Abstract

The paper looks at the connected nature of performing arts in Indian culture, where music, dance, and drama work together and rely on each other. Using ancient texts like the “Visnudharmottara Purana”, it shows that learning one art form often requires understanding others. The “Natyasastra” sees these arts as linked, with both social and spiritual roles. Stories from mythology, such as Brahma creating the “Natyaveda” and the image of Lord Nataraj, highlight the sacred and universal importance of the arts. Key ideas like “Nada” (sound) and “Rasa” (emotion) act as common threads across all forms of art. The paper also touches on the history of Indian performing arts, using examples from the Vedas, epics, and early literature. Finally, it emphasizes that performing arts are not just for entertainment but also help people gain deeper knowledge, blending spiritual, worldly, and artistic wisdom, as seen in Orissan culture and the broader Indian tradition.

Key words: Performing arts, Visnudharmottara Purana, Natyaveda, Nada, Rasa

Introduction:

This article explores the profound interconnectedness of performing and visual arts within Indian tradition, highlighting how ancient texts, like the Natyasastra and Visnudharmottara Purana, regard these forms as inseparable in achieving artistic mastery and spiritual depth. Indian aesthetics emphasize that arts like dance, music, and drama are not only complementary but serve as vital instruments for moral teaching, social unity, and cosmic harmony. Through mythological symbolism, historical practices, and the philosophical concepts of Rasa and Nada, Indian arts are presented as unified disciplines that intertwine spiritual, social, and aesthetic pursuits, illustrating their unique role as paths to knowledge and self-realization.

Observation/analysis:

The article observes the profound interconnectedness of Indian performing and visual arts, emphasizing that ancient Indian traditions viewed disciplines like dance, music, drama, and visual arts as mutually enriching and essential to mastering any single art form. Through examples from texts like the Natyasastra and Visnudharmottara Purana, it illustrates how Indian aesthetics value an integrative approach, considering arts as not merely for entertainment but for promoting social unity, moral values, and spiritual insight.

A key analytical insight is how art in Indian tradition serves a holistic purpose—acting as both a unifying force across social strata and a path to deeper knowledge. The divine symbolism of figures like Nataraja, representing cosmic balance through dance, emphasizes art’s perceived cosmic and societal significance. Additionally, concepts like Nada (sound) and Rasa (aesthetic essence) further unify these forms, linking them to the rhythm and emotion of human existence. This approach shows that in Indian culture, art blends beauty, morality, and spirituality. Each art form has its unique identity, yet together they create a rich and unified cultural and philosophical whole.

Though various performing arts maintain their autonomy and typical traits, they also share some common traits and complement one another. Nada (sound), Bhava (emotion) and Rasa (aesthetic essence), for example, are the common base of all performing arts. Our ancient aesthetes were so holistic in their approach to art that sometimes they considered knowledge of other forms of art (like, say, fine arts) also to be indispensable for gaining expertise in one’s own field of specialization.

The “Visnudharmottara Purana” presents an engaging dialogue between King Varja and Rishi Markandeya, clearly demonstrating that our ancient ancestors had a holistic view of art. “King Varja requests the sage to accept him as his disciple and teach him the art of icon making, so that he may worship the deities in their proper forms. The sage replies that one cannot understand the principles of image making without knowledge of painting. The king wishes for instruction in this art and is told that, unless he is accomplished as a dancer, he cannot grasp even the rudiments of painting. The king requests that he be taught dancing, whereupon the sage replies that, without a keen sense of rhythm or knowledge of instrumental music, proficiency in dance is impossible. Once again the king requests that he be taught these subjects; to which the sage replies that a mastery of vocal music is necessary before one can be proficient in instrumental music; and so finally the sage takes the king through all these stages before he is taught the art of iconography”¹Thus, Rishi Markandeya believes that performing arts should be viewed as a unified whole and considers the integration of visual arts with performing arts essential.

It is also a well-known fact that the tradition, which follows Bharata’s “Natyasastra”, considers drama, dance, and music complementary to one another. Not only that, in Indian tradition arts are considered to have social as well as spiritual function. Bharata in his Natyasastra presents a highly imaginative and symbolic story in way of discussing the evolution of Natyaveda, which according to him is the fifth Veda. The story goes like this: “Upon being requested, the Muni started to speak, ‘If your heart is pure and your mind attentive, listen to the origin of the Natyaveda composed by Brahma himself. After the Golden Age (Krtyayuga) and the period of Manu Svyambhuva came the Silver Age (Tretayayuga) and the period of Manu Vaivasvata. Love then established its dominion over the sexes and the world fell under the empire of passion and desire. Jealousy, anger and all other vices caused universal misery and unhappiness. At that time, the devas, danavas, gandharvas, raksasas, yaksas and mahoragas were occupying the Jambudvipa (India and neighboring countries) over which the Lokapalas (guardians of the world) presided. Then the gods led by Indra told the supreme ancestor: ‘We want a play, which pleases both the eyes and the ears. The pleasure derived from it should be based on the Vedas and be accessible to the Sudras. Create a fifth Veda meant for all castes.’- ‘Be it so, replied to Brahma. After dismissing the king of the devas, he entered meditation, thinking of the four Vedas. The all-knowing One told himself: “All the precepts regarding duty, success and honour will be summed up and explained in detail. This fifth Veda will be the mirror of all acts, will give meaning to all features and stimulate all men eager to learn. Combined with traditional lore (Itihasa), it will be the fifth Veda, the Natyaveda. Such was the wish of the Lord when he created the dramatic Veda. He took from the four Vedas the four essential elements of drama. From the Rgveda he took dramatic dance; from the Samaveda, the song; from the Jajurveda, the mime; from the Atharva-veda, the passion. Then Brahma asked Visvakarman, the divine architect, to build the hall, and when the hall was ready, he charged Bharata with the actual execution of the precepts of the new Veda. Siva who was witnessing the first performance remembered the violent dance of Tandu (tandava) and taught it to Bharata. Goddess parvati, in her turn, pleased by the performance, demonstrated the graceful dance called lasya. Bharata taught the tandava to men while Parvati herself taught the lasya to Usa, the daughter of Bana, who became the teacher of the shepherdesses of Dvaravti, the city of Krsna. From there it spread to the country of Saurastra and to the world at large. Vishnu also contributed to the new art by creating the four dramatic manners, which are the real mothers of the dramatic representation.² The message of this highly symbolic description of the evolution of Natya vedas is clear, namely, (i) that the creation of performing arts was to bring peace in the society, by teaching human virtues through pleasure. And it aimed to bring social stability by bringing together people of all varnas including the Sudras who could have access to this veda only. (ii) It would combine the message of all the other vedas and those of the itihasas (traditional lore). (iii) It would combine dance, song and mime. (iv) It would combine performance meant for men and for women. (v) It would also combine passions as well as various dramatic manners. (vi) By performing to please equally the higher caste audience and the Sudras it also indirectly combined the margi traditions with desi traditions. Thus it is not merely “the pious credulity (which) can find its satisfaction in this story of Bharata” as alleged by Sylavain Levi³ but anybody who cares to decipher the symbolic significance of the story will be satisfied with its synthetic interpretation of the performing arts as a whole.

The description of Lord Nataraj in Hindu scriptures is another symbolic representation of this grand unity. That depiction also emphasizes the divine essence of the Indian performing arts and the important note it plays in human existence. Nataraj, an avatar of Lord Siva is considered by all the performing arts of the Hindu as the presiding deity of their art. It is said in the scriptures that his dance, every evening, is essential for the preservation of sristi (creation). While the stoppage of his dance will bring about pralaya (deluge). One of the Stotram praising Nataraj also emphasizes the divine unity of all performing arts. The evening stotram in the above-said “Sivamahimna Stotram” gives a graphic description of Nataraj’s evening dance: “Lord Siva desires to dance in the evening in his abode in the mount Kailash in front of the universal mother Gouri making her sit on the golden throne. All the gods gather there and remain in attendance. Bakdevi plays veena and Indra plays the flute. Brahma plays tala on his hands. Goddess Rama starts singing and Vishnu displays his dexterity with the pleasant mridanga. The inhabitants of all the three lokas: the gandharvas, yaksyas, patagas, uragas, sidhas, sadhyas, vidyadharas, amaras, apsaras, and the bhutas stand in attendance and praise Lord Siva. Hence in the evening, only Siva should be worshipped and no one else, not even Brahma or Hari. If Mahesa is worshipped properly, all the Gods become pleased.’’⁴ In this stotram not only the dancing Siva is placed over all other gods but the need of music for very existence of creation is also emphasized. There are, as will be noticed above, two traditions, one Vedic and the other Tantric (agama). The Vedic tradition claims Brahma to be the originator of performing arts while agama tradition emphasizes Siva’s role. In course of time there is a compromise and while the margi tradition traced its source to the Vedic tradition, desi tradition identified itself with agama tradition. Thus, though usually desi was non-sastrik, they in one- way claim to have (agama) Sastrik authority behind them.

Hindu cosmology also describes creation symbolically. It states that the whole universe was created by Nada Brahma. The manifest sound is created from this unmanifest sound (anahata nada). Both the dance of Siva and this concept of nada also accentuate the idea of rhythm. So also, the Upanishads declare: He (God) is the supreme Rasa. This concept of Rasa tries to bind the sacred, the profane and the aesthetic together. The same Rasa is said to be transformed from divine pleasure to pleasure in everyday life to aesthetic pleasure. Thus, technically speaking, the elastic concepts of “Nada” and “Rasa” have worked as the cementing force among sat (divine), Chit (existence) and Ananda (aesthetic pleasure). These two concepts also function as running thread binding all the performing art genres of India into a garland.   

Thus, we find that the findings of the anthropologists and the ideas expressed in Hindu mythology and cosmology converge to prove that the various performing arts and fine arts are interrelated. They also prove that music and dance were cognates of dramatic art.

In western classical antiquity also, the performing arts had a strong link with religion and all the performing arts were “blended in the notion of ‘mousike’. Mousike represented those activities “which we should today distinguish as music, poetry and dance”⁵. The concept of total theatre (which was borrowed from the German term total theater, first used in 1920s) also believed in blending various genres and various devices. For total effect, music, dance even acrobatics, various effects created by special lighting and unusual set designing and sometimes active participation of the audience were adopted in dramatic technique. The text was subordinated to effect and thus anything that created the desired effects was added to the dramatic technique. The trinities of the performing arts while having been fused together also have at times tried to maintain their independent existence. This two-way process has remained in force from the earliest times to date.

In Vedic dialogues, for example, there is drama not accompanied by music or dance. Today many high-brow experiments in drama avoid music and dance. In Nrutta, we have pure dance exhibiting only mudras, it is devoid of drama or song.

Almost all classical dance forms of India including Odissi have in their structure some space, which emphasizes through nrutta, the ability of dance to literally, stand on its own leg without taking the help of drama or song. Music systems like Odissi or Carnatic though play the role of accompaniment for Odissi and Bharatnatyam dance respectively they also maintain their independent identity through concert performance. Even sometimes music has tried to break the fetters of language and has tried to become pure music. Nom-tom, shuksakshyara, which are sandwiched in classical vocal music, exemplifies this tendency. They are meaningless alphabets or sounds having mnemonic function.

Short history of the performing arts in India:

Levi presumes that origin of drama in India date back to at least the fourth century B.C., as confirmed by Bharata’s “Natyasastra,” though it does not provide an explanation for this early date⁶. It is believed that dramatic literature before Kalidas may have been lost. An inventory of ancient Indian literature suggests that drama seems to have started with the works of Kalidas and Bhababhuti. However, their works are so advanced in every aspect that it raises doubts about whether they were the earliest examples of Indian drama. No art form can achieve such sophistication instantly.

Although there is no direct evidence of dramatic art existing before Kalidas, circumstantial evidence can be gathered to understand pre-Kalidas dramatic art. The Vedic Samhitas, Brahmanas, the great epics “Mahabharat” and “Ramayana,” and the grammatical works of Panini and Patanjali contain dialogue speeches and short dramatic episodes that shed light on the evolution of performing arts in India. For instance, the Vedic hymns include stories, prayers, and songs interwoven with engaging dialogues. We find such dialogue, between the Gods and Agni, between Sarama, the messenger of Indra and the thieves (pani) who have stolen Indra’s heavenly cows. There is a beautifully poetic dialogue between Viswamitra and the rivers, referred to as samvadaas (colloquies).  But perhaps gradually music and dance were getting separated from drama. There are mention such as “on the earth the mortals dance and sing to the sound of the drum,’⁷ or “the women love to sing and dance.”⁸ In “Va jasaneyi-Samhita” one also comes across the word “Sailusa” which means “actors”. 

The Mahabharata and Ramayana, our two timeless epics, are rich with beautiful stories, powerful dialogues, and thrilling dramatic moments. Professional storytellers, known as Kathakas, would narrate these stories by dancing, singing, and dramatizing various episodes of these epics for the rural communities. Even today we find such wandering storytellers and bards in some interior villages of India reminding these early phases of Indian drama. There were also pathakas and dharakas. The pathakas would read or sing from the epic texts, adding dramatic effects when needed. The dharakas, who accompanied the pathakas, would explain the text using an equally theatrical style. Sometimes two or more performers participated dividing various roles among themselves and reciting the respective lines. As we will see later, like the kathakas, the pala and daskathia singers in Orissa preserve the remnants of those early simple forms of dramatic performance. Even in the era of cinema, TV, and video, they remain popular! The Uttarakanda of the Ramayana describes how Kusa and Lava, the twin sons of Rama, traveled from place-to-place singing various episodes of the Ramayana. The names of these two young early rhapsodies have been immortalized by the term “kusilava’ which even today is used as a technical term for the characters of the play as mentioned in the credit line of the play. “Uttararamacharita” of Bhavabhuti narrates an interesting anecdote, an encounter between king Janaka and his grandson, Kusa and Lava. Through that episode, Bhavabhuti informs the audience how various episodes of Ramayana after being composed by Valmiki were being sent to Bharata muni for dramatization through apsaras⁹. The story may be just fictitious, but it throws sufficient light on how gradually separation of various functions through specialization (in this case, script writing and staging) was taking place.

 The great grammarian Panini and the great exponent of Yoga, Patanjali also throw interesting side light on ancient dramaturgy. Though the disciplines they dealt with did not warrant any special discussion of performing arts, in way of illustrating a point they have dropped valuable information on their contemporary dramatic practice. For example, from Panini’s famous book on grammar, “Astadhyai”, we come to know that the actors (mata) not only recited, but they also sang. The actresses used to sing and dance. Male actors, known as bhrukumsas also played the parts of female characters. Panini also mentions two compilers of Nata-sutras (treatises for actors), namely, Silalin and Krusasv. So also, Patanjali (c.140 B.C) in his “Mahabhasya” informs us about the evolution of drama from its epic background. He also describes the actors whom he calls saubhikas.

As we have mentioned earlier the worshippers of Vishnu and those of Siva had their own stories of the genesis of dramatic art. “Dasa rupa” the famous work on ancient dramaturgy takes an analogy from the ten incarnations of Vishnu and discusses the ten genres of drama. “Bruhatkatha” of Gunadhya (c. 3rd cent A.D) narrates the story of an actress enacting the story of Samudra Manthan (churning of nectar). Lasabati was enacting the stealing of nectar by Vishnu disguised as a beautiful woman. King Hala, who was viewing the play fell in love with Lasavati and married her¹⁰. We have also discussed earlier the image of Nataraj Siva as the presiding deity of performing arts. The saivaites and the saivaite tantriks project this image of Siva. Great classical dramatists like Kalidas, Bhababhuti and sudraka have invoked Siva in their plays.

Buddhists and Jains have placed strict strictures on their followers forbidding their participation or attendance in song, dance or plays. But again, while depicting their theology they do not hesitate to bring in the topic of performing arts and proving their importance in the life of those great prophets. “Lalita Vistara” (xii) for example, declares that the Budha was proficient in “the art of the vina, all manners of instrumental music, dance, song, recitation, lasya, comic and dramatic action”. The Jainas seem to be still strict in their austerity and instruct,” The bhikkhu should avoid places where stories are told or where acrobats or reciters perform. Dramatic shows, songs, and music should be avoided. However, when the god Suryabha comes to pay homage to Lord Mahavira, he demonstrates his knowledge of dramatic art in his honor (Aryarangasuttam, IL, 11,14).” We will also see later how Kharavela, (2nd B.C) the great Jaina emperor of Orissa built an auditorium in the Ranigumpha cave on Udaygiri hills (near Bhubaneswar) for the entertainment of Jaina monks living in the caves of that hill. The same way, the orthodox Muslim theologians tabooed the use of music and dance for religious purposes. But later sufis, a powerful Islamic sect used music and dance as an essential instrument for realization of godhead. All these go to prove the formidable role the performing arts play in human life.

 Vak (the language) was considered the supreme essence of existence, the Brahma himself. Music, dance and drama are various kinds of language, or as semioticians would term various modes of signification. Music is the acoustic language while dance is body language. Drama binds both through its episodic language. These languages whether acting together or separately operate at the level of feeling. Their main function is to make the audience feel a sense of rhythm, harmony and order. Thus, the performing arts are not meant merely to entertain but to train the senses and to purge human emotions. As the fifth Veda (vid = to know) the performing arts are thus another kind of instrument for acquiring “perfect knowledge”. The perfect knowledge in our tradition combined adhibhoutik (mundane) knowledge, adhidaivik (divine) knowledge and adhyatmik (spiritual) knowledge.

Orissan culture, which is only part and parcel of the larger Indian tradition, reflects all the autonomous as well as the unifying trends of that great culture.

Result:

The article concludes that Indian performing and visual arts are intrinsically interconnected, forming a unified cultural tradition deeply rooted in ancient aesthetics and philosophy. It shows that in Indian thought, mastery in any art form requires an understanding of others, highlighting the view of arts as a cohesive whole rather than isolated disciplines. This interconnectedness reflects a broader purpose: art serves not only as entertainment but as a means of imparting moral values, promoting social unity, and connecting the material with the spiritual. The holistic approach seen in Indian texts like the Natyasastra and Visnudharmottara Purana underscores the arts’ roles in enriching individual knowledge and societal harmony, thus illustrating the enduring significance of these traditions in Indian culture.

Endnotes:

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