KristhaPatha

‘Judeo Christian Worldview through the looking glass of Bharatanatyam‘ – a research by Ruth Prithika and Guru Vidyashree Radhakrishna

Every Indian art form has a spiritual background. The most alluring, graceful and effective among all art forms is dance. When we look beyond its religious and ritualistic dimensions we realize that classical dance is a science in itself. Thus, it is rightly invested with the title of Maargam, or disciplined path. However, the path need not always be straight and limited.

A Maargam, though true to its traditional base, gives the dancer an opportunity to explore herself in terms of both, Nritta and Abhinaya, with the sole intention of instigating among the art connoisseurs, the pleasure of Rasa. Dance, with its dignity, grace and beauty serves as a universal language to reach out to the people, through the expressionalism and creativity of the dancer herself.

Keeping the traditional framework in mind, this paper discourses on bringing in a Judeo Christian concept into the classical art form through the dancer’s rendition of a Maargam.

The basic text of Judeo Christianity is the Bible. The Bible gives an overview of God’s relationship with mankind through the history and the experiences of the people. Through the life of Jesus and His teachings in the New Testament, one can learn that God’s intimate relationship with human beings extends to every individual of every nation on earth.

The central theme of Judeo Christianity is non self-interested love, defined by the awareness of others individuality. Jesus became a cross-bearer for all human suffering and exemplified the magnificence of God’s redemptive love.

KristhaPatha, is an attempt to showcase the spiritual and social values of Christianity shown by Jesus Christ. It is a Bharatanatyam repertoire set within the framework of a traditional Maargam. Beginning with the Pushpanjali, taken from the book of Genesis, wherein the dancer offers Pushpanjali to each of the six days of creation of the universe, moving onto the Varnam, with Bhakti as the predominant bhava. It begins with a short sloka , which describes Lord Jesus as the protector of the universe, a friend of the needy, a compassionate soul. The first half depicts the birth and the early life of Jesus, while the second half is based on His ministries and miracles. 

The Padam, is a unique abhinaya composition which is structured on the conversation of Jesus with a Samaritan woman (scrutinized as an untouchable). It is portrayed by the dancer stepping into the shoes of a Samaritan woman where she goes on to accept Jesus as her Guru. The Keerthanam which is set to a light music is based on the cross, innovating a new hasta in Bharatanatyam to represent the cross. It is illustrated in two segments- one shows the crucifixion of Jesus, while the other depicts how the entire folklore celebrates the spirit of His resurrection. The Thillana concludes with a message that Christ has risen and His spirit dwells among His people.

This provides the ground to dive deeper into the content of this repertoire and gain further momentum and motivation for research in terms of classicality and creativity in Bharatanatyam.