Essay name: Hastalaksanadipika a critical edition and study
Author:
E. K. Sudha
Affiliation: Government Sanskrit College (Tripunithura) / Department of Sanskrit
This is an English study on the Hastalaksanadipika—a manual depicting the Mudras (gestures) of the Kerala theatre. It is a very popular text supposedly dating to the 10th century A.D. This study also touches the subject of Krsnanattam, Kathakali and Kutiyattam—some of India's oldest theatrical traditions in Kerala.
Chapter 1 - Introduction
11 (of 32)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
T1230 Rāsalīla, Rāmalīla and Ankia Natfall in line with the essential tenets of Nāṭyadharmi. The chorus in Indian theatre has a different character though it performs many functions similar to that of the chorus in Greek theatre. PRELIMINARIES One of the many features of the traditional theatre is the elaborate pūrvaranga - preliminary. The classical Sanskrit theatre observed elaborate preliminaries which have been described in great detail in the Natyasastra. The only surviving form of Sanskrit theatre, Kūṭiyāṭṭom performed in the temple-theatres of Kerala, follows the practice of the Sanskrit theatre and there is a great elaboration that it takes four to five days in the presentation of the preliminaries. There is a prelude, an invocatory song, formal presentation of the characters of the play, the introduction of the time and a discourse on some philosophical subject. The preliminaries in the traditional theatre are presented on the pattern of the Sanskrit theatre, in an adapted and simplified version. Sūtradhara and vidūṣaka, the two stock characters are the main functionaries in the presentation down from the Sanskrit theatre. TIRAŚŚĪLA The use of tiraśśila in many forms such as Rasalila, Yakṣagāna, Kūṭiyāṭṭom, Kathakali etc. is an interesting practice of the traditional theatre. A coloured piece of cloth, sometimes having two or three strips of different colours, is used on the stage. It is held by two stage 11
