The search for a lost dance form or repertoire means it is a holistic search for its historical context, the narratives, voices etc. Putting each piece of this jig saw will reveal a better picture. Its a very exciting process but one that needs patience and perseverance.
Any research work unless with un disputable evidence is an intellectual guess. It has to ofcourse have a methodology and a studied approach. During my work in trying to reconstruct some of the lost dance forms, I had (have) many many challenging moments. One of the most important aspects of the dance reconstruct was the identification and placement of the musical form and structure.
With the music in place, 70% of the dance would be done, i knew. But that wasn’t as easy. The periods I was working on was the Nayak period. The 16th, 17th centuries. Now in the history of Indian music there are many systems that have been used from time immemorial. Bharata talks of an important system called the Sankirna Jati which is very similar to the paalai system that has been elaborated in the Sangam and later sangam texts and was in vogue clearly in the Tamil country. Incidentally Mahendra Varma Pallava had the title “Sankirna jati Mahendra Varma”. This must mean that he was adapt in this system of music. According to me, the deciphering of the most important musical epigraph at Kudimiyanmalai (Pudukottai district) has to be done with the help of this system elaborated in the Natya sastra, although someone like Weidess has done phenomenal work on the inscription already. With much respect to him and his contribution this will throw a clearly light.
Coming back to my work, the challenge in understanding one important aspect of music which is the raga system (scale) was its contemporary evolution into the clearer 72 mela system and its earlier more lucid form that led to Venkhatamakhi’s seminal work called Caturdandi prakashika.
Dandi means stick or a holder. In this case he speaks of the four (catur) directional forms in music that are primary and significant of his times. They are Aaalaapa, Thaaya, Gita and Prabandha. Aaalapa as the name suggests is a rendition of the scale in akaaram. There are several sections in an aalaapam like the ayittam, eduppu, mukthaya etc. Then is the thaayam which is very similar or the precursor to what is sung as Tanam today. It is set in talam and has to use the ” ta nam ta ta nam ta” syllables. Gita is the poetic section where there is a specified tala to the poem and it uses many varieties of lyrical meters and talas. Example is a gita in Jhumpada tala Then comes prabhanda which is also a lyrical section. It has a lucid poetic free form. Its sections include the Suladi etc and has a structure of a composition like varying tempos of vilamba, madhyama (slow, medium) etc.
If I had to reconstruct the dances the music had to reflect the sensibilities of this system and its early and later forms as this alone will allow me to see the shape and form of the movements in the dance. A detailed study of Caturdanti Prakashika allowed me to comprehend its similarities with its earlier counter parts like Sangita ratnakara, Sangita Kalanidhi etc, its contemporary works like Sangita Sudha and later works like Raga Lakshanam of Shahaji.
The division of ragams into desi (regional) and margi (pan national) is quite different from the Janani and Janya raga system. Many of the ragas we assume as suddha or rakti (mainstream) ragas now were grouped under the Desi or regional varieties. Then the prayogams and raga lakshanam vary vastly from what we have imbibed today in our karnatic music concert singing format. Someone like Venkatamakhi who is considered the landmark of the present system of music we follow was assimilating from many of his earlier sources. Which meant, I had to see those as well. For example for the reconstruction of a particular dance music, I had to seek the tribal lineage of Maharastrian medieval folk traditional music to correlate to the text and its descriptions of the music and dance.
I gave grief no end to the musical stalwarts who agreed to work with me by dumping on them large portions of information on what was done, how, what was allowed, what not etc. All this, many a times am sure left them wondering what they had agreed to from a crazy person like me. But their genius and comprehension of the importance of what I was seeking, combined with divine grace, gave me music that will transport both a connoisseur of karnatic music and a commoner alike in a time capsule to the bygone eras when music was free flowing and far from the present day concert (music and dance) format. It will reflect the complexities of the historic periods, the political assimilations and spiritual intercourse in all its glory!
R.Nithya and R.Vidya (very talented singers who are also my dear friends) worked very hard at learning the various genres from these composers and accepting all my crazy research reflections, they know and feel the value of what musically awaits us at THE ATTIC.
Many times, I indulge in the feeling that Venkatamakhi is watching over us. He is perhaps… Join us at FROM THE ATTIC to feel the magic.
Dr.Swarnamalya Ganesh Venkatamakhi, my musically mentor at THE ATTIC
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