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The Jatakas, which are fables
pertaining to the previous lives of the Buddha and were written around
the 3rd century BC, carry occasional references to dancing. The Kulava Jataka,
for instance, recounts the story of the beautiful daughter of King
Vepachittiya who selected as her husband an asura who happened to be
none other than Sakka – the Buddha in disguise – and who after their
marriage took her to the abode of the gods and made her the leader of 25
million dancing girls. The Dubbacha Jataka relates how the
Bodhisattva (the Buddha in a former birth) was born into a family of
acrobats and how he learnt the javelin dance and toured with his master
giving performances wherever he went. (‘Traditions of Indian classical dance,’ Mohan Khokar, chapter ‘Down the centuries’) |
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The poet Parshvanatha during 1222AD, wrote Parsvanathapurana. In the
14th chapter, there is a detailed description of the dance of Indra.
Like his predecessors, Parsvanatha made use of the situation to give an
account of his knowledge in the field of dance and music. (‘Classical dance heritage of Karnataka’ edited by Dr. Choodamani Nandagopal, chapter ‘Dance heritage of Karnataka,’ Dr. Choodamani Nandagopal, 2012) |
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Near Gaya are three Kathak villages, Kathak Bigha, Kathak Gram and
Kathak Jagir, two of which dancer Shovana Narayan visited personally,
met the locals, and recorded the last surviving Kathak living in the
area. (‘Kathak is the only dance form that celebrates full potential of life: Shovana Narayan,’ Manisha Singh, zeenews.india.com, March 26, 2015) |
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