Classical Dance, Music and Theatre

Prerequisites: Performing Arts, Literature and Philosophy — overview · Bhakti and Sufi Movements

The Hook: When a Folk Dance Becomes World Heritage

The Core Concept

The foundation: the Natya Shastra

The Natya Shastra, attributed to Bharata Muni (composed roughly between 200 BCE and 200 CE), is the oldest surviving Indian treatise on drama, dance and music. It is sometimes called the “fifth Veda”.

Nandikeshvara’s Abhinaya Darpana is another important text on gesture and expression.

The eight classical dances

The Sangeet Natak Akademi recognises eight classical dance forms. (Some government listings also name Chhau; UPSC questions generally work with the eight.)

Hindustani and Carnatic music

Indian art music traces itself to the chanting of the Sama Veda. Sarangadeva’s Sangita Ratnakara (13th century) is often treated as the last major text before the two traditions diverged.

Hindustani forms:

• Dhrupad — oldest surviving form; austere, devotional; patronised by Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior; Tansen sang in this style; the Dagar family keeps it alive.
• Khayal (“imagination”) — more ornamented and improvisatory; shaped in the 18th-century Mughal court by Sadarang and Adarang.
• Thumri — romantic, light-classical; associated with Lucknow (court of Wajid Ali Shah) and Banaras.
• Tappa — fast, intricate; from the songs of Punjabi camel drivers, refined by Shori Miyan.
• Tarana — sung with rhythmic syllables; traditionally credited to Amir Khusrau, also credited with shaping the qawwali.

Carnatic composers:

• Purandara Dasa (15th–16th c.) — the “Pitamaha” (grandfather) of Carnatic music; composed in Kannada and systematised teaching.
• The Trinity (18th–19th c.), all born in Thiruvarur: Tyagaraja (Telugu kritis; the Tyagaraja Aradhana at Thiruvaiyaru), Muthuswami Dikshitar (mostly Sanskrit), Syama Sastri.

Folk and community dances

Theatre traditions

Puppetry

India on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list (up to 2023)

Koodiyattam, Ramlila, Tradition of Vedic chanting, Ramman, Mudiyettu, Kalbelia, Chhau, Buddhist chanting of Ladakh, Sankirtana of Manipur, Thatheras of Jandiala Guru (brass and copper craft, Punjab), Nawrouz (multinational), Yoga, Kumbh Mela, Durga Puja in Kolkata, and Garba of Gujarat.

graph TD
    A["Natya Shastra: Bharata"] --> B["Classical dance"]
    A --> C["Theatre traditions"]
    A --> D["Music theory"]
    D --> E["Sangita Ratnakara: Sarangadeva"]
    E --> F["Hindustani: thaats, gharanas"]
    E --> G["Carnatic: melakartas, kritis"]
    B --> H["Eight SNA-recognised forms"]

Memory Anchors

Eight classical dances — “Bharat’s Kitchen Makes Kheer On Kind Monday Sundays”: Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathak, Manipuri, Sattriya.

Two from Kerala: Kathakali (male, make-up, drama) and Mohiniyattam (female, solo, grace) — “Kerala keeps a King and a Queen.”

Carnatic Trinity — “TDS from Thiruvarur”: Tyagaraja, Dikshitar, Syama Sastri.

Raga systems: “Ten thaats in the north, seventy-two melakartas in the south.”

One-line Mains hook: India’s performing arts survived not in museums but in temples, courts, villages and gharanas — living traditions passed from guru to disciple (guru–shishya parampara).

For Prelims

For Mains

• Dimensions: religious roots (temple and Bhakti); patronage (temples, courts, colonial decline, post-independence state support); social history (the devadasi system and its abolition; revival by reformers); identity (regional pride, GI and UNESCO listing); livelihoods of artists; soft power.
• Keywords: guru–shishya parampara, gharana, rasa, abhinaya, revival, intangible cultural heritage, safeguarding, soft power.
• Value-addition: the revival of Bharatanatyam and Kathakali in the 1930s as part of cultural nationalism; the Sangeet Natak Akademi (1953) as the national academy for performing arts; UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Common Traps

In the News

• December 2021 — Durga Puja in Kolkata was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
• December 2023 — the Garba of Gujarat was inscribed on the same list.

Practice

Prelims

Mains

Quick Revision

Key Takeaways

Related Topics

• Indian Literature and Philosophy
• Performing Arts, Literature and Philosophy — quick revision
• Performing Arts, Literature and Philosophy — practice questions
• Temple Architecture: Nagara, Dravida and Vesara
• Bhakti and Sufi Movements