The History and Evolution of Bharatanatyam
How Bharatanatyam grew from Tamil temple dance and the Natya Shastra into Sadir, survived the anti-nautch years and was revived as a concert art in the 1930s.
Bharatanatyam grew out of the dance traditions of Tamil Nadu's temples and royal courts. It takes its theory from the Natya Shastra, and for centuries devadasi dancers performed it under the name Sadir. The anti-nautch movement pushed it into decline, but in the 1930s it was revived and renamed, and it became the concert dance now taught around the world.
Where did Bharatanatyam begin?
Nobody can point to a single year. What we can trace is a long line of texts, temples and teaching families. Early Tamil literature already describes trained dancers. The Tamil epic Silappatikaram, for example, tells of the dancer Madhavi and the years of training she completed before her debut. In parallel, Sanskrit writing on drama and dance set out a vocabulary that South Indian dancers would use for centuries.
Dance in this region was never only entertainment. It was offered in temples as part of worship, performed at royal courts and taught by hereditary teachers. Those three settings, temple, court and teaching family, run through the whole history of the form.
The Natya Shastra and the theory behind the dance
The Natya Shastra is attributed to Bharata Muni and usually dated to somewhere between 200 BCE and 200 CE. It is a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts as a whole, covering drama, music and dance. Several of its ideas still frame how Bharatanatyam is taught:
- Nritta, nritya and natya: pure rhythmic dance, expressive dance that conveys meaning, and full dramatic performance.
- The four abhinayas: angika (expression through the body), vachika (through words and song), aharya (through costume and make-up) and sattvika (through inner feeling).
- Rasa: the aesthetic flavour the audience tastes. The Natya Shastra lists eight. Later theorists added shanta, peace, giving the nine discussed in our article on the nine rasas.
- Karanas: 108 units of movement combining posture, leg and hand positions.
A later text, the Abhinaya Darpana of Nandikeshvara, is closer to the working dancer's needs. Its lists of single-hand and double-hand gestures are still learnt today. Our guide to mudras covers them in detail.
Temples and Chola patronage
Under the Chola kings, temple dance in the Tamil country received royal support on a large scale. Rajaraja Chola I completed the Brihadeeswarar temple in Thanjavur in the early eleventh century. Its inscriptions record large numbers of women dancers attached to the temple, and its walls carry sculptures of karana poses. Dance in this period was an established temple institution, with land, payment and duties set down in stone.
The Nataraja temple at Chidambaram is just as important to dancers. Its gopurams, the towering gateways, carry carved panels of the 108 karanas, so the temple serves as a visual record of the movements described in the Natya Shastra.
Sadir and the devadasi tradition
For several centuries the dance was carried by the devadasis. These were women dedicated to temple service who performed in ritual and at court. Their dance was called Sadir, or dasi attam. They were taught by nattuvanars, hereditary dance masters who conducted performances with cymbals and spoken rhythmic syllables. That role survives today as nattuvangam.
The devadasis and their teaching families held the repertoire, the abhinaya and the musical knowledge for generations. Much of what students learn today exists because of them.
The Tanjore Quartet and the shape of the margam
In the early nineteenth century, four brothers at the court of Serfoji II of Thanjavur, Chinnaiah, Ponnaiah, Sivanandam and Vadivelu, systematised the dance. Known as the Tanjore Quartet, they arranged the repertoire into an ordered concert sequence, the margam. It runs from Alarippu, Jathiswaram and Shabdam to the Varnam at its centre, then Padams or Javalis, the Thillana and a closing Mangalam. They also composed many pieces still performed today. The margam explained article goes through each item.
The anti-nautch years
From the late nineteenth century, reformers and colonial officials campaigned against what they called the "nautch", meaning dance by professional women performers. The campaigns attached heavy social stigma to the devadasi system and to the dance with it. Opportunities to perform shrank and many families stopped teaching their daughters. The Madras Devadasis (Prevention of Dedication) Act of 1947 then outlawed the dedication of girls to temples.
Teachers today try to discuss this period with care. The reforms addressed real concerns, but they also cut the hereditary artists off from their own art just as it was being taken up by new performers.
The 1930s revival and the new name
In the 1920s and 1930s a group of enthusiasts set out to restore the dance's public standing. E. Krishna Iyer, a lawyer and activist, campaigned for it and helped bring dance performances to the stage of the Madras Music Academy. Rukmini Devi Arundale trained under Pandanallur Meenakshisundaram Pillai, performed publicly and in 1936 founded Kalakshetra in Madras. There she reshaped presentation, costume and group choreography.
At the same time, dancers from hereditary families kept their own approach alive. The best known is T. Balasaraswati, whose abhinaya was admired across the world. The name Bharatanatyam came into general use in this period, linking the dance to Bharata's Natya Shastra. You can read more about these figures in famous Bharatanatyam dancers who shaped the art form.
Bharatanatyam history at a glance
| Period | Development |
|---|---|
| c. 200 BCE – 200 CE | Natya Shastra, attributed to Bharata Muni, sets out the theory of drama and dance |
| Early 11th century | Brihadeeswarar temple, Thanjavur, completed under Rajaraja Chola I, with karana sculptures and temple dancers |
| Medieval period | Devadasis perform Sadir in temples and courts, taught by nattuvanar families |
| Early 19th century | Tanjore Quartet systematise the margam at the court of Serfoji II |
| Late 19th century onwards | Anti-nautch campaigns bring stigma and decline |
| 1920s – 1930s | Revival led by E. Krishna Iyer, Rukmini Devi Arundale and hereditary artists; the name Bharatanatyam spreads |
| 1936 | Rukmini Devi Arundale founds Kalakshetra in Madras |
| 1947 | Madras Devadasis (Prevention of Dedication) Act |
| Today | Taught worldwide; recognised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi as one of India's classical dance forms |
Bharatanatyam today
Today the dance is learnt by children and adults in Chennai, across India and abroad. Every December and January the Margazhi season fills Chennai's sabhas with recitals. The Sangeet Natak Akademi recognises Bharatanatyam as one of eight classical dance forms. Distinct banis, or teaching lineages, such as Pandanallur, Vazhuvoor, Thanjavur, Kalakshetra and Melattur, keep their own ways of executing the same repertoire.
At Mayura Natyalaya in Porur we teach in the Pandanallur style. Beginners learn the history alongside the adavus, so they understand what they are carrying forward. If you would like to start, our Bharatanatyam classes in Porur run on weekends for children, teens and adults.
Frequently asked questions
How old is Bharatanatyam?
Its roots go back nearly two thousand years, to the Natya Shastra and early Tamil literature. The form we see today, with its fixed concert repertoire, took shape in the early nineteenth century and was renamed Bharatanatyam in the 1930s.
What was Bharatanatyam called before?
It was known as Sadir, Sadir attam or dasi attam, the dance of the devadasis who performed in temples and royal courts of Tamil Nadu.
Who revived Bharatanatyam?
The revival of the 1920s and 1930s is most closely linked with E. Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale, who founded Kalakshetra in 1936. Dancers from hereditary families, notably T. Balasaraswati, were equally important in carrying the tradition forward.
Why is it called Bharatanatyam?
The name links the dance to Bharata Muni, to whom the Natya Shastra is attributed. A popular explanation also reads the syllables bha, ra and ta as bhava (expression), raga (melody) and tala (rhythm).
