For all Senses

Shobana Ramesh is an impressive dancer known for her fanciful touch in her depictions. A multi-faceted personality, her dedication and devotion to Bharathanatyam have earned her many titles.

It is impossible to be free from the humaness of experience; a life led, a memory, an intangible bonding. How can I be objective about what to me is so personal and emotional? Much as I try, I cannot be as impartial as perhaps an outsider can to this 'experience'. For Karnataka to me is a lifetime's experience. I am partial to Karnataka its arts, crafts, cuisine, geographical scapes, locales, temples, people and yes, even its smells. and unashamed of it.

I was born in Mysore in the 1960s and am proud to belong to a city that was the capital of the Wodeyar dynasty. The Wodeyars were known patrons of art and of the many arts that flourished in their courts, one was the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam, popularly known as Mysore School Bharatanatya. That the dance was practised in the Mysore region is evident from the exquisitely carved madanikas (dancing sculptures) in the temples of Belur, Halebid and Somanathpur. Legend has it that the Hoysala queen Shantala used to dance in the pillared halls of the temples. In its present form, Bharatanatya could probably be traced to the court of Krishnaraja Wodeyar III who ruled in the early 19th century. His son Chamaraja Wodeyar is said to have further patronised this art, and invited Chinayya of the Tanjore quarter to visit his court.

Several court dancers dedicated their lives to the further propagation of this art such as Jetti Thayamma, a legendary court dancer who served during the time of Chamaraja Wodeyar. Growing up, I had the good fortune of having interacted with several people who saw the dance in all its glories at the Maharaja's palace. The Mysore style repertoire as it was performed in the palace had certain special features; for instance, the entire dance piece was performed without a single break. It comprised special items such as choomika, which was a prologue, sabha puja and the nilugade-sthanaka. Abhinaya consisted of padams and javalis composed in Kannada and Telugu, and shlokas were in Sanskrit. Of the surviving palace dancers that I got to see perform was Venkatala-kshamma, a disciple of Jetti Thayamma. The Mysore School of Bharatnatya also survived in the temples in places like Moogur, Nelamangala and Kolar, Mulbagal and Kollegal. Sadly, none of these places have dance in the temples anymore. the Mysore School, too, does not survive in its original form though there still are a few practitioners. But this is not such a bad thing dancers have imbibed the best of many styles and evolved aesthetics that are not only visually pleasing but also intellectually satisfying.

It is strange but true that while I was training in Bharatanatyam, Bangalore was not considered a seat of classical dance activity. But this has changed for the better over the past 30 years. Not only does Bangalore have some of the best Bharatanatyam dancers in the country, but it also houses practitioners of a variety of styles that are equally popular such as Kathak, Odissi, Mohiniattam and Kuchipudi. Sitting here in Delhi, writing this piece, I almost lust for Karnataka its rhythm, its sounds! Karnataka has a wide range of songs and dances that revolve around hunting, food gathering, and burial rites. the many tribes and ethnic groups such as the Yeravas, Pardhis, mavilans, Garudigas and Gondiligas are professional musicians, magicians, and jugglers, while the Natuvas are professional dancers. Of the existing folk forms are the Bhoota and Vaidya dance forms, the Nagamandala, Beesu Kamsale, the Kargams, the Kavadis, the Puravi Attam and the many Kunithas.

The bhoota dances are performed mostly at night, usually in the open on moonlit nights. As if from the night itself, appear the dancers with elaborate costumes made of leaves, tender shoots of betelnuts and tender coconut leaves. The headgears are high and conical, and make-up specific to each 'bhoota' or demon (resembling Yakshagana make-up). A related performance is the Vaidya dance held in the precincts of the temple in conjunction with another ceremony called Siri.

Ritual and dance are part and parcel of the Karnataka experience. The Dollu (drum) Kunitha, a popular drum dance accompanied by song is performed by the shephered community of Kurubas. Other Kunitha dances draw their name from the deity that is borne on the shoulders of the dancers through the recital. It is seen, with slight modifications, in almost all the regions all the way up to north Karnataka where the popularly seen form is the Krishna Parijata. The Parijata Yakshagana is performed in the entire region of Gulbarga, Bellary, Bidar and across the geographical border of Andhra Pradesh.

Puppetery is another delightful art form that thrives in Karnataka even today. The counterpart of the leather pupets of Andhra and Tamil Nadu are the state's Togalu Gombeaata, leather puppets, and the Combeaata marionettes. The ancient art of leather puppetry draws heavily from mythology. The marionette Gombeaata is a stylised verions of the most developd form of dance drama of Karnataka, the Yakshagana. A celestial world unfolds before the audience hence the name yaksha (celestial) gana (music). The night-long event is part of everyday life of the people of this region who throng the venue in massive numbers.

A Yakshagana performance is mesmerising. The curtain rises and an epic unfolds. Dance. Music. Brilliant splashes of colour. Good fights evil, evil fights back. There are plots, sub plots ... The roaring demon, the laughing God, the dancing nymph...there's a wealth of characters to choose from. The drama is all encompassing, it takes hold of your senses. As does Karnataka.

Source:Travel India