‘Natya Samagam’, organised by Sangeet Natak Akademi recently, brought indigenous theatre forms from across the country under the canopy of the Akademi’s Delhi address which bore a vibrantly colourful festive look.
Kalamandalam Piyal Bhattacharya, presented glimpses of ‘Chitra Poorva Ranga’ (pictorial precursor to drama), replete with Kandika Vardhaman Vidhi of Asarita, Shadaji and Dhaivati Kapal-geetis and Mandala Gati, as prescribed by Bharata Muni in his Natya Shastra. This spectacular show, under the aegis of Kolkata-based Chidakash Kalalay, empirically took its viewers to that era.
Reluctant to talk about himself despite his obsessive love for this extensive research and Natya-Shastra’s outcome-oriented reconstruction as complete items, Piyal did throw some light on his journey back to the roots during an interview.
Natya Shastra was scripted around 200 BC. Since then Indian performing arts have travelled great distances, both style-wise and content-wise. Under the circumstances, how did Piyal present such truthfully crafted show?
I hail from a family of learned priests. Albeit my father did not follow his ancestors’ profession, passion for studying scriptures is in my blood. In 1999, I went to Kerala Kalamandalam to learn Kathakali and Koodiyattam. There I understood what tradition is all about. To be able to study the original texts of Natya Shastra in Sanskrit, I specialised in Panini from Oriental Studies and completed distance degree course in Sanskrit from Calcutta University.
Isn’t it true that scriptures play a small part in performing arts?
Yes. That is why, I tried to locate its practical aspects that, albeit scattered, are still surviving in various indigenous performance traditions. I collected various commentaries on Natya Shastra, visited several temples of South India and studied under renowned archaeologist Dr. R. Nagaswami, who unknotted the entangled artistic ambiguity between the sculpture and the inscriptional commentaries on Karanas. By this time I knew what my aim was and started to re-construct Chari and Karana as prescribed in Natya Shastra.
Such dance-reconstruction was earlier tried out by Dr Padma Subrahmanyam….
My challenge was to not get influenced by her research but to dig out the complete composite performance tradition of Bharatmuni’s period. To understand the deeper connotation, Dr. K.D. Tripathi (Varanasi) guided me to study Rasabhinaya chapters of the scripture and Kashmir Pratyabhijna Darshan for necessary Indian base; and the reconstruction of Bharat’s dance began crystallising.
I needed dancers to experiment with. The most important turning point came when Akash Mallick, after winning a stipend, came to learn this form under me in the Gurukul fashion. His inexperienced and fresh body gave me a proper canvas upon which I gradually started to draw reconstructed movements and fine-tuned the angular and postural stature of the dance. Later, Pinki Mondal joined in. With the help of both the dance research gained a distinct style – free from any influence of any indigenous or classical form. Initially West Bengal State Music Academy and Dance Group Federation of Bengal collaborated and organised a workshop. Subsequently, Rukmini Devi Arundale invited me as a guest lecturer to teach Natya Shastra at Kalakshetra’s summer semester.
Natya Shastra’s Sangeet was a holistic art form that took Geet (vocals), Vadya (instruments) and Nritta (dance) in its fold. All were the basic components of Natya (drama). How could you decode them?
While sifting through the chapters pertaining to musical tradition of Natya Shastra, I felt the urge to learn music, because the dance would remain incomplete without its authentic music. Carnatic music was a part of my dance training. Now I focus on leaning Dhrupad and musicology. I needed to understand the concept of shrutis and Jatis as described by Bharata and reconstruct the talas as well. For this I learnt to play veena. With the blessings of all my gurus I tried to explore a new way to reach Bharata’s musical system.
The instruments were crafted with the help of measures from scriptures and from the cognition of the sculptures. Renowned instrument makers extended great help and, thanks to the Fellowships and grants given by the Akademi and Ministry of Culture, I could bear the expenditure. The notation of Asarita-vidhi in ‘Sangeet Raj’ of Maharana Kumbha was a major breakthrough. The incomprehensible aspects got un-coded and the Asarita-Vardhamana Vidhi of Chitra Poorva Ranga was presented in 2011, featuring all the ancient musical instruments with artistes forming a complete orchestra or ‘Kutap’ (as mentioned by Bharata). The response was overwhelming and led to several shows.But this is easier said than done; because I needed musicians to follow the tradition accurately. Apart from several other enthusiasts, my disciple Sayak Mitra filled the bill as a vocalist, instrumentalist and dancer since 2013.
Chhandak Jana, a fashion designer of a reputed brand is studying Natya Shastra to understand the costumes, ornaments and make-up trends as per the scriptures.At present, my gaze is fixed on ancient Indian tradition of veena-playing as practiced in Myanmar/Cambodia region even now.But without the fresh inflow of funds all this is a Herculean task.
