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Literary
record and inscription give us the impression that devadasis in various
brahmanic temples were regarded as a part of the normal establishment of
temples, The number of these girls in the temples often reached high proportions.
The temple of Somanatha at the time and its destruction by Sultan Mahmud
is stated to have been served by three hundred and fifty dancing girls.
According to Chau Ju-Kua, Gujarat contained 4000 temples in which lived
over 20,000 dancing girls whose function was to sing twice daily while
offering food to the deities and while presenting flowers.
(Kapila Vatsyayan, Indian Classical Dance) |
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"There
is a legend among the Chakyars that a chakkai koothu exponent was among
the retinue of a visiting king from Tamil Nadu. So, chakkai koothu must
have made its way from Tamil Nadu to Kerala. It's my guess that it might
have then melded with the local tradition and the amalgam is what we now
know as Koodiyattam," says Heike Moser. ‘Koodi' (meaning 'together') is
interpreted by Heike as suggesting the fusing of two traditional art forms.
"This is just a hunch, not a proven theory," admits Heike.
(Heike Moser in ‘Bowled over by Koodiyattam’ by Suganthy Krishnamachari, The Hindu Friday Review, October 22, 2010) |
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Acrobatic
sculptures are sporadic on Orissa temples. One such pose is seen in the
Bhoga mandapa of Jagannath temple (Bhubaneswar), a lady dancing in a striking
Bandha pose in front of a king. She is standing on one foot, the other
foot is held by the hand at the back. She is holding a chamara by the other
hand. A female dancer in a Bandha pose also finds its place at the Parasurameswar
temple (7th c AD) in Bhubaneswar. Guru Gangadhar Nayak identifies the former
as Garuda and the latter is identified as Khai by Guru Maguni Das.
(Aloka Kanungo in 'Bandha Nritya' – Nartanam, Jan-Mar 2003) |
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