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In Bharatanatyam, 108 karanas form the basic
movements. There are beautiful sculptures of 81 of the 108 karanas
inside the chamber of the first tier of the vimana (tower) above the
sanctum of the Brihadeeswara temple in Thanjavur, Tamilnadu. Siva, Lord
of dance, is portrayed as performing these karanas. Siva is portrayed in
these reliefs with four arms. The karana sculptures were discovered in
1956 when Balakrishnan, an employee of the Archaeological Survey of
India was removing the weeds on the vimana. (‘How karana sculptures in Big Temple were discovered,’ T.S. Subramanian, The Hindu Fri Review, Sept 23, 2010) |
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The Shiva Purana categorically lays down in connection with the building
of a temple to Shiva that it should be provided, among other things,
with hundreds of beautiful girls who should be proficient in the twin
arts of singing and dancing. (‘Traditions of Indian classical dance,’ Mohan Khokar, chapter ‘Down the centuries’) |
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The French appetite for the exotic East was obvious from the appearance
of travelogues and new literature, as well the first French translation
of Kalidasa's Abhigyana Shakuntalam, entitled La Reconnaissance de
Sacountala. This was written in 1820 by Antoine-Leonard de Chezy, the
first European Professor of Sanskrit. With public curiosity further
roused by exposure to Western versions of devadasis on the French stage,
the time was ripe for the real artists to be showcased before the
French public. (‘1838: South Indian Dancers Tour Europe,’ Dr. Kusum Pant Joshi, Hinduism Today, Jan - March 2009) |
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