Kathak, a popular Indian dance among Sri Lankans

By Subashini Pathmanathan

Kathak originates from the tradition known as Katha. The Sanskrit lexicon defines kathak as ‘story teller or narrator of drama'. According to certain historical evidence Kathak dance came into being from a particular social community named kathaka, who were the custodians of this dance form. Professional story-tellers of this caste dramatised the epic and religious stories with full expression, miming and acting.

Today, Kathak is regarded as a classical dance form of North India. It has been influenced by Hindu and Moghul cultures. It reached the peak of its achievement during the 16th and 17th centuries. According to historical evidence this art flourished in and around temples and temple environs. With the passage of time, it blossomed out of the Vishnava cult and adopted certain chosen styles and techniques.

A Kathak dancer

As in most Indian dance forms, even in this dance form Devadasis (the handmaids of God) played an important role. During the period of Moghul rule, the rulers thought if these temple dancers could dance before the temple deities, why shouldn’t they dance in the royal courts. The rulers used force to bring them to the royal courts to dance. Due to economic difficulties the dancers too agreed to dance at the royal courts.

Persian dancers

On some occasions Persian dancers were brought down to India to impart some nuances to this dance form. The Kathak dance was originally based on Rasa Lela. With the passage of time, this dance form was further polished, alloyed and developed into a distinguished dance form.

Kathak also like Bharatha Natyam originated as a temple dance, but soon moved to the courts of the Moghul emperors’ princelings. As in Bharatha Natyam,it has Nirtta, Nirtya, and Natya in equal measure.. The dancers are experts in music, dance and storytelling. During the time of the Moghul emperors, it flourished in and around Delhi, Agra and Lucknow.

There is a general belief that there are two popular traditions in Kathak, just as the so-called four styles or four schools. But today, the more popular traditions are Lucknow and Jaipur and the less well known traditions being Varanasi and Rampur. As in Bharatha Natyam, different traditions have their own grace, elegance and beauty, so too in Kathak different traditions have their own identity.

Tatkar is the basic footwork of Kathak. It is a simple form of foot in any tala. In Tatkar the dancer strikes the floor flatly. All the talas have Tatkar. Altogether Tatkar has three different rhythmic speeds, yet sometimes very high speeds are taken into account. Tatkar provides more opportunity to speed rather than hands or arms.

Torah is a composition of different time beats. The ending of Torah is with any rhythmic pattern three times in succession and the composition is known as Tahai. Tahais are used by dancers to adorn their Torahs. It could be said that the beauty of Torahs is often referred to as Tahai. When the Kathak dancer executes the Torahs the deft foot work is firmly coordinated with the body in vertical axis three, nine or twenty seven times.

The syllables of different beats in Torah are generally known as bolls. When the bolls are recited with clapping hands they are known as Parant. Sometimes instead of bolls syllables, to represent the rhythmic pattern the words of poetry are used. Reciting these words of poetry in the same manner as Torah is known as Kavita Torahs.

The Amd and Salami are also a variety of Torahs. Salami means salutation. Salami is presented either as a part of Salami or immediately after Amd. Facial expression and a few bodily movements are involved. Gats expound the theme of the story. While performing Gat, the tabla and Lehra are the main instruments used.

The most important item in Kathak is Thumri. It is actually a musical concept. Thumri means a style of singing in Hindustan music and such style of singing came into existence at the end of Muslim rule. Thumri consists of four or five lines of poetry only. Each verse is repeated again and again with excellent musical nuances. That’s why it proves an ample scope of opportunity to the Kathak dancer to express the bhava with grace.

Comparative study

The most important aspect in Kathak is tala; the most important tala instrument is the tabla. Dancers perform to keep time with the tabla. Jetiswara in Bharatha Natyam is a pure Nirtta piece. So too in Kathak Amd , a pure Nirtta piece as Jatisvara. Torahs, Tatkar, and Parant in Kathak are similar to jathi advus, theermna advus and sollukattu advus in Bharatha Natyam. In Kathak expressions are conveyed through Gat, Gat Nikass and Gat bhavas.

As in Bharata Natyam the meaning of the theme is expressed through bhava, rasas and abhinayas. As in certain Indian classical dance forms, in Kathak also hand gestures are used, but very naturally and in a simple manner to expound the meaning of the songs. Eye and neck movements are also used as in Bharatha Natyam. Mostly the main themes in Kathak are based on Radha, Krishna, and Gopes. But Kathak is entirely a different form of dance from Bharatha Natyam.

Styles in Kathak

As all other Indian dance forms, Kathak too has different styles. The different styles or schools are known as Gharanas in Kathak. As in classical Bharatha Natyam, the so-called styles were developed by the gurus stationed in different areas.

The styles are imaginary creations of the masters who developed certain aspects in the dance. For the development of Kathak males have contributed much. Unlike Bharatha Natyam, from the initial days the males also performed on the stage. Kathak male and female dancers have different and distinguished costumes of their own. Kathak also originated in temples. Later, it developed in the royal courts. During the 19th century Kathak faced a new era.

Wajid Ali Shah contributed meaningfuly to the development of Kathak. He was an excellent musician, gifted poet and an exceptional dancer. It is said that during his period, Kathak, reached its peak. The king also learnt the dance from Wajid Ali Shah. During his regime the Lucknow Gharana (style) of Kathak developed. Thakur Prasad and his two sons Kalka Prasad and Binda Din served in Wajid Ali Shah’s royal court. Binda Din was a gifted poet and his brother Kalka Prasad, a tala exponent.

Binda Din composed beautiful lyrics on Radha-Krishna themes. Later, Kalka Prasad’s three sons Acchan Maharaj, Lacchu Maharaj and Shambu Maharaj, received their training under their uncle Binda Din. With the passage of time, under their guidance beautiful verses, rhythmic syllabus and melodious musical compositions were introduced. This gave birth to the Lucknow Gharana.

Another Kathak style is known as Jaipur style. It originated in Rajasthan. Graceful and expressive Bhara, are the pre dominating characters of this Gharana. Yet, this Gharana also uses maximum footwork. A special feature of Kathak is that the dance movements even in high tempo are enriched with bhava, rasa, and abhinaya. It is generally believed that the Jaipur Gharana. originated in Rajasthan. The credit for developing this style goes to Iswari Prasad Misra who himself belonged to a traditional Kathak family. After his death his family members continued his work.

Still this style is important to the traditional kaviditoda (poetic verses) intermingled with rhythmic patterns. This dance form follows oral and tabla for pure dances and prefers a moderate tempo and reveals the graceful movements in this tradition. Famed gurus of this style were Hanuman Prasad and Hari Prasad.

Kathak was also preserved in the royal courts by another ruler in Madhya named Pradesh by Raja Charander Singh. He wanted to bring the two different styles together. As all other styles of classical dance forms, two different styles of Kathak do not have rigid differences in the basic concept of Kathak. Kathak is considered as an outstanding classical dance form of India. It is proud to be a fusion of Indo-Moghal cultural trends. Especially, this particular dance form flourished under the Moghul Empire. Kathak is the only classical dance form of India closely linked with Muslim culture and Muslim traditions With the passage of time, India came under British rule. Kathak dance was also called Natuch dance by the British rulers.

The credit of preserving the Lucknow Gharana of Kathak goes to Bindadin of Lucknow and his descendants. A Gharana is totally based on techniques. However, the main outstanding Gharana or schools (styles) of Kathak are Jaipur and Lucknow.

Dresses of Kathak are unique. The female dancers wear the sari or, sometimes the Angarakshak and veil. The males often wear the kameez-churidar-vest - dhoti-kurta pajama.