¹ The Nāṭyaśāstra Ascribed to Bharata-Muni. (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1951)Google Scholar. Sanskrit Text, Bombay and Banares Editions; with Sanskrit commentary, Baroda Edition. English translation by Mano-mohan Ghosh.

² One of the most outstanding scholars to contribute to sound research and criticism in this subject is Dr. V. Raghavan, Head of the Sanskrit Department, Madras University, and Secretary of the Music Academy, Madras, under whose direction I began the survey and study of dance-drama in South India in the fall of 1959. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Raghavan for his advice and personal guidance.

³ Ghosh, The Nāṭtyaśāstra … (op. cit.), I, Ch. XIV, “The Zones and the Local Usages.”

⁴ Ghosh, I, Ch. XX, “Ten Kinds of Play.” V. Raghavan, “Sanskrit Drama and Performance,” Journal of the Madras University (07, 1957).Google Scholar

⁵ Raghavan, V., “The Bhagavata Mela Natakam,” reprinted from Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art (06–12 1937), pp. 1–2.Google Scholar

⁶ Raghavan, , “The Bhagavata Mela Natakam,” p. 1.Google Scholar

⁷ However, Dr. V. Raghavan describes the dramas at Uttukkadu as late as 1937. “The Bhagavata Mela Natakam,” pp. 2–3.Google Scholar

⁸ Both in Tanjore and Andhra, the tradition is associated with Vaishṇava temples, the idol installed invariably representing cidier Vishṇu or one of his avatāras.

⁹ My informant on this and many other details was Sri R. Nagarajan Iyer of a family of Tamil Brahmins who presently participate in the dramas.

¹⁰ Ghosh, I, Ch. III, “Pūjā to the Gods of the Stage,” and Ch. V, “The Preliminaries of a Play.” V. Raghavan, “Music in Ancient Indian Drama,” The Journal of the Madras Music Academy, XXV (1954), Parts I–IV, 79–92.Google Scholar

¹¹ In Kūṭiyāṭṭam the vidūshakan takes over the duties of the sūtradhāra; the preliminaries (in a specially adapted form) are performed by the vidūshakan, at the end of which he introduces the main play. In the Sanskrit drama proper, he also takes the part of the confidant of the hero, usually a king. Kūṭiyāṭṭam is the only surviving traditional Sanskrit drama form where the plays of Bhasa, Harsha, etc., are still staged, though in fragmentary form. Kūṭiyāṭṭam today is found only in Kerala, where it is a temple art practiced by the Chākyār caste. Kūṭiyāṭṭam is extensively covered by Sri K. P. Narayana Pisharati in his Malayalam publication Kalālōkam (Trichur: The Maṅgaḷodayam Pvt. Ltd., 1960), pp. 35–69Google Scholar. A great deal of information on Kūṭiyāṭṭam is also given by Dr.Raja, K. Kunjunni, “Kūṭiyāṭṭam, The Staging of Sanskrit Plays in the Traditional Kerala Theatre,” The Saṁskrita Raṅga Annual, II (Madras, 1961), 3–52.Google Scholar

¹² Raghavan, “Music in Ancient Indian Drama” (op. cit.). Dr. Raghavan clearly outlines the functions of music in Sanskrit drama. His outstanding work in this field has done a great deal to lead the way in research on and critical analysis of surviving traditional theatre arts and literature as related to the classical theory of the past.

¹³ Abhinaya is of several parts. Āṅgika abhinaya (movements of the body and limbs) comprises hasta abhinaya (use of the hands according to a code of mudrās employing symbolic and mimetic gesture) and mukha abhinaya (the systematic use of the facial features to display appropriate emotions). Vāchika abhinaya is speech and use of the voice for dramatic effect. Āhārya abhinaya is heightened expression through the use of appropriate costume and makeup. Sāttvika abhinaya is the communication of emotional states of a rarefied nature conveyed principally by the effort of the mind. Nandikeśvara's Abhinayadarpaṇam, trans, and ed. Ghosh, Manomohan (Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1957), 2d ed., pp. 8–14Google Scholar. A composition containing both nritta and abhinaya is known as nritya.

¹⁴ Actually the term saṁgīta alone in its full sense implies music (instrumental and vocal), poetic composition, and dance—another evidence of the traditional interrelationships of the dramatic arts in India.

¹⁵ Srimati Rukmini Devi Allindale of Kalakshetra, Adyar, Madras, states however that in her restaging of one of these dramas, Ushā Pariṇāyam (Kalyāṇam), several corrections in the swara and sāhitya were necessary. Brochure, Kalākshetra Art Festival (12 25, 1959–01 3, 1960), p. 17.Google Scholar

¹⁶ Sri Mohan Khokar also includes among these plays Kaṁsavadha, Sītā Kalyāṇam, Śivarātrivaibhavam, and Bhasmāsura Vadham. Mohan Khokar, “Nāṭya, Bhāgavata Mēḷa and Kuchipudi,” Marg, X, No. 4 (Bombay, 09 1957), 33.Google Scholar

¹⁷ In the larger temples this class of drama was staged in the nāṭya maṇḍapa, a large permanent pillared hall usually located in the forecourt or to one side of the central shrine. What follows is a personal account of a performance of the dance-drama Prahlāda Charitam as staged on the first night of the temple festival at Melattur on the gth of May, 1960.

¹⁸ These and other modern innovations such as the “Victorian” Saraswati drop forecurtain (the pose of Saraswati is unmistakably an imitation of the popular lithographs by the painter Raja Ravi Varma of Travancore, A.D. 1848–1906, whose work was widely circulated at the end of the igth century), and the European straightback chair used as a throne, make certain mental adjustments necessary. It is important in an enquiry such as this to be completely aware of what is and what is not traditional, what rings true and what is obviously false or irrelevant.

¹⁹ Kuṟatti, a woman from the nomadic hill tribes known as Kuṟava, famous as dealers in fortunes, beadwork, and tattooing. They are known as the gypsies of South India. This character, Kuṟatti, appears in Kuṟavanji dance-drama as well.