Colloquium on Natyashastra Lo! The profundity of Natyashastra
Friday, May 27, 2022
  • Circulation
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Organiser
  • ‌
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Sports
  • Business
  • More
    • RSS in News
    • Special Report
    • Culture
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • Education
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Obituary
SUBSCRIBE
No Result
View All Result
Organiser
  • ‌
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Sports
  • Business
  • More
    • RSS in News
    • Special Report
    • Culture
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • Education
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Obituary
No Result
View All Result
Organiser
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Culture
  • Defence
  • RSS in News
  • Subscribe
Home General

Colloquium on Natyashastra Lo! The profundity of Natyashastra

Archive Manager by Archive Manager
May 31, 2009, 12:00 am IST
in General
Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement chairman Sohail Abro

Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement chairman Sohail Abro

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterTelegramEmail

Delhi hosted a five-day long workshop on Bharat Muni’s Natyashastra at Triveni Kala Sangam. Prof Bharat Gupt, a litterateur and an acclaimed historian of comparative cultures delivered the lectures. Prof Gupt has been lecturing on Natyashastra in India and abroad for almost two decades. Art impresario Jayaprabha Menon brought forth a joint venture of International Academy of Mohiniyattam and Sahitya Kala Parishad to apprise the art aficionados of the magnanimity of Natyashastra.

Bharat’s Natyashastra, Kautilya’s Arthashastra and Vatsyayan’s Kamasutra form the edifice of Indian culture to attain the purusharthas of dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), kama (fleshly desires) and moksha (salvation), feels Prof Gupt. Thus Natyashastra forms a bastion of Indian society. A shastra is a discipline to govern some integral part of human society. Knowledge of Natyashastra is imperative as it ‘covers creation of beauty in all aspects of life’. Veritably, ‘the whole cosmos becomes part of natya’ declares Shri Gupt. Natyashastra is for the well being of jiva and doesn’t kowtow any particular sect or lineage. It is not a doctrine of dogmas but a template that can be integrated upon diverse things to recreate a proactive form culminating in totality of art thereby attaining siddhi–both daivi and manushi.

Prof Gupt came down heavily on the displaced notion of the Indian populace on Natyashastra. Natya of yore encompassed music and sculpture as well. And thus Natyashastra is not merely a primer on India’s dramaturgy but turned out a cornerstone for all these three genres. Prof Gupt was emphatic, ‘Indian sculpture is a direct implication of Natyashastra’. During his entire lecture, Prof Gupt heavily resorted upon Abhinavabharati by Abhinavagupta, the first treatise upon Natyashastra to lay bare the nitty-gritty of it. The charisma of rasas, Indian aesthetics has pervaded its geographical precincts. ‘The responsibility of theatre education is culture education. Natya is not merely acting but conveying an idea from one place to another’. He clarified during the lecture that bhavas can be explored in multifarious ways. ‘Bhava is not merely emotion but thoughts as well’.

Bharat Muni envisages dasharupa, ten kinds of plays, out of which five or six have disappeared. Prof Gupt shattered several myths, calling the so-called Sanskrit dramas to be verily multilingual dramas – ‘No musical composition ever existed in Sanskrit’ came revelations upon another. ‘All dhruvaganas were in Prakrit. Only some characters spoke in Sanskrit, rest songs and all were said in local dialects’. Also, they were the only multilingual dramas in the world at that time. During Natyashastra period there were no linguistic categories in India.

The fecundity of Natyashastra can be surmised from a quote from Prof Gupt’s book, Dramatic Concepts Greek and Indian—“The Indian performance began with an attractive preamble of song and dance (git adiprakriya) called purvaranga. It was meant to make the spectators forget their world of stress and care; in the worlds of Abhinaya ‘to untie the knots of grief, anger and loss in their hearts’. The total run of purvaranga was done in a succession of 19 steps. The first nine steps were performed while the curtain (yavanika) was held somewhere mid-stage”.

Natyashastra gives us the oldest map of languages –Avantika, Prachya, Saurashtri among others’ elucidate the evolution trajectory followed by modern languages. Prof Gupt deplored certain historical developments. The karanas that were at initially108 of them; now hardly 25 to 28 karanas are extant. ‘With the advent of Europeans, literature ceased to be musical’

The five-day workshop saw an avid interaction of audience with the scholar speaker. The audience had some leading art cognoscenti, danseuses, academicians and art impresarios of the likes of Komala Vardan, Leila Venkataraman, Madhavi Mudgal, Pummiji from Attic and Prof Chandra Mohan who all made a beeline to glean upon Natyashastra.

ShareTweetSendShareSend
Previous News

Youth for Seva Experience the joy of sharing

Next News

Opinion Only Swadeshi and Hindutva can revive BJP

Related News

7 soldiers martyred 19 injured after bus falls into Shyok river in Ladakh

7 soldiers martyred 19 injured after bus falls into Shyok river in Ladakh

Dalit Hindu boy hackked to death over inter-faith relationship in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi

Dalit Hindu boy hackked to death over inter-faith relationship in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi

War and Peace

War and Peace

Freebies Politics: Caught in Own Trap

AAP’s claims on ‘corruption’ fall flat: One wicket down in Punjab

Kerala: Two PFI leaders booked over minor boy’s provocative slogans

“These children will grow up with hatred inside them” Kerala High Court on using Minors by PFI for spreading hate

Indian Army officer, soldier killed in blast in J-K’s Rajouri

Security Forces eliminated 2 more LeT terrorists in Jammu-Kashmir’s Aganzipora

Comments

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Organiser. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.

Latest News

7 soldiers martyred 19 injured after bus falls into Shyok river in Ladakh

7 soldiers martyred 19 injured after bus falls into Shyok river in Ladakh

Dalit Hindu boy hackked to death over inter-faith relationship in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi

Dalit Hindu boy hackked to death over inter-faith relationship in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi

War and Peace

War and Peace

Freebies Politics: Caught in Own Trap

AAP’s claims on ‘corruption’ fall flat: One wicket down in Punjab

Kerala: Two PFI leaders booked over minor boy’s provocative slogans

“These children will grow up with hatred inside them” Kerala High Court on using Minors by PFI for spreading hate

Indian Army officer, soldier killed in blast in J-K’s Rajouri

Security Forces eliminated 2 more LeT terrorists in Jammu-Kashmir’s Aganzipora

China razes second Buddhist statue revered by Tibetans in Sichuan province: Report

Missing Tibetan writer said to be detained in prison in central China: Report

Devasahayam Pillai: A Caste Martyr

Devasahayam Pillai: A Caste Martyr

Drones ‘game-changer’ in agriculture, important to improve last-mile healthcare delivery says PM Narendra Modi

Drones ‘game-changer’ in agriculture, important to improve last-mile healthcare delivery says PM Narendra Modi

Hungarian FM meets EAM Dr S Jaishankar in New Delhi, signs MoU on International Solar Alliance

Hungarian FM meets EAM Dr S Jaishankar in New Delhi, signs MoU on International Solar Alliance

  • Circulation
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Business
  • RSS in News
  • Special Report
  • Sci & Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Education
  • Books
  • Interviews
  • Travel
  • Health
  • Obituary
  • Subscribe
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Circulation
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies