Bharatnatyam Performances on Tripurari Pournima

The name Bharata Natyam is of relatively recent origin when performers like Rukmini Devi revived the dance in the 20th century. The original names of Bharata Natyam were Sadir, Chinnamelan and most commonlyDasi Attam. A possible origin of the name is from Bharata Muni, who wrote the Natya Shastra. The word Bharatnatyam combines "Bhavam" meaning expression, "ragam" meaning music, "talam" meaning rhythm and natyam meaning dance.

Bharata Natyam is considered to be a fire-dance — the mystic manifestation of the metaphysical element of fire in the human body. It is one of the five major styles (one for each element) that include Odissi(element of water), Kuchipudi (element of earth), Mohiniattam (element of air) and Kathakali (element of sky or aether). The movements of an authentic Bharata Natyam dancer resemble the movements of a dancing flame. ( Link for more information)

We went to Mandapeshwar cave for celebration of Tripurari Pournima/ dev deepawali. Captured few photos from Bharat Natyam performances at Mandapeshwar Caves. 

In the end of the program there was another short performance called Chakradhari performance.  The Artist was very ace in handling multiple rotating chakras (rings/plates) at the same time.