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 2 - Bharata’s Dramaturgy
55 (of 56)
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)
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. Iśvarapiṇḍi (in the shape of Sivalinga) for Parameśvara 2. Pattasapindi (a weapon of trident at both ends) for Nandikesvara 3. Simhavahini (lion as a vehicle) for Candikā 4. Garuda (as vehicle) for Viṣṇu 5. Padma (lotus as seat) for Brahma 6. Airavata (the elephant) for Indra 7. Matsya (fish) for Kāmadeva 8. Sikhi (peacock) for Subrahmanya 9. Rūpa (beauty as embodied in a lotus) for Śrī 10. Dhāra (flow) for Jahnavi (river Ganges) 11. Paśa (noose or rope) for Varuṇa. 12. Nadi (river) for Varuṇa. 13. Yakṣi (a weapon with spikes) for Dhanada (Kubera) 14. Hala (plough) for Balabhadra. 15. Sarpa (snake) for serpent god 16. Mahāpindi (the weapon which destroyed the 29Yaga of Dakṣa )for Ganesa and 17. Triśūla (trident) for Rudra. There are different rationale for the origin of the pindis. They are life Yantra, Bhadrāsana and Sikṣayōga. Yantra is a contrivance which helps to string together articles like puppets on the stage. Bhadrasana is the seat occupied by the actors. The last one called Sikṣāyōga stands for 29. Ritualistic sanctified procedures to appease the desired Gods. 87
