Lesser Known Facts About Kuchipudi Many great people have given their own share of contribution towards the bhakti movement and social reforms. When the sacred dance was facing feudalistic abuse and was degrading and degenerating under the devadasi system, a yogi by the name ‘Siddhendra’ arose and chose dance as a medium to send his message of ‘Jeevatma and Paramatma’ tatva to the laymen. With a poetic license he created ‘Bhamakalapam’ which was knit around the character ‘Satyabhama’. He chose the Brahmin boys from the Krishna river delta region and trained them in this particular art form which included, dance, drama, songs, dialogues and prose which were sung. The groups that performed this particular style were called Bhagavata Melas. After about 3 centuries a great scholar by the name Chinta. Venkata Ramaiah felt the need for a change in this style and brought in Yakshaganas into dancing. Thus was born the 1st yakshaganam by the name ‘Bhakta Prahlada’ in the 17th century. As the clan of Bhagavata Melas grew in number, each family turned to be an individual and independent Bhagavata Mela. Some of the families moved to Melattur and settled under the shelter of Shahaji Maharaj. They started calling themselves Melattur Bhagavata Melas. Few other families got a village or ‘agraharam’ as gift from Abul Hasan Tanesha of the Golkonda. So they not just named themselves as Kuchipudi Bhagavata Mela but also named the village as Kuchipudi. Which was named first is still a question. Kuchipudi as a traditional dance form is unparalleled to any other dance forms of India with its diversified techniques of presentation. It has in it- nrutya rupakas, nrutya natakas, natikas, kelika, eka patra kelika, yakshaganas, kalapas and absolutely unsaid is the technique of pagati veshams. We know of the trinity in music. Similarly we have a trinity in Kuchipudi dance too. They are Sri.Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastry, Vempati Venkata Narayana and Chinta Venkata Ramiah. They have served their life for the cause of Kuchipudi. A student of Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastry and legend Padmabhushan Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam has added new bright colours to the form of kuchipudi dance and restructured it, though strictly abiding to the natyashastra and not letting go the old style and lilt or what is called (kuchipudi Kuluku). We will not be exaggerating if we call this great man ‘Siddhendra Yogi’ of today, as the style that most of the kuchipudi dancers follow today is the one given to us by this legend.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:54:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015