Theatre-Architecture in Ancient India

Theatre-Architecture in Ancient

India

II

In an article on this subject published in the November–Decenber issue, 1931, of this journal, I spoke of the existence of well-built theatres in ancient India on the basis of evidences from Sanskrit treatises on Drama.¹ The kinds of theatres, the details of their dimensions, equipment etc., –these were dealt with by me in that article, as far as can be gathered from available Sanskrit texts on Natya Sastra. Now I propose, similarly, to treat of theatre-architecture on the basis of evidences from Sanskrit works on the Silpa Sastra, which deal with the construction of the theatre along with that of their buildings.

The Samarangana Sutradhara of King Bhoja, a work comprehensively treating of the architecture of palaces and other buildings, of arms, air-vehicles, painting etc., describes the construction of the palace of a King in Chapter XV. While mentioning the various parts of the palace, it says that in the southern quarter of the palace is built the ‘Gandharva Vesma,’ where ‘preksha’ and ‘sangita,’ (drama and dance) are witnessed. Coming to painting and the decoration of the buildings, Bhoja gives in Chapter XXXIVwhat sort of pictures should adorn what places. He says here that the halls for ‘preksha’ and ‘sangita’ should be decorated with pictures of damsels with the dance-expression called ‘mudita’–‘gladdened face,’ of danseuses in their skillful dances, and of women playing on the various instruments.

The Isana Siva Guru Deva Paddhati Isana Guru Deva, a big work on ‘sivagama,’ temple-architecture, ‘murti lakshana’, etc., gives a small and obscure description of the ‘prekshagriha’–the place for dramatic presentation.

The Silpa Ratna of Sri Kumara describes in Chapter XXXIX, the various ‘mantapas’ within a temple, of which the ‘Natya Mantapa’ is one. This work devotes one section of eight verses to the construction of the ‘Natya Mantapa’ in the temple. The text as printed in the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series is corrupt, and as that of other ‘silpa’ works, lacks grammar. These facts add to the difficulty of releasing the information locked in the technical terms of these ‘silpa’ works, research work in which field has not yet advanced sufficiently. The text contains a description of the details of construction, dimensions etc., but only a little is clear. The ‘Natya Mantapa’ in the temple is divided into four parts. The state proper, ‘Ranga,’ is square, has four pillars, and is "perfect with other requisites." In the is the place for ‘mridanga’ and other instrumental accompaniment making the orchestra, ‘Kutapa,’ supporting the ‘natya.’ This place accommodating the instruments is the ‘Ranga Sirsha’ of Bharata. Sri Kumara says that behind this place for orchestra, "the ‘Nepathya drama,’ the green room, must be constructed by one knowing the several parts of the stage." This ‘Natya Mantapa’ must be in the south of the temple, facing directly the God in the main sanctuary. In the end, Sri Kumara says that in a temple or in the cities for the sake of the people, or in the capital where the king lives, theatres like the above-described must be built according to ‘lakshanas.’ Thus though Sri Kumara mainly describes only the theatre in the temple, he mentions also the theatres of the people and of the King.

The Narada Silpa of Sage Narada, an unpublished ‘silpa’ treatise!² a manuscript copy of which is available in the Adyar Library, describes the theatres, ‘Nataka Salas.’ The work affects a very archaic style and consequently the interpretation becomes very difficult. To begin with, Narada divides ‘Nataka Salas’ into three kinds: ‘Daiva,’ ‘Gandharva,’ and ‘Kshatra,’ i. e., the theatre of God, of the people, and of the king. The first, ‘Daiva’ is to be built in a temple; ‘Gandharva,’ the second, where all people see dramas, is to be built in such places as cities; the last, ‘Kshatra’ is to be built in a king’s palace. And here, there is this good rule: On a ‘daiva’ stage should be presented ‘Daivika Rasa,’ i.e., ‘Bhakti,’ divine and religious themes; on a ‘Kshatra’ or king’s stage, the ‘Kshatra Rasa,’ i.e., ‘vira,’ the heroic etc.; the cultured and the tasteful present in the ‘Gandharva’ or the city-theatre for all people, all the various ‘Rasas.’

Narada is the only writer who has given this clear division of the theatres in ancient India. From Bharata’s description of the theatre, we get only the King’s and the people’s theatres. But in a later context, Bharata says that dance and dramatic performances should be a feature of festivals. The art of ‘Natya’ had for its patron, more than the king, the God in the temple of the city, town, or village. Each place had not a king but each small place also had its temple. There is a Tamil maxim which says that one should not live in a place where there is no temple. The centre of village life was the temple, which gathered its revenue and redistributed it during its annual festivals. Each place had its artists and craftsmen, to all of whom employment was given by the temple. The annual festival of the temple was a festival to the whole village and to many other neighbouring villages also. The annual festival itself was an exhibition of the artware, metal works etc. of the neighbouring places. The occasion of such annual festival was marked also by dramatic performances. We all know very well how the prologues to most of the Sanskrit dramas say that those dramas were staged during the festivals of certain deities of certain holy places. The puppet show, ‘Bommalattam’, was up to a recent time, to be seen during the festivals. The ‘Bhagavatars,’ i.e., the Brahmin Bharatas staged their ‘Natakams’ during the festivals, as for instance, the ‘Prahlada- Charitam’ during ‘Narasimha Jayanti’³ Now that this ‘Natakam’ and the race of the Brahmin Bharatas are almost dead, some rich temples arrange during festivals for ‘Katha Kalakshepams’ by the new ‘Bhagavatars’, the successors of the old ‘Bharata Bhagavatars’.

Similarly, the lower class of people, during festivals of their deities, such as the ‘Droupadi Amman Utsavam,’ arrange for their dramas, the ‘Terukkuttus.’

Besides the various kinds of ‘Natya’ during these annual festivals, each temple had its ‘Natya Mantapa’ and its daily ‘Natya’ by courtezans attached to the temple. This is supremely so in the cases of the temples of Siva., who is the greatest dancer, the greatest in the pantheon of ‘Natyacharyas’ and who himself dances every day in the glorious evening hour. The Vaishnavite lyrics are all set to music and were intended for ‘Natya.’ The ‘Arayars’ at Srirangam, Kanchi, and Alvar Tirunagiri were master exponents of these, which they offered to their Lord. ‘Natya’ in the temple is very old. Kalidasa mentions in his Megha Sandesa the daily dance in the evening by courtezans in the temple of Mahakala in Ujjain. Kalhana speaks of such daily dance by courtezans in temples in some other part of India in his Rajatarangini. Even now the evidences of those times are lingering in our temples in some useless specimens of these ‘servants of the Lord.’ Without making possible those conditions which will again make them the repositaries and exponents of the beautiful art of ‘Natya,’ other social reform issues have set themselves to sweep out the race. Reformation often times is so lacking in imagination; it produces cultural anemia. The temple was thus the greatest patron of ‘Natya’ next to the palace. It is said that a very great personality of to-day hailing from the North characteristically delivered himself of a truth that nothing would flourish under the shadow of the South Indian temple towers. It is in the shade of the lofty towers that everything flourished, the towers which by their height, not only appear to, but really also dominate the whole village life. Withdrawal from their nestling shade has been the cause of life steadily becoming more and more insipid.

So each temple had its ‘Natya Mantapa.’ The ‘Kuttambalam’ is a feature of all temples. It is this that Sri Kumara describes in his Silpa Ratna and the Isana Paddhati briefly speaks of. The Narada Silpa just mentions the ‘Daiva,’ this temple stage, and says that it shall be of the form of a ‘Mantapa’ and passes over it. Naturally the ‘Natya Mantapa’ in the temple was not, and could not have been, so perfect and elaborately built as the theatres of the King or of the people.

The ‘Kshatra’ or the King’s theatre also is not fully described by Narada. He says that it is constructed in the palace in the form of halls with ‘Anganas’ or courts. We can supply the description of ‘Daiva’ from Sri Kumara. So also we can supply the description of the ‘Kshatra’ from the works surveyed by me in the last article. The Natya Sastra of Bharata, the Bhavaprakasa of Saradatanaya etc., describe the ‘Kshatra’ theatre of the palace. All throughout the Sanskrit ‘Kavya’ and Drama literature we can see this theatre in the King’s palace. The Ramayana says that one of the losses to the country resulting from its being without a king is that ‘Utsavas’ and ‘Samajas,’ festivities and gatherings of art-lovers in which feature joyous ‘Natas’ and ‘Nartakas’ which are necessary for the nourishment of the country, do not flourish. ⁴ It is part of the ‘Rajadharma’ that the king should patronise ‘Natya,’ and that the greatest gift he can make is the arranging of dramatic performances. Bharata says in his ‘Natya Sastra’ in chapter XXXVI: "Among the ‘Dharmas’ of a king, great merit is sung of this drama. Of all ‘Danas,’ gifts, this gift of drama is the greatest." ⁵

Coming to the theatre of the public, the ‘Gandharva,’ it is this that Narada describes at great length in his ‘Silpa’ work. The ancient Indian led a rich life. Life was a supreme art for him, and all the fine arts helped the greatest art of his, namely, life. This is true not only of the finer among those whom Vatsyayana calls as ‘Nagarakas’ but of all cultured people in general. The elite of the city had their own public places to meet and enjoy ‘Natya and Sangita.’ There were theatres in the city, which Sri Kumara calls as ‘Manushya’ and Narada as ‘Gandharva.’ And we shall see presently, besides these regular theatres in the city, there were other places in the city more or less like theatres where on many occasions, citizens gathered to enjoy ‘Natya.’

As remarked above, Narada Silpa is written in an affected archaic style, as a result of which all the valuable details givenin it are rendered obscure. The ground is first made into three parts. The portion at the centre is made into the stage proper. Behind the line marked by the curtain, is the third section, which should be built so as to have many rooms, with space enough to place many things. This portion, therefore, was used for keeping the articles of stage equipment and served also as the green-room. The first section of the ground is made into the audience hall. Nearest to the stage are to be arranged seats for the Brahmins; behind them for the Kshatriyas and so on. The audience hall has storeys with large windows for ventilation and here sit the women spectators. Narada further seems to say that the stage itself has three or five ‘Bhaurnas,’ that is, it is not even everywhere but of three or five levels. Near the entrance gate and outside the audience hall are several special chambers, a circular hall and rows of beautiful seats for taking rest. This portion of the house perhaps represented a fourth and further section where spectators spent their time before or after the play or at other times when there was no play. Narada speaks of other details also, such as gates, pillars, beams etc. In the end he comes to the decoration of the theatre and says that in the top along the turret, beautiful forms of Gandharvas must be carved. The top of the second section containing the stage proper has an upper room, big or small, which is richly decorated with carved birds and pictures and which ends like a ‘Mantapa’ in a long ‘Sikhara’ Or ‘Stupi.’

The Prasada Lakshana of Vasudeva Suri is perhaps the biggest work on ‘Silpa Sastra.’ It has an elaborate commentary by one Yagna Dikshita. The work is unpublished and a manuscript copy of it is available in the Adyar Library. The work describes, giving all structural details, many kinds of mansions, public and private ‘samanya’ and ‘visesha.’ The public buildings are those where citizens meet and celebrate festivals such as the ‘Vasantotsava.’ There are theatrical buildings among these, where during the festivals the citizens enjoy ‘Natya’ performed by courtezans. The private buildings are the palaces and the houses of rich citizens and these also contain special apartments for witnessing ‘Natya.’ Of these we shall speak now.

The most important of the public buildings where citizens meet during festive occasions to see ‘Natya’ is the ‘Saradaprasada.’ The commentator here points out that the ‘Saradaprasada’ is of two kinds, one intended for Brahmins to meet for studies, debates and other literltry activities, ‘Kavya Sastra Goshtis,’ and the other for the Kshatriyas and Vaisyas for ‘Sangitaka,’ i.e., for witnessing dance and drama. The temple of Sarasvati built by King Bhoja where he held his literary court was perhaps the first kind of ‘Saradaprasada.’ The commentator adds that sometimes marriages are celebrated in the ‘Saradaprasada’ and that it is to suit such celebrations that the text also gives the ‘Saradaprasada’ additional apartments at the for feasting large numbers of people. The main purpose for which the ‘Saradaprasada’ was intended, was, however, witnessing dance during marriages or other occasions like Spring festivities.

Vasodeva Suri describes it as the eighth kind of mansion in his Prasada Lakshana. He says that it shall be of a square or other shape. Each building, the text says, has many varieties on account or size. In a village, ‘grama,’ the building is small; in a town ‘pattana,’ the same building should be slightly bigger; in a city, ‘nagara,’ it is still bigger; it is still bigger in size in the capital ‘rajadhani.’ According to this general rule, Vasudeva gives two main kinds of ‘Saradaprasada.’ the smaller one in a village and the bigger one in a city. Thus each village also had its ‘Saradaprasada’. The smaller had two gates, four adjoining rooms, and three storeys and the bigger in the city had four gates, eight adjoining rooms and five storeys. The whole house had three courts, the middle containing the stage. It was a big ‘Chatvara’ and was called the ‘Rangika Sala.’ Behind it were several rooms for other purposes. In the central hall containing the stage were seats arranged in galleries, having steps to ascend at the corners. The commentator says that according to the size, the number of pillars in this hall having the stage is eight, twelve or sixteen; that the hall shall be very spacious and beautified with many pictures. This central hall containing the stage was high and rose up like a ‘Mantapa’ with dome and other features like ‘Stupa’ and ‘Kalasa’ at the top to give beauty. Further this central hall with the stage was surrounded by four or eight rooms which were connected by a running ‘Angana’ and above these rooms, there were three or five storeys. These storeys also accommodated spectators, perhaps the women.

The ‘Sarasvati Mandira’ mentioned in the Kama Sutras by Vatsyayana seems to be different from the above-described ‘Sarada prasada’ though both are similar in that they are dedicated to Sarasvati and to ‘Natya.’ The difference is that Vatsyayana’s ‘Sarasvati Mandira’ resembles very much the temple. In it is the Goddess of Learning and Arts, Sarasvati. The day sanctified by her name is the ‘Panchami,’ the fifth day after the new or full moon. Such days are called the ‘Prajnata’ days. On every ‘Panchami’ the cultured men of the city repair in a body to the temple of Sarasvati, for Sarasvati is the greatest deity of the ‘Nagarakas’ who are devoted to learning and the Arts. This temple of Sarasvati is a feature of all cities. The chief among the citizens or some other authority appoints a certain number of artists called ‘Niyuktas,’ has them permanently paid in the ‘Sarasvati Mandira’ of his city, to entertain the ‘Nagarakas’ with ‘Natya’ on the day of their meeting, namely, the ‘Panchami.’ Sometimes a touring party of ‘Natya’–artists, the visitors, ‘Agantukas’ arrive. They belong to some other city and are ‘Niyuktas’ in the ‘Sarasvati Mandira’ of that city. When these visitors arrive it is the duty of ‘Nagarakas’ to receive them, arrange for their performance in the local ‘Sarasvati Mandira’ and honour them with presents. Thus this ‘Sarasvati Mandira’ which we see from the Kama Sutra as a feature of all ‘Nagaras,’ cities, was mainly intended for fortnightly presentation of ‘Natya’ and hence had as the main part, a stage intended for that purpose.

Coming again to the work called Prasada Lakshana: It describes other public and private buildings, built for witnessing ‘Natya.’ The nineteenth mansion called the ‘Malika Prasada’ is one such public building. The Brahmins do not frequent this. The Kshatriyas meet here during marriages and festival occasions to see ‘Natya’ performed by courtezans. The stage is in the central hall. By its side and also in the front of the house are, on the whole, four halls and further, behind the stage-hall, there are other apartments for other purposes.

The twenty-second ‘prasada’ called the ‘Matra Parasada’ is also for seeing ‘Abhinaya Vidya.’ The text says that this mansion has a big hall for the presentation of ‘Abhinaya’ and that the whole house has two or three storeys with stairs at the corners. It is said that sometimes debates are also carried on in this mansion. The commentary says that this ‘Matra Prasada’ is mainly for seeing dances by courtezans and is also used for testing students and scholars in debates. The building, the commentator says, should be on an elevation of six ‘hastas’, nine feet, above the ground, with four high gates on the four sides, or on the whole twelve gates, four to each of the three sides. The central hall containing the stage-platform is built like a ‘Mantapa.’

The thirty-fourth public mansion called the ‘Visvakarma Bhavana’ is another such building. Of it the commentator says that it is a public mansion where Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras, and other mixed castes–all men in general–meet during auspicious and beautiful occasions such as Spring to hear religious expositions, or music, or to see the presentation of ‘Lasya’ and ‘Abhinaya’ by courtezans, or to witness magic, ‘Indrajala’ or to hear expositions of puranic ‘Kathas.’

The thirty-fifth mansion called ‘Maya Bhavana’ is a square building and is for all men to meet during Spring and on other festive occasions for enjoying music and dance. Thus the public buildings for theatrical performances are five,–the ‘Saradaprasada,’ the ‘Malikaprasada,’ the ‘Matra Prasada,’ the ‘Visvakarma Bhavana,’ and the ‘Maya Bhavana.’

Coming to the ‘Visesha Prasadas,’ private mansions, the fifteenth mansion described by Vasudeva Suri called the ‘Iravata Prasada’ is a big palace. Measurements etc., for this palace are given. This building has in it halls for music, dance and drama. These halls occupy the third court. Many other private ‘prasadas’ like this, of kings as well as of rich men, are said to contain separate halls for the witnessing of ‘Natya.’

Thus in ancient India, there were well-planned and well-built theatres in the cities where people gathered, and in the palace where the king witnessed drama and dance with his retinue. These theatres are most elaborately and completely described by Bharata only among writers on the subject. The theatres were of varying sizes and shapes. From Saradatanaya’s Bhavaprakasa we see that the ‘Vritta’ or circular which is the same as the semi-circular or horse-shoe theatre that is considered as the best, was also available in ancient India. Besides these, there were the theatres of temples, which were naturally not very elaborately designed as the palace theatre or the city theatre of the citizens. In addition to these there were the ‘Saradaprasada.’ and the ‘Sarasvati Mandira’ in each city, as also the many other mansions which provided stages and were constructed somewhat like theatres, where on many occasions the citizens enjoyed drama and dance. The cultured ancient Indian had so much of the art of ‘Natya’ dance, drama, and music in his life, that besides the heavy programmes he had in regular theatres, he enjoyed often smaller programmes of drama and dance on all festive occasions in the public mansions of the city, or, if rich, in his own private mansion. These were the many places where, in ancient India, dramas were staged and the art of ‘Abhinaya’ presented.

1 Subsequent to my writing that article I have been going through the ‘Natya’ literature and find that many a work describes the theatre. The Sangita Damodara, the Sangita Chandra of Abhilasha and the Sangita Narayana of King Narayna of Parlakimidi contain descriptions of the theatre.

2 Subsequent to my writing this, this work has begun to be published serially in the monthly journal Tirumalai Sri Venkatesa, Tiruppati.

3 These traditional ‘Natakams’ keep the art of Bharata alive. The village of Uttukkadu, six miles south of Kumbakonam, is the oldest place for this drama. It flourished in Nallur, Sulamangalam, Saliamangalam and Tepperumalkoil, all villages near to each other. It goes on still at Sulamangalam and Uttukkadu. During the Vasanta festival in the month of Vaisakha ten such dramas are even now staged at Uttukkadu every year. Will enthusiasts of Bharata-art turn their attention to this?

4 Narajake janapade prahrishta nata nartakah.!

Utsavascha samajascha vardhante rashtra vardhanah.!!

Ramayana Ay. Kanda 15.

5 Nripadharmeshu sarveshu keertyate asya mahaphalam.!

Prekshaneeya pradanam tu sarvadaneshu poojyate.!!

N. S. XXXVI 76.