Understanding the word Bani

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Defination and Meaning of Bani

The word Bani or Pani (in Tamil) can loosely be translated as “Schools of Dance”.  Over a period of 2 centuries (1800- 2000) different styles of Bharatnatyam has evolved and each of these styles have its own distinctive characteristics. While the form, music and overall appearance remains same, each region developed its own characteristics and special stylisation. So Banis can be defined as “Individual traits that are given by generationsof Gurus and is established by the number of students and popularity of the same style “.  The dance lineage that the dancer inherits is important for any Bani.  The qualities that make each Bani distinctive from the other comes from the individualistic manner in which the dance alphabets are woven together. The specific ways in which the techniques are interpreted and not least from the aesthetic principals, ideas ,perceptions and artistic vision of the Gurus who shape the Bani and nourish there evolution.

As Shobanaakka says, “what we learn from our Gurus/ Acharyas are the traditions and what we teach the students is creative innovations”.  Each guru of Dance has his/ her own style of performing, own tempo, own choice of music, own love for either Nritya, Natya or Abhinaya, own creativity to use Adavus is various sequences and have a different way of using the Sollus,Gatis, Lyrics.

Understanding the word Bani

Since this dance was taught, learnt and performed by different communities or same community from different region, different style of the same dance have evolved over a period of time.. Different masters worked on their preferred zone to enhance the techniques. For Example  Tanjavur style has lots of Padavarnams. Style of reciting the Jatis or the sollus will be different in different Banis for Example : Vazhuvoor style has extremely flowing jatis while Pandanallure style has rigid jatis. Style of Adavus and the sequence of it will also be very different. In many traditional Banis, bare minimum Adavus are taught and emphasize is given more to the dance, learning the Adavus through out the teachingMargam is a common practice. For Example Kati Adavus are taught along with Jatiswaram in many schools. Depiction of Bhava is also an important part differentiating Banis. Some style will emphasise on elaborate Sancharis Bhava while others will restrict the abhinaya to bare minimum. For example : Kalashetra mostly has items with Bhakti Sringara, while Tanjavur Bani teaches lots of Shabdam in praise of not just the dieties but also the kings and patrons.Also masters from different Banis adhere to the local rules and traditions. For Example : Vazhuvoor Bani performance always starts with Jaya Suktasong , which is a prayer to the gramya devata or the village deity.  Since thishappened before the digital age, the uniqueness of the styles remained more or less (for a lack of better word ) UNDISOLVED  or PURE. However, marriages were common between these communities/families. Dancing community of Tamil Nadu is known as Issaivella community. So there are many examples of experimentation or merge of styles with marriage.  For Example: Granddaughter of Shivanandam (MahadevNattuvarnar’sdaughter )Kaveriachi  was married to Meenakshisundaram Pillai. The names of the Bani depends the area from where it originated or practiced. For example : Tanjavur Bani, Mysore Bani etc. With time there has been a lot of mix match between the Banis. Especially during the digital age since everyone has access to enormous amount of information both practical dance and theories of dance. It is easy to get inspired and incorporate different techniques of the different banis. Gobalisation has given rise to Global Bharatnatyam and hence this becomes so important to understand the roots of the Banis.

Origin and Gradual Formation of Bani

Bharatnatyam as we know today originated from Tanjavur (a district in Tamil Nadu) and all the other Banis have some way or the other connected with this place. For Example Pandanallure MeenakshiSundaram Pillai was the grandson of Tanjavur Ponnayya. So when these Gurus started coming out of therevillages  due to lack of patronage, they flocked the main cities for work. Many started teaching the daughters of well to do families (nationalists at that time started sending their daughters to learn dance to save the cultural heritage as Devadasi system was abolished ) and many started to work as a music director and dance choreographers in the movie industries across the country.  Many dance Institutions (Kalamandalam, Kalashetra)  were formed at that time where these eminent gurus started to teach.


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