The Origin and Evolution of Kathak in Delhi - Delhi Heritage City

The Origin and Evolution of Kathak in Delhiby Shovana Narayanawith a special focus on how form and stance employed in Kathak was derived from sculptures, paintings andother art forms in Delhi and how these forms and stance continue to be used till today.At the outset, it is stated that Kathak, a dance form whose very name suggests Sanskrit roots andrefers to the storyteller narrating a story, was a form indigenous to the entire Indo-Gangetic belt.References from 4 th century BC Prakrit inscription indicates its profession as a group of storytellersperforming ‘shringar’ dance to a ‘stuti’ in praise of the Almighty on the banks of Ganges at Varanasi.The three references in the Mahabharata indicate yet again to the profession (dance enactor) andcaste (Brahmin) of the kathaks but what is of interest is the location. Indraprastha, identified as thelocation where Delhi stands today, was considered to be the capital of the Pandavas. Hence thereference to the kathaks accompanying the Pandavas to the outskirts of the city, suggests the practiceof the dance form in this area.For a large part of India’s history, Delhi, located on the banks of River Yamuna, has served as thecapital to several empires especially post 10 th century AD. Reason lies in its geographical location as itserves as a link between Central Asia, the northwest frontiers and the rest of the country. It liesbetween the heterogeneous network of finance, trade, diplomacy, crafts and learning. This is evidentfrom few Maurya inscriptions and from the route taken by Buddhist monks to the learning centres ofNalanda, Vikramshila and Takshila as well as the route the Mauryan armies took to quell uprisings inthe northwest. These factors underline the strategic importance of the city.Even the Natyashastra authored by Sage Bharata in Kashmir found its way to the rest of Indiaundoubtedly crossing the hearts and plains of Delhi. So is the case with the imagery of Natraja as isevident from a systematic chronological placing together of epigraphical sources that suggests itsphilosophical origin in Kashmir and epigraphic representations from 2 nd century BC Sunga 1 period innorth and north west India to various parts of India, only to finally culminate in the 11 th centurypopular figure of Nataraj of Chola period. Similar is the story of devadasis as indicated by historicaland literary works, especially Kalidasa’s works of 3 rd -4 th century AD, Kalhana’s Rajtarangini that reflectits practice in north and central India and such others. Thus, the region of Delhi could not remainuntouched by all these developments.Therefore, subject to several contacts and invasions especially from the northwest right sinceMahabharat times, traces of influences can be seen in the culture of this region, whether it was someof the Vedic Sanskrit verses that show parallelism with verses from Zend Avestha of Persia as givenbelow, or in the evolution of clothing, language, music and dance. However it was when Musliminvaders put down their roots in India with a large number of them making Delhi their capital, that acomposite culture started emerging, reflecting the flavour of plurality and the fragrance of all suchcontacts and influences in implicit recognition of diversity, that has been best encapsulated in theethos of Delhi or ‘Dilli’ culture.Sanskrit Vedic shloka:tam bhagwantam yajatamshooram dhamasu ya vishthammitram yaje hotribhyah(i.e.The divine ceremonies performed by the priests for removing the obstacles before the brave, arededicated to the Sun God.)Zend Avestha:tam amventem vajatemsooram damohu ye vistem1Terracotta sculpture from the Sunga period (2 nd – 1 st century BC) depicts Shiva as VeenaDakshinamoorthy while 5 th century AD Nataraja sculpture is from Tumain, Guna, MP1

The new societal norms led to another significant development. As idol-worship goes against thetenets of the Islamic faith and along with it, the medium of music and dance as forms of worship, newsocietal norms developed. Till hitherto, male Brahmin Kathaks now remained confined to theirtemples. For court entertainment, a new group of women performers, the courtesan dancers emergedreplacing the till hitherto devadasis 4 , a practice prevalent in all parts of India including Delhi andsurrounding areas. Dubbed as ‘nautch’ by the British, corrupted version of ‘naach’ derived from‘nachnewali’, there were several categories of such courtesans. They were the ‘kanchanis’ (of thekanchana tribe), the ‘chunawalis’ (from the erstwhile profession of selling lime) and the ‘nagarnts’ whocame from the Gujarat and reigned supreme. Then there were the tawaifs, kothewalis, ganewalis,peshewar, khangis or deredars, etc. Thus they ranged from the common harlot to the educated,sophisticated courtesans who were not available to all and sundry.These educated courtesans 5 maintained exacting ethical standards both in personal and professionallives. It was from among them that a few excelled in dance whose nuances were learnt at the feet ofthe great Kathak masters. Such courtesan dancers excelled in the art of singing and hence the seed ofthe ‘baithiki’ style of rendering of ‘abhinaya’ in Kathak was sown. They also excelled in the arts ofpoetry, music and dancing and were often considered to be the authority on etiquette.In the ‘baithiki’ style the performer is seated and while singing the phrases of the song usuallyreflecting the pangs of separation and the ecstasy in union, their renderings were accompanied bydance gestures. Depending on the intellectual capacity of the performer, the exposition traced myriadinterpretations. This new genre was carried to perfection by the legendary artistes of the Lucknowgharana.The eminence of such women performers, gave rise to the ‘kotha culture’. ‘Kotha’ derived from theterm ‘kothi’ ie large mansion or a ‘kothri’ ie a small dwelling unit soon came to be associated with amulti-storied house or mansion. This ‘kotha’ became the meeting point of poets, musicians, dancersand patrons. The courtesan dancers, popularly known as ‘tawaifs’ popularized rendition of thumris,dadras and ghazals using the abstract rhythmic facet or the highly interpretative aspect of the Kathakdance form to embellish their renderings.4Kalidasa makes a reference to the ‘devadasi pratha’ in the Mahakala temple of Ujjain at the time of‘sandhya pooja’ (evening worship) in his ‘Meghdoot’. Hiuen Tsang makes a reference to the numberof dancing girls he saw attached to the Sun temple at Multan while the ‘Rajatarangini” of Kalhanaalso indicates to the prevalence of this custom in Kashmir from about the 7th century AD onwards.This system was also not unknown at the Vishwanath temple at Benaras as is evident from thereference in ‘Kuttinimatam’.The Mughal period refer to the existence of ‘devadasis’ in the temples of the Indo-Gangetic belt. A‘parwana’ dated 25 January, 1644 AD (15 zulqada 1053 AH) written by one Azam Khan mentions thepresence of ‘nrit-kanyan’ i.e. women dancers in the Govind Dev temple at Vrindaban.5Some of the famous courtesans, renowned for their skill in music and dance, from the region ofAvadh included Zohrabai, Mushtaribai, Sukhbadan and Gulbadan, (both of Benaras), JanbakshaBandawali, Adhvan Unnaonivasi, Bi Lutfan, Chandrabai Akbarabadwali and Jaddanbai. In Rajasthan, aclass of courtesans, skilled in artistic qualities sported the title of ‘rai’ as they danced not only for the‘zenanas’ but also for the king on social and religious occasions. Some of the eminent courtesandancersfrom this area were Kishore beli, Anandrai, Gulabrai, Jonrai, Govindi, Uttamrai, Chandaraiand Kishorerai. In Patna, the night mehfils called ‘khari mehfil’ starting at 8 pm lasted till the earlyhours of the morning when raga bhairavi was sung. These mehfils boasted of exceptionally gifteddancers such as Mahtab, Choudhrain, Zohrabai, Allah Jilai, Badi Kaneez and Haider Jan Begum manyof whom find mention in Buchanan’s travellogues.3

There are but few instances where depending on the personal interest of Muslim ruler, male Kathakdancers performed in the haloed precincts of the court. Court etiquette demanded that theseperformers could not perform without a head covering 6 in due deference to the Emperor nor couldthey place an idol of their Hindu Gods 7 . Since the interest of the Muslim rulers was tilted heavily infavour of music 8 and hence musical compositions besides a heavy display of rhythmic virtuosity foundits way into the performances of the traditional male Brahmin Kathak performers. Yet even with theemphasis now on rhythmic virtuosity, the ‘atma’ of Kathak centring on enactment of themes aroundHindu deities continued unabated albeit with a difference. Reference to Hindu deities were explainedand interpreted in Sufi terms. What also emerges from the reference to Kathaks in the SangeetRatnakara 9 , 13 th century treatise that some of the artistes had adapted themselves to the changedsocio-political circumstances. Thus the Kathaks who performed not only within the scared templeprecincts, also performed in courts of both Hindu and Muslim rulers.The element of pirouettes associated with dervish dances in Sufism, found its way into Kathak’srhythmic virtuous rendering. Even though a sculpture from Patliputra pertaining to the Maurya period(3 rd century BC) indicates use of pirouettes and the Natyashastra too refers to the ‘cakra bhramari’,yet the pirouettes were not treated as special spectacular aspect of a Kathak rendering. It was underthe influence of Sufism in Delhi courts that it assumed a virtuous garb. Reference is drawn to theMughal miniature painting of pirouetting dancers of the Akbarnamah (16 th century, a feature that isstill practiced till date. The dance of some male dancers replete with pirouettes and grace were also tobe seen performed in public spaces. Such was their attraction that it is said that people timed theirevening walks in order to be able to witness such performances.The Brahmin Kathaks found a unique explanation to marry the sensibilities of Vaishnavism and Sufism.As Indian philosophy expounded the cyclic nature of life, there could be no better visual translation ofthis philosophy of ‘kaal cakra’ and ‘jeevan cakra’ than with the rendering of the ‘cakra bhramari’ (thepirouettes). In Sufism, the impulse for pirouetting also stemmed from a similar philosophy wherebyabandoning the ego, the believer aims at one-ness with the almighty, encompassing in this ‘dhikr’, thethree elements of ‘tawhid’ (realization of Allah's oneness and role as sole creator), resurrection andprophethood. In the words of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, "All loves are a bridge to Divine love. Yet,those who have not had a taste of it do not know!"6In Lucknow, the legendary dancers of the gharana were granted exemption from this practice,which is populary known as ‘topi-maaf’.7There is an interesting anecdote recorded by Priya Das on the Bhaktamol of Nabhaji written in 1712AD on the first contact of a Hindu dancer, Narayan Das, with the Muslim authority. Apparently whenNarayan Das was requested to perform in the Muslim court, he was worried that used to dancing inthe temple before the Lord, he would certainly not be allowed to take an idol of his God into theMuslim court. In case he refused, he was aware of the dire consequences. Hence in desperation hetook permission to perform before a ‘tulsi mala’ symbolic of Krishna. This became a practice with thesubsequent Brahmin Kathaks.8Abul Fazl, the court historian of Emperor Akbar, writes about Akbar’s proficiency in playing on the‘naqqara’. He has also recorded that Baba Ram Dar was a famous musician in the court of Akbar,ranking next to Tansen. Famous musicians in the court of Emperor Jehangir were Jahangir Dad,Parvez dad, Khorram dad, Makhu, Hamjan and Chaturkhan while well-known musicians in the courtof Emperor Shahjehan were Ram Das, Sursen, Jagannath, Mahapatra, Sukhsen, Lal Khan, and MirzaZulqarnen. In sharp contradiction, Aurangzeb ordered burying of the coffin that the musicians hadtaken out in a mock funeral procession as Aurangzeb had banned all musical activities.9‘kathaka bandinashcanye vidyavantaha priyamvadah, prashansa kushalashcanye caturahsarvamatushu’(Sharangdev, Sangeeta Ratnakara, 13th century AD) (ieKathaks, charanas and such other performers use their skills in praise of the Lord.)4

The meeting of Vaishnavism and Sufism at Delhi had other fall-outs too as it saw new genres of musiccompositions such as the ‘khayal’ and the ‘tarana’ which were off-shoots of the traditional dhrupadgayaki of ancient India. It is widely believed that impetus for development of the new musical systemscame from Amir Khusro. The new genre of music compositions became part of the Kathak repertoire.As the name ‘khayal’ (imagination) suggests, it gave the traditional Kathaks the levee to explore theentire range of emotions and interpretations as was practiced in the ‘baithiki’ style of rendering.The ‘tarana’ derived from the Persian term ‘tarannum’ (melody) emerged as an adaptation of the‘non-tom alap’ rendering of ‘dhrupad gayaki’. In the emergence of the new philosophy in the wake ofMuslim rule in India, the ‘tarana’ saw the meeting point of Vaishnavism and Sufism, where at theheight of ecstasy in devotion resulting in a trance-like state, the commonly used syllables ‘deem-tana-na’,‘na-dir-dir-dani’, ‘de-ra-na’ etc. became meaningless, symbolising the union of spirit of the selfwith the higher Almighty. Unlike its parent ‘dhrupad ang’ where the ‘nom-tom alaap’ was sung at slowspeed (‘vilambit laya’), the newly evolved ‘tarana’ was set at medium speed (‘madhya laya’)sometimes even reaching a faster pace (‘drut laya’). The success of this new melodic composition,‘tarana’, is evident from its adaptation in various parts of India, whether as ‘thillana’ or ‘pallavi andsuch others, facilitated by an exchange of artistes as gifts by the Mughal Governors sent by the Delhicourt to the provinces.The Delhi court especially during the late 18th and 19th centuries, provided impetus for furtherance ofrhythmic patterns, the practice of question and answer (‘sawal-jawab’) between the dancer and thepercussionist as well as the ‘jugalbandi’ viz. friendly competition, between two artistes and rhythmicmelodic compositions. Simultaneously, there was a slow emergence of greater use of the ‘tabla’ thathad been modified by Amir Khusro few centuries earlier, but which was till hitherto, the secondinstrument. This development laid the foundations of the Delhi baaz of tabla. Corroborating this, arethe paintings of musicians and dancers during the period 15th century to 19th century that depictwide use of the horizontal drum, the ‘mridanga’. It therefore follows that the replacement of‘mridanga’ by the ‘tabla’ was extremely slow and could come about only after late 19th century.It is commonly believed that the two piece drum such as the ‘tabla’ was unknown to India prior to theperiod of Amir Khusro. However, dance panel sculptures from central India from the Gupta period ie4th-5th centuries AD reveal the presence of a pair of vertical drum, thus negating the widely heldhypothesis and legends 10 associated with it. Modifications carried out by Amir Khusro cannot be ruledout wherein the ‘bayan’ of the drum was modified to a more rounded form modelling itself on the‘naqqara’ (or ‘nagada’) drum. It was this era that adopted the Arabic name of ‘tabla’ (based on thedrum ‘tabl’). Thus, the hitherto ‘oordhvaka’ 11 drum stood re-christened.With the ‘tabla’ slowly gaining ascendancy in late 19 th century, many special patterns emerged thatgave rise to the ‘Dilli baaz’ of tabla, many of which were translated into dance. The hallmark of the‘Dilli baaz’ was its pleasing sound, and the fact that there was a greater use of two fingers whichautomatically precluded the sound of ‘ka’ as much as possible. Hence the typical ‘kayada’ of ‘Dilli baaz’consists of ten consonants as against 15 of the Benaras and Jaipur ang. The ‘Dilli baaz ka Kayada’ isas follows: dhatita dhatita dhadha tita dhagedhinagina and its variation ghina tita ghin dhage dhina10According to popular legend, in a friendly competition between two mridanga players in the courtof Delhi, the one that was lagging behind, in a fit of rage dashed his mridanga to the ground, whichcaused it to break into 2 halves. Realizing his folly, he quickly turned it to a vertical position and wasrelieved to find that it was still playable, which caused him to exclaim ‘Arre! Tab bhi bola!!’ which ledto the coining of the term ‘tabla’ and the emergence of the ‘tabla’.11The ‘oordhvaka’ drums classified in the Natyashastra, were positioned vertically and thussuggested a friendly, logical yet technical approach. The Natyashastra authored sometime during 2 ndcentury BC to 2 nd century AD mentions various kinds of percussion instruments including thehorizontal drum ‘ankya’, and the pair of vertical drums ‘oordhvaka’.5

gina tita ghina. Its adaptation in Kathak as footwork is as follows: dha (S) takitataka dhina (S)takitataka dhina (S) dhinadhagetita dhagetinakina. These are still performed today.Some of the ‘farmaishi bols’ were the ‘lom-vilom tukda 12 ’, the ‘farad toda’ 13 , the ‘gatang tukda’ 14 ,the ‘Lal Quila paran’ 15 , the ‘tope paran’ 16 , the ‘patangbaazi paran’ 17 to name a few. These had formedthe repertoire of late Ustad Lateef Ahmed Khan who had received it from his guru, Ustad Inam AliKhan and had been performed by Pt Birju Maharaj as well as late Pt Krishan Kumar Maharaj.Reference to the ‘farad’ was also made by the classic bandish ‘niratata dhang’ authored by BindadinMaharaj. It also follows that it is the languorous court practices that would have lent itself todevelopment of such rhythmic compositions. These have been handed down as part of the Kathakrepertoire.It was once again, the impetus given by the Muslim courts of Delhi that the potential of the stringedinstrument Ravanhathha, popular in Rajasthan and Haryana, was tapped and modified to produce aninstrument, the sarangi which came closest to emulating the human voice. This instrument became amainstay for the Kathaks as the Kathaks were required to sing and perform especially in the ‘baithiki’style of rendering.Yet another contribution of Delhi to Kathak was the stringed instrument, sitar. Natyashastra haveclassified musical instruments into 4 categories, one of which, the stringed category, goes by thegeneric name ‘veena’. Sculptures of ancient India reveal the form of the veena to be almost that of12In the ‘lom-vilom tukda’, the ending of a phrase becomes the starting point of the next phrase andthe pattern continues till it culminates in a ‘tihai’ ie rhythmic phrase repeated thrice. For example:takadhaa tirakita takadhaa tirakita, takita dhaan dhaagetirakitadhin, ghinaghinaghinadhaagetirakitaghe, ghetaraan dhaagetirakita-takataakatt, kattita gheghetita kataan-dhaa,dhatirakitataka tatirakitataka titakataan-dhaa, dhatirakitataka tatirakitataka titakataan-dhaa,dhatirakitataka tatirakitataka titakataan-dhaa.13The ‘farad toda’ is a contribution solely of Delhi baaz of table to the Kathak firmament, its hallmarkbeing that it does not lend itself to being part of a pair. Example: tita tita dhita dhita dhagen dhagendhaganagadhin ghidanagatirakitakina kiranaga tagen tagen dhitt taginna-dhittaa dhitt-tagennadhagetirakitatakataa-dhirakitatakadhaa.14In the ‘gatang tukda’, the rhythmic pattern again cannot be replicated and be part of a pair. As thename suggests, gaits of tempos are utilized in the composition. Example: dhikradheek dhindhaa (S)ghitakadhindhagen dhatrakaghin dhagetrakadhinaaginaa takatakataka takatakataka dhinaghinanagadhinaghinanaga takraana-dhatirakita ghintadhaa (S) ghintadhaa (S) ghintadhaa.15The Lal Quila paran reflects the varying sizes of the ‘burj’ (gates) which is also reflected in thevarying jatis: ghinadha ghinadha ghinadha ghinadha dhadagina dhadagina dhadagina dhadaginaghina-taka- ghina-taka- ghina-taka- ghina-taka nananana nananana nananana nananana kattakattakattakatta kattakatta kattakatta dhatirakitataka dhatirakitataka dhatirakitataka dhatirakitatakadhaghinna-dha dhaghinna-dha dhaghinna-dha dhaghinna-dha.16The ‘tope paran’ is executed in ‘misra jati’: dhagen dhagetita dhagen tunakatta kridhi-ntirakitatakata kitatakathu-n nanakitataka tirakitatakata ghi-nntadha ghinadha ghetakaghinadha.17In the ‘patangbazi paran’, the jatis while executing the tihai changes in order to reflect the fallingof the kite after its string has been cut in the duel: Kridhatitadinadina ghetirakitatakaghraa-nnghidanagatirakitataka dhirakitataka dhitadhagetitakatta dhitadhagetitadha, dhitadhagetitakattadhitadhagetitadha, dhitadhagetitakatta dhitadhagetitadha.6

the sarod Yet it was once again Amir Khusro who is credited to have inspired innovations in the formand in the number of strings of the veena that finally resulted in the sitar. Mughal miniature paintingsdo show two kinds of stringed instruments, one with a long slender neck and few strings (similar tothe ‘tanpura’) and the second, again with a slender neck but a little more broad, having several stringsand frets and with one, sometimes even two rounded resonant barrels, reminiscent of the present daysitar The latter, as in the case of sarangi, became a standard accompanying instrument for Kathak.The area of ‘vacika abhinaya’ saw far reaching influences of developments in Delhi that impactedKathak. With the advent of Muslim rule with capital at Delhi, the region saw a cross fertilization ofseveral languages: Prakrit of the common man, Sanskrit of the learned, Persian, Arabic and Turkish.From this interaction, the new language of the masses that developed was Hindavi, and which wasutilised by Amir Khusro and became vehicles for ‘abhinaya’ in Kathak. His verses 18 are still performed.Another luminary of the medieval period who combined in him the complete fragrance of plurality andmulti culturalism was Ras Khan. Born as Sayyad Ibrahim, he became an ardent Krishna follower andhis verses too became part of the Kathak abhinaya repertoire 19 . The new lingua franca was utilisedfor evocative verses of ‘thumris’ that centred on the eternal theme of yearning of union of theindividual soul with the Almighty and which was symbolised by Radha or the gopis with Krishna, theAlmighty. These poignant verses reflected love in both its hues namely pain of separation and ecstasyof union. When performed by the courtesans at Delhi court, Mohan became synonymous with ‘sajan’or ‘piya’. Interestingly, the contents and themes danced by the traditional Brahmin Kathaks continuedto be strongly based on Hindu deities.But yet again it was the fertile period of 19 th century onwards that Urdu poetry, a language which bythen had attained maturity and finesse from its humble beginnings as a language of the ‘stables’,found its way into Kathak abhinaya. Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir, Daagh to name a few becamehousehold names and their verses were performed by the dancers in the Mughal court. Here again,the ‘ghazals’ were delineated at two levels, the dual interpretation of emotions being afforded byVaishnavism and Sufism. Therefore, ‘saiyan’ or ‘sajan’ became synonymous with the Almighty keepingthe essence of Sufism as He became synonymous with the ‘paramatma’ (or the Supreme Lord).Amir Khusro was also known for his verses of riddles (‘paheliyan’). It was during this period that thefoundations of the ‘prahelika paran’ in Kathak was laid, which flowered in subsequent eras. One ofthe most popular ‘prahelika paran’ still being performed in Kathak is given in the footnote 20 . However18Khusro dariya prem ka, ulti va ki dhaar,Jo ubhraa so doob gayā, jo dooba so paar.Sej vo sooni dekh ke rovun main din rain,Piya piya main karat hoon pahron, pal bhar sukh na chain.Chhāp tilak sab chīnī re mose nainā milāikeBāt agam keh dīnī re mose nainā milāikePrem bhaṭī kā madvā pilāikeMatvālī kar līnhī re mose nainā milāike19Maanush hoin to wahi raskhaan basaun gokul gaon ke gwaalanJo pasu hoin to kahaan basu mero charaun nitnand ki dhenu majhaaranPaahan hoin to wahi giri ko jo dharyo kar chhatra purandhar dhaaranJo khag hoin to basero karoi mil kaalindi kool kadamb ki daaran20Nai abala ras reet na jaani, sej chadhhi jiya mahe dariRas baat kahi tab chaunk pari, tab dhaye ke kanthan baanh dhariIn donon ke jhakjhoran mein katinar pitambar toot pari7

this particular verse is being claimed by several dancers from various gharanas and accordingly thereare as many legends associated with its rendering in each of the gharanas.The costume of women performers of medieval India conformed to the dressing as was the practice inthe Muslim courts. Paintings of this period indicate great usage of churidar angarkha with the veilcovering the head. This continues till date. In case of lehenga or long ankle length skirts, an equallylong fan was draped in front. But uncovered head seemed to be taboo in this period as is evidentfrom miniature paintings so characteristic of this era. It is interesting to note that the medieval periodcostumes were also in existence and were worn by the dancers of 3 rd century BC as well as of 5 thcentury AD as is borne out by the sculptures of those periods Al-Beruni, in 10 th century has alsorecorded the use of ‘kurtaka’ 21 (ie kurta) by people of the area.Independent India has seen Delhi yet again taking centre-stage in the annals of Kathak history. Withdancers of all gharanas congregating here, exchanging experiences and ideas, welcoming a new classand breed of educated performers, Kathak has extended its all embracing arms yet again, in the truespirit of multiculturalism that is the hallmark of this city. It has provided the fermenting ground forextension of boundaries in terms of themes, thoughts, ideas, costumes, language, text and execution,meeting the challenges posed by technological advancements and demands of an unmatched fastchanging pace of globalization, but while keeping intact the form, spirit and substance of Kathak.The ‘lom-vilom tukda’ provided impetus for the dance composition ‘Antakshiri’ by Pt Birju Maharajwhile several permutations and combinations of the ‘farad toda’ and the ‘gatang tukda’ can be seen inthe renderings of Benaras and Lucknow gharanas. Veteran Sitara Devi is particularly known for herrendering of an adaptation of the ‘tope paran’.Following the multi-cultural spirit of Kathak, the boundaries of language has been extended to danceenactments in several different languages, including English pioneered by eminent philosopher lateProf Ramchandra Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi in association with Guru Shovana Narayan.This duo also enriched the Kathak domain with their works on lives of contemporary sages andphilosophers such as Swami Vivekanand, Aurobindo, Ramkrishna Paramhansa and Ramana Maharshito name a few.Several Kathak artistes have successfully utilised the traditional Kathak idiom to eclectic music ofvarious cultures, both indigenous and Western classical, without diluting its inherent form andsubstance. Intricacy of footwork, ‘tatkar’ (with roots in the Sanskrit term ‘talla+kari’) and which wasgiven its own special identity and place in the Kathak repertoire during the medieval period, has hadseveral successful dialogues with the footwork performed by Spanish Flamenco dancers.While the period of pre-1857 saw great interest of the British in the culture of the ‘natives’ as severalfrequented the soirees in ‘havelis’ and even married the courtesan dancers 22 , social conditionschanged post 1857 reflecting in an anti-nautch movement that resulted in the passing of the abolitionof the Devadasi Act. Despite such an atmosphere, the sensibilities and aesthetics of prosceniumpresentation during the colonial period also had its impact on stage presentations of Kathak. Thepractice of musicians following the dancers with their instruments tied around the waist for supportthat was prevalent during the medieval period was changed to the formal seated position of themusicians, ennobling both the dancer and the musicians. Technological advancement in terms of lightand sound also found their imprint in stage presentations of Kathak artistes.Kar deepak ko tan dhaank liyo jin kaaran sunder haath jali21‘The lappets of the ‘ķurtaķas’ (shirts from the shoulders to below the middle of the body withsleeves, a female dress) have slashes both on the right and left sides.’22Begum Samru (circa 1753 - 1836) was a tawaif, who arose to become the ruler of the Principalityof Sardhana.8

During the fermenting socio-political period of the twentieth century that was witness to rise ofnationalism in the air of freedom movement, significant developments in the preservation andnurturing of this art form became visible. Institutions such as the Gandharva Mahavidyalayaestablished in Delhi in 1939, the ‘Jhankar’ precursor of the present day Sriram Bharatiya Kala Kendrain 1947 followed by Sangeet Bharati, Triveni Kala Sangam were among the few societies that soughtto spread awareness about Indian classical music and dance. More importantly, in this effort, theypatronised some of the legendary Kathak Gurus and maestros of the era such as Pt. Achhan Maharaj(Kathak), Pt Shambhu Maharaj (Kathak), Guru Sunder Prasad (Kathak), Guru Purshottam Das(pakhawaj/ mridanga), Naina Devi (vocal), Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan (sarod), Nasir Moinuddin Dagar andNasir Aminuddin Dagar, popularly known as Dagar brothers (senior) for Dhrupad and later Pt BirjuMaharaj (Kathak), Kundanlal Gangani (Kathak), Pt Tirath Ram Azad, Devi Lal and Siddheshwari Devi(thumri ang) to name a few, thus contributed their bit in the preservation and furtherance of Kathakand related art forms. The legendary Gurus brought with them the margi system of Kathakpresentation that had been mapped in late 19 th century. While promoting emergence of solo Kathakperformers, this period also furthered the genre of dance dramas in Kathak style, a genre that hadbeen patronised by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh (Oudh) in the 19 th century. Further, the closeinteraction of Gurus of various gharanas under one roof at Delhi saw healthy inter-change andexchange of ideas leading to a development that some dance critics in the seventies had referred tothis phenomenon as the emergence of ‘Delhi gharana’ of Kathak.At the governmental level, the newly independent India recognising the importance of preservation ofthe traditional cultural heritage established in 1952 the three Akademis including the Sangeet NatakAkademi (SNA). In his historic address in January 1953 at the inauguration of the SNA, MaulanaAzad 23 had underlined the importance of maintenance and nurturing of our cultural traditions. Thiseffort was sustained through the setting up of Kathak Kendra (National Institute of Kathak Dance) inNew Delhi in 1964.While pre independent era was dotted with talented courtesan dancers and traditional Kathak Gurusand to whom credit goes for nurturing the dynamic developments in the dance form, few educatedwomen from elite families had already started making their presence felt in this field bringing withthem their sensibilities and further enriching the dance form. Individual women artistes like MadameMenaka, Sitara Devi, Sadhona Bose were household names prior to Indian independence. The earlyperiod of post Independent era also saw Damayanti Joshi, Maya Rao, Rina Singh, Kumudini Lakhiaand Rohini Bhate, many of whom learnt from the great Gurus stationed at Delhi. From the sixtiesonwards, the Kathak firmament has seen amazing developments and contributions from a galaxy ofartistes, most of who are based in Delhi. Even the growing numbers of Kathak dance institutionsdotting the Delhi landscape is a reflection of the interest of the people in the promotion of thisdynamic art form.It can therefore be concluded that Kathak dance form with its oral tradition has had an unbrokencontinuity since 4 th century BC. Weaving through contours of socio-political history and inter-culturaldynamics, Kathak exudes the fragrance not only of 2500 years of Indian history but more so of thelast 1000 years of heritage, subtly capturing the natural beauty, innate solutions to historical culturalconflicts and unobtrusively imbibing the cultural diversity of this distinctive cross cultural fertilization, aunique contribution of Delhi. In medieval times, the performance space ranged from the spiritualatmosphere of the temples to secular public spaces be they the courts of Hindu and Muslim rulers andpatrons, or even the ‘kothas’ and ‘havelis’ when performed by the select courtesan dancers proficientin the art. Today this has given way to performances in auditoria besides the festivals organised atvarious temples and at special occasions in public spaces in contemporary India. Even though the23"India's precious heritage of music, drama and dance is one which we must cherish and develop.We must do so not only for our own sake but also as our contribution to the cultural heritage ofmankind. Nowhere is it truer than in the field of art that to sustain means to create. Traditionscannot be preserved but can only be created afresh. It will be the aim of this Akademi to preserveour traditions by offering them an institutional form..." .- Maulana Azad, 28 January 1953, at the inauguration of Sangeet Natak Akademi9

traditional performers were largely male Brahmin Hindus by faith 24 and caste, yet medieval period sawthe courtesan dancers bridging the gap of faith as also gender. In contemporary India, dancers fromall faith and caste irrespective of gender are engaged in pursuing the art form.Thus, the dynamic Kathak dance form reflects Delhi’s secular ethos of faith and belief in syncretismplurality. This tradition and legacy of the intangible Kathak heritage is being transmitted fromgeneration to generation, and is being sustained and nurtured by the present day generations ofKathak artistes, responding to environment, honing and promoting human creativity with a sense ofidentity and continuity, in the true Guru-Shishya parampara._____________________________________________________________________________24The fact that the Kathaks are usually Gaur Brahmins or Kanyakubj Brahmins are revealed in areport of Munshi Bhagwandas Tehsildar, Allahabad (19th.century) to an enquiry conducted about thecaste of Kathaks. (National Archives, Delhi).10