who headed the tribe from which all the people of
India are said to descend and who gave his name
to the MAHABHARATA. Bharata thus means “the
homeland of those descended from Bharata.”
See also RAMAYANA.
Further reading: R. C. Majumdar et al., The History and
Culture of the Indian People, 11 vols. (London: G. Allen
& Unwin, 1951–69); F. E. Pargiter, The Purana Text of
the Dynasties of the Kali Age (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1913).
Bharata See RAMAYANA.
Bharata Natyam
Bharata Natyam is one of the oldest dance forms
of India. It has been sustained in the temples
and courts of southern India since ancient times.
Its 108 poses are found carved on the walls of
the huge gateway of the CHIDAMBARAM temple in
Tamil Nadu. In the 19th century Bharata Natyam
was codified and documented as a performing art
by four brothers known as the Tanjore Quartet,
whose musical compositions form most of the
Bharata Natyam repertoire even today.
The dance was handed down from genera-
tion to generation under the DEVADASI system, in
which women were dedicated to temples to
serve the deity as dancers and musicians. These
highly talented artists and their male gurus
kept the art alive until the early 20th century,
although the devadasis were by now no longer
considered respectable. At that time, a renewal
of interest in India’s cultural heritage prompted
the educated elite to rediscover it. The revival of
Bharata Natyam by pioneers such as E. Krishna
Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale drew the dance
out of the temples and onto the stage. It did not
cease, however, to be a dance devoted to the
divinities.
Contemporary Bharata Natyam is based on
solo dances with musical accompaniment, includ-
ing singers and percussion. The dance unfolds
from a base stance with the body in a lowered
position with knees akimbo. From this stance
the legs are moved outward rhythmically, beating
tempo in play with the percussion. Most perfor-
mances include a “pure dance” aspect, but hand
and facial gestures (MUDRAS) are also important;
they communicate, in a coded pantomime, the
story being told. The stories are almost always
about the gods SHIVA and VISHNU (in his various
incarnations) and their wives and families. The
narrative plays on familiar stories that almost
always express a devotional sentiment; it is a form
of choreographed worship.
Today Bharata Natyam is one of the most pop-
ular and widely performed Indian dance styles; it
is practiced by male and female dancers all over
India. Degree courses covering the practice and
theory of Bharata Natyam are at last available at
major universities of India. Important Bharata
Natyam dancers of the 20th century revival
include Balasaraswati, sometimes thought of as
the last devadasi; Rukmini Devi Arundale, and
Yamini Krishnamurti.Further reading: Malati Iyengar et al., Dance and
Devotion: A Handbook on Bharatanatyam Dance and
Traditional Trayers for Students Pursuing Indian Classi-
cal Dance (Sherman Oaks, Calif.: Rangoli Foundation
for Art & Culture, 2004), R. Kalarani, Bharatanatyam
in Tamilnadu, after A.D. 1200 (Madurai: J. J., 2004);
Sandhya Purecha, Theory and Practice of Angikabhinaya
in Bharatanatyam (Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,
2003).Bharati, Baba Premanand (d. 1914)
pioneer Hindu leader in the United States
Baba Premanand Bharati was among the small
group of Hindu leaders who entered the United
States in the decades after the World’s Parliament
of Religions in 1893. He founded the Krishna
Samaj in New York City soon after the start of the
new century.Bharati, Baba Premanand 79 J