|
BHARATHANATYAM,
the most famous classical dance of India originated in Tamil Nadu.
The folk
dances are the following
Kolattam
Kolattam,
derived from Kol( a small stick), and Attam (play) is the name of a charming
Tamil dance practiced by groups of young girls. A festival connected with this
art has both a cultural and a religious significance. According to legends, once
there lived an Asura called Basavasura who could not be controlled by anybody.
Some girls joined together in a group, went to this Asura and played Kolattam
with charming music. The Asura was so pleased with the divine music and grace of
the girls, that he gave up all his evil designs. This has since been celebrated
as Kolatta Jothrai in a number of places in Tamil Nadu.
'Basava' - the bull, the personification of Shiva is the centre of
the Kolattam festival, commencing every year on the new moon day of the
October-November and ending on the full moon day. Daily, girls take their bath
early in the morning in the holy rivers and they pick up a handful of grass and
water in a small container and return to the place where they have installed the
clay idol of Basava. The girls then offer the grass to lord Basava, place the
water near the bull and worship. While playing Kolattam the girls visit some
houses in the village to play Kolattam in each house. On the purnima day,
scheduled for the immersion of Basava, the girls dressed in new clothes placing
the Basava in a decorated palanquin ultimately immerse it in a river. In every
stage of the festival, each girl has one stick in each of her hands and the
stick in the hand of each girl is struck against those of the other girls
in rotation, producing beautiful music.
Kavadi
Lord
Muruga or Subrahmanya, the son of Lord Shiva, has annihilated all the evil
forces of demons. He is said to be reside in six embattled field-camps called
Padaiveedus. Palani and Thirupparakundram in Madurai district are two such holy
places. They are hillocks described in mythology as carried by a giant called
Idumban slung on the two ends of a pole placed on his shoulder. This Idumban
became one of the principal devotees of Lord Subrahmanya. He has a shrine
half-way up the Palani hill and receives the first honours from all devotees
proceeding to worship Subrahmanya. Actually the worship of Lord Subrahmanya
without paying homage to Idumban is considered ineffective. The carrying of
Kavadi by pilgrims is symbolic of Idumban carrying the hillocks, the abodes of
the Lord slung on a pole.
There are several kinds of Kavadis- the milk and rose-water
Kavadi being the principal ones. The central shaft of the semi-circular wooden
structure is placed on the shoulders and the pilgrims dressed in yellow costume
and decorated with garlands, undergoing many privations to fulfill vows. They
dance their way through the streets and up the hillock under the hypnotic music
provided by the drum, the pipes and the tom-tom.
It is a
Tandava as opposed to the Lasya form of dance. Extreme
devotion prompts some Kavadi dancers to disfigure their lips. The lower lip is
pierced through for the insertion of a copper or brass ring, often with a view
to maintain silence. The dancers subject themselves to rigorous austerities and
try to get rid of their ego, anger, lust and other vices. They dance to the
tunes of Kavadi-c-cindu, sung by admiring groups of devotees who follow the
dancers. The divine songs are rendered in charming music by a trained singer and
repeated by others in chorus and the emotion-chocked dancer goes into raptures
hearing them. Sometimes they react by shifting the Kavadi over their shoulder,
head, nose etc. in see-saw position displaying great artistry with many a pose
and movement in rhythm, unaided by hands.
Kavadi-c-cindu,
a peculiar folk art of Tamil genius has blossomed into a literary and
technically brilliant form. It gives a lilting tune and inspiration to listeners
and relieves the bearer of the Avid of physical pain. It is also called
Vazhinadai-cindu. It is sung by pilgrims while trekking long distances,
to forget the tedium.
The
Kavadi-c-cindu is sung not only by pilgrims on the march but also in temples. In
some temples, it is sung on the last day of Navarathri in different metres. In
Tiruchendur and in Palani, the cindus are sung with Nadaswaram before the deity
starts in procession. These songs describe the romantic relationship of Muruga
to Valli.
|
