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It is said that in the 12th century, King Chodaganga
Deva established seven colonies for temple servants adjacent to the
Jagannath temple in Puri, and the place allotted to the Maharis was
known as ‘Anga Alasa Patna’ (place of bodily gestures). (Dance Dialects of India, Ragini Devi, chapter ‘Orissi dance: Plastic movements and repertoire’) |
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Lakshmi Viswanathan’s Guru Kanjeevaram Ellappa had composed a beautiful
jathi korvai as an opening to “Natanam Adinar.” It was indeed special to
perform this dance in the thousand pillared Mandapam during the very
first Natyanjali held in Chidambaram. Just as she began the charanam,
"Ashta disaiyum gidugidanga Seshan thalai nadunga" (the eight directions
of the universe reverberating, with the snake’s head trembling), the
Chidambaram skies saw lightning and thunder. A coincidence indeed! (‘Magic in the air,’ Lakshmi Viswanathan, The Hindu Friday Review, April 24, 2015) |
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In an early 19th century account, Captain Mundy describes a splendid
nautch party held in honour of the Commander-in-Chief by the company’s
political agent, Captain Wade in Ludhiana where 46 nautch girls
entertained the guests, only to be surpassed by the British Resident at
Delhi who honoured the Commander-in-Chief with a performance by 100
nautch girls. The nautch became a common form of entertainment in the
mansions of the English merchants turned rulers in Bengal and other
parts of India. (‘Nautch girls: Sahibs danced to their tune,’ Pran Nevile, The Tribune, July 25, 2004) |
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