HISTORY of Mohiniattam
Mohiniyattam, also spelled Mohiniattam (Malayalam: മോഹിനിയാട്ടം), is a traditional South
Indian dance from Kerala that was formulated in the 19th century at the court of king Swati Tirunal by Vadivelu, one of the Thanjavur Quartet. This dance has influences and elements from two dance styles:
Dasiattam, a predecessor or Bharatanatyam, and Kathakali.
It is one of the Indian classical dance forms. It is considered a very graceful dance meant to be
performed as a solo recital by women. The term Mohiniyattam comes from the words "Mohini" meaning a woman who enchants onlookers and "aattam" meaning graceful and sensuous body movements. The word
"Mohiniyattam" literally means "dance of the enchantrees.
There are
two stories of the Lord Vishnu disguised
as a Mohini. In one, he appears as Mohini to lure the asuras (demons) away from the amrita (nectar of immortality) obtained
during the churning of the palazhi or Ocean of Milk.
In the second story Vishnu
appears as Mohini to save Lord Shiva from the demon Bhasmasura. The name Mohiniyattam may have
been coined after Lord Vishnu, and the main theme of the dance is love and
devotion to God, with usually Vishnu or Krishna
being the hero. Devadasis used to perform this in temples. But it
also has elements of Koothu and Kottiyattom in it. Mohiniyattam is a drama in dance and
verse.
The dance involves the swaying of
broad hips and the gentle movements of erect
posture from side
to side. This is reminiscent of the swinging of the palmleaves and the gently flowing rivers which abound Kerala, the land of
Mohiniyattam. There are approximately 40 different basic movements, known as 'atavukal', in
Mohiniyattam.
The three
Pillars, Sri Swathi Thirunal
Rama Varma, Sri Vallathol Narayana
Menon (a poet and
founder of the institution, Kerala Kalamandalam) and Smt.Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma (who
is considered as “the mother of Mohiniyattam”), contributed to the shaping out
of the contemporary Mohiniyattam during the later part of 20th Century. Guru
Kallyanikutty Amma cleared the mythical mystery behind the name of this dance
form and gave it the most convincing dance of a beautiful lady than that of a
mythical enchantress from heaven.
Indeed this dance is very graceful but I was not aware of such a deep history attached to it. Thanks for this informative blog, it is always a pleasure to know about others cultures and religions.
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