कथक

Kathak is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. Its origin is attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern India known as Kathakaar ("storyteller"), who communicated stories from the Hindu epics through dance, songs, and music. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word kathaa which means "story", and kathakaar which means "the one who tells a story" or "to do with stories". As time went on the dance-form acquired aspects of technical movement expertise in addition to the story-telling features, so nowadays performers usually give equal emphasis to both. Kathak evolved during the Bhakti movement, particularly by incorporating the childhood stories of the Hindu deity Krishna, as well as independently in the courts of North India. Especially during the Mughal rule, the emperors were patrons of Kathak dance and actively promoted it in their royal courts. The Nawab of Awadh, Emperor Wajid Ali Shah himself was a practitioner of Kathak. Kathak performances include Urdu ghazal and commonly used instruments brought during the Mughal period. As a result, it is the only Indian classical dance form to feature Persian elements. Stylistically, the Kathak dance form emphasizes rhythmic foot movements, with the ankles adorned with small bells (Ghungroo) and the movement harmonized to the music and especially its rhythm. ²

The term Kathak is rooted in the Vedic term Katha (Sanskrit: कथा) which means "story, conversation, traditional tale". It differs from the numerous folk dance forms found in the north and other parts of the Indian subcontinent. The Kathak dancers in ancient India were traveling bards and were known as Kathakas or Kathakar. Kathak has inspired simplified regional variants, such as the Bhavai – a form of rural theatre focusing on the tales of Hindu people (Shakti) – and one which emerged in the medieval era, and is presently found in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. Another variant that emerged from ancient Kathak is Thumri. Thumri was developed by the tawaif community who were called "nautch" dancers by the British. Their history as Kathak dancers have been erased in modern India. Pallabi Chakravorty. (2008)."Bells Of Change: Kathak Dance, Women And Modernity In India", also see "The Tawaif And The Item Girl: A Struggle For Identity" ²

According to Mary Snodgrass, the Kathak tradition of India is traceable to 400 BCE. The earliest surviving text with Kathak roots is the Natya Shastra, attributed to sage Bharata. Its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The most studied version of the Natya Shastra text consists of about 6000 verses structured into 36 chapters. Natalia Lidova states that the text describes the theory of Tāṇḍava dance (Shiva), the theory of rasa, of bhāva, expression, gestures, acting techniques, basic steps, and standing postures – all of which are part of Indian classical dances, including Kathak. Dance and performance arts, states this ancient Hindu text, are a form of expression of spiritual ideas, virtues, and the essence of scriptures. The 2nd century BCE panels found in Bharhut show the dancers in a vertical stance with their arms' positions already suggesting today's Kathak movements. Most of the dancers have one arm near the ear in a ''pataka hasta'' (mudra). In subsequent years, the hasta was lowered to the bust level. The term Kathakas in the sense of "storytellers" appears in ancient Hindu texts, such as the Mahabharata: ²

Bards, actors, dancers, songsters, and musical reciters of legends and stories are mentioned hundreds of times in the Hindu Epics. ²

Textual studies suggest that Kathak as a classical dance form likely started in Banares (Varanasi) and from there migrated northwest to Lucknow, Jaipur, and other parts of north and northwest India. The Lucknow tradition of Kathak dance attributes the style to a Bhakti movement devotee named Ishwari from the Handia village in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, who credited Hindu god Krishna appearing in his dream and asking him to develop "dance as a form of worship". Ishwari taught his descendants, who in turn preserved the learning and developments through an oral tradition over six generations, ultimately yielding the Lucknow version of the Kathak dance – a family tree that is acknowledged in both Hindu and Muslim music-related Indian literature. ²

The evolution in Kathak dance theme during the Bhakti movement centered primarily around divine Krishna, his lover Radha, and milkmaids (gopis) – around legends and texts such as the Bhagavata Purana found in the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. The love between Radha and Krishna became symbolism for the love between Atman (soul within) and the supreme source (Cosmic soul everywhere), a theme that dance ballet and mimetic plays of Kathak artists expressed. Although central Asian influence of Kathak rapid whirls has been proposed, Sangitaratnakara, a 13th-century Sanskrit text on Indian classical music and dance in Chapter 4 mentions a dance movement with rapid whirling around like a wheel keeping the arms in the Dola pose and bending the body inwards called 'Cakramandala'. It is employed in worshipping gods and in vigorous movement. The emergence of Raslila, mainly in the Braj region (Mathura in Western U.P.) was an important development. It combined in itself music, dance, and the narrative. ²

With the coming of the Mughals, this dance form received a new impetus. A transition from the temple courtyard to the palace durbar took place which necessitated changes in presentation. In both Hindu and Muslim courts, Kathak became highly stylized and came to be regarded as a sophisticated Islamic form of entertainment. Under the Muslims, there was a greater stress on nritya and bhavag - the dance's graceful, expressive, and sensuous dimensions. The Mughal era courts and nobles accepted Kathak as a form of aristocratic entertainment, which low income families were willing to provide. According to Drid Williams: ²

It should be remembered that the first Kathak dancers were, after all, Hindus who danced for Moghul overlords. Too much outward expression of religious belief was without doubt undesirable. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the wide use of 'abstract' dancing, intricate bell work (tatkar), dazzling turns and the fleeting, transient, glimpses of Radha and Krishna in Kathak arose both to remind the dancers about their reasons for dancing and (gently, unobtrusively) to deceive their courtly Moghul audiences. Perhaps tatkar and tukras formed the bulk of these first dancers' performances. Gradually more and more images, then stories of Krishna and Radha crept in. ²

Over time, the Kathak repertoire added Persian and Central Asian themes, such as the whirling of Sufi dance. The dress replaced sari with items that bared midriff and included a transparent veil of the type common with medieval Harem dancers. ²

With the expansion of British colonial rule in 19th-century Ind… ²

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Kathak”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ²

Kathak is One of the Indian classical dances, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ¹

The source record links this tradition to 10 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ¹