Epics in Imprints-1.pdf - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

note that the Natyasastra is also considered
to be a work belonging to the second
century A.D. While the Natyasastra refers
to the Daksinataya there is no reference to
the Natyasastra in the Silappadikaram. At
the same time, the Rasalila, which is
described in such great detail in the
Rasapancadhyayi of the Bhagavata Purana
is considered to have its basis in the
Kuravai dance identified with the
Hallisaka dance mentioned in
Vatsyayana’s Kamasutra and in the
Harivamsa Purana.
For purposes of cultural expressions
the entire South can be viewed as one as
already pointed out at the beginning. In
Karnataka there is what is known as the
Kargadha Kunitha akin to the Kargam and
Kavadi of Tamilnadu. The most famous of
the folk dance drama (theatre) in
Karnataka is the Yaksagana or Bayalata.
As Kapila Vatsyayan remarks ‘Here is a
dance-drama form which contains a high
literary traditon, a body of stylised
technique of theatrical presentation and
yet one which exhibits unmistakable links
with the tribal and folk traditions of the
region. Its themes are classical epic, its
language is regional, its conventions of
the stage are close to the Sanskrit theatre
but in movement of the body, the
manipulation of the head and the torso, it
has many features of the folk dances of
Karnataka. On another level, it has
affinities with the Bhagavatamela of
Tamilnadu and Kathakali of Kerala and
even inone or two respects with the
Bhamakalapam of Andhra Pradesh.
The repertoire of the Yaksagana is
again the stories of the epics and the
Puranas. Some well-known stories staged
from the Mahabharata are Bhismavijaya,
Karna-Arjuna-Kalaga, Draupadipratapa,
Krishn-Parijata and Abhimanyu Kalaga.
FEBRUARY - AUGUST 2003
Yaksagana artists are mostly village folk
like farmers and others who have
undergone some training in the art.
When we look at Kerala we find living
traditions of Chakiarkoothu, Krishnanattam,
Ottanthullal, Chavittunatakam, Mudiyettu,
Taiyyam, Pathakam and other dance forms.
The Bhagavati cult is very potent in Kerala.
Bhagavati is the mother goddess also
called Kali, Bhairavi, Devi or Sakti. The
colour symbolism cuts across all classes
and groups, being as much part of the folk
traditions as it is of the highly evolved
Kathakali make up. In fact there are
scholars who believe that Kathakali is a
blending of the Aryan and Dravidian
cultures, and that it is the culmination of
a ‘whole process of synthesis’.
This description of some of the folk
traditions releated to the Mahabharata in
South India reveals some interesting
points. First there are close
interconnections between the various
regions and the same dance form is found
in all the four regions with minor
variations. Secondly, it is not possible to
clearly earmark the different levels as
purely classical or purely folk. Thirdly, the
amalgam between what was indigenous to
the region and what came from outside as
the Mahabharata tradition has been
smoothly absorbed and conforms to the
local customs and tradition. This was
possible because these folk forms were
centred round the temples and were part
of the rituals connected with the deities.
Fourthly, since this region was historicaly
spared the kind of upheavals, which the
North was subjected to, the various strands
coming from different sources are
somewhat discernible. Lastly, the
tremendous popularity of the Mahabharata
in this region, particularly Kerala, seems
to be due to the characters being very