Tippu's Fort

Monuments In India - Tippu's Fort

Tippu's Fort also known as palghat fort is situated at the heart of Palghat town, Kerala. It was built by Hyder Ali of Mysore in 1766 AD. It was supposed to be built to promot communication between Coimbatore and the west Coast. This Fort was the millitary headquarters of Hyder Ali and Tippu.In 1784 the British rebuilt the fort and used as their defence centre against Tippu. Later the Zamorins captured it and in 1790 was recaptured by the British. There is a Hanuman Temple here.

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Beet Root Wine

Wine - Beet Root Wine

INGREDIENTS :

1 kg beet root
³/₄kg sugar
1 litre water
30 gm yeast
juice of 2 limes

METHOD

Boil and cut the beet root into small cubes. Add water and boil again for 10 minutes. Cool and strain through muslin, add lime juice. Pour the liquid into the brewing vessel and sprinkle dry yeast on top. Secure the mouth with 2 layers of cloth and keep in warm place. After 14 days, decant the clear solution into clean bottles and store. Use only after 2 months, when the wine has matured.

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Grape Wine

Wine - Grape Wine

INGREDIENTS :

1 kg grapes
1 litre water
³/₄-1 kg sugar, depending on the sweetness of the fruit
30 gm yeast

METHOD

Clean and wash the grapes and boil in water until well cooked (10 minutes). Cool and crush the grapes. Strain through the muslin. Pour the liquid into the brewing vessel and sprinkle dry yeast on top. Secure the mouth with 2 layers of cloth and keep in warm place. After 14 days, decant the clear solution into clean bottles and store. Use only after 2 months, when the wine has matured.

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Folk Dances Of India - South

Dollu Kunitha : The Dollu Kunitha is a popular drum dance of Karnataka.The drum dance is performed by the male members of the shepherd community,known as Kourba. Carrying large drums, decorated with coloured clothes and slung from their necks, the men beat the drums as they dance with nimble movements of the feet and legs. The dance is, at times, accompanied by songs, which are either religious or in praise of war.

Dandaria : This dance is performed by some tribes of Andhra Pradesh during festivals. The dancers, dressed in their best, exchange visits with other villages and are received as honoured guests wherever they go. The old and young men of the tribes dance together, holding sticks, which they strike against one another to keep time.

Karagam : It is the most common form of folk dance in Tamil Nadu, dedicated to Mariamman, the Goddess of health and rain. The Karagam dance is essentially performed by men balancing pots filled with uncooked rice, surrounded by a tall conical bamboo frame covered with flowers. The musical accompaniment comprises a drum and a long pipe.

Kummi : The womenfolk of Tamil Nadu have three closely related dances, which are seen at their best during festivities. The simplest of these is the Kummi, in which the dancers gather in a circle and clap their hands as they dance. An extension to this dance is the Kolattam, where instead of clapping, the participants hold small wooden sticks in their hands and strike them in rhythm as they dance.

Kuttiyattam : Kuttiyattam, a dance from Kerala literally means 'acting together' and the theme for this dance form is taken from mythology. Evolved in the 9th century A.D., Kuttiyattam has two or more characters on stage. The Chakkiars play the male cast and the Nangiars play the female roles while also reciting Sanskrit verses. The performance can last between 6 to 20 days.

Padavani : Padayani is one of the most colourful and spectacular folk arts associated with the festivals of some temples in southern Kerala (Aleppy, Quilon, Pathanamthitta and Kottayam districts). The word Padayani literally means military formations, but in this folk art it is mainly a series of divine and semi-divine impersonations wearing huge masks of different shapes, colours and designs. The most important of the kolams usually presented in a Padayani performance are Bhairavi (Kali), Kalan (God of death), Yakshi (fairy) and Pakshi (bird).

Kolam : The Kolam consists of a huge headgear with many projections with a mask for the face and a chest piece to cover the breast and abdomen of the performer. The dancers wearing kolams perform, as singers recite poems accompanied by the wild and loud rhythm of the instrumentalists.

Lava : This is the colourful dance of the Minicoy Island of Lakshadweep. The dancers wear multi-hued costumes, a headgear and carry special drums. The dance movements are prolific and profuse, and are in rhythm with the drum beats and vocal accompaniment.

Nicobarese : This is the dance of the Nicobarese tribal group residing in the island of Nicobar. The dance is performed during the Ossuary Feast or the Pig Festival. Dedicated to the departed head of the family, the occasion is observed with night long dancing in moonlight under swaying palms. Feasting on island delicacies followed by a pig fight in the morning are the other attractions of the celeration.

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 - 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