Table Of ContentDancers and Musicians at Belur
M. KRISHNAN
Thecelebrated shrine of Chennakesavaat Belur isthe finest example ofthe
irrepressible exuberance of Hoysala sculptors. Elsewhere too, at Halebid
and Somanathpur, their art is profusely ornamental, but not rococo. The
figuredepicted doesnot mergepassivelyintoitselaboratelycontrivedbackground,
butdominatesit:stylizedanddecorativelyconceiveditself,itlacksthe morphologi
calrectitude and realism offiguresinearlierstone,asof Pallava or Chola art, but
stillhasapresence, apatentidentity.
At Belur, as at other Hoysala shrines, the elevated plinth and outer temple
wallsare crowdedwithdiversedepictions inbands andfriezes- elephantsoryo/is
in tandem, intricate floral motifs, gods and demigods and other mythologicalen
titiesand varied humanity. On these wallsthere are dancers, drummers and in
strumentalists,butitisnotofthemthat Iamwriting.The templeroofoverhangsthe
wallsand columns rise from outside to meet the eaves : atop each column isseta
panelat an outwardslant, withafigure init carved sodeepasto be mainlyinthe
round andwith atrellisedornamentalsurround,withitsfeet on the columnandthe
lattice-workaboveitshead touchingthe roof. Itisthese bracketfigures(astheyare
termed) that arethe feature ofBelur.
A few bracket figures are masculine, or merely grotesque like the one that
displays a woman with a donkey's head, .but the overwhelming majority are
feminine.Many are dancers and musicians,but thereare otherstoo- a huntress
with a bow, a woman admiring herselfinahand-heldmirror, anotherattending to
an elaborate coiffure, still another standing idly with a parakeet perched on one
hand,and thelike. Each ofthese hasaspecificname atBelurbut, surprisingly,not
in the literature available on Belur. The picture postcards of the Archaeological
SurveyofIndiarefertothem as'afemalebracketfigure' ora'femaledancer'.Inhis
monumental treatise, TheArtofIndia, CalamburSivaramamurtidenotesthemby
these legends- 'Girltalkingtoaparrot','Belle withamirror',and 'Danseusewith
a drum'. Louis-Frederic terms them 'madanikas', which only means they are
female. Allthese bracketfiguresaretopless, sotheirfeminityisblatantlydisplayed.
AtBelur,eachofthesehasitsspecificorgenericidentityand name.Theprof~
sional guides refer to them unhesitatingly by their names, and even without their
guidance, they can be known merely by looking at them, being well-defined
portraitsforalltheirredundantflourishes.IspentthefirstdayatBelurlearningthe
identitiesof these bracketfigures, getting theirlocal Sanskrit names from aguide,
and studying camera angles and lighting to photograph them the next day. An~
whileItookmypictureswithalonglens, takingcaretotiltthe negativeplanetosUit
SangeetNatakNos.105-106:July-December,1992
DANCERSANDMUSIOANSATBELUR 25
the outward lean of the figures to avoid foreshortening their faces, a Sanskrit
scholarwhom I befriended told me why they are what they are called. In thisac
countIshallreferto thembytheirgenericand specificBelurnames.
At the base of each panel holding a bracket figure, around itsfeet, there are
subsidiaryfigures which, followingestablishedconventions inouriconography,are
showntoamuchsmallerscale,indwarfeddepiction.Theseareimportantinprovid
ingadventitious support to the identities of the main figures. For instance, inthe
depictionof a woman dressing her hair in a tasselled smoothly combed cylinder
(Fig. 1), the two subsidiary figures merely stand around, without aiding her
depictionsofcoiffuredressing (thereare more than one), termed Keshashringara,
featurepassivelesserattendantfigures. But when the subsidiaryfiguresareshown
playingon a drum or a flute, it isclearthat the main figure isthat ofa dancer or
. musician.Note the care devoted by the dancers and musiciansto their hair, the
trainingofthe locks into ringletsabovetheirforeheads.
Thepassion ofthe Hoysalasculptorsforexquisite three-dimensionaldetailhas
been the undoing of their creations in places. A flute-player's hands have been
carvedwhollyintheround, wellclearofherbody, withthefragileinstrumentheld
betweenthem, butwhile herhandsstillremain the fluteitselfisgone, broken off.
Adrummer'shandshave got amputatedat the elbowsandinevitablythedrumheld
betweenthe handshas disappeared"Theheavy, longnecklacesthatcoverthetorso
hang clear of the body and have been broken off short. However, these minor
detailsdonot obscuretheevidentidentitiesofthemain figures. ..
Now for the dancers and musicians. The illustrations are representative
photographs ofthem.Learned musicologists, consulted, couldnot tellwhatclassi
calanddancemusicprevailedinKarnatakaveryearlyinthe12thcentury,whenthe
Chennakesava temple wasbuilt byVishnuvardhana- onlyfromabout thetimeof
Purandaradasa (15th to 16th century) can webe reasonably certain ofthe musical
modesestablished insouthIndia. However from the poetry and sculptureofear
~er ~ercuss~on
timestwothings are evident. First,sung'musicwastotherhythmof
~struments, and usually thesinger alsokept timewithcymbals: themain musical
mstrumentsofthosefardayswereprototypesoftheVeena;andtheflute,thelatter
alsoemployed to supplement the voice. Second, dance wasalwaysto the vocal
renderingofsongs and thebeatofdrums and othertime-keepingin~truments... .
Thefigure termedGanamanjariat Belur(Fig.2)isofasingerWithparted lips,
subsidi~ry
keepingtime to hersong with bell-shapedcymbals: the figuresaroun.d
herfeetaretwodrummerstoher rightandacymbalistandaflautisttoherleft.This
~sanimportantfigure assingersare soseldomfeaturedinourclassicalston.e.Gana
ISsongallright butwhymanjari'lApparentlyitisanindicationofherconsiderable
, di sal Noother
repertoire, of the bunch orassemblage ofsongsshe hasat her ispo .
depictionsofasingeristhereat Belur.
Th . ·ts tructure to
e Veena as now perfected is comparatively recent, owmgI .s
on~
Raghunatha Nayaka chieftain of Thanjavur in the 17thcentury. ItIS of the
instru~ents
.oldestmusical ofIndiaand formerlyobtainedinagreatmanydifferent
fretI~ t~e
forms,andwasevolvedfrom thestillearlierYazhwhichwas - modem
Veenahas24frets, whereas the olderversions had less.The mUSIcolOgistP. Sam-
26 M.KRISHNAN
bamoorthywrites :"Theone Indianinstrumentwiththe largestnumberofvarieties
istheVina.Vinainancienttimessimplymeantastringedinstrument.Itcomprised
the plucked, bowed and struckvarieties."Helistsover30different kindsfroman
cient texts.
Twoobsoletetypesofthe instrumentareonviewat Belur,bothhand-heldbya
female figure and both obviously used, not as accompaniment to the voice, butto
provide pure-toned melody by themselves, to the beat of drums - as in Veena
recitalseventoday. TheNagaveena,sonamedsinceitsheadisshapedlikeacobra's,'
hasnobowlbuthasfrets (indistinctlyseen inFig. 3)andisplayedwithashortstick
directed by the forefinger placed on it. A drummer and a cymbalist are shown
keeping time to the music.
The Rudraveenaismore evolved, with 11well-definedfrets andtwo bowls,In
thefigureatBelur(Fig.4), apparentlythemusicianisnotshownactuallyplayingon
it, for her hands are well clear of the frets and where the strings should be; two
drummers, acymbalistand asubsidiaryfigure are the accompanists.
There are other figures of instrumentalists at Belur - a male player of the
Nagaveena, drummers of both sexes beating the drum with a short stick and also
withtheirhands, and flautists of both sexes.
The depictions of the musicians are specific and clear. Not so the dancers.
However, two ofthese are free from ambiguity. Oneis called Guru-Shishya(Fig.
5) and portrays an accomplished dancer instructing her disciple in the art. The'.'
brokenhands ofthe preceptressleave one inignoranceofany mudra she mightbe
demonstrating; the student, whose lesser status is indicated by being carved toa
smallerscale, isevidentlypractisingsomedance movement. Theotherdancefigure "
that isunambiguousisthatofadrum-dancerinthetribhangipose (Fig. 6),holding
herselfbent inthreeplanes- notehowthe drum isfastened to herlefthand witha
belt-like band. Thereare afewotherlessnotabledancersinthebracketfigures. ,
The favourite dance figures of the guides at Belur are the two Mobinis.The •
term 'Mohini' denotes only one mythological entityin Indian sculpture :itmeans,
the form ofan irresistibly attractive woman assumed byVishnu to save othergods '
from a rampantasura. Mohini ismuch featured in post-Vijayanagar art. Inlitera- .'
ture it may be applied, as a figure of speech, to a beautiful woman, but neverin
iconographicnomenclature. The mythological story isas follows.
Shiva, recklessly generous in the grant of boons, is moved by the stem, sup
plicatorypenanceofBhasmasuraintograntinghimhiswish- whichisthat whom- .
soeverhe toucheson thehead shouldbe reducedto ashes. Armedwith thisdeadly
power, Bhasmasura sets out to try and test it, and fleeing from him his would-be
victimsseektheaidofVishnu tosavethemfrom theperil. Vishnuassumes theform
of the irresistiblyvoluptuousMohini,and dances beforetheasura,who fallshead-
long for hercharms, and isled byastratagemto place hispalmon hisowncrown, "
and isinstantlyreducedto aheapofinnocuousashes. ' _
AsIhaveheardthe story,and astwopunditsIasked haveheardit, itisbybeing '
inducedto performthe sandhyavandanam rite(in whichwith the last divinename
(Textcontinuedonp.35J-
Fig.1:Keshashringara
Fig.2:Ganamanjari
Fig.3:Nagaveena
Fig.4:Rudraveena
Fig.5:Guru-Sbisbya
Fig. 6:Drum-dancer
Fig.7:Bhasmamohini
