Napier Museum

Monuments In India - Napier Museum

The Napier Museum built in the 19th century is situated near the zoo in Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala. The architecture is a compination of Taditional Kerala style with Chinese and Mughal influence. The English architect Chisholm made the final touches of this spectacular structure. The sight of both exterior and interior is very fascinating. Stripes of different colours in alternate manner give the exterior of gorgeous appearance. The scalloped arches in yellow colour and the beautifully carved balconies with friezes and lattice work shows the beauty of architecture. A vast collection of ancient sculptures, ornaments and coins is exhibited here.

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DANCES OF INDIA - MOHINIATTAM

Mohiniattam, is essentially a feminine dance of Kerala recorded to have begun between the 3rd and 8th century AD. Legend says the Lord Vishnu took the form of Mohini to entice the asuras (demons). During the churning of the ocean, the asuras rushed towards the bowl of nectar. Vishnu appeared in the feminine form of Mohini to entice the asuras and took the bowl away.
Literally meaning the dance of the enchantress, Mohiniyattam was mainly performed in the temple precincts of Kerala. This dance form found acceptance in the 16th century and in 19th century Maharaja Swati Tirunal of Travancore encouraged it. The most popular padams in Mohiniattam, composed by Swati Tirunal, describe the heroine's yearning for her lover. Lord Vishnu or Sri Krishna is more often the hero.

Mohiniattam was conceived as a form of social diversion. It is essentially a solo dance performed by women with tender and graceful body movements in the lasy style. Hand gestures play an important role as a communication system. The dominant emotion in this dance form is shringara or love for the Divine.

The dancer wears a white sari resplendent in a gold border. On festive occasions, young girls perform this dance ina circle with simple movements, while singing songs.

The repertoirs of Mohiniattam follows closely that of Bharatanatyam. Mohiniattam, like other forms, follows the Hasthalakshana Deepika as textbook of hand gestures. The basic steps in this dance form are adavus-toganam, jaganam,dhaganam and sammisram. The adavus or steps are set to musical compositions. The varnam has a simple format with greater emphasis on abhinaya and less on nritta or pure dance.

The performance begins with Ganapati stuti or invocation followed by mukhachalam, a pure dance item in which the graceful delineation of charcteristic movements is seen. The repertoire of Mohiniattam consists of five principal items, starting with cholkettu, then vrnam, jatiswaram, padam and concluding with tillana. Varnam combines pure and expressional dance, while padam tests the histrionic talent of a dancer and tillana reveals her technical artistry. Jayadevas Gita-Govinda is most popularly performed to depict the divine love of Radha and Sri Krishna.

The most well-known performers of this dance are Ms Kanak Rele and Ms Bharati Shivaji.

classical dances

BHARATA NATYAM    KATHAKALI   KATHAK    MANIPURI    KUCHIPUDI    ODISSI    MOHINI ATTAM   
Folk dances


BHANGRA    DHUMAL    ROUF    LAMA DANCE    PANGI DANCES    LOSAR SHONA CHUKSAM    RAAS   GIDDA    DHAMYAL    DUPH    LAHOOR    DHURANG     MALI DANCE     TERA TALI

BIHU    NAGA DANCE    HAZAGIRI    BAMBOO DANCE    NONGKREM    THANG-TA    KARMA    PONUNG    BRITA OR VRITA    HURKA BAUL    KALI NACH    GANTA PATUA    PAIK   DALKHAI

GENDI     BHAGORIYA    JAWAR     GARBA     DANDIYA     KALA    DINDI    MANDO

DOLLU KUNITHA DANDARIA    KARAGAM    KUMMI    KUTTIYATTAM    
PADAVANI   KOLAM    LAVA    NICOBARESE


Musical Instruments

DANCES OF INDIA - KUCHIPUDI

Kuchipudi, the dance-drama (referred to as Ata Bhagavatham) from Andhra Pradesh, is based on themes drawn from the Hindu epics, The Ramayana and the Mahabharata. It is a Folk-dance style quite close to Bharatanatyam while retaining its folk origin. Kuchipudi has been the result of the Bhakti movement in the 6th century. In the 17th century, Siddendra Yogi, the progenitor of the form, presented a dance-drama with boys from the village of kuchipudi. the techniques used then were passed on to the subsequent generations.
Kuchipudi plays are performed in the open air on an improvised stage at night. The sutradhar, or master of ceremonies, Plays an integral rol in introducing the characters, providing humour and tying together the show. The fast-paced nature of the form has made it a popular dramatic form. today it is better known as solo dance.

Kuchipudi costumes look similar to those worn in Bharathanatyam dance. Elegant footwork is an important aspect of Kuchipudi. Another distinctive aspect of this dance is that in special performances, the dance is executed on brass plate and moving the plate with the feet to the tune of the accompanying music. Yet another is the formation of beautiful floor patterns using efficient feet movements. The performer has to express through dance and gestures, the speech and song. The artiste, apart from being a dancer and actor, has to have a high proficiency in Sanskrit and Telugu languages, Music and the texts for the performance.

The Kuchipudi performance begins with recital of extracts from the four Vedas as these symbolise the composition of the Natyaveda.This followed by Ganapati stuti before the entry of the sutradhar who narrates the dance-drama with its implications and introduces the artistes. Each dancer is introduced with pravesa daruva orentrance number accompanied by song and rhythmic syllables. The word daruvu means rhythmic pattern. There is nritta, nritya, and natya. The nritta part is composed of teeermanams and jatis; the naitya consists of sabdams indroduced to enrich the dance and natya is acting with mudras to enact the stories of yore.

Kuchipudi classical dance comprises of a blend of tandava and lasya elements. The music is this dance from is classical and the costumes are conventional. Bhagavatula Ramayya, written by Hari Madhavayya, introduced the dance-drama in the Kuchipudi repertoire; and today vachikabhinaya (verbal expression) has become a special feature of Kuchipudi dance-drama.

Vedantam Laxmi Narayana Sastry Introduced solo items and laid the foundation of the Kuchipudi repertoire. Today Raja and Radha Reddy have taken this dance from to new heights.

classical dances

BHARATA NATYAM    KATHAKALI   KATHAK    MANIPURI    KUCHIPUDI    ODISSI    MOHINI ATTAM   
Folk dances


BHANGRA    DHUMAL    ROUF    LAMA DANCE    PANGI DANCES    LOSAR SHONA CHUKSAM    RAAS   GIDDA    DHAMYAL    DUPH    LAHOOR    DHURANG     MALI DANCE     TERA TALI

BIHU    NAGA DANCE    HAZAGIRI    BAMBOO DANCE    NONGKREM    THANG-TA    KARMA    PONUNG    BRITA OR VRITA    HURKA BAUL    KALI NACH    GANTA PATUA    PAIK   DALKHAI

GENDI     BHAGORIYA    JAWAR     GARBA     DANDIYA     KALA    DINDI    MANDO

DOLLU KUNITHA DANDARIA    KARAGAM    KUMMI    KUTTIYATTAM    
PADAVANI   KOLAM    LAVA    NICOBARESE


Musical Instruments

DANCES OF INDIA - KATHAKALI

Kathakali is a dance drama from Kerala depicting the victory of truth over falshood. Katha means story and kali is a play. The roots of the dance form can be traced to about 1,500 years earlier. The dance-drama symbolises the blending of Aryan and Dravidian cultures and is presumed to have evolved from the tradition of the region like krishnattam, Ramanattam, Kudiyattam, Mudayyetu and Theyyam.
The classical elements of Kathakali come from the Sanskrit theatre called Kudiyattam. There are four types of enactments-angikan or limb movements, varhikam or words, aaharyam or make-up and costumes, sakvikam or emotional aspects. In Krishnattam and Ramanattam, Jayadeva's Poem Geeta-Govinda is adopted for devotional singing. It was especially popular at the Guruvayoor temple dedicated to Sri Krishna. Theyyam is a ritualistic art form practiced in the village temple of Malabar area. The more vigouous dance patterns and exaggerated expressions found in Kathakali are adaptations from Theyyam.

Being a very exacting art, it demands strenuous training of the body and facial movements. Kathakali combines dance with dialogue to bring myth and legend to life in the temple cortyards of Kerala.

The origin of the dance can be traced to the middle of the 17th century. Like the other dance-dramas, the themes of Kathakali are drawn from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and Bhagwata Purana. Like Bharatanatyam, this dance form too is based on the Natya Shastra. Highly stylised and evolved, the traditional dance requires elaborate masks and costumes. The dancers ware huge skirts and head-dress and their make-up is very intricate,imparting the dance a weird and at the same time fantastic aspect. The accompaniments include the chenda, a drum like instrument that produces thunderous beats and the maddala that produces a softer sound and two large cymbals.

Today's Kathakali is based on two styles-Kalladikodam and Kapplingadam. The first lays importance on rigorous training and stylised body movements. Emotions are expressed not through the face alone. Here the natya dharmi method is adopted. The hand gestures are wider and in conjunction with body movements.

Kathakali used elaborate hand gestures and very formalised facial expressions. The latter has to be learnt and practiced at the feet of the ashaan. The male singers sing the sahitya or verses alternately. The dancer interprets the lyrics literelly before creating drama of fantasy around the words. He travels to other worlds-forests,mountains to bhulokam-the world of evil and to swarga-the world of gods.Mostly he goes to the inner world is himself where he exercises his imagination.

The late Chengannur Raman Pillai codified the dance and taught it in school to his disciples. P.V.Balakrishnan is an exponent of the ancient form of Kathakali.

classical dances

BHARATA NATYAM    KATHAKALI   KATHAK    MANIPURI    KUCHIPUDI    ODISSI    MOHINI ATTAM   
Folk dances


BHANGRA    DHUMAL    ROUF    LAMA DANCE    PANGI DANCES    LOSAR SHONA CHUKSAM    RAAS   GIDDA    DHAMYAL    DUPH    LAHOOR    DHURANG     MALI DANCE     TERA TALI

BIHU    NAGA DANCE    HAZAGIRI    BAMBOO DANCE    NONGKREM    THANG-TA    KARMA    PONUNG    BRITA OR VRITA    HURKA BAUL    KALI NACH    GANTA PATUA    PAIK   DALKHAI

GENDI     BHAGORIYA    JAWAR     GARBA     DANDIYA     KALA    DINDI    MANDO

DOLLU KUNITHA DANDARIA    KARAGAM    KUMMI    KUTTIYATTAM    
PADAVANI   KOLAM    LAVA    NICOBARESE


Musical Instruments