11. The built up Sequence in Stage business

THE BUILT UP SEQUENCE IN STAGE BUSINESS Cari Mandala Karana Angahara ↓ Gati The movements of an actor on a stage can be charted as above. The body itself communicates ideas through a gradation of movements. The movement starts from a single feet. 26The simultaneous movements of the links like feet, shanks, thighs and hips are technically referred to as cari. This is called vyayama (exercise) when the movements are governed by approprpiate rules and the limbs are in concordance with each other in their activity. The movement involving a single foot is designated as cari. The movement of two feet is called karana. A dance is initiated by cari movements, and all movements proceed from cari. Cari is involved in the discharge of weapons and it is 26. evam padasya janghaya uroh katyastathaiva ca | samanakaranaccesta cariti parikirtita || vidhanopagatascaryo vyayacchante parasparam| yasmadangasamayuktastasmad vyayama ucyate || ekapadapracaro yah sa carityabhisamjnita | dvipadakramanam yattu karanam nama tad bhavet || Natyashastra XI 1-3 82

necessary for the represenation of the fight (on the stage). The dramatic performance as a whole is dependent on cari, and without the employing of cari nothing can be done in a performance. There are two types of caris - Earthly cari (bhumicari) - those to be performed by standing on the ground and Aerial caris (akasacari). There are sixteen divisions for each of them. 27 Mandala arise out of the combination of various caris. There are two types of mandalas - akasamandala and bhumimandala. Ten varieties are there for each of them. 83 Karana is defined as the simultaneous and complementary movements of hands and feet in dancing. All the angaharas are evolved through karanas. Bharata enumerates 108 karanas. Acccording to Abhinavagupta anganam desantaraprapanaprakaro'ngaharah | An angahara consits of the performance of a series of karanas. There are thirty two angaharas as described in the Natyashastra Two karanas in a dance constitute a nrttamatrka. Two, three or four nrttamatrkas make up an angahara. Three karanas comprise a kalapaka. Four of the karanas constitute a mandaka while a cluster of five give shape to sanghataka. Six, seven, eight or nine karanas join together to form an angahara on occasions. For example for Sthirahasta angahara stretching both the arms and throwing them upwards perform the karana of even foot called 27. nanacarisamutthani mandalani samasatah | Natyashastra XII 66

Samanakha (5). Then make use of Vyamsita (48) in which one throws up the right hand. Then bend the right foot and stretch the left foot in the position of Pratyalidha and perform the karanas Nikuttaka (9), Urudvrtta (98), Aksipta(56), Svastika (15), Nitamba (85), Karihasta (87) and Katicchinna (11), one after the other in sequence. If these nine karanas are used together they form the angahara called sthriahasta which is dear to god Hara (Siva). For Paryastaka angahara first employ the four karanas viz. Talapuspaputa (1), Apaviddha (4), Vartita (2), and Nikuttaka (9). Then assume the stance called Pratyalidha and perform the seven karanas enumerated as Nikuttaka (9), for a second time, Urudvrtta (98), Aksipta (55), Uromandala (54), Nitamba (85), Karihasta (87) and Katicchinna. (The numbers in bracket indicate the serial number of the karanas enumerated by Bharata). Each karana is a set of specific meticulous movements and postures in a prescribed order. This can be compared to a bud blossoming forth into a full-fledged flower. Such blossoming flowers if arranged round a common thread (sutra) it becomes a garland i.e. hara. Thus the karanas as blossoming flowers when arranged in a specified order to build up a specified objective the whole set of action becomes the angahara. The famous sloka of Unnayi Warrier may be remembered here. na krtam sukrtam kincit | bahudha duskrtam krtam|| na jane janakijane| yamahvane kimuttaram|| In this loka the flowers are arranged in such a way that the 84

implied meaning could be conveyed. In the same way the development of a performance through cari, mandala, karana, angahara etc. is meant for a particular goal i.e. the welfare of the society and the performer. Even though the meaning and purpose of each and every action is not known, it is said that the performance will benefit the society. Natyaveda being the one that is meant for those who cannot access the inner depths of caturvedas or the four Vedas in the initial stages of its practice, the aspect of suddhanrtta along with the purvaranga was not considered seriously. This is evident from the fact that after receiving the initial practical evolution Sri Paramesvara recommended the addition of the thirty two angaharas there by making the suddhapurvaranga into citrapurvaranga. This leads one to infer that rather than the indepth awareness of the karanas it is the practice that is expected to bestow the practitioners with specific benefits. Hence the practice of angahara can not be totally ignored in the presentation of any form of Natya. All these movements lead to gati (gait) by which the communication through body is completed. The actors should adopt different gaits of moving forward and coming back to and from at a regular pace. When one moves along a specific rhythmic scale, the pace should be of four matras, two matras and one matra according to the inherent nature of the character. But when a superior person moves along with middle and lower type characters, the superior one should adopt the gait 85

of four matras, and the others of two and one matras respectively. Gods, Asuras, Yaksas, Kings, Nagas (serpents) and Raksasas should adopt a pace with a distance of four talas. Generally all celestials should move in a medium gait, but the haughty types among them should follow the gait of gods themselves. Different gaits are attributed to different sentiments also. Along with these pindibandha (insignia) also contributes to the body language of an actor. Abhinavagupta explains the term pindibandha as follows:- pindi adharangadisanghatah, taya badhyate buddhau pravesyate tanubhavena sakalaya va vyomadaviti akrtivisesah | The term refers to the insignia or weapon etc. which reminds one of the divinity or concept mentioned. It also stands for the karana and angahara which serves the purpose of explaining the central concept. 28 It is said in the Natyashastra that on seeing the and mixture (pindibandha) of karanas, angahara and recakas (Movement of a limb round separately or its drawing up separately. It also involves raising up) in the dance (of Siva and Parvati), the ganas such as Nandikesvara and Virabhadra gave rise to the name of pindibandha and prescribed as to what should be these in respect to various divinities in the following manner. 28. pindibandhamstato drstva nandibhadramukhah ganah | cakruste nama pindinam bandhamasam salaksanam II Natyashastra 4 257 86

1. Isvarapindi (in the shape of Sivalinga) for Paramesvara 2. Pattasapindi (a weapon of trident at both ends) for Nandikesvara 3. Simhavahini (lion as a vehicle) for Candika 4. Garuda (as vehicle) for Visnu 5. Padma (lotus as seat) for Brahma 6. Airavata (the elephant) for Indra 7. Matsya (fish) for Kamadeva 8. Sikhi (peacock) for Subrahmanya 9. Rupa (beauty as embodied in a lotus) for Sri 10. Dhara (flow) for Jahnavi (river Ganges) 11. Pasa (noose or rope) for Varuna. 12. Nadi (river) for Varuna. 13. Yaksi (a weapon with spikes) for Dhanada (Kubera) 14. Hala (plough) for Balabhadra. 15. Sarpa (snake) for serpent god 16. Mahapindi (the weapon which destroyed the 29Yaga of Daksa )for Ganesa and 17. Trisula (trident) for Rudra. There are different rationale for the origin of the pindis. They are life Yantra, Bhadrasana and Siksayoga. Yantra is a contrivance which helps to string together articles like puppets on the stage. Bhadrasana is the seat occupied by the actors. The last one called Siksayoga stands for 29. Ritualistic sanctified procedures to appease the desired Gods. 87

the various exercises based on karanas and angaharas in their application. In this way in the case of other divinities also, the sign of their flag-staff may be taken as the appropriate insignia. From the above descriptions with appended examples it is known that the term pindibandha is an essential component in the completion of an established person, feature, concept or phenomenon. Further examples could be cited as follows 1. 2. In the popular Tullal story Garudagarvabhanga Hanuman refuces to accept Rama's figure without Sita. The famous composition, the Seventh Utsavaprabandha of Maharaja Svati Tirunal is the typical example of an entire lyrical composition that explains the accepted relationship between certain materials or phenomena assosciated with certain personalities. 88 The conclusion thus arrived at is the totality of communication including transfer of subtle ideas and concepts cannot be absolutely achieved by the use of hand gestures alone. Quite often some aspects of angaharas and gatis must accompany a gesture to achieve complete communication. Thus it is relevant to ponder sufficiently deep into the components of caris to gatis while a study is being done on the language of hand gestures.