Bharathanatyam - An Indian heritage Dance

India is a land of heritage with its history beginning somewhere 3000 to 5000 years ago. While Arts , Music and other forms of entertainment were predominantly found in India for more than 4000 years, the vibrant culture played a vital role in preserving its tradition for so long.

Bharatanatyam is one of the prominent classical dance form well known in South India. This dance was played mainly by women and in Hindu Temples on special occasions. Generally, the themes were taken from Hindu Mythological stories (aka. Ramayana or Mahabharata).

Accompanied by the dancer is the vocal & instrumental artists who play based on Carnatic Music style which is also old classical music famous in South India. The style of attire that the dancer wears is very unique, comprising of a gorgeous tailor-made sari that consists of a cloth specially stitched in pleats that falls in the front from the waist and when the dancer performs spectacular footwork that include stretching or bending her knees, the cloth widens up like a hand fan. A jewellery belt adorns her waist while musical anklets called ghunghru made of leather straps with small metallic bells attached to it are wrapped in her ankles. Her feet and fingers are often brightened with henna color so as to highlight gestures of her hands.

Indians migrating to different parts of the world, along with them carried their traditions and culture. In USA, due to Computer professionals the Hindu population increased drastically since 2000. Today, there were a number of Hindu temples where these traditions were continued.

In Feb/March of 2020, before COVID restrictions began in New Jersey (USA), I attended a small Bharatanatyam event presented by students. During the event, I took the opportunity to photo the dancers ankles showing the "Bells" attached and her Cloth that spreads like a fan when she danced.

The first few pictures show the "ghunghru", the bells that were tied to the dancer's ankle.

The remaining pictures shows the unique dress wore by the dancer and how its beauty is revealed when the dancer dances.

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