Dancers Somanaadi, Kallarai, Echumandai, Aravam, Eduthapadam, Porkesi (the golden haired one!) were given houses to live in, in addition to arable land. Not that they deserved less, for they were well-versed in music and dance. Yes, their names are unusual, but that is not to be wondered at, for they lived a thousand years ago. These are the names of some of the 407 dancers appointed by Raja Raja in the Big Temple.
While all the dancers were guaranteed security of tenure, the emphasis was always on their competence. If a dancer died, and the next in line from her family was not competent, a suitable replacement would be found, either by the descendant or by a group of qualified persons. These and other details were presented by Dr. R. Nagaswamy, former Director, Department of Archaeology, Tamil Nadu, in a lecture on ‘Rajaraja’s Inscriptional Document on his Endowment for 400 Dancers at the Thanjavur Temple,’ organised by the Bharatamuni Foundation for Asian culture, recently.
According to Makuta Agama, Siva the Dancer is the Supreme Form of Siva. The pattern of the Big Temple clearly suggests the influence of Makuta Agama, according to Dr. Nagaswamy. The Sri Vimanam is a representation of the mythical Mount Meru.
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That dancers were held in high esteem even in the Vedic times is evident from the fact that Apsaras were considered guardians of the directions. The art of dance is also spoken of in Tholkaapiyam and Silappadikaaram.
The education of a king was not considered complete without a reading of the texts on music and dance. And both court and temple dancers were initiated into the art by the king himself. The Pallava king Mahendra Varma even wrote a dance drama, “Matta Vilasa Prahasana,” the only one of its kind to have been enacted for more than 1,000 years.
In the very first verse, MahendraVarma talks about angika, vachika, aharika and sattvika, terms every dancer is familiar with. The Chakkiyars of Kerala, even in recent times, spend seven days, on this one verse. Dr. Nagaswamy said that it is in Kerala that many unbroken traditions survive, and to understand Raja Raja’s inscriptions on music and dance, it would help if one were familiar with the traditions of that State.
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The dancers of the Big Temple were referred to as Thalicheripendugal and came from temples in many villages. Some places such as Tiruvarur and Tiruvaiyaru sent many dancers to the Big Temple. Pandanallur sent only one.
A long inscription in the Big Temple gives the names of the 407 dancers, the villages they came from, the street in which they lived in Thanjavur and the door numbers of the houses allotted to them. Natya acharyas, udukkai players, veena players, those who sang Sanskrit compositions, those who sang Tamil compositions, madhalam players, conch players and gandharvas, a chief accountant to manage financial matters, assistants to the accountant, launderers, tailors, those with skill in fixing gems to garments, Chakkiyars and a Superintendent to oversee everything were also appointed, and their remuneration was also specified in inscriptions.
While not all karanas have been sculpturally represented in the Big Temple, panels have been provided for the unrepresented ones too, indicating Raja Raja’s desire to complete the project. The frescoes in the Sandhara passage also affirm Raja Raja’s fondness for dance. In one painting, we see Sundarar being welcomed by celestials singing and dancing. In another painting Sundarar, Cheraman Perumal Nayanar, and Lord Siva are seen watching a dance performance.
A Cambodian king is said to have appointed 1,000 dancers in a temple, but no king other than Raja Raja so meticulously recorded every provision he had made for artistes, concluded Dr. Nagaswamy.
The weights and measures used by Raja Raja also had the names of Lord Nataraja, like Aadavallaan and Dakshina Meru Vidangar.
Sculptural representations of the karanas that came after the time of Raja Raja show the influence of Abhinava Gupta’s commentary on Bharata’s Natya Sastra. The trend is evident in the Sarangapani Perumal temple sculptures (12{+t}{+h} century CE). In the Chidambaram temple, the influence is complete.
In the Kumbakonam Sarangapani temple, each karana is labeled. In the Chidambaram temple sculptures (13{+t}{+h} century CE), the verse of each karana as given by Bharata is also inscribed in grantha and Sanskrit.
The Kamikagama followed widely in Tamil Nadu specifies that dance as codified by Bharata should be danced in temples, and also prescribes the duration of the dances for different times of the day.
A rock inscription (3rd century CE) in Brahmi, in Arachalur, a village near Karur, has two jatis composed by one Vannakkan Devan Chattan. Here syllables prescribed in the Natya Sastra are used.