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In the Silappaikaram, the stage is given two doors. The
commentator adds that one door is for entrance and one for exit. After
the erection of the stage, it is said that the figures of the Bhutas for worship must be drawn on the floor of the stage. The commentary says that the Bhutas
are the figures representing the four castes and that they are drawn on
the floor and propitiated. The second commentary adds that further
information of the painting of these four Varna Bhutas, of their anatomy, dress, decoration, etc., can be had in a further context in the section of the poem called Azhar Padu Kadai. (Theatre-Architecture in Ancient India by V. Raghavan) |
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Scholars do not agree about the origin and age of the Chhau of Purulia. It is widely believed that these dancers hailed mainly from the Munda tribes - Mura and Bhumiya, known for their worship of the sun. Hence their main annual dance festival takes place in the month of ‘Chaitra’ when the ‘Sala Vriksha’ blooms for the first time in the season. The second festival is held in autumn during the harvest time. Without doubt, many of the Chhau movements are borrowed heavily from these rituals and customs. |
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The Gita Govinda is written as a ‘bunch of songs’ (Padavali), popularly
called “song cycles,” the lyrical - dramatic songs interspersed with
descriptive/narrative poems (slokas), the latter written in the metrical
forms seen in the Kavyas. It contains 24 song cycles, each song in 8
lines (hence ashtapadi), 386 verses – all of them grouped into 12 sargas
(cantos). Each sarga is given a suggestive title which reflects the
context and referential connotation of the theme embedded in the
ashtapadi. (‘Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda: Architectonics of love and religion in dance’ by M Nagabhushana Sarma, Nartanam, Aug-Oct 2007) |
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