. Some of my friends who have been around me long enough might have heard these things a million times from me but saying it all one more time, for the benefit of the new listeners wouldn’t hurt.

Bharatanatyam is today viewed as the Indian cultural identity. It is and will continue to be a part of the intercultural and interdisciplinary movement. It is not simply an art form practiced or learnt. It is not even simply a tradition of a sect of people, country or religion. It is a way of life with whose practice come issues of rites, authority, ownership, transfer, power, social, economic, political and moral status, cultural hybridity, adaptability and the co-existence of older traditions and newer sensibilities.

All the above-mentioned issues are key factors in shaping this artform. They are each a story to tell. Different beginnings and different courses but they all have a common thread. The most important parts of this story belong to the Devadasis or Hindu dancing women who were dedicated to the various temples over centuries. Art was still very much in the custody of these hereditary practitioners.

These were a group of people who were bound together by their way of life and profession; much has been said and written about them. These, community of artistes preserved for centuries, every aspect of this art as precious, ‘transferable only upon authority’ knowledge. They used rites, ownership, strict communal regulations, power and authority to practice and preserve this art form. It was hereditary just like how a carpenter’s son becomes a carpenter, goldsmith’s son a goldsmith. However, since this was not a caste but only a community or vrtti (a professional class), they adopted children from all castes to be included into the community and then trained them in their ways of life.

Most often people who’s prayers were answered, dedicated their first born to the temple, in service. A child would be given as a gift or donation to the temple or sometimes temples would buy children for a price. Now, as you read this I am sure it comes across as a cruel, regressive practice to you. But let us remember we are discussing a norm that was and therefore its important to understand the system from its socio-economic point of view.

During the various imperial rules in India, the temples were the seat of power and administration. They served as not only places of religious worship but as a cultural, administrative, economic epicentre. The temples were as wealthy as the Kings. They held separate treasuries and granaries. An entire village (within every kingdom there would be several villages) would be centred around a temple. Architecturally, houses on the four streets around the temple, their adjacent streets, the outer streets etc. were all allocated systematically to people of various professions who’s services were of hierarchical importance to the everyday up keep and administration of the temple and thereby the kingdom. It would not be an exaggeration to say that a prominent temple in a kingdom was the King’s public hall where his subjects would meet, get employed and interact with the King’s office. So, in this context the services of a devadasi were important only next to the priest! It was not only her duty to sing and dance as part of the various rituals but to also clean the temple, make garlands and do other such services. Therefore, to dedicate a child to a temple to be trained in the life of a devadasi was considered a great privilege and boon. Similarly, for a temple to come forward and buy a child (this is similar to hiring an employee today) means the child and her family are worthy of this honour (Don’t we feel elated if we get hired or campus selected by some fortune 500 company?). Besides, when children were adopted or bought from economically weaker families, the child found not only a home but also a whole new life and vocation which granted them among other things a social status.

It is true that some literatures in some contexts have spoken of dancing girls and the oldest profession going hand-in-hand. But they were far and few. The societal norms allowed for the devadasi to lead a life where she could chose her partner and live as an “ekacharin”(woman who is mistress to only one man) without being bonded in a marriage. They were hailed as Nityasumangalis (ever-auspicious) who were wedded to God. This meant that they were never touched by the societal evils of widowhood (shaving a woman’s head clean and making her wear white or khaki clothes and no bindi, flowers or any social interaction and considering her ill luck). They had rites of passage from the temple and were bound by religious norms. They underwent strict training, had a difficult social sanction order and then were expected to lead life according to religious codes, which were rigid. As a nityasumangali, a woman had the protection of a living patron and the deity of the temple for social identity. The devadasi was allowed to participate in the secular society to educate herself in artistic skills and exhibit the same in the midst of the connoisseurs. This gave her a unique position in the highly patrilineal society where other women had no role in public life. Every one hence had to respect her and treat her with chivalry.

Very often, for the want of a better explanation of a devadasi we hear people equating them to a catholic nun. While both are engaged in temple (God’s) service, nun hood demands celibacy and preaches virginity as a norm. But according to the Hindu nidhi and agama sastra we recognise the biological needs of every human (even those engaged in God’s service). Besides, the temples demanded heredity and skill in positions offered to workers. Heredity to ensure dedication and commitment. So, a devadasi was allowed and encouraged to have a progeny so that generation after generation dedicated servants to Gods and temples were groomed. However, it was not enough to be born into the community but one had to train hard to get competent in order to claim their rights. We must also remember that just as gaining competence was difficult, unless born or adopted and resident in the community with its internal facilities any training would be impossible.

There was an evolved division of labour as cinnamelam and periyamelam, which consisted of female and male service providers. The female devadasi being the central focus in a cinnamelam and the periyamelam consisting of nagaswaram and melakarars. Monetary benefits were shared in accordance to this hierarchy. Of course the devadasi remained the central force of the family under whose administration and governance the entire family lived. In a society, which denied respect and recognition to women, the devadasi was an independent professional maintaining an entire household well within the Hindu community itself.

Even the early travel accounts of Marco Polo, Nicolo De Conti, Nuniz and Peas do not call them prostitutes. They elaborate on their ritualistic duties and the high position and status these women enjoyed in the society. They also confirm that they were not married but were dedicated to the deities. A Dutchman Jacob Haafner who lived in India for more than 13 years during the late 18^th century and early 19^th century in his extensive travel accounts titled “reize in eenen palanquin” (1808) describes how he fell head over heels in love with a young devadasi named Mamia in 1786.

Devadasigal- Dancing whores?

The interest of the west turned to the devadasi, her unique social position, her art and beauty. She brought a certain aura of eroticism with her personality and life. This translated into a lot of literature and documentation by both Indians and westerns about devadasi, her life and work. All these constructions of a devadasi as a hindu high priestess who was exploited by the religious heads and the picture of her as a knowledgeable but impoverished maiden was very sensational and exotic for the western eye. By this time a new “elitist class” had begun emerging in India who s missionary education made them feel very self-conscious about their own traditions. They were fed with ideas of Indian moral systems being redundant and paganistic.

But sadly she has never told her story, hence much of the misnomer continues.

Devadasi means Servant to God. She is differently called as mahari, Talaikoli, Manicckam, sani in various regions of India. Why, even the French word Bayadere means a hindu dancing girl! Such is her allure!

I am a very proud student of one of the last few living devadasis of Tamil Nadu. It is not only a pride but I feel truly blessed and look at it as a divine ordain that through my Gurus I have the fortune of knowing their stories!

With more…in a while

Swarnamalya Ganesh

Behind the Attic!