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flouRishinG danCe foRms
India has a glorious dance tradition since time immortal. During the medieval period, each
specific region of India started developing its own particular dance form.

Indian dance also has a rich tradition. It has been a medium of expression of emotions

since the ancient times. The popular image of Shiva in the form of Nataraja symbolises the
influence of this art forms on the life of the Indian people. There are six forms of Indian
classical dance.
These are as under :

(i) Kathak (North India)
(ii) Bharatanatyam (Tamil Nadu)

(iii) Kathakali (Kerala)
(iv) Odissi (Orissa)
(v) Kuchipudi (Andra Pradesh)

Jagannatha Temple, Puri (Orissa) (vi) Manipuri (Manipur)

Kathak is an important dance from of northern India. The term, Kathak is derived from
Katha, meaning a story. In fact, the Kathaks were a caste of story tellers in temples of
North India. They later, added gestures and songs to their performances. During the Bhakti
Movement in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it established as a distinct mode of
dance. Kathak became increasingly based on stories from the lives of Radha-Krishna. These

stories were enacted in folk plays called Rasa-lila.
The Mughal emperors and their nobles, courtiers of Rajasthan and the last Nawab of Awadh,
Wajid Ali Shah were the major patrons of Kathak. Under their patronage, several schools or

regional gharanas of Kathak developed.

The important Gharanas of them were ‘the Jaipur Gharana of Rajasthan’ and ‘the Benaras
and Lucknow Gharanas of Uttar Pradesh’. By the later part of nineteenth century, under
this dance form, emphasis was laid on complex and rapid foot work, elaborate costumes as
well as on the enactment of stories.

PaintinG

In the medieval period, many rulers and wealthy people
promoted the painting of miniatures (small-size paintings).
These paintings were made on various materials such as paper,

cloth, wood, ivory and leather. The paints used were natural
dyes made from vegetables, and minerals including gold and
silver. A Mughal Painting From Akbar’s Time

In the early medieval period, miniatures depicted religious themes. The Palas of Bengal
patronised the use of miniatures to illustrate Buddhist texts, while in Western India,

miniatures were used to decorate Jain manuscripts.

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