Kalaboti Mudra chairperson Dr. Lalita Ghosh was invited at the Nritya Parva – 2009, an exposition of Sattriya Dance at Guwahati from 15th to 18th November. A brief report is being presented here to make host this event at the web. This is the first initiative to popularize this event worldwide. We are cordially thankful to the team Dulal Roy to invite us at this prestigious event. Kalaboti Mudra presented some of its publication to Sri Dulal Roy. This is one of the best hosted events ever happened. We are also thankful to all the Satradhikars, Gurus and other dignitaries here.
A Sattriya Dance Festival has been organised by Sangeet Natak Academy at Guwahati the birth place of this dance style from 15 to 18 November. 550 years back great reformer and religious guru Srimanta Shankardeva introduced this style and this is the only practicing living dance tradition apart from Manipuri dance style.
Dancers, danseurs, connoisseurs, researchers, thinkers, art historian from different parts of India participated in this gala ceremony. Art historian Sunil Kothari, the only Bengali Sattriya researcher-dancer Dr. Lalita Ghosh, Dr. Shruti Bandopadhaya, Professor of Dance, Rabondra Bharati University, Art promoter Arshiya Sethi, Orisi singer & Sangeet Natak Academy award winner artist Shayam Hari Das, Assistant Editor of Nartan and proffessor of Hyderabad University Madhabi, Scholar Pona Mohanta, President of Manipuri Sahitya Parishad. Th. Thombi Singh and various other glitterati grace the occasion. Dr. Lalita Ghosh acted as a presenter of Mudras to the deliberation of Dr. Shruti Bandopadhaya.
Great theatre maestro Ratan Theam inaugurated the festival at Rabindra Bhaban, Guwahati on the 15th November in the presence of various honoured Sattradhikars, gurus numerous guests.
Series of workshops has been also arranged at State Museum Auditorium with the presence of great gurus, connoisseurs and scholars. Various lecture demonstration has been arranged and all the deliberations are centre to the point, informative, path breaking. Most of the people presents there animatedly participated at the open session in the workshops. Sri Guru Aanda Mohon Bhagabati, Dr. Sunil Kothari, Dr. Jagannath Mohanta, Dr. Shruti Bandopadhaya, Dr. Pradip Jyoti Mohanta, Sri Bhaskar Jyoti Ojha presented their scholarly views with a live audience. In most of the deliberations the pain of transition of Sattriya came to the fore front. The discourse of metamorphosis of this greatly revered dance style Sattra to the modern proscenium secular stage took the centre stage as the Sattriya was declared as a newest classical dance forms. The pain and bleedings can be visible in the mind of the bhumiputras of Assam. The discussions of itemization of the traditional Bhakti revered dance also coming into the forefront in almost all the days. The live discourse participated with various historian, scholars should have a greater reverence in this connection.
At every evening various artists and bhaktas of Sattras and individual presenters presents their offerings. Gayan Badan items from various sattras are the opening soiree. In all the four days various revered and pranamya gurus and young artists presented their best performances there. Guru Ramkrishna Talukder, Rumi Bhuiyan, Pravakar Goswami, Seujpriya Barthakur, Bhabananda Barbayen, Prabhat Kakati, Dimple Saikiya, Anita Sharma amongst other presented their items. Various Sattras like Namkatani, Morangachiya, Borpeta, Auniati, Mayamora presented their bhaba and bhabana with their gayan-badan.
This is the festival of the festivals of Sattriya dance. All the connoisseurs and friend of Sattriya should thankful to team Dulal, who professionally and diligently host the event.
শুক্রবার, ২৭ নভেম্বর, ২০০৯
মঙ্গলবার, ২৪ নভেম্বর, ২০০৯
The elements of the Natyashastra as evidenced in the classical dances of Assam. by Dr Sruti Bandopadhay
Dr Sruti Bandopadhay is one of the foremost Manipuri Dance artists of India, having awarded the ‘Top’ Grade by National Television. Trained under such famous personalities like Guru Bipin Singh, Kalavati Devi, Darshana Jhaveri, Ojha Babu Singh, Ojha Gourakisor Sharma, she has performed in various national and international festivals for last 30 years. She is a recognized artist of Sangeet Natak Acadmey, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Eastern Zonal Cultural Center and other cultural institutions in India. She received the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) of University Grants Commission of India to research for her doctoral thesis titled ‘The influence of Madhurarasa on the development of Indian Classical Dances’. Sruti is now an established dance scholar with a PhD in dance. She is engaged as a Reader in Dance, at Rabindra Bharati University and served the Department as the Chair.
Apart from teaching at the post graduate level and supervising research and doctoral works, she regularly performs, conducts workshops and lectures on dance. Her choreographies like Bajao re mohana banshi, Offerings, Alo, Bharat- tirtha and Bhakirasasudhasara has gained acclaim.
She has a number of books and articles to her credit and supervised eight students for their PhD degree. Sruti is associated with different Universities in India and abroad. She was awarded the Visiting Lecturer Fulbright Fellowship to teach Manipuri and lecture on Indian Dances in the Department of World Arts and Culture, University of California, USA. She also lectured in the University of California, San Diego, Berkeley and the State University of California, Longbeach. As an extension to her Fulbright program she is now engaged as the Director of the Center for Studies and Research on Modern Dance under the Rabindra Bharati University.
Her paper on Manipuri Dance gained appreciation in the World Dance Global Summit, 2008 at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. She represented India and performed Manipuri at the International Festival of Dance, Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth, Durban, South Africa in July 2009. She is awarded the 2009 Lalitakala Ratna award by Sri Lalita Kala Academy, Mysore.
This is a write up prepared to read at a workshop at "Nritya Parva" a Sattriya Dance festival organised at Guwahati by Sangeet Natak Academy. The Chairperson of Kalaboti Mudra, Dr. Lalita Ghosh, dancer and researcher assisted Dr. Bandopadhaya to demonstrated various hand gestures. We are thankful to Dr. Bandopadhaya who honoured us by giving us prmission to post it in our web.
The North East state of India, Assam has encountered diverse anthropological amalgamation and its history evidences varied cultural blends thus generating a unique heritage for the region. This legacy reflects the ingress of different religions like pre-Aryan beliefs, the Shaiva, the Shakta, the Vaishnava, and Buddhism with their influences registered as distinctive marks on their culture. The rulers of this region embraced these religions from time to time. During the reign of Samudragupta in the 4th century the Aryan way of life proliferated in this region. According to the historians during the rule of the Barman kings the relation of Assam with the mainstream India got established both politically and culturally. The copper plate inscriptions of the Barman rulers to the Pala rulers suggest the Shaiva cult being practiced here. The Shakta cult is a very distinctive feature of the religious history of this region. A clash of these two religions was seen in the socio-religious scenario of the region. But both the religions finally survived and the Kamakshya temple occupies a very distinct place in the Shakta temple map of India.
The Shaiva cult was a major religion and the temples added in the nati-s, who served in the temples as devotees of Lord Shiva. We observe the dancing of the natis as early as the 7th century. Interestingly most of the rulers encouraged the natis and thus the dance form gained prominence. In the accounts of Hiuen Tsang there is a mention of dance performance for entertainment in Pragjyotish. It is believed that the natis followed the rituals of the Natyashastra for the process of worship. They would bathe, take flowers for offerings and engage into presentation of pure dance movements. During the British rule the Devadasi tradition, here the nati tradition got extinct and so the actual presentation technique and process became very difficult to trace. Yet many scholars have researched into the form and put forward many important features of nati. The Shaivite temples at the Darrang, Barpeta and Jorhat districts had the tradition of the natis. Even the Vaishnava temple Hayagriva-Madhava had a nati tradition. Prof. Neog suggests that this could be in accordance with the maharis in the Jagannatha temple in Puri.
Scholar Ram Goswami insists that the natis exhibited marga nritya or classical dance. They used special distinctive hand gestures and feet movements to describe Shiva. They used many angika and they wore special costumes. They wore one to two hundred ghungroos and their steps followed intricate time measures and rhythms. The natis used the khol or the mrdanga as also the small cymbals the khutitala. It is more of a lasya or feminine dance and in Hajo temple nati songs the erotic sentiments are perceived. The dance incorporates swift and vigorous movements and even somersaults are introduced. It is treated as the predecessor of the classical presentations Ojapali and Satriya. The distinguished dance artist Suresh Chandra Goswami suggests that the Chali and the Jhumra of the present Satriya Dance has their roots in the nati dance presentation. Two distinguished natis- Kaushalya and Raiyabala handed down some valuable information on nati dance from which we get an idea of the dance. We observe some very exclusive elements of the nati dance resembling the essentials of the Natyashastra. The hastas or the hand gestures like pataka, tripataka, kapota, svastika was being used here. Even the padabheda or the feet-positions like the samapada, agratalasanchara, ancita was being used for the dance.
The Natyashastra, the text on dramaturgy, bearing the mores of the mainstream Indian culture, traveled to Assam with the process of Aryanization. The pravritti or the local usages described in the Natyashastra, mentions the region Pragjyotish, which is the Assam kingdom. The local performances gradually received the influence of this tradition thus registering distinct changes in performances that would comply with the elements in the Natyashastra. The lokadharmi form as described in the Natyashastra deals much directly with the common people of the region. In Assam we come across a traditional presentation called the Ojapali where the leader Oja and his associates the pali sing and display popular local stories like the panchali story Manasa Mangal illustrated in writings of poets Mankar, Durgabar and Narayandev. The presentation is made up of dances where different gestures are exhibited, different acting is incorporated, and different songs are sung. This reflects the indigenous aesthetic ability of the people in this region.
With the mainstream Indian culture engulfing the region we find this tradition Ojapali gaining the shastriya or the classical status. The stories from the epics and puranas were included and the abhinaya-s of the text molded the form into a superior presentation that included exhibition of the hand gestures and classical songs. This is a unique feature of Sanskritization as put forward by historians Prof. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee and Prof. M. N. Srinivas. We observe history; Ramayana, Mahabharata and the puranas play an important part in the process of Sanskritization. These have helped Sanskritic Hinduism or the ancient Hinduism to smoothly enter into an alien society and culture. These epics have not only spread the tales of the Hindu gods and goddesses and related their greatness, they have also revealed the main viewpoints of Indian philosophy but their main contribution is that they have been the medium of forming a common for the entire country. V. Raghavan commenting on this aspect has said: "In religious dogma and cult puranas, agamas and tantras show how the great tradition absorbed different local cults and made a pattern and system out of the heterogeneous practices functioning at different levels. A common phenomenon is the sudden emergence in relatively full fledged form of a deity and its worship, for example, Ganesh, Durga and Radha and of cults and schools of thought like the Shaivite and Vaishnavite sects, the adoration of Kartavitya Dattatreya etc. Though philosophers and Sanskrit religious authors ignored that they were winning status among the people and the time came when they first entered popular books, the puranas, which provided a liaison between the learned classes and the masses." M.N.Srinivas has said: “The fact that the institution of the harikatha or public reading of the epics and puranas by trained masters of the art was a popular pastime and made it possible for Sanskritic Hinduism to reach even the illiterate masses."
In Assam we find the reciting of the epics in Assamese language by trained masters, here the Oja, through the Ojapali performances gained popularity among the masses. Naturally this enabled the unification of the region with the Indian culture. With such merger, finally we find two streams of Ojapali- the Suknani or Sukavi Narayana i.e. the old tradition with regional panchali the Manasa Mangal and the new trend Vyasa Ojapali particularly highlighting the epics and puranas. As Prof. Neog says “The performance seems to be connected with the Vaisnava Tantric form of worship of Vasudeva, who is described as all white in color and possessing eight arms. The performance of the chorus begins with the arati on the occasion of the worship of Vasudeva; but performances are also held in connection with the festivals of Durga, Laxmi and Shiva.
As observed, Ojapali is basically a communicating medium. This medium of presentation got enriched with the mainstream performance techniques which are laid down in the Natyashastra. For the hand gestures the experts of Ojapali follow the Tauratrtrikasara, the text which is unfortunately not available now. But Subhankara’s Hastamuktavali has a distinct place here. An Assamese version of this text has been found in Auniati Satra. The Vyasa Ojapali utilizes several hand gestures and the Kamrupa Ojapali use the word mudura which is the local abbreviation for the Sanskrit word mudra used in the Natyashastra. We observe usage of several mudras in Ojapali in bisahari songs, mare songs padmapurana songs where the gestures are used following meaning of the songs. For mare songs the words hatera chalana are used instead of hasta. These mudras have come down traditionally through the guru-shishya parampara education. These are not found in any text, but they only suggest a strong tradition of dance in Assam from a very early period and that too encasing the mainstream Indian culture.
The feet technique or bulan followed for display of the dances takes in the movements of different animals like the swan, peacock, sparrow, pigeon, lion, elephant etc. The show of these movements called the gatis occupies a separate chapter in the Natyshastra. The animal gatis are again detailed in texts like the Abhinaya Darpana and these are observed in Ojapali too.
The gatis form a very extensive portion of Ojapali technique. Other terms those identify the technique ghuran, the local term for bhramari in Natyashastra, nachan or nritta, paak or nritya etc. Also the terms dirgha nachan dance presented lengthwise, pathaali nachan or dancing breadth wise, dui pakiya or tin pakiya nachan i.e. dancing while taking two or three rounds sakai berani nachan or exhibiting movements resembling the crossing on a bamboo bridge over a river etc all put forward the importance of choreography in this presentation.
As many as 27 ragas including vasanta, pahari, malava etc are followed in the singing of Ojapali. The presentation of a raga is also accompanied by the verses of the origin of them. The high pitch singing gives the identity of Assam in Ojapali songs.
The bhava or the emotion presented in Ojapali display the inner emotion of the story that is enacted. Apart from the hand gestures and the feet movements the chakhu i.e. the usage of the eyes are very important. The neck positions along with the eye look called the chaon makes the expression complete. The popular ones are the madana chakhu (look of the Cupid), gheta-chakhu (look of discontent), neula chaon (mongoose look), bagula chaon (stork). These are local eye movements these do not have much similarity with the Natyshastra dristibhedas or even Abhinaya Darpana.
The Oja or the primary performer should be a skillful singer, dancer, and actor and should adore traditional costume. The verses describing the qualities of an Oja are found like
Mukhe geeta, hate mudra, paye dhare tala
Garurha sadrisha bhrame teye oja bhala
(A good oja sings, displays mudras, follows the time measure on his feet and moves like the garurha)
Mukhe geeta, hate mudra, paye dhare tala
Mayura sadrisha nache sei oja bhala
(A good oja sings, displays mudras, follows the time measure on his feet and dances like the peacock)
Nachan kachan mochan aaru vachana
Ei chari bastu ojaar prayojana.
(An Oja requires to dance, wear costumes, show mudras and render voice. )
The Oja is the conductor of the performance. A versatile man himself the Oja displays all the four abhinayas described in the Natyashastra. The angika, vacika, aharya and satvika are equally important in Ojapali.
So this discussion puts forward that with the Natyashastra the development of the dance gestures and movements gave a new turn to the movement repertory of Assam, the display of the geeta took in the classical modules and blended with the regional style, and also the rhythm and tala system emerged enriched. xxx
Towards the end of the 15th century Assam experienced a socio-religious uprising with the great saint Shankaradeva devising a novel expression medium for the propagation of the neo-Vashnava faith. He introduced dance-dramas based on Krishna and Rama. This period is marked all over India for the emergence of this unique medium i.e. the dance-drama in the medieval era. Previously the natya of the Natyashastra tradition was prevailing all over India and this was the Sanskrit era. The natya was written and performed in the classical language of Sanskrit. But in the medieval era regional performances gained prominence and they included the vernacular language. Naturally they became greatly accepted among the masses. Most of such presentations took the shape of dance-dramas. Thus dance came to the front and a stylized vocabulary of movement for expression developed. But this had the roots in the Natyashastra. So though this dance drama-s flowered as regional presentations, many features resembled the elements in the Natyashastra. We find the emergence of Kathakali, the Bhagavat Mela Natak, the Yakshagana, and the Kuchipudi. Behind all these was the Vaishnavite movement in many forms. So a new medium of presentation was devised basing it on the already existent tradition and used for propaganda of the religion.
In Assam tradition of satra were areas of studies of the Vaishnava faith and the dance-dramas, popularly called the Ankiya Nat, served as medium of propaganda for the religion. Shankaradev wrote six plays Patiprasada, Kalidamana, Rukminiharana, Parijataharana and Rama Vijaya. The structure of these dramas indicates the extensive use of dance and music intersected by short dialogues and commentaries as and when required. His dramas do not follow any earlier form but is unique on its own. There is a sutradhari who appears on stage as soon as the prelude music called the dhemali for the presentation is over. The preliminaries bear distinct marks of Purvaranga of the Natyashastra and the character of sutradhara also resembles that of the Sanskrit drama. The language is the Assamese Brajavali intercepted at certain points by Sanskrit canto.
The different phases in the Purvaranga of the Natyashastra bear similarities at many points. Like seeking blessing or the nandi, short dialogues with the sutradhara or trigata and prarochana, the introductory songs or the pravesa gita etc. At the end the writings desire wellbeing for one and all in accordance with the bharata-bakya of Sanskrit drama. We notice that the resemblances are with the vahiryavanika.
His disciple Madhavadeva generated the performances of these dramas integrating the abhinaya-s that reflect the Natyashastra tradition strongly.
The Satriya Dance, which takes its foundation from the Ankiya Nat performances, is now recognized as one of the classical dances of India. The dances, along with their different facets were given special importance and developed from aesthetic sense of the local people.
Apart from teaching at the post graduate level and supervising research and doctoral works, she regularly performs, conducts workshops and lectures on dance. Her choreographies like Bajao re mohana banshi, Offerings, Alo, Bharat- tirtha and Bhakirasasudhasara has gained acclaim.
She has a number of books and articles to her credit and supervised eight students for their PhD degree. Sruti is associated with different Universities in India and abroad. She was awarded the Visiting Lecturer Fulbright Fellowship to teach Manipuri and lecture on Indian Dances in the Department of World Arts and Culture, University of California, USA. She also lectured in the University of California, San Diego, Berkeley and the State University of California, Longbeach. As an extension to her Fulbright program she is now engaged as the Director of the Center for Studies and Research on Modern Dance under the Rabindra Bharati University.
Her paper on Manipuri Dance gained appreciation in the World Dance Global Summit, 2008 at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. She represented India and performed Manipuri at the International Festival of Dance, Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth, Durban, South Africa in July 2009. She is awarded the 2009 Lalitakala Ratna award by Sri Lalita Kala Academy, Mysore.
This is a write up prepared to read at a workshop at "Nritya Parva" a Sattriya Dance festival organised at Guwahati by Sangeet Natak Academy. The Chairperson of Kalaboti Mudra, Dr. Lalita Ghosh, dancer and researcher assisted Dr. Bandopadhaya to demonstrated various hand gestures. We are thankful to Dr. Bandopadhaya who honoured us by giving us prmission to post it in our web.
The North East state of India, Assam has encountered diverse anthropological amalgamation and its history evidences varied cultural blends thus generating a unique heritage for the region. This legacy reflects the ingress of different religions like pre-Aryan beliefs, the Shaiva, the Shakta, the Vaishnava, and Buddhism with their influences registered as distinctive marks on their culture. The rulers of this region embraced these religions from time to time. During the reign of Samudragupta in the 4th century the Aryan way of life proliferated in this region. According to the historians during the rule of the Barman kings the relation of Assam with the mainstream India got established both politically and culturally. The copper plate inscriptions of the Barman rulers to the Pala rulers suggest the Shaiva cult being practiced here. The Shakta cult is a very distinctive feature of the religious history of this region. A clash of these two religions was seen in the socio-religious scenario of the region. But both the religions finally survived and the Kamakshya temple occupies a very distinct place in the Shakta temple map of India.
The Shaiva cult was a major religion and the temples added in the nati-s, who served in the temples as devotees of Lord Shiva. We observe the dancing of the natis as early as the 7th century. Interestingly most of the rulers encouraged the natis and thus the dance form gained prominence. In the accounts of Hiuen Tsang there is a mention of dance performance for entertainment in Pragjyotish. It is believed that the natis followed the rituals of the Natyashastra for the process of worship. They would bathe, take flowers for offerings and engage into presentation of pure dance movements. During the British rule the Devadasi tradition, here the nati tradition got extinct and so the actual presentation technique and process became very difficult to trace. Yet many scholars have researched into the form and put forward many important features of nati. The Shaivite temples at the Darrang, Barpeta and Jorhat districts had the tradition of the natis. Even the Vaishnava temple Hayagriva-Madhava had a nati tradition. Prof. Neog suggests that this could be in accordance with the maharis in the Jagannatha temple in Puri.
Scholar Ram Goswami insists that the natis exhibited marga nritya or classical dance. They used special distinctive hand gestures and feet movements to describe Shiva. They used many angika and they wore special costumes. They wore one to two hundred ghungroos and their steps followed intricate time measures and rhythms. The natis used the khol or the mrdanga as also the small cymbals the khutitala. It is more of a lasya or feminine dance and in Hajo temple nati songs the erotic sentiments are perceived. The dance incorporates swift and vigorous movements and even somersaults are introduced. It is treated as the predecessor of the classical presentations Ojapali and Satriya. The distinguished dance artist Suresh Chandra Goswami suggests that the Chali and the Jhumra of the present Satriya Dance has their roots in the nati dance presentation. Two distinguished natis- Kaushalya and Raiyabala handed down some valuable information on nati dance from which we get an idea of the dance. We observe some very exclusive elements of the nati dance resembling the essentials of the Natyashastra. The hastas or the hand gestures like pataka, tripataka, kapota, svastika was being used here. Even the padabheda or the feet-positions like the samapada, agratalasanchara, ancita was being used for the dance.
The Natyashastra, the text on dramaturgy, bearing the mores of the mainstream Indian culture, traveled to Assam with the process of Aryanization. The pravritti or the local usages described in the Natyashastra, mentions the region Pragjyotish, which is the Assam kingdom. The local performances gradually received the influence of this tradition thus registering distinct changes in performances that would comply with the elements in the Natyashastra. The lokadharmi form as described in the Natyashastra deals much directly with the common people of the region. In Assam we come across a traditional presentation called the Ojapali where the leader Oja and his associates the pali sing and display popular local stories like the panchali story Manasa Mangal illustrated in writings of poets Mankar, Durgabar and Narayandev. The presentation is made up of dances where different gestures are exhibited, different acting is incorporated, and different songs are sung. This reflects the indigenous aesthetic ability of the people in this region.
With the mainstream Indian culture engulfing the region we find this tradition Ojapali gaining the shastriya or the classical status. The stories from the epics and puranas were included and the abhinaya-s of the text molded the form into a superior presentation that included exhibition of the hand gestures and classical songs. This is a unique feature of Sanskritization as put forward by historians Prof. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee and Prof. M. N. Srinivas. We observe history; Ramayana, Mahabharata and the puranas play an important part in the process of Sanskritization. These have helped Sanskritic Hinduism or the ancient Hinduism to smoothly enter into an alien society and culture. These epics have not only spread the tales of the Hindu gods and goddesses and related their greatness, they have also revealed the main viewpoints of Indian philosophy but their main contribution is that they have been the medium of forming a common for the entire country. V. Raghavan commenting on this aspect has said: "In religious dogma and cult puranas, agamas and tantras show how the great tradition absorbed different local cults and made a pattern and system out of the heterogeneous practices functioning at different levels. A common phenomenon is the sudden emergence in relatively full fledged form of a deity and its worship, for example, Ganesh, Durga and Radha and of cults and schools of thought like the Shaivite and Vaishnavite sects, the adoration of Kartavitya Dattatreya etc. Though philosophers and Sanskrit religious authors ignored that they were winning status among the people and the time came when they first entered popular books, the puranas, which provided a liaison between the learned classes and the masses." M.N.Srinivas has said: “The fact that the institution of the harikatha or public reading of the epics and puranas by trained masters of the art was a popular pastime and made it possible for Sanskritic Hinduism to reach even the illiterate masses."
In Assam we find the reciting of the epics in Assamese language by trained masters, here the Oja, through the Ojapali performances gained popularity among the masses. Naturally this enabled the unification of the region with the Indian culture. With such merger, finally we find two streams of Ojapali- the Suknani or Sukavi Narayana i.e. the old tradition with regional panchali the Manasa Mangal and the new trend Vyasa Ojapali particularly highlighting the epics and puranas. As Prof. Neog says “The performance seems to be connected with the Vaisnava Tantric form of worship of Vasudeva, who is described as all white in color and possessing eight arms. The performance of the chorus begins with the arati on the occasion of the worship of Vasudeva; but performances are also held in connection with the festivals of Durga, Laxmi and Shiva.
As observed, Ojapali is basically a communicating medium. This medium of presentation got enriched with the mainstream performance techniques which are laid down in the Natyashastra. For the hand gestures the experts of Ojapali follow the Tauratrtrikasara, the text which is unfortunately not available now. But Subhankara’s Hastamuktavali has a distinct place here. An Assamese version of this text has been found in Auniati Satra. The Vyasa Ojapali utilizes several hand gestures and the Kamrupa Ojapali use the word mudura which is the local abbreviation for the Sanskrit word mudra used in the Natyashastra. We observe usage of several mudras in Ojapali in bisahari songs, mare songs padmapurana songs where the gestures are used following meaning of the songs. For mare songs the words hatera chalana are used instead of hasta. These mudras have come down traditionally through the guru-shishya parampara education. These are not found in any text, but they only suggest a strong tradition of dance in Assam from a very early period and that too encasing the mainstream Indian culture.
The feet technique or bulan followed for display of the dances takes in the movements of different animals like the swan, peacock, sparrow, pigeon, lion, elephant etc. The show of these movements called the gatis occupies a separate chapter in the Natyshastra. The animal gatis are again detailed in texts like the Abhinaya Darpana and these are observed in Ojapali too.
The gatis form a very extensive portion of Ojapali technique. Other terms those identify the technique ghuran, the local term for bhramari in Natyashastra, nachan or nritta, paak or nritya etc. Also the terms dirgha nachan dance presented lengthwise, pathaali nachan or dancing breadth wise, dui pakiya or tin pakiya nachan i.e. dancing while taking two or three rounds sakai berani nachan or exhibiting movements resembling the crossing on a bamboo bridge over a river etc all put forward the importance of choreography in this presentation.
As many as 27 ragas including vasanta, pahari, malava etc are followed in the singing of Ojapali. The presentation of a raga is also accompanied by the verses of the origin of them. The high pitch singing gives the identity of Assam in Ojapali songs.
The bhava or the emotion presented in Ojapali display the inner emotion of the story that is enacted. Apart from the hand gestures and the feet movements the chakhu i.e. the usage of the eyes are very important. The neck positions along with the eye look called the chaon makes the expression complete. The popular ones are the madana chakhu (look of the Cupid), gheta-chakhu (look of discontent), neula chaon (mongoose look), bagula chaon (stork). These are local eye movements these do not have much similarity with the Natyshastra dristibhedas or even Abhinaya Darpana.
The Oja or the primary performer should be a skillful singer, dancer, and actor and should adore traditional costume. The verses describing the qualities of an Oja are found like
Mukhe geeta, hate mudra, paye dhare tala
Garurha sadrisha bhrame teye oja bhala
(A good oja sings, displays mudras, follows the time measure on his feet and moves like the garurha)
Mukhe geeta, hate mudra, paye dhare tala
Mayura sadrisha nache sei oja bhala
(A good oja sings, displays mudras, follows the time measure on his feet and dances like the peacock)
Nachan kachan mochan aaru vachana
Ei chari bastu ojaar prayojana.
(An Oja requires to dance, wear costumes, show mudras and render voice. )
The Oja is the conductor of the performance. A versatile man himself the Oja displays all the four abhinayas described in the Natyashastra. The angika, vacika, aharya and satvika are equally important in Ojapali.
So this discussion puts forward that with the Natyashastra the development of the dance gestures and movements gave a new turn to the movement repertory of Assam, the display of the geeta took in the classical modules and blended with the regional style, and also the rhythm and tala system emerged enriched. xxx
Towards the end of the 15th century Assam experienced a socio-religious uprising with the great saint Shankaradeva devising a novel expression medium for the propagation of the neo-Vashnava faith. He introduced dance-dramas based on Krishna and Rama. This period is marked all over India for the emergence of this unique medium i.e. the dance-drama in the medieval era. Previously the natya of the Natyashastra tradition was prevailing all over India and this was the Sanskrit era. The natya was written and performed in the classical language of Sanskrit. But in the medieval era regional performances gained prominence and they included the vernacular language. Naturally they became greatly accepted among the masses. Most of such presentations took the shape of dance-dramas. Thus dance came to the front and a stylized vocabulary of movement for expression developed. But this had the roots in the Natyashastra. So though this dance drama-s flowered as regional presentations, many features resembled the elements in the Natyashastra. We find the emergence of Kathakali, the Bhagavat Mela Natak, the Yakshagana, and the Kuchipudi. Behind all these was the Vaishnavite movement in many forms. So a new medium of presentation was devised basing it on the already existent tradition and used for propaganda of the religion.
In Assam tradition of satra were areas of studies of the Vaishnava faith and the dance-dramas, popularly called the Ankiya Nat, served as medium of propaganda for the religion. Shankaradev wrote six plays Patiprasada, Kalidamana, Rukminiharana, Parijataharana and Rama Vijaya. The structure of these dramas indicates the extensive use of dance and music intersected by short dialogues and commentaries as and when required. His dramas do not follow any earlier form but is unique on its own. There is a sutradhari who appears on stage as soon as the prelude music called the dhemali for the presentation is over. The preliminaries bear distinct marks of Purvaranga of the Natyashastra and the character of sutradhara also resembles that of the Sanskrit drama. The language is the Assamese Brajavali intercepted at certain points by Sanskrit canto.
The different phases in the Purvaranga of the Natyashastra bear similarities at many points. Like seeking blessing or the nandi, short dialogues with the sutradhara or trigata and prarochana, the introductory songs or the pravesa gita etc. At the end the writings desire wellbeing for one and all in accordance with the bharata-bakya of Sanskrit drama. We notice that the resemblances are with the vahiryavanika.
His disciple Madhavadeva generated the performances of these dramas integrating the abhinaya-s that reflect the Natyashastra tradition strongly.
The Satriya Dance, which takes its foundation from the Ankiya Nat performances, is now recognized as one of the classical dances of India. The dances, along with their different facets were given special importance and developed from aesthetic sense of the local people.
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