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* In the rising tide of anti-devadasi sentiment, agitation, and the beginnings of legal criminalization of the system, Mylapore Gauri Ammal was evicted from the house on Kutchery Lane (Chennai) put at her disposal by the temple. It is recorded that she found another house from which the gopura could be seen so that she could perform gopuram darshan in the evening at her bedroom window. ('Twelve Photographs of Mylapore Gauri Ammal: c. 1945-1970' by Donovan Roebert, Jan 17, 2021) * "Saroruhasana jaaye," the Navaratri Kriti for the sixth day of Navaratri by Maharaja Swati Thirunal comes studded with a set of splendid jathis, which reveal the Maharaja's affinity for dance. Some of the other songs such as "Bharathi mamava" in Thodi and "Janani mamava" in Bhairavi have impressive jathis too. ('What it means to belong to Swati Tirunal's family and grow up listening to his Navaratri kritis' by Prince Rama Varma, The Hindu, Oct 17, 2023) * Kathak's central place in Hindi cinema was almost a given. When movies first appeared in the first decade of the 20th century, hereditary dancers and musicians offered a natural pool of accessible talent. And since Kathak was the primary dance form of the tawaifs, it became visible in cinema as early as 1919. "In a mujra scene by Miss Gohar (also referred to as Gohur) who plays a courtesan in Bilwamangal (a devotional on the life of Surdas) you can see some elements of Kathak - such as the chal (types of walking) and some abhinaya," said researcher Siddhi Goel. She also points to the use of Kathak in the Tiger of Hastinapur made in Germany in 1938, featuring dancers such as Madame Menaka and Gauri Shankar, who was the main choreographer in Pakeezah. ('One woman's search for the Kathak dancers who were relegated to the background by Bollywood' by Malini Nair, Scroll.in, Jan 14, 2023) * The British Library's incomplete set of newsletters from Delhi, 1810-30, tell us for example that, on May 11, 1830, the Resident of Delhi, Francis Hawkins "went to the Shish Mahal (in the palace) and held the session of the appeal court. He heard the case of the Raja of Kishangarh and Rasiya, the tawaif. The Raja claimed Rs.18,000 from Rasiya and she refused to pay. He said that he had given her Rs.1,000 and a shawl in advance and that she had no claim to further payment." ('Mayalee: The story of an Indian dancing girl who stood up to the British Raj' by Katherine Butler Schofield, Scroll.in, March 31, 2019) * Siva Tandava is of two types, marga and desi, each again with 2 variations. Perini belongs to the second category. Perini is of 2 types - those performed by men and the other by women. While the men presented this in the temples, women executed this as a court dance (kelika) and at kalyana mandapams when the god was in durbar. The ritual dances are virile and nritta oriented, set to many talas. There is no place for nritya or abhinaya. But the kelika has all the ingredients of a wholesome dance and is a classical form meant for the scholars and the initiated. ('Perini: A virile dance form' by Gudipudi Srihari, Nartanam, Oct-Dec 2016) * Karpurashri, the first Devadasi mentioned in the records of Orissan temple dancers dating to approximately the 7th century AD, was attached to a Shiva temple. - Rahul Acharya (on Facebook, Aug 5, 2023) * Dharmapuri Subbarayar, a humble clerk, possessed a deep interest in and extensive knowledge of classical music. Among the numerous javalis he composed, he dedicated one exceptional piece to the raga Paras, titled "Dhanammal Smara Sundaranguni Sari Evvare", paying tribute to her musical prowess and reflecting his profound admiration for her. ('My journey seeking the last Devadasis (Part 1)' by Lakshmi Viswanathan, for Sathir Dance Art Trust, January 22, 2018) * The beauty of Doraikkannu Ammal, the mother of the devadasi Gowri Ammal, attracted the renowned Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma, who visited Madras specifically to paint her portrait. ('My journey seeking the last Devadasis (Part 1)' by Lakshmi Viswanathan, Sathir Dance Art Trust, January 22, 2018) * "The courtesans' names were also on lists of property (houses, orchards, manufacturing and retail establishments for food and luxury items) confiscated by British officials for their proven involvement in the siege of Lucknow and the rebellion against British rule in 1857. These women, though patently non-combatants, were penalised for their instigation of and pecuniary assistance to the rebels. On yet another list, some twenty pages long, are recorded the spoils of war seized from one set of 'female apartments' in the palace and garden complex called the Qaisar Bagh, where some of the deposed ex-King Wajid Ali Shah's three hundred or more consorts resided when it was seized by the British. It is a remarkable list, eloquently evocative of a privileged existence: gold and silver ornaments studded with precious stones, embroidered cashmere wool and brocade shawls, bejeweled caps and shoes, silver-, gold-, jade-, and amber-handled fly whisks, silver cutlery, jade goblets, plates, spittoons, huqqahs and silver utensils for serving and storing food and drink, and valuable furnishings." (Veena Talwar Oldenburg in 'Tawaifs: The unsung heroes of India's freedom struggle' by Sowmya Rao, Scroll.in, May 14, 2019) * Emperor Akbar's friend and adviser Abdul Fazil compiled an omnibus work in Persian, the Ain-i-Akbari, which offers an authoritative account of the life and manners of the time. One of the sections here deals with sangeet - defined as 'the art of singing, accompanied by music and dancing.' In this are described eight principal types of dancers and dances, as follows: "The Natwa exhibit some graceful dancing, and introduce various styles to which they sing. They play upon the pakawaj, the rabab and tala. In Sezdah-dali, the men have large drums, and the women, while they sing, play upon thirteen pairs of talas at once, two being on each wrist, two on the joint of each elbow, two on the junction of the shoulder blades, and two on each shoulder, one on the breast and two on the fingers of each hand. The Keertaniya are smooth-faced Brahman boys who dress up as women and sing the praises of Krishna and recite his acts. The Bagatiya dress up in various disguises and exhibit extraordinary mimicry. The Bhanvayya perform sitting and standing in the compass of the copper dish called in Hindi thali. The Bhand play the duhul and tala and sing and mimic men and animals. The Kanjari men play the pakhawaj, the rabab and the tala, while the women sing and dance; His Majesty calls them kanchanis. The Nat are rope-dancers who perform masterly acrobatic feats and play on the tala and duhul." ('Traditions of Indian classical dance,' Mohan Khokar, chapter 'Down the centuries') * Sharon Lowen was featured as herself in the award winning Telugu film, Swarna Kamalam (Golden Lotus) directed by K. Viswanath to inspire the heroine to value her own Indian dance heritage. * Mrinalini Sarabhai enrolled in Santiniketan for three years after schooling in Switzerland. "It is in Santiniketan that she became the aesthete of all things Indian under the tutelage of Rabindranath Tagore," Mallika Sarabhai, her daughter told The Print. Sarabhai's roommates were former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and Kamala Chaudhary, one of the founders of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. ('Doyenne of Indian classical dance - Mrinalini Sarabhai bloomed under the tutelage of Tagore' by Tina Das, The Print, May 11, 2023) * Dancer Chitra Visweswaran had once requested musician Lalgudi Jayaraman to compose a Pada Varna on Tirupathi Balaji. "Pada Varna contains more text and lyric to suit the dance format, and my father regularly visited the Balaji temple in Chennai and in five days, the Shanmukhapriya Varna was ready that Chitra soon danced for," recalls his daughter Vijayalakshmi. ('A lifelong serenade' by Ranjani Govind, Deccan Herald, Jan 24, 2021) * In June 1857, when Indian soldiers laid siege to Cawnpore (now Kanpur), enclosing British East India Company officials, they were accompanied by a courtesan. In the midst of the confrontation, as shots whizzed around, the courtesan was seen by at least one eyewitness armed with pistols...from archival reports emerges a picture of a woman who made a pivotal contribution to the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, at the forefront and behind the scenes, working as an informer, messenger and possibly even a conspirator in the Kanpur chapter of the rebellion. ('Tawaifs: The unsung heroes of India's freedom struggle' by Sowmya Rao, Scroll.in, May 14, 2019) * Jahandar Shah, who ruled from 1712-1713, made a dancing girl Lal Kunwar, the Empress of the Mughal empire. Her father was a descendent of Tansen and her family were professional musicians called kalawants. During her reign, she was granted an annual allowance of 2 crores odd rupees and coins were struck in her name. So enamoured was he that he often agreed to her fanciful ideas of venturing into city markets at night in a buffalo cart and buying whatever they pleased. ('The 'Tawaifs' of Shahjahanabad' by Debasish Das, Live History India, March 11, 2020) * The first visit of temple dancers to Europe was in 1838. They were brought over to France by an enterprising impresario - EC Tardival - from Pondicherry in south India. They stayed for over a year and performed in Paris, Vienna, Antwerp, Brussels, London and Brighton. ('12 things you didn't know about La Bayadère' by Shobana Jeyasingh) * Aurangzeb, commonly perceived as a man with strict, religious bent of mind, fell for a talented dancing girl called Hirabai who was titled Zainabad Mahal (the lady from Zainabad). Niccolao Manucci says Aurangazeb vowed to abstain from alcohol throughout his life after the death of Hirabai. It was said that Hirabai was killed on the orders of Roshanara Begum who was worried that her brother had lost his ways with the dancing girl and may not be a serious contender to the throne by defeating Dara. She was sitting on a swing in her gardens when the assassins knifed her to death. ('The 'Tawaifs' of Shahjahanabad' by Debasish Das, Live History India, March 11, 2020) * Though many artistes of the Isai Vellalar tradition came into films, the most well-known among them was M.S. Subbulakshmi, who featured in four films, the most famous being Meera (1945), directed by Ellis R. Dungan. ('Devadasi influence in Tamil cinema' by Theodore Baskaran, Frontline, Oct 11, 2019) * La Bayadère was first staged in 1877 by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus at the Bolshoi Theatre in St Petersburg. The ballet was created especially for the benefit performance of Ekaterina Vazem, prima ballerina of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatre. ('12 things you didn't know about La Bayadère' by Shobana Jeyasingh) * American ice skater Gracie Gold performed a version of La Bayadère in the 2018 Winter Olympics. La Bayadère was the last production Rudolf Nureyev worked on, performed at the Palais Garnier, Paris in 1992. ('12 things you didn't know about La Bayadère' by Shobana Jeyasingh) * Krishnanattam had its first tour abroad under the leadership of Guru G Venu. ('The myriad avatars of abhinaya' by GS Paul, India Art Review, 28 Nov 2021) * In 2004, one of the largest Shiva Nataraja bronzes cast by master craftsman Rajan, from Swamimalai in Tamilnadu, was gifted by the Indian government to the CERN Cosmic Lab in Geneva, involved in the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle. ('Decoding the Nataraja Bronzes: A Cosmic Dance through centuries' by Sharada Srinivasan, Live History India, March 7, 2021) |
