Ponniyin Selvan Varalaatru Peravai

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/09/17/stories/2010091750680400.htm

* Legal document in stone *

SUGANTHY KRISHNAMACHARI

Many ancient dance traditions are still followed by Kerala, according to
Dr. Nagaswamy.



* HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Dr. R. Nagaswamy. *

Dancers Somanaadi, Kallarai, Echumandai, Aravam, Eduthapadam, Porkesi (the
golden haired one!) were given houses to live in, in addition to arable
land. Not that they deserved less, for they were well-versed in music and
dance. Yes, their names are unusual, but that is not to be wondered at, for
they lived a thousand years ago. These are the names of some of the 407
dancers appointed by Raja Raja in the Big Temple.

While all the dancers were guaranteed security of tenure, the emphasis was
always on their competence. If a dancer died, and the next in line from her
family was not competent, a suitable replacement would be found, either by
the descendant or by a group of qualified persons. These and other details
were presented by Dr. R. Nagaswamy, former director, Department of
Archaeology, Tamil Nadu, in a lecture on ‘Rajaraja's Inscriptional Document
on his Endowment for 400 Dancers at the Thanjavur Temple,' organised by the
Bharatamuni Foundation for Asian culture, recently.

*Strong influences*

According to Makuta Agama, Siva the Dancer is the Supreme Form of Siva. The
pattern of the Big Temple clearly suggests the influence of Makuta Agama,
according to Dr. Nagaswamy. The Sri Vimanam is a representation of the
mythical Mount Meru.

That dancers were held in high esteem even in the Vedic times is evident
from the fact that Apsaras were considered guardians of the directions. The
art of dance is also spoken of in Tholkaapiyam and Silappadikaaram.

The education of a king was not considered complete without a reading of the
texts on music and dance. And both court and temple dancers were initiated
into the art by the king himself. The Pallava king Mahendra Varma even wrote
a dance drama, “Matta Vilasa Prahasana,” the only one of its kind to have
been enacted for more than 1,000 years.

In the very first verse, MahendraVarma talks about angika, vachika, aharika
and sattvika, terms every dancer is familiar with. The Chakkiyars of Kerala,
even in recent times, spend seven days, on this one verse. Dr. Nagaswamy
said that it is in Kerala that many unbroken traditions survive, and to
understand Raja Raja's inscriptions on music and dance, it would help if one
were familiar with the traditions of that State.

The dancers of the Big Temple were referred to as Thalicheripendugal and
came from temples in many villages. Some places such as Tiruvarur and
Tiruvaiyaru sent many dancers to the Big Temple. Pandanallur sent only one.

A inscription in the Big Temple gives the names of the 407 dancers, the
villages they came from, the street in which they lived in Thanjavur and the
door numbers of the houses allotted to them. Natya acharyas, udukkai
players, veena players, those who sang Sanskrit compositions, those who sang
Tamil compositions, madhalam players, conch players and gandharvas, a chief
accountant to manage financial matters, assistants to the accountant,
launderers, tailors, those with skill in fixing gems to garments, Chakkiyars
and a Superintendent to oversee everything were also appointed, and their
remuneration was also specified in inscriptions.

While not all karanas have been sculpturally represented in the Big Temple,
panels have been provided for the unrepresented ones too, indicating Raja
Raja's desire to complete the project. The frescoes in the Sandhara passage
also affirm Raja Raja's fondness for dance. In one painting, we see Sundarar
being welcomed by celestials singing and dancing. In another painting
Sundarar, Cheraman Perumal Nayanar, and Lord Siva are seen watching a dance
performance.

A Cambodian king is said to have appointed 1,000 dancers in a temple, but no
king other than Raja Raja so meticulously recorded every provision he had
made for artists, concluded Dr. Nagaswamy.

* Karanas in rock*

The weights and measures used by Raja Raja also had the names of Lord
Nataraja, like Aadavallaan and Dakshina Meru Vidangar. Sculptural
representations of the karanas that came after the time of Raja Raja show
the influence of Abhinava Gupta's commentary on Bharata's Natya Sastra. The
trend is evident in the Sarangapani Perumal temple sculptures (12 {+t} {+h}
century CE). In the Chidambaram temple, the influence is complete.

In the Kumbakonam Sarangapani temple, each karana is labelled. In the
Chidambaram temple sculptures (13 {+t} {+h} century CE), the verse of each
karana as given by Bharata is also inscribed in grantha and Sanskrit. The
Kamikagama followed widely in Tamil Nadu specifies that dance as codified by
Bharata should be danced in temples, and also prescribes the duration of the
dances for different times of the day.

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