History Of Mohiniyattam Dance In English

History Of Mohiniyattam Dance In English

Mohiniyattam

• Mohiniyattam is an Indian classical dance form that developed and became popular in the state of Kerala. Kathakali is another classical dance form of Kerala.
• The Mohiniyattam dance derives its name from the word Mohini – a historically enchanted avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, who helps good triumph over evil by evoking her feminine powers.
• Mohiniyattam has its roots, like all classical Indian dances, in the Natya Shastra – the ancient Hindu Sanskrit text on the performing arts.
• The repertoire of Mohiniyattam includes the singing and acting of a play through music, dance, in the Carnatic style, where the recitation may be performed either by a separate singer or the dancer herself. The lyrics are usually in the Malayalam-Sanskrit hybrid called Manipravalam.

Etymology –

• Mohiniyattam, also known as Mohini-attam, is derived from “Mohini” – a famous female avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu in Indian mythology.
• Mohini refers to a divine sorceress or supreme charmer. She appears in Hindu mythology during a battle between the Devas (good) and the Asuras (evil), when the evil took control of Amrita (the elixir of immortality).
• Blossoming in her youth, adorably dressed, she uses her charms to entice the asuras, who are on her side, to give her amrita to be distributed among the evil forces.
• Mohini, after receiving Amrita, gives it to the good, depriving the evil of attaining immortality.
• The details of the Mohini story vary by Purana and region, but she is an attractive avatar of the Supreme in Vaishnavism.
• Aattam is a Malayalam language word, and it means rhythmic movement or dance. It is a corruption of the Sanskrit word Natyam. The meaning of Mohiniyattam is “dance of an enchantress, a beautiful woman”.

History

• Mohiniyattam is a classical Indian dance form, which by definition traces its repertoire to the foundational text of Natya Shastra.
• The ancient scholar Bharata Muni is credited with the text of Natya Shastra. Its first complete compilation dates to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE.
• The text describes the basic elements and structure of two types of dance: the vigorous, high energy Tandava dance (Shiva) and the gentle, serenely graceful Lasya dance (Parvati, Shiva’s beloved).
• The earliest evidence of a dance tradition such as Mohiniyattam, or Mohiniyattam, is found in temple sculptures from Kerala.
• The 11th-century Vishnu temple at Trikodithanam and the Kidangur Subramanya temple have several sculptures of female dancers in the Mohiniyattam posture.
• Textual evidence from the 12th century onwards suggests that Malayalam poets and dramatists included lasya themes.

• The first known mention of the word Mohiniyattam in reference to the payment made to a Mohiniyattam dancer is in the Vyavaharamala composed by Namboothiri in the 16th century.
• Another 17th-century text, the Gosha Yatra, also mentions the word. The 18th-century Balarama Bharatam, a major secondary work on Natya Shastra composed in Kerala, mentions several dance styles including Mohini Natana.
• In the 18th and 19th centuries, Mohiniyattam flourished when the dance forms received patronage from competing princely states.
• In particular, the sponsorship and creation of a joint Mohiniyattam and Bharatanatyam team of performers by the Hindu king, poet and musician Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma in the early 19th century contributed to the development and systematization of modern Mohiniyattam.
• In the late 19th and early 20th century, Mohiniyattam was performed by women in the Nair community of central Kerala.

Colonial Era

• With the spread of colonial British rule in 19th-century India, all classical dance forms of India were ridiculed and discouraged, leading to their severe decline.
• This was part of the Victorian ethic of sexual repression, with Anglican missionaries criticizing Hinduism.
• In the 19th century, the Mohiniyattam dance was part of the three wedding rituals. They were Thali-Kettu-Kalyanam (Wedding Sutra-Marriage), Tirandukalyanam (Menstrual Marriage), and Sambandham (Wedding-like ritual or informal alliance).

Modern Era

• The ridicule and restrictions created during the British colonial era contributed to nationalistic sentiments, and influenced all Hindu performance arts, including Mohiniyattam.
• It was also revived and reinvented, notably by the nationalist Malayalam poet Vallathol Narayana Menon in the 1930s, who helped lift the ban on temple dance in Kerala, as well as establishing the Kerala Kalamandalam dance school and Mohiniyattam studies, Training and practice encouraged.
• Other important champions of Mohiniyattam in the 20th century have been Mukundaraja, Apiradet Krishna Panikkar, Harichanda and Vishnum, people from Thankamoni, as well as guru and dancer Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma.