KUCHIPUDI HISTORY

I would like to first give detail about the dance which I am very close to. I.e. Kuchipudi.

Before going into detail about what is this dance also about I will share a little of the history and origin of this dance form.  Besides Bharat  Natyam, Kathakali and other classical dances of South India, the dance style called as Kuchipudi has now been acknowledged all over the world as proved, systematic, scientific and cultured dance tradition practiced by the Telugu speaking people.  This style is a constellation of first magnitude with dance numbers which attract the attention and appreciation now of learned and the laity alike.

    Kuchipudi is a small village in the krishna District of Andhra Pradesh and is situated some 80 kilometres away from Vijayawada. The perennial river Krishna flows four km. Away from the village. Near about Kuchipudi there are several historical places like Avanigadda, Srikakulam, Talagada, Divi.

                   KUCHI – PUDI means a village of dances. PUDI means a village that stands on the accumulated alluvial soil near a river bank. Unaware of the etymological meaning of place name, amateur historians of Kuchipudi Art Forms had tried to find the meaning of the word from Sanskrit sources. There are many stories regarding the origin of Kuchipudi. Because of the affinity of sound they called the village as KUCHELAPURI a village of dancers and invented legend that kuchela (sudama) the co- student of krishna had found this village. It is believed that the idol of Ramalingeswara swamy was a natural manifestation on the banks of river Krishna in a idyllic environment full of lust vegetation, songs of birds. Bhagavatula kuchama, a Brahmin lived in the bank has become the devotee of deity and in time settled with his family there. The village developed subsequently and said to be named after him and kuchama gudi later came to be known as kuchipudi. Another explanation was also suggested as since an actor is called as Kuseelava in Sanskrit, Kuchipudi was given a fanciful high sounding name of KUSEELAVAPURI. Some of them are of the opinion that it was named after the kuseelavas a bond of Brahmins well versed in vedic literature, music and dance who made the village home.

At about this time siddhendra yogi of Kuchipudi composed the parijatha harana story into a unique type of dance drama and taught the play to Kuchipudi artists and it ever remained as the best item. The revival of Hinduism through the spread of vaishnavism may be said to have started from the singing of Gita govinda by jayadeva. In the centuries that followed a number of singer saints like Meera, Chaitanya, Tukaram, Kabir, Tulsidas and Bhadrachala ramadas continued to spread the cult of Bhakti among the masses of India. A few of these minstrels of God introduced the dance element along with the music for more effective religious propaganda.

I will come up with some more information about Art in Andhra Pradesh in my next post. Till then keep smiling and most importantly keep dancing. J J

Dances of India

Inidan classical dances

Here comes my second post on the intro about the famous Indian classical dance formsJ

 India is a land of cultures and the best part is that these dance forms is that they show the culture of India to the world. For e.g.: The dance depicts history, characters, arts, tradition,mythology etc. The main aspect of Indian dance is its soothing music. As we all are aware that there is no dance without music, and a good music will always highlight a dance. There is no doubt is saying that the reason for Indian dance form to be so famous is its music. Every word and every instrument that is used touches the heart and soul. That is the reason people from every corner of the world get inspired by Indian classical dance and there are many people who come to India and learn the dance forms. Also the Dance is getting famous all over the world. Earlier it was just considered to be a hobby for most of them but the time has changed. Many people have their main profession as dance and they are flourishing to the maximum extent. They go on stage performances throughout the world, they teach the dance form in different countries.

 Nataraja is considered to be the “lord of dance”. Nataraja or Nataraj, the dancing form of Lord Shiva is a symbolic synthesis of the most important aspect of this Vedic religion.

Let us have a look at the famous dance forms of India

1)      Kuchipudi – Kuchipudi is a dance of Andhra Pradesh. This dance form has got its name from a famous village called kuchipudi. Kuchipudi is a popular dance tradition of south India.

2)      Bharatanatyam – Bharatanatyam is  considered as one of the oldest dance forms of India. It called as the mother of all classical dance forms of India. Bharatanatyam is popular in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

3)      Kathakali – Kathakali is the dance of Kerala. It is a very attractive dance drama performed by the artists. The speciality of this dance form is its colourful makeup, dresses and gestures which are very unique.

4)      Mohiniattam – Kerala is the only state that has two famous classical dances. One being kathakali and the other is Mohiniattam. This dance form is performed only by ladies and it is known for slow and subtle movements that give pleasure and peace while watching.

5)      Kathak – Kathak is one of the most famous classical dances of India. It is the dance of Northern part of India and the work kathak is derived from a Sanskrit word called “katha” which means story telling.

6)      Odissi – As the name tells this dance form is from Orissa. This dance form is highly traditional and has an ancient style. The state of Orissa has a great cultural history which is usually depicted in the dance of Odissi.

7)      Manipuri – Manipuri is a dance of North eastern states of India. Manipuri dance is highly ritualistic and mostly based on the themes of Radha and Krishna.

8)      Sattriya – Sattriya is a dance tradition of Assam and considered to be one of the major classical dance forms of India.

Apart from these Classical dances there are other famous tribal and other regional classical dance about which I will mention in my later posts.

These were just the introduction about the dance forms. We will have a look at each of the dance forms in details. J

Last but not the least Keep smiling and most importantly keep dancing. J J

Introduction

Hello Everyone,
First of all am super excited to create this blog as it is related to my life, passion, hobby, time pass.. everything i.e; dance. I love dancing and especially am fond of all Indian dance forms. I am a trained Diploma holder in Kuchipudi dance. Apart from this I also have interest in learning and gaining knowledge on other Indian dance forms. Through my blog I would like to create interest and share my knowledge on all dance forms of India.

Please help me in spreading Indian dance form in every corner of the world. :) . Keep waiting for my posts. Hope you like them and do let me know if you need some information.

Keep Smiling and most importantly KEEP DANCING