Malaysia is a country with a wide diversity of culture, tradition and customs. It makes us great honored and proud to be prominent Malaysians. Thus, it’s our duty as a Malaysian to uphold this treasure that can never be replaced because it some how reflects our identity to the entire world. Recently, when I attended National Chinese New Year Open House that was organized by the Ministry of Unity, Culture, Arts, and Heritage in Bukit Bintang, there was variety of traditional dances that was performed by various ethnics and races during the event which caught my eyes. One of them is Bharatnatyam, the classical Indian traditional dance. Since, it is related to my tradition, I decided to find more about this traditional dance and post the information that I obtained in this blog.
Bharatnatyam is developed in South India, in its present form, two hundred years ago. It’s believed that the Hindu god, Brahma (supreme creator) created Natya by extracting literature elements from the Rig Veda, songs from Sama Veda, abhinaya (expression) from the Yajur Veda and rasa (aesthetic experience) from the Arthava Veda. This dance is the oldest of the classical dance forms, and its origin can be traced to Bharatha’s Natya Shastra. Basically, Natya speaks in great detail of the different kinds of postures, facial expressions, mudra (hand expressions), including the attire and ornaments to be used.
Moreover, the uniqueness of this traditional dance is that they are all devotional in content and it is confined around the nine rasas (emotions or aesthetic expressions). They are hasya (happiness), shoka (sorrow), krodha (anger), karuna (compassion), bhibasta (disgust), adhbhuta (wonder), bhaya (fear), vikram (courage) and shanta (serenity). In fact, Bharata Natyam was till the early 20th Century, only performed by ‘devadasis (maids of God)’, in temples.
In Malaysia, this dance is performed on festivals, ceremonies, and special occasions. It marks the presence of the Indian culture, tradition and custom among the other races in Malaysia. One of the Malaysian famous Indian traditional dancers is Ramli Ibrahim. The twist here is that he is Malay. He is acclaimed as a pioneer dancer and choreographer of international standing in the major fields of dance that he has mastered – Bharatnatyam, Odissi as well as Contemporary dance. Besides that, he is also a teacher for the Indian traditional dance, Bharatnatyam. Basically, he is the treasure of our country that can never be replaced by another.
In a nutshell, we can say that this dance is well received by all Malaysians due to its uniqueness. At the same time, it’s our duty as a Malaysian to know more about other race’s culture, tradition and customs and uphold it so that it remains our treasure forever.
Bharatnatyam is developed in South India, in its present form, two hundred years ago. It’s believed that the Hindu god, Brahma (supreme creator) created Natya by extracting literature elements from the Rig Veda, songs from Sama Veda, abhinaya (expression) from the Yajur Veda and rasa (aesthetic experience) from the Arthava Veda. This dance is the oldest of the classical dance forms, and its origin can be traced to Bharatha’s Natya Shastra. Basically, Natya speaks in great detail of the different kinds of postures, facial expressions, mudra (hand expressions), including the attire and ornaments to be used.
Moreover, the uniqueness of this traditional dance is that they are all devotional in content and it is confined around the nine rasas (emotions or aesthetic expressions). They are hasya (happiness), shoka (sorrow), krodha (anger), karuna (compassion), bhibasta (disgust), adhbhuta (wonder), bhaya (fear), vikram (courage) and shanta (serenity). In fact, Bharata Natyam was till the early 20th Century, only performed by ‘devadasis (maids of God)’, in temples.
In Malaysia, this dance is performed on festivals, ceremonies, and special occasions. It marks the presence of the Indian culture, tradition and custom among the other races in Malaysia. One of the Malaysian famous Indian traditional dancers is Ramli Ibrahim. The twist here is that he is Malay. He is acclaimed as a pioneer dancer and choreographer of international standing in the major fields of dance that he has mastered – Bharatnatyam, Odissi as well as Contemporary dance. Besides that, he is also a teacher for the Indian traditional dance, Bharatnatyam. Basically, he is the treasure of our country that can never be replaced by another.
In a nutshell, we can say that this dance is well received by all Malaysians due to its uniqueness. At the same time, it’s our duty as a Malaysian to know more about other race’s culture, tradition and customs and uphold it so that it remains our treasure forever.
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