Caste dynamics in classical dance: History vs. Narratives | Aranyani Bhargav | TEDxDTU
Summary
TLDRThis talk delves into the inextricable link between caste and classical Indian dance, highlighting the historical role of the devadasi community. It discusses the transformation of the dance form under British colonial influence and the subsequent 'sanitization' by Indian nationalists, leading to its reassignment from lower to upper castes. The speaker critiques the erasure of the devadasi's significant contributions and the misrepresentation of the dance's origins, while also acknowledging the dance's enduring challenge to the caste system through its narratives.
Takeaways
- 😔 Cast is an inescapable reality in India, affecting even the classical dance forms.
- 💃 The origins of classical dance are traced back to the Isai Vellala community, a lower caste group of talented artists.
- 🙏 The term 'Devadasi' translates to 'servants of God', who were highly respected and educated women performing in temples.
- 🌟 At their peak, Devadasis had significant independence, including the ability to receive land grants and sexual freedom.
- 👎 The British colonial perspective on the Devadasis' sexual freedom was one of discomfort and opposition, viewing it as unrestrained.
- 📚 Nationalists, largely from the upper castes, responded to British allegations by sanitizing the dance form, focusing on devotion and spirituality.
- 🔄 The dance form was gradually taken from the Devadasi community and given to girls from 'good families', often from Brahmin families.
- 🚫 The shift in control of the dance form overlooked the potential negative impacts on the displaced community and their cultural heritage.
- 📖 The history of the dance form has been reimagined in some educational materials, omitting the significant role of the Devadasis.
- 🎭 Despite changes, the narratives within the dance form continue to challenge the caste system, as seen in performances about lower caste devotees of Shiva.
- 🎵 The script concludes with a performance that poetically questions the visibility and acceptance of lower caste devotees in religious spaces.
Q & A
What is the main theme discussed in the speaker's talk?
-The main theme discussed in the talk is the inescapable presence of caste in India, particularly in the context of classical dance, and how it has been shaped by historical and colonial influences.
Who were the Isai Vellala community and what was their role in classical dance?
-The Isai Vellala community was a lower caste group of talented artists to which the Devadasis belonged. They were the origin of classical dance and performed in temples, offering their dance form as a service.
What does the term 'Devadasi' mean and what was their role in society?
-The term 'Devadasi' translates to 'servant of God'. Devadasis were considered servants of the gods, performing dance forms in temples and offering other services. They were educated, respected, and had a significant degree of independence and sexual freedom.
How did the British colonial perspective influence the perception of the Devadasis?
-The British, with their Victorian ideals of femininity and sexuality, found the Devadasis' freedom and sexual identity deeply uncomfortable. They labeled the Devadasi system as barbaric and sexually unrestrained.
What was the response of Indian nationalists to the British criticism of the Devadasi system?
-Indian nationalists, largely from the upper castes, sanitized the dance form in response to British criticism. They changed the narratives of the dance form to focus more on devotion and less on sensuality and sexuality.
How did the classical dance form transition from the Devadasi community to 'girls of good families'?
-The dance form was deliberately taken from the Devadasi community and given to girls from Brahmin families, as part of an effort to save the dance form from possible extinction and to counter British criticism.
What are the consequences of the shift in the ownership of the classical dance form?
-The shift resulted in a lack of acknowledgment of the consequences of displacing the Devadasi community and an overlooking of the need to rehabilitate the community that was significantly affected.
How has the history of the classical dance form been reimagined over time?
-The history has been reimagined to connect the dance form to an upper caste origin and to Sanskrit, creating false connections and mythical origins, thus erasing the significant role of the Devadasis.
What narratives within the dance form continue to challenge the caste system?
-Narratives such as the story of Nandanar, a low caste devotee of Shiva, and other performances that question the visibility and accessibility of the divine to lower caste devotees, continue to challenge the caste system.
How does the speaker describe the current state of the classical dance form's history?
-The speaker describes the history of the classical dance form as distorted, with an inaccurate explanation of its origins and a tendency to forget the Devadasis' contribution to the dance form's history.
What is the significance of the performance presented by the speaker?
-The performance is significant as it showcases a lower caste devotee of Shiva questioning the divine's partial revelation and the barriers faced by lower caste individuals in accessing the sanctum sanctorum of temples, thus challenging the caste system.
Outlines
🎭 The Inescapable Reality of Caste in Classical Dance
This paragraph introduces the pervasive influence of caste in India, even within the realm of classical dance. It discusses how classical dance's origins are rooted in the Isai Vellala community, a lower caste group, particularly the Devadasis. These women were highly educated, respected, and held a significant role in temple rituals. Despite their independence and respectability, their lively sexual identity became a point of contention with the arrival of the British, whose contrasting Victorian values led to criticism and the eventual marginalization of the Devadasi tradition.
🔄 The Sanitation and Shift of Classical Dance
This section discusses how Indian nationalists, in response to British criticism, sanitized the content of classical dance by shifting its focus from sensuality to devotion. The dance form was gradually taken from the Devadasi community and handed over to upper-caste Brahmin families. While the intent was to preserve the dance form, this shift overlooked the consequences for the displaced Devadasi community. The paragraph highlights the complex interplay between caste, colonialism, and cultural preservation.
🎭 The Reimagining of Bharatanatyam's History
This paragraph explores how the history of Bharatanatyam has been reimagined, often downplaying the contributions of the Devadasis. The dance form's connection to the Devadasi community has been labeled as a period of decline, and efforts have been made to associate Bharatanatyam with upper-caste origins. This revisionist history undermines the true roots of the dance form and the significant role the Devadasis played in its development.
🕉️ Challenging Caste through Dance Narratives
This section discusses how despite the Brahminical domination of Bharatanatyam, the dance form continues to challenge the caste system through its narratives. One such narrative is the story of Nandanar, a lower-caste devotee of Shiva. The paragraph also introduces a performance that addresses the theme of caste-based exclusion in temple rituals, where a lower-caste devotee pleads with Shiva to reveal himself fully, highlighting the ongoing struggle for recognition and equality.
🎶 The Devotional Performance
This final paragraph focuses on the performance of a lower-caste devotee's plea to Shiva. The devotee expresses his frustration at only being able to catch glimpses of the deity, symbolizing the barriers faced by lower castes in accessing divine favor. The performance underscores the broader theme of social exclusion and the desire for spiritual equality. The musical elements and applause in this section indicate the emotional impact of the performance on the audience.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Caste System
💡Devadasi
💡Isai Vellala
💡Sexual Freedom
💡British Colonialism
💡Nationalists
💡Brahminical Domination
💡Cultural Revivalism
💡Sanskrit
💡Nandanar
💡Brahman Families
Highlights
The inescapable reality of caste in India, including its impact on classical dance.
Origins of classical dance from the isai valala community, a lower caste group of talented artists.
Devadasis, the original performers of classical dance, were highly educated and respected in their time.
Devadasis enjoyed independence and sexual freedom, contrasting with societal norms of the time.
British colonial views on the devadasis' sexual identity, labeling the system as barbaric and unrestrained.
Nationalist response to British allegations by sanitizing and altering the dance form's narratives.
Shift of classical dance from the devadasi community to upper caste Brahman families.
Lack of acknowledgment of the consequences of displacing the dance form from its original community.
Reimagining of the history of classical dance to erase the devadasi's significant role.
Attempts to connect the dance form to Sanskrit and an upper caste origin, ignoring its true roots.
The dance form's narratives continue to challenge the caste system through performances.
Performance of narratives featuring lower caste devotees of Shiva, questioning caste restrictions.
The presentation of a lower caste devotee's plea to Shiva for full revelation, symbolizing caste barriers.
The dance form's survival threatened by colonial scrutiny and the response of the revivalists.
The need for a more accurate and respectful representation of the history of classical dance.
The importance of acknowledging the contributions of the devadasi community to classical dance.
Transcripts
[Applause]
good
afternoon I would like to start uh my
talk with a very strong
statement that uh when we're living in
India we can't escape cast and and
though uh measures have been taken uh to
eradicate cast and uh there's been a lot
of resistance against cast in India
nowadays uh it's still an unescapable
reality that cast is
everywhere and uh classical dance
unfortunately is no exception to that
um for for as far far back as
documentation goes um classical dance
has been uh the origins of classical
dance have come from a a community
called the isai valala community which
was a very talented and uh very talented
lower cast group of individuals of
artists uh to which dadas is belonged uh
the devadasis uh the davasi the word uh
literally translates uh as DEA dasi
which is uh daa as in God and dasi as in
servant so they they were Servants of
the gods they used to perform uh their
dance form in the temples and also offer
uh other services to the temple uh these
women were uh very uh educated and very
very well respected uh at the time at
the time of their um their their Peak
popularity and their Peak um
respectability uh they were educated
they were able to uh receive land grants
they were not required to be married
they were considered to be auspicious
forever auspicious because they were
symbolically dedicated to the temples
and therefore married to the Dey so they
weren't required to be married to Mortal
beings um which also gave them quite a
lot of uh sexual Freedom uh in the sense
that they were allowed to have sexual
alliances with patrons although that was
not the primary role the primary
relationship between the patron and the
uh dancer uh it was more about the
patron being able to support the dancer
and being able to um give the dancer
what uh what she she needs to enable her
to be committed to the dance form uh and
to be able to practice the dance form
without any
distractions and uh so this this was the
life of the devadasi she was very
independent and um also had um she she
wasn't required to even uh you know any
of the any of the regular things that
women of that time were required to do
which is get married bear children be in
the house all those things the these
were very very different women uh and
the their Lively sexual identity was
never something that was um scrutinized
uh much until the British came uh and
when they did uh the when the when they
saw this uh Lively sexual identity of
the devadasis I think it uh it
contrasted very very starkly with uh the
ideas of femininity and sexuality that
uh women uh in the west or rather the
Victorian women had you can imagine the
deasi uh dancing freely wearing sensual
saris uh dancing about U love and
sexuality and devotion as if they were
all the same thing and not required to
be married not required to be
domesticated or homely and then you see
the Victorian English woman at the time
who was um I mean if you visualize it if
you imagine the visual it's um you you
would imagine corsets and bonnets and
gowns and gloves uh so there was a very
Stark difference and I think that this
idea of femininity uh that that the
dadas is represented was deeply deeply
uncomfortable uh for the British and so
they they opposed it by by uh saying
that the devadasis were sexually
unrestrained the patrons were
unrestrained the the devadasi system was
barbaric and um uh lacked control
basically and um the the nationalists
who were fighting the British uh which
um com these nationalists largely
comprised of um I mean I'm not saying
exclusively but they they did comprise
of upper cast men and women who were
fighting the British uh they had to they
were forced to respond to uh this
allegation of the divasis being sexually
unrestrained and the the natives being
sexually unrestrained as opposed to the
colonizers who considered themselves to
be in control of their sexuality and
unfortunately what happened was the
response that the that the nationalists
had was uh to sanitize Within qutes
sanitize the dance form and one of the
ways in which they did they did this was
to change the content of the narratives
of the dance form from sexuality and
sensuality and stories about love the
contents uh the shift uh the focus
shifted to um bti or devotion and
another thing that happened was that the
dance form was gradually and not
vindictively but definitely quite
deliberately the dance form was taken
from uh the devadasi community and
handed over to uh what one of the
nationalists I'm quoting uh given to
girls of good families and these girls
of good families were basically girls
from Brahman families and so this shift
happened and let me also just say that I
uh I don't mean to implicate the Brahman
Community or wholly blame them for this
shift that happened uh because I think
the the fact that that the system was um
being was came under such scrutiny uh
created a problem for the dance form
itself and it it threatened the dance
form survival so I think what the the
the the people that call themselves The
revivalists of Dance what they were
trying to do was to save the dance form
from possible Extinction whether or not
the dance form would have actually gone
extinct is not something that anyone can
really say but uh I do want to make it
clear that I'm not trying to trying to
completely uh demonize the the Brahman
Community here by saying that this
happened what I do think did happen was
that there wasn't an acknowledgement of
the consequence of taking a dance form
away from a community and handing it
over to another that consequence that
that wasn't really foreseen in a in in a
good enough Manner and perhaps we uh the
the the community of that time they
overlooked the possible ways to
rehabilitate a community that you have
displaced in such a large way and I
think that's where the problem
began and another thing that has
happened now is that um uh the dance
Community not everybody of course I must
say this but there are people in the
dance community that have been in the
past deeply so deeply uncomfortable with
this history that over time this history
of batnam itself has been reimagined and
as a dance teacher as as somebody who's
researched on Dance i' I've come across
various texts uh that that are handed
out to students of dance where they um
where they they are given an outline of
the history of bat naum where this
period of the D dases has been um called
a period of decline has been called a
brief period of the corruption of the
dance form and so its history really has
been reimagined where we have have a
mythical origin we we've tried to
connect bat Nim to the NAT shastra it is
connected but but not the way that these
history uh lessons are taught um we have
tried to connect it to Sanskrit we have
tried tried to draw false connections to
the origins of bhatan natam to a an
upper origin uh and by doing that I
think we've done a big disservice to
history we've done a big disservice to
the deasi community and it's it's an
inaccurate explanation of where the
dance form came from um so the the
history of of bhim itself has been
reimagined to make it seem like it was
always an upper cast dance form that it
was always um related to uh the gods and
and you know we have Shiva who uh who
supposed to be the creator of the dance
form and we've connected it we've made
some imaginary upper links to the dance
form and uh forgotten that the deasis
were a very very large chunk of the
history of where batnam began and um and
how the how the dance form has come to
us having said that uh so the the
history of the dance form itself can be
called um ctist in that manner in the
sense that there was a gradual brah
brahminical domination that happened uh
but at the same time the narratives that
that have been used in the dance from
the content of the dance form itself has
continued to challenge the cast system
one of the most famous narratives that
are that are performed uh that is
performed is of is that of nandanar who
is the low cast devity of Shiva and the
other um uh another way of challenging
the cast system is this performance that
I'm now now going to present which is
another um uh lower cast devot of shivas
who says I see your beautiful
face but the rest of you
I cannot see is it because I'm poor or
um I don't have I don't have knowledge
of the vdas and he goes on to say that
the entire world is singing your Praises
but in this golden hued body of yours is
there a blemish in you that you wish to
hide yourself from me he goes on to he
continues to plead with Shiva saying can
you please reveal yourself to me
entirely but I can only see bits and
pieces of you and he says in the evening
when I come to the temple just to catch
a glimpse of you um there are so many
people in front of me which to me
implies that he's not allowed to come
into the sanctum sanctorum of the temple
so he's which which is a privilege that
is allowed to Upper cast um men and
women um he says there are so many
people in front of you that all I see is
one Ruby earring and even that
intoxicates me and you give me a small
mocking smile because even your multiple
hands are covering each other and I
can't I can't even see the hands
properly and in the evening processions
I am cowering and bending to just just
to see a little bit of you but the the
snakes are covering your body and all
you show me is one foot he pleads with
Shiva to reveal himself completely but
does Shiva oblig his low cast devity
let's
see
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