Bharatnatyam

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Natya Shasatra _Slokas

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Artist : Shilpi Nandi  "The joy of dance can not be explained or taught. It has to be experienced."  Following are the first few slokas of Natya Shastra. Pranamya Shirasa Devou Pithamaha Maheswarou Natyashastram Pravaksyami  Brahamanaya Duthahrutham     I bow my head to Pitamaha (Brahma – the creator) and Maheswara(Lord Siva – the creator of dance) and reveal the science of dance, drama and music (Natyasastra) as it was taught to me  by Lord Brahma. (Bharata Muni states) Devadanaam Shirasthasthu  Gurunamasya samsthithaha  Vakshasthaschaiva vipranaam   Sheshethwa niyamo bhaved     I seek blesssings and offer prayers( with Anjali hasta ) hands placed above the head for the Gods, at the forehead for the Guru’s, in front of the chest for all the elders and for all others there is no special rules. This is the basic rule for all the Indian classical dance forms of India and is commonly followed in the entire...
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Hasta Mudra (Hand Gestures) Part 1 Asamyukta Mudra

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                                 Hand gestures in dance is called Mudra. These are also known as Hasta or Hasta Mudra.  Mudra or these hand gestures are the alphabets of dance. each and every mudra denotes specific meaning. With proper usage of these mudra one can narrate stories. Now with two hands there are two types of hand gestures. They are  ---  Asamyukta Mudra and Samyukta Mudra Asamyukta Mudra   : These are the one hand gestures. When the mudra is performed with only one hand, its called Asamyukta Mudra. There are 28 Asamyukta hasta as per Natya Shastra. These can further be divided into 3 broad groups. they are illustrated below. Pataka : This is the first Asamyukta hasta. All the four fingers (except the thumb) are stretched and placed straight together. The thumb is bent. Pataka is used for showing Flag, Blade, Sword, Blessing, Road etc. Tripitaka : While do...
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Natya Shastra ( Part 3)-- Birth of Apsaras

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Birth of the  Apsaras or the Celestial Maiden Apsaras or the beautiful maidens of heaven are believed to be the deadliest weapons of heaven. the story of their birth is a very interesting one. There are lots of mention about the Apsaras in ancient Indian texts. Many stories that we hear today and are popular among kids have Apsaras in them. Every kid in the subcontinent knows that Apsaras are the beautiful females that dweels in heaven and is rulled by Indra. The Story   On receiving the instructions from Lord  Bhrama, Bharata started training his Temple Carving in Cambodia 100 sons on the science of Dance, Drama and Music and in the process of doing so assigns different roles to them. The sage  created the three dynamic styles of dance  ---- the verbal or commonly known as  Bharti  (2) the subtle or the  Sattbitti  (3) the energetic or the  Arabhatti . The great father Bhrama further instructed that these three...
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