Feminine Divinity In Hindu Thought

Female Divinity in Hindu Thought and Dance Gender & Indian Classical Dance Chapter 2: "Female Divinity in Hindu Thought and Dance" Outline 1.

What is Hindu Religion?

2.

How is Divinity Defined?

3.

The Origin & Manifestations of Female Divinity

i. Historical ii. Myth (a byproduct of history) iii. Theology iv. Literary v. Sculpture vi. Dance 4. To briefly view the varied manifestations of this divine form of Gram Devi (village deity) to the absolute cosmic energy. i. Absolute cosmic force ii. Dayani a.

Ganga

b. Saraswati c.

Laxmi

d. Annapurna iii. Nayikas- Heroines iv. Local Protectors- Durga, Kali, Mahishasurmardini v. Semi divine & auspicious vi. Women saints 5. The polarity and its causes: inconsistency in perspectives and attitudes. i. The ambivalence of the Indian mind, ii. Or a cohesive vision. 6. Conclusion i. Introduction from David Kinsley's "Hindu Goddesses" "One of the most striking characteristics of the ancient and multifaceted Hindu religious tradition is the importance of goddess worship. A considerable number of goddesses are known in the earliest Hindu scriptures, the Vedic hymns. In contemporary Hinduism the number and popularity of goddesses are remarkable. No other living religious tradition displays such an ancient, continuous, and diverse history of goddess worship. The Hindu tradition provides the richest source of mythology, theology, and worship available to students interested in goddesses."

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Chapter 3 -Women Voices

Women’s Voices expressed by women Women’s literature has roughly been grouped into 3 periods for our study: 1.

The literature of Ancient Period – 6th Century B.C. to 250 A.D.

2.

Literature of Medieval Period – from 250 A.D. till 19th century.

3.

Literature of the Reform and Nationalist Movement – 19th and 20th century.

4.

Post Independence literature 1980 onwards.

Why examine the women’s literature authored by women v Why is woman’s writing different and how should we read it? v Are women writers victims of social ideologies?a v Are women writers marginalized? v Are women writers misrepresented? v Are women writers misjudged? v How do women express their joy, anger, sexual pleasure? When women writers are victim of social ideologies! The effect of ideological and political shifts can be viewed in the following excerpt. In the Court of Pratap Simha of Tanjore 1739 – 1763 (18th Century) lived Muddupalani, a highly acclaimed, Telegu poetess, musician, dancer, and a patron of arts. She wrote “Radhika Santvanam” (Radha appeased). This work contained elegant, erotic poetry that describes Krishna’s love nourishing Radha physically and spiritually. She became a noted poet in her time. In the 20th Century Bangalore Nagaratnamma – a devaadasi (temple dancer) saw this jewel of poem. To make it accessible to wider readership, she reprinted the book with her own money but met with opposition. Venkatramanam a classist and associate of orientalist C.P. Brown wrote a prologue to the book declaring the high quality of the poetry. But social reform movement in Andhra Pradesh scornfully dismissed it as a poem of adulteress, corrupting the morals of people. So the book was confiscated and there were police raids. Finally in 1957, 10 years after India’s independence the then chief minister lifted the ban on the book. Colonial reconstruction of gender and curricular institutionalization of literature also worked to undermine the authority of Indian literature. So the book that was accepted for its merit in royal court of her times was later condemned in 1927.

Literature of Ancient Period – 6th Century B.C. to 250 A.D. Songs of Budhist nuns 6th Century B.C. written in Pali language from an anthology of ‘Terigatha’: this anthology and commentary was sought in truth experienced and not in prescribed Law. METTIKA (Though I am weak and tired now) Though I am weak and tired now, And my youthful step long gone, Leaning on this staff, I climb the mountain peak. My cloak cast off, my bowl overturned, I sit here on this rock. And over my spirit blows The breath Of liberty SUMANGALAMATA (a woman well set free! How free I am) A woman well set free ! How free I am, How wonderfully free, from kitchen drudgery. Free from the harsh grip of hunger, And from empty cooking pots, Free too of that unscrupulous man, The weaver of sunshades. Calm now, and serene I am, All lust and hatred purged. To the shade of the spreading trees I go And contemplate my happiness.

VENMANIPPUTI KURUNTOKAI 299 (what she said to her girlfriend) What she said to her girlfriend: On beaches washed by seas

Older than the earth, in the groves filled with bird – cries, on the banks shaded b a punnai clustered with flowers, when we made love my eyes saw him and my ears heard him; my arms grow beautiful in the coupling and grow lean as they come way. What shall I make of this?

Literature of Medieval Period – from 250 A.D. till 19th century Language is Kannada Poem by Mahadevi Akka You can confiscate money in hand; Can you confiscate the body’s glory? Or peel away every strip you wear, But can you peel the Nothing, the Nakedness that covers and veils? To the shameless girl wearing the White

Jasmine Lord’s light of morning, where’s the need for cover and jewel? Post Independence literature 1980 onwards From the Diary of Sita by Anila Kumari Everyone calls me Sita but I have other names too

Bora of Mother Earth I dance to the pulse of my gurus vast oceans, venerable trees, wise rivers

Rama archer prince, pierced my heart I followed him into exile

Abducted by Ravana Rama came to rescue not me but his pride

I walked through flames to prove my chastity but not my love

Yet Rama abandoned me to the forest

These mute memories... These tears of stone...

"Return Daughter,"

whispered Mother Earth, as I dissolved into her depth less embrace

Everyone calls me Sita but I have other names too Seema, Sara, Sophie....

0

my Mother

1

shall be born again and again

And In every breath In every voice In every woman I manifest.... For I am free. Item

Women's Voices (part B) The Reival of Indian Dance Since Independence

Nilimma Devi The dance traditions of India not only are visual and aural effects performed across time and space, they also are complex symbolic systems that link Indian myth, ritual, philosophy, psychology and aesthetics. On August 15,1997, India marks its 50th anniversary of national sovereignty and independence. It wears the rich mantle of a 5000 year old past, even as it has evolved into a modern nation. The world's largest democracy, India has entered the twentieth century through a consciousness and a culture that coexists alongside expressions of modernity. With its quixotic embrace of the past and present, Indian dance offers a fitting paradigm for understanding the quintessence of Indian culture. From modern social scientists to ancient mystics, we have tried to explain the nature of dance. Dance Anthropologist Miriam P. Alan declared: "Dance is culture and culture is dance." A Sufi poet said: "Culture is the fragrance that remains after the incense of life burns away," discerning immortality in this most ephemeral art. The dance traditions of India not only are visual and aural effects performed across time and space, they also are complex symbolic systems that link Indian myth, ritual, philosophy, psychology and aesthetics. Understanding these

traditions is challenging; like unravelling a dense tapestry to see the underlying threads. It can, however, be rewarding, opening a window to an elusive, complex and often paradoxical culture. To this end, I present a brief ethno-history of Indian dance. Although folk dances and 'cinema-inspired' dances represent a substantial part of the dance culture, I will focus solely on Indian classical dance. This overview traces the revival of dance through three phases: how it was rescued from the brink of extinction in the 1900s, how it entered a renaissance of Indian art after Indian independence, and how it began moving out of India and into immigrant Indian communities. The third phase continues with the establishment of trans-national communities in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and Australia. Indian dance has gone global and dancers, teachers, and audiences bond with India's ancient heritage through the vibrancy of dance. The Freedom Movement and Dance The revival of dance in the 1900s was closely linked to India's struggle to overthrow British rule. Through the non-violent, spiritual leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, freedom became a reality and democracy became the political choice. Indians increasingly turned from their medieval, feudal past towards a new national identity. In the midst of this turmoil, the future of Indian dance was imperiled. In South and East India, the devadasi tradition (temple dance) had degenerated into de facto prostitution. Likewise, in North India, the tradition of Kathak dance had fallen into disrepute and was regarded as 'nautch', a dance form that used sexual innuendo in place of expressional or thematic subtlety. Indian dance no longer embodied the melding of sacred and sensual aspects of India; it now was merely profane. The status of dance had sunk so low, that it inspired little confidence in a public seeking a

All of these influences [devadasi tradition, oral tradition, sculpture, and literary] combined to lay the foundation for a renaissance of dance, in which the essential kinetic, philosophic, linguistic and musical qualities of Indian dance were established. national culture. The first woman legislator in formerly British India, Dr. Muthulaxmi Reddi, spearheaded an anti-nautch campaign in Madras. Her efforts were supported by the British government and members of the Indian elite. Advocate E. Krishna Iyer, a proponent of dance, struggled against this social current, and not only spoke out about Indian dance, __________________ but performed it for urban audiences. The press coverage of his efforts captured the attention of local lawyers, writers, artists and devadasis. Despite all

efforts, the legislative decision to make devadasi dance illegal signalled the imminent demise of dance. Yet, during this period, dance secured a new lease on life through reformatory efforts by key social figures — respected members of the elite. Meanwhile intransigent views such as the rules governing caste and gender also were challenged. For example, the once exclusive guild of male Brahmins in the South Indian dance style of Kuchipudi was broken to admit women and nonBrahmin dancers. Similarly, the all-male membership of the North Indian style of Kathak, was increasingly infiltrated by women. A new urban Indian elite had begun to rediscover tradition on their own terms. Instrumental in this revival which took place in the 1930s, were performers Uday Shanker, Rabindranath Tagore (in Bengal) Valathol Narayan Menon (in Kerala) and Sadhona Bose. Tagore set up the Institute of Shantiniketan, Valathol, the Kerala Kalamandalam and Shankar, the Almora. By 1936, Rukmini Arundale had founded the Kalakshetra School of Dance and Allied Arts. In 1938, Sadhona Bose established the Kathak School of Dance in the Khandale Hills of Maharashatra. Increasingly, middle-class educated women from respectable families ventured to these and other resources to study dance. Dance had become largely gender and caste-inclusive. The first four classical dance forms to be recognized during this revival were: Bharata Natyam from South India, Kathak from North India, Kathakali from Kerala, and Manipuri from the East Indian state of Manipur. The re-emerging dance also began to diversify under the influence of regional cultural and linguistic identification, resulting in styles such as Mohini Attam from Kerala, Kuchipudi from Andhra Pradesh, Oddissi from Orissa and Chau from Bihar and Bengal. With so many classical forms, each with stellar gurus, performers, and loyal urban audiences, critics and scholars, the dance world not only revived, but thrived. Popularity brought with it intensified scholarly scrutiny that measured dance authenticity as it was found in the Natya Shastra (2nd Century A.D.), the Sanskrit magnum opus of dramaturgy. The term 'classical' was an appellation that now carried weighty expectations. From here on out, experimentation and change would be challenged in the same way tradition once had been. In spite of the hardening of new standards of classicism, dancers and teachers continued to ask questions and seek to add to or redefine the aesthetic. There were, broadly, three kind of dance practitioners: orthodox classicists, radical new pathfinders, and neither classicist nor innovator. This third type belonged to a genre known for a while as 'oriental,' in which choreographers borrowed liberally from neo-classical and folk dances. There were new ways of presenting dance, new themes, new meanings, and new techniques even though dance was eradicated from temples. Yet, through all these

43 transformations, the temple was kept in the tumes and the romantic and mystic themes. This dance. Dancers sought to bring the ambience^ appeal of Indian of ancient palaces and temples to the urban classi-

fascination with the exotic dance impacted on the development of

stage.

cal ballet and modern dance.

Indian independence encouraged creative minds and pioneering spirits to recreate a national identity and revive an ancient vision from the threads of dance culture — devadasi tradition, oral tradition, sculpture, and literary work. The Outlook on Dance Indian independence encouraged creative minds and pioneering spirits to recreate a na¬tional identity and re¬vive an ancient vision from the threads of dance culture — devadasi tradition, oral tradition, sculpture, and literary work. All of these influences com¬bined to lay the founda¬tion for a renaissance of dance, in which the essential kinetic, philosophic, linguistic and musical qualities of Indian dance were estab¬lished. Underpinning the various regional classical styles are some common modalities: an empha¬sis on accepting gravity, the integral role of sung poetry, the use of a hand gesture code, and the use of delicate micro-movements. Each of these characteristics is intertwined to a larger philoso¬phy. For example, the cyclic nature of Indian music and rhythm is a metaphor for the mystic concept of infinity or timelessness. Hasta mudras, (stylized gestures) express the text and subtext of the poetry involved in classical In¬dian music — and hence in classical dance. The gesture code explicated in the Natya Shastra, but since elaborated and enlarged, not only is amazingly intact continues to be a fecund re-source for dancers willing to experiment. The nuance of micro-movements (e.g., neck, eye movements) and hand gestures combines to build a psychic and cosmic space that, ideally speaking, transcends physical limitations of stage and movement. Views From the West The West—Europe and the United States— tended to view Indian dance through a wideangle lens; dazzled by the silk and gold cos-

Europe's fascination with South Indian deva-dasis resulted in several ballets or "bayaderes" (French for devada¬ si) that used Indianinspired costumes and

themes.

Though attracted by the novel spirit of these themes, European choreog¬raphers were less affected by the Indi¬an notion of micro-movements in isolation. Fokine, a great Russian choreographer, choreographed the classic "Dy¬ing Swan" for Anna Pavlova in "La Bayadere." Pavlova, a prima donna ballerina, was strong¬ly attracted to Indian dance and commissioned Uday Shankar (then an art student in London) to create ballets for her in the late 1920s and extending into the 1930s. This changed Uday Shankar's destiny irrevocably and he went on to become a pioneer in the dance history of In¬dia.

At about the same time, in the United States, rebel dancer and choreographer Ruth St. Den-nis took to creating dances with bare feet in-stead of point shoes (a balletic convention). Ruth St. Dennis effectively used Indian themes to cre¬ate sensuous dances such as the: "The Incense', 'Radha', and 'The Cobras' that uncannily cap¬tured the spirit of India. With her partner Ted Shawn, she went on to become one of the fore¬most founders of American modern dance. Today, Indian dance has entered a new phase in immigrant Indian communities the world over. Since 1965, Indian immigrants in the United States have — even as they assimilate within American society — recreated a sem¬blance of socio-cultural familiarity in their new home. Contemporary Indian-Americans bring added intensity to this effort since dance is seen 44 as a means of enculturating a younger genera-tion that shares little of the nostalgia of their parents. Dance is first created by Indian society and then recreated by an Indian American com¬munity that interacts with and adjusts to a larger American society. This three-way process con¬tinues to driven by the complex social and psy¬chic needs of Indian immigrants. The revival of dance after India's independence is a dramatic event that I have been a part of. As a young girl I had to battle familial and soci¬etal pressure to learn, and later, perform dance. Today, I teach this heritage to anyone who seeks it. Today, my daughter, a member of the next generation of dancers, joins my efforts to teach Kuchipudi to students in the United States. I would like to see this transplanted art form take its own roots here in the United States as

an independent and vital sibling, not a step child, to Indian national dance. It would be heartening to see the emergence of contempo¬rary poetry, with relevance to dancers and au¬diences and with intellectual and aesthetic rigor; without replicating what is current within In¬dia as a way to remain authentic. And although I am glad that dance is important to the com¬munity, I would like to see it transcend its iden¬tity-forming function to become, a primarily aesthetic pursuit. I dream of dance that is 'rasa' (aesthetic bliss); when the age-old philosophy of nourishing the soul as well the body is not merely an ideal but a reality.n Nilimma Devi is the founder and director of Sutradhar Institute of Dance and Related Arts, Kensington, MD Post-Colonial Indian Literature (continued from page 38) No map draws the whole story. The story is al¬ways hidden underneath the color, behind the etched boundary. Maps of the world that seek to depict an era of dominion are almost neces¬sarily mute. The questions will not recede. But surely, as we grow in our roles as readers and writers of In¬dian writing in English, they will evolve, moult, change. The language we write in is no longer only the language of past colonizers. The English we use is, we hope, a different, more expansive space than the one our

ancestors and colonizers knew. If a language is a route to a world, perhaps this is a sign: that we can indeed turn that route around, walk into our own experience through its doors.

Indian writers in English are doing an extraor¬dinary thing: bringing diverse linguistic and cultural sensibilities to bear on the common space of English. Rendering it thereby pluralis¬tic, vibrantly alive, inordinately visible. Fifty years after Independence, we are inside the fields of the language, and still playing.H Works Cited Ali, Agha Shahid. "Postcard from Kashmir" (from The Half-Inch Himalayas, 1987), The Ox¬ford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Po¬ets. Ed. Arvind Krishna Mehrotra. Delhi: Ox¬ford University Press, 1992. Rushdie, Salman. "Damme, This Is The Orien¬tal Scene For You!" The New Yorker, June 23 & 30,1997. New York: The New Yorker Magazine, Inc., 1997. Ramola Dharmaraj works as a writing consultant and teaches writing at The George Washington University.