CLASSICAL DANCES OF INDIA- Bharatanatyam

Bharata Natyam is a classical dance form originating in Tamil Nadu. In ancient times it was  performed as ‘dasiattam’ by Devadasis. Bharatanatyam is popularly called poetry in Motion. E. Krishna Iyer was one of those who raised the social status of Bharata Natyam and greatly popularized it. If follows the principle of Natya Shastra. Rugmini devi Arundale gave it a new life and revived it by establishing ‘Kalakshetra’ at Adayar, Chennai.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Temple Architecture

Image
Gupta period marks the beginning of Indian temple architecture. They wrote manuals on how to form temples. There are five main types; Square building with flat roof shallow pillared porch; as Kankali Devi temple at Tigawa and the Vishnu Varaha temples at Eran. The nucleus of a temple – the sanctum or cella (garbhagriha) – with a single entrance and a porch (Mandapa) appears for the first time here. An elaboration of the first type with the addition of an ambulatory (pradakshina) around the sanctum sometimes a second storey; examples the Shiva temple at Bhumara(M.P.) and the ladkhan at Aihole. Another noteworthy example is Pārbati temple at Nachna Kuthara (M.P.). The square temple with a low and squat tower (shikhara) above; pillared approach, a high platform at the base; notable examples are the Dasavatara temple (Deogarh Jhansi) and the brick temple at Bhitargaon Kanpur. The most unique achievement of this stage was "Curvilinear tower" i.e. "Shikhara". ...
Read more

ELLORA CAVES

Image
Ellora cave, located in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra is another important cave site. It is located a hundred kilometers from Ajanta and has thirty-two Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jain caves . It is an unique art historical site in the country as it has monasteries associated with the three religions dating from fifth century CE onwards to the eleventh century CE. There are twelve Buddhist caves having many images belonging to Vajrayana Buddhism like Tara, Mahamayuri etc. Buddhist caves are big in size and are of single, double and triple storey. Their pillars are massive. Ajanta also has the excavated double storey caves but at Ellora, the triple storey is a unique achievement. All the caves were plastered and painted but nothing visible is left. Unlike the Ajanta caves, the Ellora cave temples were carved out on the sloping side of the hill. Hence most of the temples have courtyards. The sculptures at Ellora are monumental, and have protruding volume that create deep recessio...
Read more

GANDHARA SCHOOL

Image
The Gandhara school developed in the north-western region of the Indian sub-continent. The region came under the political influence of a variety of kingdoms - Greek, Mauryan, Parthian, Kushan, Synthian and this resulted in the emergence of a mixed school of art which borrowed from various traditions. This school contributed to development of Buddha's image which was usually carved out of grey slate stone and was characterised by hellenistic features. These include - wavy hair in a top knot, sometimes a moustache on the face, urna between the eyebrows, garment with thick pleats usually covering both shoulders styled like a roman toga, plain halo behind the head and muscular formation of the body. The expression of calmness in the centre of attraction.
Read more