Restoring spirituality to devadasi traditions

Restoring spirituality to devadasi traditions We contextualize classical Indian dances as evolving over the millennia as temple traditions. These were motivated as spiritual, metaphysical expressions lifting our mundane human experience to a higher level of universal understanding and connection.

As socio-political forces altered the patronage of dancers devoted to these art forms in many parts of the subcontinent, the prestige and economic security of these highly trained performing arts servants of the gods, devadasis (Maharis in Odisha) diminished. At the lowest point, girls were, and sometimes still are despite legislation to the contrary, "given" to temples as devadasis solely for exploitation for prostitution.

The British ‘Anti-Nautch Act’ threw out the baby with the bath water when it banned centuries old dance traditions in all temples during colonial rule.

All of this is well known; yet what is of continuing interest for us today is the ways these dance traditions have been reconstructed for the stage during the 20th and now 21st centuries. Once out of the temples, the sophisticated codified language of the various regional dance genres could be used in myriad ways.

The aesthetics, themes, techniques developed were dependent only on the values, abilities and motivations of gurus and disciples. A superb reminder of the success of new directions in dance was the celebrations of Kumudini Lakhia contributions in teaching and choreography over the past 50 years when she “decided to give the themes limited to gods a rest”.

The shift from temple to stage sanctioned dance presentations ranging from high art to simple entertainment. It also provided the opportunity to create a sacred space potentially uniting an audience in a shared experience of spiritual transcendence. The motivation and abilities of the dancer determine how close he or she comes to this option. Neither the text nor technique can take dancer and audience to a metaphysical experience through form alone, despite profound philosophical introductions akin to “waving mental incense” in the air.

I am always quite thrilled whenever it is possible to see one the increasingly rare exceptions in classical dance who strive to offer what the Natya Shastra calls Margi dance (reaching to a higher level) rather than or in addition to Desi (entertainment). It is also noteworthy that these artists are the ones who are thoughtfully reclaiming the name and importance of a Devadasi identity. Of course, I enjoy dance simply focused on aesthetics, physical energy and skill, whether Indian or any other classical or folk form from around the world. However, the unique possibility of connecting to a spiritual consciousness (not necessarily religious) is quite unique to the evolution of dance in India.

A dancer who has reclaimed and merits identity as a contemporary devadasis, in only the most positive connotations of the term is Purvadhanashree. Her recent performance of two temple traditions, Bharata Natyam and Vilasini Natyam at the Habitat Centre in New Delhi underscored this.

Purvadhanashree is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding Bharatanatyam dancers of the younger generation. She is also arguably the finest exponent of Vilasini Natyam after her guru Padmabhushan Swapnasundari, who coined the name for Andhra Pradesh’s devadasis tradition.

When the early 20th century reconstruction of Sadir Nritya as Bharata Natyam required a distancing from a degenerated devadasis tradition, a pioneer like Rukmini Devi said she had “chastened it” to conform to societal standards of her time. Swapnasundari ‘s current devotion of years of research and reconstruction , teaching disciples and reviving morning to night temple dance rituals in an Andhra Pradesh temple is certainly as close as can be to the actual 400 year old tradition. Nataraja Ramakrishnan was the earlier architect of the revival of what was called Andhra Natyam, but Swapnasundari has been blessed with the talent, vision and disciples to place Vilasini Natyam on the national and international stage.

The contrast of energies in performing both Bharata Natyam and Vilasini Ntyam on the same evening created a fine balance of very different energies, premiering new choreographies evoking rasa in complementary ways. Purvadhanashree entered with a Bharata Natyam Mallari musical composition usually played in Nadawaram during temple processions. We saw Devi entering Kadamba Vana where the lion and deer play together, in harmony in her divine presence. Then Devi as Mahatripura Sundari, beauty of the three worlds, a short extract from Lalita Ashtottara Shatanamavali completed the opening dance. An atmosphere of sublime beauty was created with the dancer’s involved abhinaya.

A delightful abhinaya piece of a conversation between Nayika and Sakhi followed by a Padam was both charming and profound. In a Tamil composition by Vallalar Ramalinga Adigal, the Sakhi points out that Shiva begs daily door to door, dances in temples and wears only a loin cloth. The Nayika simply replies that he is dear to her, great and her eternal love. The Padam takes this to another level entirely. Devi rem arks on the camphor fragrance of her body resulting from union with Shiva; a fragrance which is not like mundane temporary fragrances but emerges at the highest state of consciousness-Turiya ,when a soul dissolves in Shiva Consciousness. Purvadhanashree brought alive the state of saayujya, as Devi unites and merges with Shiva.

Just as it seemed the evening was all bhava, Purvadhanashree brought the Bharata natyam presentation into scintillating balance with an Ananda Bhairavi Ragam Tillana in Khanda Ekam Talam composed by Tanjavoor Shakara Iyyer, rhythmically structured by Karaikkudi Sivakumar. The artist’s pure dance is dynamic and full of joy which radiates to audience and musicians. Purvadhanshree was truly her full form in both nritya and abhinaya.

I have traveled to the Sri Rangbagh temple, Hyderabad when Swapnasundari conducted the annual dance rituals of Vilasini Natyam, and cannot say enough in praise of her achievements in reviving this almost lost art. It was a wise move to share a well-edited excerpt from Doordarshan’s documentary “Rituals in Vilasini Natyam” to properly contextualize what the audience was about to see in the second half of the program. It was all the more meaningful with the introduction by Kamalini Dutt, former director of Doordarshan Archives and one of Purvadhanashree’s gurus as well as her mother.

After the power of the Bharata Natyam, we now entered a dance world of gentle lyricism, a prefect geographical and artistic midpoint between Odissi and Bharatanatyam. Beginning with a Jatiswaram/Pallavi performed during Bala Bhoga or morning repast choreographed by Guru Swapnasundari, Purvadhanashree offered her own choreography of two ashtapadis from Jayadeva’s Geeta Govinda. Geeta Govinda was the only cannon of poetry danced and sung at Jagganath Mandir in Odisha;in Andhra Pradesh temples these were performed before closing the temple at night.

Purvadhanshree chose two lesser known ashtapadis, Radhika Tava Virahe Keshava and Pravisha Radhe set to the musical compositions of a modern day Vagyakaren Dr. Balamurali Krishna, in ragam Vaasanti and ragam Koshalam, respectively. The first is an intense piece where Sakhi tells Krishna about the condition of Radha separated from him. “In your separation she is like a deer, lost in the forest hunted by the Kandalpa cupid. The cool sandal paste feels like poison, the flower bed like umbers, breathing only in hope of seeing you as separation is almost like death for her.” The concluding Vilasini Natyam Tillana nicely rounded out the evening and exposition of the nritya of the style.

In contrast, in Pravisha Radhe ashtapadi, Radha is hesitant to step into the Kunja Griha where Krishna awaits and the Sakhi cajoles her to enter. Here Radha is Prakriti and Krishna the Purusha, uniting and bringing auspiciousness to the universe. It was an interesting choice to play sakhis in both ashtapadis, one cajoling Krishna and the other, Radha.

The accompanying musicians also created some of the musical compositions of the evening,ably creating a magical evening at one with the dancer: Dr S Vasudevan on nattuvangam, Smt Sudha Raghuraman on vocals, Shri Tanjvoor R Keshavan on Mridangam, and Shri G Raghuraman on flute.

One of the beautiful aspects of Purvadhanshree’s art is that her training within a guru-shishya parampara, rather than in an institution, fostered her development as an artist who creates on stage rather than performing a set “item”. I have followed her career from her Delhi childhood as she honed her art exclusively in performances in temples rather than public recitals. She has also been blessed to have new choreographies created for and with her for almost all performances. She is a rare dancer in today’s world, committed to the universal Divine in all of us expressed through her dance. A Devadasi for our time!

Sharon Lowen is a respected exponent of Odissi, Manipuri and Mayurbhanj and Seraikella Chau whose four-decade career in India was preceded by 17 years of modern dance and ballet in the US and an MA in dance from the University of Michigan. She can be contacted at sharonlowen.workshop @gmail.com