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
