Good to Know: Pushpanjali

12 Jul, 2020

Written by Tejsree Beharee

Tejsree is the founder of the Nritya Tej Dance Academy, where she teaches Bharata Natyam and Indian folk dances. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts (Bharata Natyam) and through her dance school, she strives to create awareness about the dance form and expand its potential by both presenting educative shows and by writing on various dance topics.
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Pushpanjali When Bharata Natyam was performed in temples as a ritual and a sign of respect to the temple’s deity, the dancer would begin the performance with a prayer and an offering of flowers – The Pushpanjali. Eventually, this short piece developed into a slightly longer item, thus paying obeisance to the Guru/teacher, the ashtadikpalas (guardians of the eight directions), and the audience. During the rule of the Cholas (between the 9th and 13th century) in South India, Pushpanjali was a popular item performed during the ritual of a procession of the deity in temples to celebrate festivals. It would begin with the dancers facing the main deity in the temple while dancing, or they would go around the temple in a circumambulation, carrying flowers in their hands. Pushpanjali was performed with or after the Kumbha Harati ceremony, a ritual to remove ‘black eye’. It was performed by Devadasis (servants of God), who would wave a big lamp in front of the idol or the King. The Devadasis were considered as auspicious women who were married to the temple God. As dance moved from the temples to the contemporary stage, the Pushpanjali dance was omitted by a few.  The four brothers (refer to previous post on mārgam) known as the Tanjore Quartet did not include Pushpanjali dance in the repertoire of Bharata Natyam. However, this item is being revived today to bring more variety in presentation.  #Bharatanatyam #pushpanjali #goodtoknow #margam #repertoire

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