6.1.2 Classical fine arts of Indian origin

Explained

Natya Shastra, rasa and the three kinds of dance.

• Rasa: Bharata gives eight (shringara, hasya, karuna, raudra, veera, bhayanaka, bibhatsa, adbhuta); shanta as the ninth is defended by Abhinavagupta, making the navarasas. Each rasa grows from a lasting emotion (sthayi bhava).
• Four abhinayas: angika (body), vachika (speech, song), aharya (costume), sattvika (inner feeling).
• Nritta: pure rhythmic dance. Nritya: dance with expression, bhava-ashraya (based on bhava); angika abhinaya leads; acting out word meanings. Natya: rasa-ashraya (based on rasa); sattvika abhinaya leads; acting out a whole story. The Dasharupaka (Dhananjaya, with Dhanika's commentary) set this difference. Natya is the fullest of the three.
• Four classes of instruments: tata (strings: veena), sushira (wind: flute), avanaddha (skin: mridangam), ghana (solid: cymbals, ghatam).

Music: names and facts.

• Puranic chain: Brahma → Saraswati → Narada → Gandharvas (hence "Gandharva ganam"). A lion-headed veena-like object from Harappa is cited (Heras) as the oldest instrument; Samudragupta appears playing the veena on his gold coins.
• Purandara Dasa (Karnataka, 15th–16th c.): "Pitamaha of Carnatic music"; sarali swaras and alankaras in raga Mayamalavagowla.
• Carnatic Trinity, all born at Tiruvarur: Thyagaraja (Rama; mostly Telugu; Pancharatna kritis; Aradhana at Tiruvaiyaru), Muthuswami Dikshitar (Sanskrit; signature Guruguha), Syama Sastri (devotee of goddess Kamakshi; swarajatis).
• Hindustani: Amir Khusrau, poet of Alauddin Khilji's court, blended Persian and Indian music (qawwali; credited with khayal); Tansen of Akbar's court, linked with raga Deepak, said to light lamps (Megh is said to bring rain); forms Dhrupad (oldest), Khayal, Tarana; Thumri, Dadra and Ghazal are light classical.

Deities and instruments: Shiva damaru, Saraswati veena, Krishna flute, Narada and Tumburu tambura.

Telugu composers.

Dances: more detail.

• Bharatanatyam: margam alarippu → jatiswaram → shabdam → varnam → padam → tillana; shaped by the Tanjore Quartet; revived by E. Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale, who founded Kalakshetra (Chennai, 1936); names: Balasaraswati, Yamini Krishnamurthy.
• Kuchipudi: dance-drama of the Brahmin Bhagavatulu of Kuchipudi village (Krishna district); founder (mulapurusha) Siddhendra Yogi, author of Bhama Kalapam; it grew from Yakshaganam and keeps spoken dialogue; Tarangam is danced on the rim of a brass plate; masters Vedantam Lakshminarayana Sastry, Vempati Chinna Satyam, Shobha Naidu, Raja–Radha Reddy.
• Odissi: traces in Kharavela's Udayagiri caves; Kelucharan Mohapatra, Sonal Mansingh.
• Manipuri: Vaishnava Ras Lila; the Kumil is a stiff, barrel-shaped skirt with mirror work; Manipur's Sankirtana (drumming, singing, dancing) is on UNESCO's list (2013).
• Kathakali: from Ramanattam; Kerala Kalamandalam (1930) by Vallathol Narayana Menon. Kathak: Mughal and Awadh courts; Birju Maharaj.
• Perini Sivatandavam: the "dance of warriors" of the Kakatiyas, danced to Shiva before battle; described in Jayapa's Nritta Ratnavali; poses carved at Ramappa; revived by Nataraja Ramakrishna. Kolatam (stick dance) and Tholu Bommalata (leather puppets) are old Telugu entertainments.

Temple architecture.

Painting.

• Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh): rock-shelter paintings about 30,000 years old (hunting, animals, dances); brought to light by V. S. Wakankar. Images carved into rock are petroglyphs.
• Ajanta (Maharashtra): Buddhist murals; caves 9 and 10 from the Satavahana period, most others Gupta–Vakataka; Jataka tales, Padmapani. Ellora Kailasanatha, Bagh and Sittannavasal (Jain) also hold murals.
• Lepakshi: ceiling murals, gems of the Vijayanagara school: Shiva's tandava, Shiva and Parvati at a board game, and a huge Veerabhadra panel. Hampi's Hazara Rama temple tells the Ramayana in stone and paint.
• Thanjavur painting: gold foil, bright colours, large deities (often Krishna); flourished under the Maratha rulers of Thanjavur (18th c.).
• Kalamkari: "kalam" = pen; painted or printed temple cloths of Andhra (pen work at Srikalahasti, block printing at Machilipatnam–Pedana).
• Miniatures: Pala palm leaves (east), Jain Kalpasutras (Gujarat), Mughal (Mir Sayyid Ali, Abdus Samad, Mansur), then Rajput, Pahari, Deccani.
• Modern: Raja Ravi Varma (gods in human form); Abanindranath Tagore founded the Bengal School to bring Indian nationalism into painting ("father of modern Indian art"); Nandalal Bose, Amrita Sher-Gil, Jamini Roy; M. F. Husain and the Progressive Artists' Group; Telugu Bapu.

Sculpture schools.

Mauryan polished stone pillars (Sarnath lion capital) began stone art; Gupta works include Deogarh (Vishnu on Shesha) and Udayagiri (Varaha); Hoysala carving recalls the sculptor Jakkana.

Theatre and literature.

• Kutiyattam (Kerala): oldest living Sanskrit theatre. Mudiyettu (Kerala): ritual drama of goddess Kali killing the demon Darika. Yakshagana in coastal Karnataka is called Bayalata; the Telugu Yakshaganam (Veedhi Bhagavatam) once flourished under the Thanjavur Marathas.
• Kridabhiramam by Vinukonda Vallabharaya: a street play (veedhi natakam) on life in Kakatiya Orugallu.
• Modern stage: Marathi drama began with Vishnudas Bhave's "Sita Swayamvar" (1843); Prithviraj Kapoor founded Prithvi Theatres (1944); Bengal's Nil Darpan; Harikatha and Burrakatha in Andhra.
• Kavya forms: padya (verse), gadya (prose), champu (verse and prose mixed), vachana kavita (free verse); marga (Sanskrit model) vs desi (regional, e.g. Palkuriki Somana's Basava Puranam).
• Pancha Mahakavyas: Raghuvamsha and Kumarasambhava (Kalidasa), Kiratarjuniya (Bharavi: Arjuna and Shiva as a hunter), Shishupalavadha (Magha), Naishadhiyacharita (Sriharsha: Nala–Damayanti). The last three are the Brihattrayi.
• Kavi samayas (poets' conventions, e.g. the chakora drinks moonlight, fame is white) were explained by Rajashekhara in Kavyamimamsa. Poetics: Bhamaha's Kavyalankara, Dandin's Kavyadarsha.

UNESCO intangible heritage from India.