Maheshwara Mahopatra's Abhinaya Caṅdrikā treatise
Authored by Dr Shalini P Vittal. Published by Noopura Bhramari IKS Centre,
Abhinaya Caṅdrikā text is a small treatise on Odissi dance, describing its characteristics, that has helped to revive and re-establish the Odissi dance during 1960s. The text has been crucial to the study of Odissi dance, as it follows the principles laid down by ancient treatises, but stands out unique because it deals with some important aspects concerning regional traditions of dance.
About the text and author
Abhinaya Caṅdrikā: ‘Abhinaya’ means the Art of communication and ‘Candrikā’ means throwing light on the subject treated. Therefore, Abhinaya Caṅdrikā can be considered as the text that throws light on the subject dealing with Abhinaya; it has been written by an author called Maheshwara Mahopatra, during the 17th / 18th CE. The author’s father is said to have adorned the court of Sri Narayana Deva of Khemundi kingdom. The king is the repository of all learning and holds the title of Anangabhīmadeva and is also known as Gajapati, a popular ruler.
Contents and Chapterisation
Abhinaya Caṅdrikā consists of about 1000 verses under 3 khandas – Prathama, Dvitīya and Tṛtīya.
The Prathama khanda deals with Nṛtya khanda, beginning with benedictory verses on Gaṇeśa and Jagannātha. Here, Jagannātha is referred to as Dāru Brahma, who is the symbol of all knowledge, as the image is built of Dāru, meaning wood. The text says that the learning of Nigam (Veda, Upaniṣad), etc is the prime source of knowledge, which is the most noble one. Amongst 18 branches of learning, four gives pleasure; and they are Siddha, Yakṣa, Gāndharva Vidya and 64 types of arts.
Further, the text narrates about Gāndharva Vidya which is the superior of other art forms. A combination of song, instruments and dance together is music. Laya (a pause in music), Tāḷa (rhythm) and Māna (a measure); practice of various musical notations, playing of Mṛdanga, Vīṇa and Paṭaha in different tāḷas – all these are essential to Sangīta. Gīta and Vādya are pleasant to listen; while Dance scene is more attractive to watch/witness. The text also says that a person having no knowledge on dance and song is considered as an animal.
The text continues to talk about the places where dance should be or should not be performed. It further elaborates on the origin of dance and says that though dance follows Tāḷa, Māna and Rasa as depicted in śāstras, yet there are established regional dance forms. This statement clearly states that the text stands out unique as it deals with some important aspects concerning regional tradition of dance, especially that of Udra-Gāndharva dance. Udra here means the present-day Odisha.
The text also considers two other types of presentations - baddha and abaddha. Baddha is the dance that strictly follows the rules and abaddha is the dance that does not follow specific rules. The text states that udra nṛtya belongs to baddha nṛtya because it follows specific rules pertaining to hand gestures, foot movements, eye movements and songs.
The text also mentions other seven baddha nṛtya traditions including udra nṛtya. They are Māgadhi, Souraseni, Karṇāṭa, Gauda, Kerala, Pañcanadi and Udra. According to the above verse, Māgadhi has ‘bhāva pradhāna’ features which means that the dance tradition focussed primarily on emotional aspects. It can be noted that the present-day Bihar was called as Magadha deśa in ancient days. It is also possible to recall that Nāṭyaśāstra has mentioned Odra Māgadhi as one of the Pravṛttis. In all probability Sauraseni belonged to the region of Maharashtra and is well known in body movement; Kerala is known for presentation; Gauda form might have belonged to Bengal and the tradition consisted of yugma (duet) dance; Karnāṭa is known in every respect.
Karṇāta tradition belonged to the region of Karnataka and the author places on record that this tradition was all encompassing. Karṇāṭa tradition comprised of all the characteristics of dance which means the tradition must have had well balanced nṛtta and abhinaya aspects (‘Karṇāṭe sarvarūpeṇa’). This indicates that the text codified the techniques of a highly evolved classical dance, a precursor to the present day Odissi dance form.
The Dvitīya khanda, which is Bhāva khanda, consists of Bhāva (the emotion), Rasa (essence), Karaṇas (a combination of the movement of Dance Hands, feet and postures), Dṛṣṭi (eye movements), Mukha bheda (variations of the face), Vakṣa bheda (chest movements), Kaṭi (waist movements), Prayoga-vidhi (different ways of adapting them) and Sarava-Nirava. Sarava is the abhinaya or the meaningful miming on words, whereas Nirava is purely nṛtta done by using the body parts. The benefits of bhāva, their patterns and varieties, in dance have also been explained.
The Tritīya khanda, that is Chhanda khanda, deals with prosody or the metres, in general. Prosody is regarded as one of the six Vedāngas or auxiliaries to the Vedas, the other five being Śikśa (acquisition of knowledge), Vyākaraṇa (grammar), Kalpa (formation), Nirukta (etymologies, i.e., study of the origin of words) and Jyotiṣa (astrological science). The chapter talks about Baṭu Nṛtya, which is the precursor of the present-day Odissi dance. The present-day Odissi dance performance that includes Baṭu Nṛtya consists mainly of nṛtta (rhythmic patterns) dance aspects.
The text also gives few examples of the compositions of Krishnadāsa, who was the author of Gītaprakāśa text, that deals mainly on the musical aspects, especially of Odishan region.
Conclusion
The text Abhinaya Caṅdrikā, stands important featuring peculiar characteristics of Odissi dance that has helped to revive and re-establish the dance during the 1960s.
DN Pattnaik has edited and translated the text into English and Oriya, in a book form, published by Smt. Bina Mohanty from Cuttack. In addition, a critical edition and translation of this text has been done by Dr. Maya Das along with Prof. Sushma Kulshreshtha, and Prof. A. C. Sarangi, in the year 2001with Eastern Book Linkers as publishers.
References
· Das, Maya (2001). Abhinaya-Candrika and Odissi Dance, Delhi: Eastern Book Linkers.
· Ghosh, Manomohan (2020). Natyasastra, Varanasi: Chaukhamba Surbharati Prakashan.
· Mohanty, Prasad (2017). Abhinaya Chandrika, Cuttack: Smt. Bina Mohanty.
· Mohapatra, Krishnadas (1983). Geeta Prakash, Bhubaneswar: Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi.
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