Dance of Tamil Nadu

The state is the birthplace of this classical dance form, although from the initial till the modern times, it had been the performed by Devadasis alone, within the confines of the Hindu Temples, where they danced before the idols of the Gods with the accompaniment of various instruments such as Mridangam, Manjira, Vina, Violin, Kanjira, Venu, Surpeti and Tanpura. This continued until Rukmani Devi Arundale brought the dance before the common man and established the dance school Kalakshetra in Chennai. This dance school is visited by the dance enthusiasts from across the world and in many ways than one the place has today turned into a mecca of this dance form. Beside Bharatanatyam, there are numbers of folk dances that together make the dance of Tamil Nadu complete. These include:

• ‘Kummi’, which is regarded as the one of the oldest dances of Tamil Nadu performed by women alone with the clapping of hands;
• ‘Karagam’ where pots are balanced on the head and performed for the rain and river goddesses;
• Kavadi Aattam which is the dance performed by men alone based on special songs and with the use of poles which have milk filled pots on either ends.

• ‘Mayil Attam’ where girls adorn dresses that replicate peacocks;
• ‘Kolattam’ – an ancient dance form performed by women with the use of two sticks;
• Poikkal Kudirai Aattam in which dancers put the dummy figures of horses around the waist and mastering of this form require incredible practice.
• ‘Oyil Kummi’ which is the dance which does not make use of instruments and the only accompaniments are the ankle-bells and are performed by men.

The site livingculturesofindia.com provides well researched information on the living cultures in Tamil Nadu such as Dance of Tamil Nadu and other aspects of the living cultures of India and more. So enjoy browsing!