Kathak: A Brief of Hidden Gems Of Ancient India (Part-II)

Welcome back readers, previous part discussed a glimpse of ‘Ocean of Culture’, which was based on kathak dance. In the terminal part of the past discussion, the glorious theme of Kathak was mentioned briefly, also it was said that history will be elaborated in the next part. Now, in this second part, the journey of Kathak dance will be discussed in a very lucid manner, initiating from from ‘Vedic era’ to ‘Digital era’, the river line with many sharp turns and banks, emerged and drowned in course of time.

The probable origin and Benares Gharana

     The cultural ancestry of India, in some parts, was very scattered. The remaining threads were knitted by scholars and researchers and they had made almost a complete story, by resolving a vast part of the field. From previous notes, ‘Natyashastra’ is the oldest Indian literature on dance. But, in some ‘threads’, the ancestry of the Kathak dance relates with the time of origin nearly 5000 BC, which is doubtful. One of the most trustworthy points of origin or ancestry of Kathak is Mahabharata, the cultural encyclopedia of Indian history. In the latter, ‘Kathak’ were companions of Arjuna, in the ‘Adiparba’ and later in the ‘Anushasanparba’, where they were not designated in particular name, but treated as singers, performers, dancers who recite or Brahmans who can recite, telling stories. In some other literature, a group of people performing in various dances, telling stories of epics also not specified in any name, but one can relate easily with ‘Kathak’s. Ancestral India and its culture mostly revolved around religious context envisioning the life of Shri Krishna, thus, forms of different arts majorly influenced or sometimes, based on particular. This effect/ influence was higher in Northern India, which continued today. The ‘rulers of India’ in past had chosen Northern India as their capital of empires, so passively enhanced cultural diversity in Northern India, making it cultural capital, where Kathak dance was primed by Benares Gharana.

       Voices from Post-Medieval India      

Albeit India was protected by the Northern part by Great Himalayas for most of the time,  India was invaded by many Asian foreigners, who not only dominated but they also percolated our cultural stability too. Later, as per nature’s norms, subsequent replacements of the hierarchy took place, the ‘percolations’ by past rulers had become ‘contributions’ in our cultures. The majority of art forms, monumental, establishments of each era are now the heritage of Indian cultures, attracting tourists, archeologists, historians, and others enhancing tourisms, facilitating the Indian economy.
           
Considering the above context, North Indian culture ‘plowed’ majorly by ‘Mughals’. Here, the religious aspects had played a key role where Islamic traits influenced Indian cultures, which devised and derived mixed art forms, introducing new instrumentations. The ‘traditional’ formats had become a form of entertainment in the courts, taking it out from the temples, deteriorating the celibacy.

   

Paintings and Sculptures: Portraits of Historical events

The paintings and sculptures play an important role in conserving historical events and portraying particular time-frame, further helping to deduce small ‘ingredients’ which are easily overlooked focusing on only the ‘big picture’. Similarly for the Kathak too, the paintings and sculptures illustrated often represent an overlapping type including typically oriented or devised.

       

    Cultural diversity had peaked during the era of great Akbar, he not only introduced different art forms as well as facilitated the intermingling of art forms and methods of representation that gave various artists new aspects. Thus, if one compares the paintings and sculptures putting in sequence, the ‘trends’ and ‘techniques’ are very prominent for a specific period.

     The 'Dust' of Mughals and Footsteps of British rulers

        After Aurangzeb, the ‘robust’ Mughal empire declined rapidly due to flawed heirs at the helm. The penultimate prosperity of Mughals was observed in the ruling era of the last prodigy, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who not only patronized the cultural heritage but also made sure that the flourishing of culture was never halted, which was capitalized by Lucknow. The Kathak dance form developed a new Gharana keeping its Hindu and Islamic traits namely Lucknow Gharana during this period. The propagation of British rulers caused a serious stagnancy as well as a decline in flourishing of Indigenous cultures and the revival by patriotic ideology and movements, is topic of discussion for next part.