Decoding Bharata Natyam - The Costume and Jewelry

In all the years that I learnt dance, that is, Bharata Natyam, and performed it on stage, many people, even those who said that they did not understand it would tell me that the costume and jewelry for Bharata Natyam looked fabulous. When I would get ready and stand in front of the mirror in full costume and  makeup, I would feel a certain sense of pride at looking the part. However, there is a lot of intricacy to the entire get-up that makes a Bharata Natyam dancer.

Let me talk about the costume first. Amongst all the variations, there are two main styles of Bharata Natyam costumes, the saree style and the pajama style. I still remember my first costume being a saree style one, which my mother had folded and stitched herself. Nowadays, in both the styles, the saree is cut up. The saree itself is a Dharmabalam saree (not a Kanjeevaram as is commonly believed) of a bright color like red, pink, yellow, green or blue. It needs to have a contrasting border with solid zari.

In the pajama style, the costume comprises at least five separate pieces; the blouse, the pallu, the fan(s), the pajama, and the waist cover. In the saree style, there are usually four pieces; the blouse, the pallu, the skirt and the fan.

Once you wear the costume, the next step is to tie the hair which involves a bun on top of the head and a long plait whose ends are tied with three kunjams. Keep many pins and clips ready. After the hair is tied, the dancer needs to put flowers around the bun, usually white ones on top, and orange ones on bottom. You can also decorate the plait with a strand of flowers or tie some brooches to it. Here I must tell you a funny incident that happened between my Guru and me. I was supposed to perform one evening, and while tying my hair, I made the plait too long. Now, Auntie, my Guru usually inspected us from head to toe before we went on stage and would make us change if she felt something was not as it should be. Now, once I realized that my plait was too long, I was already fully ready and not inclined to correct it, as it would mean starting all over. So, when Auntie, amidst all her activities, came to look me over, I carefully did not turn around. Auntie realized vaguely that something was amiss and began to circle me. Quickly, I moved with her and did not let her see my back. Some sudden distraction saved me from discovery and a sure scolding, and I managed to fold the plait a little, tying it with my dance belt so that it did not look too long and odd. Afterwards, the memory often made me smile, of Auntie looking a little puzzled trying to pinpoint exactly what was wrong with my appearance and myself, circling along with her to keep the extra long plait hidden.

Once the costume and hair are done, the next step is to don the jewelry. Bharata Natyam uses a special form of jewelry known as “Temple Jewelry” – golden in color with red and green stones, as well as white ones with pearls. You can wear a headset, which is a horizontal and vertical piece covering your parting and hairline. Or, you can opt for a tikli which covers your parting only. On either side, you wear two discs, the sun and the moon. The ears have jhumkas with bands. Around the neck, there is a short necklace and a long one. The waist is cinched with a golden belt of many links and you wear bangles on each hand.

A very important aspect is the anklet bells that you wear while dancing, which can be two strands tied around your leg or a belted ghungroo. I have always worn the belted one, as I used to fear that the string would come undone with the other type, but many dancers wear them. You also wear three nosepins to complete the ensemble. This is the basic costume and jewelry, and you can also add more like armbands, and ornaments on your bun. For the makeup, you have the base, and then carefully draw the eyebrows and eyes to make them look bigger, redden the lips and wear a red bindi with a white line underneath. The final touch is to line your palms and feet with red (alta) dye, but make sure you do this last and take care that your costume is not stained.

The whole process of getting ready can take anything from two to five hours depending on how much you want to wear and how perfect you want to look. My recommendation is always to go for the basic look and hone that to perfection instead of adding too many bells and jingles. 

Some tips for buying the costume and jewelry in Kolkata (the best thing is to shop in Chennai but in case you cannot do that):

• Buy a Dharmabalam saree and then get  the costume made by a special tailor. Your dance teacher should be able to point you to one.

• Jewelry, flowers etc are all available in Lake Market as well as a shop in Treasure Island called Sasaram. Depending on your taste and budget you can opt for either.

•  If you want to buy stage makeup, the place to go is G C Laha in Dharma Tala and some items are also available in New Market.

Once you have everything, get ready and go on stage, as the perfect Bharata Natyam dancer.

Decoding Bharata Natyam - A Short History

This was my first blog a couple of years back – one that I had decided I would use to write about Bharata Natyam – my first love. However, I sadly neglected it, while I wrote about other more generic topics. Now that I am standing on the brink of starting my own dance classes soon, I find that I want to tell people a story – a story about the history of Bharata Natyam as I studied it when I was learning dance. My endeavor here is not to bore you with dry facts or too much of verbosity, but to give you a clear background of how Bharata Natyam gained its current form. Oh, and for those who tell me that it is difficult to follow because of the language of the music, let me tell the discerning listener that a lot of the songs are in Sanksrit – our mother language, and if you listen closely and watch the hand gestures, movements, and expressions, there is no reason why you should not be able to follow the story the dancer is depicting.

But to go back to history, in the temples of South India, there lived women who were known as “Devdasis” – those who served God mainly through dance and music. A lot of households gave one of their daughters to the temples to be brought up by the priests as Devdasis, and these girls would be tutored in dance and music from an early age, which they would then perform on the temple premises at any great occasion. This was their vocation for life.

Now, there is always a relation between religion and state, and so, the kings who ruled in ancient South India, would come to the temples, from time to time, to visit, pray, and also to see the dance of the Devdasis. Often a king would be so enamored of the dancing damsel, that he would take her back to his palace, for his own private entertainment. These ladies were then called the “Rajdasis” – those who served kings. This is how Bharata Natyam left the temple premises and entered the royal palace.  From there, over the years, other people also started to learn the dance and slowly it spread to a number of places.

In present day, Bharata Natyam has six main items: Alarippu, Jatiswaram, Sabdam, Varnam, Padam, and Tillana. This form was given many years ago in Tanjore by four brothers, Chinnaiya, Punnaiya, Shibananda, and Vadivelu. They gave structure to the Bharata Natyam recital through these six main items, and were part of a Dravidian king’s court, where their students performed the dance. Of course, other items like kavithwam and geetham and vandanas were added to the repertoire over the years.

In the recent past, the great danseuses who have contributed immeasurably to this form of dance are Bala Sarswati – whose simple appearance belied her immense talent, Rukimini Devi Arundale – who established the world-famous Kalakshetra school of dance, Yamini Krishnamurthy – whose performances awed the world over,  and Mrinalini Sarabhai – who was dancer, choreographer, and teacher par excellence and founded the Darpana Academy of dance.

When I talk about great dancers, I must talk about great teachers of the dance as well, because without those teachers, the dancers wouldn’t exist. And when I talk about teachers, my Guru Dr. Thankamani Kutty immediately comes to mind. Hailing from Kerala, she and her husband late Guru Dr. Govindan Kutty left their home to come to Kolkata where they established the most famous school of Bharata Natyam, Mohiniattam, and Kathakali in eastern India – Kolkata Kalamandalam. A branch of Kerela Kalamandalam, Kolkata Kalamandalam has been producing  talented dancers for years now, including yours truly. Most of the famous Bharata Natyam dancers have trained in this school at some time or the other. Dr.  Thankmani Kutty can be credited with bringing Bharata Natyam to Bengalis, who before that, had mainly concentrated on learning Rabindrik dance or Kathak.

Of course, the history of Bharata Natyam cannot be covered in a single blog post, as reams can be written about each topic in detail. I have just given you an overview here, to kindle your interest in learning more and maybe learning the dance itself.

Watch out for my next blog post on describing the costume and jewelry of Bharata Natyam!