spectators could enjoy it, as well.
Although different schools have differ-
ent typologies, the most pervasive dis-
tinction is between “pure” dance
(nrtya), conveying nothing beyond the
dancer’s skill in movement, and “acting”
dance (natyaor abhinaya), in which the
dancer tells some sort of story. Until the
twentieth century, the dancers were
usually temple servants known as
devadasis. The devadasis were officially
married to the temple’s deity and per-
formed various ritual services in the
temples as his “wives,” but they could
have liaisons with other men as they
wished. Any children from these liaisons
would also be in the service of the tem-
ple—their sonsas musicians, and their
daughters as dancers. At times this
arrangement degenerated into common
prostitution, but in many cases it was
recognizably different. These women
had status and property of their own,
even though their status was unusual,
and thus marginal. In the twentieth cen-
tury the dance performance site has
moved from the temple to the stage,
which has had a number of effects on
transforming it from a form of worship
to a performing art. For further informa-
tion on the history of the dance and its
particular manifestations, see Mohan
Khokar, Traditions of Indian Classical
Dance, 1984. For a masterful analysis of
the devadasis, see Frederique Apffel
Marglin, Wives of the God-King, 1985.
Danda
(“stick”) A symbol of authority in tradi-
tional Hindu culture. On one hand, this
stick referred to royal authority and was
visibly evident as a scepter or mace, but
was considered emblematic of the king’s
obligation to maintain social order by
inflicting punishment on evildoers. This
rule through punishment (dandaniti)
was the king’s role and duty in traditional
Indian ideas of kingship, for without
such rule normal social life would be
impossible. In a different context, the
staff can be a symbol of ascetic
authority. Among the Dashanami
Sanyasis, a group of asceticswho are
devotees (bhakta) of the god Shiva, the
ascetics with the highest status carry a
staff as a sign of their authority, and are
known as Dandi Sanyasis.Danda Hasta
Danda Hasta
In Indian dance, sculpture, and ritual, a
particular hand gesture (hasta), in
which the arm and hand are extended
straight forward, like a stick (danda).Dandakaranya
A particular forest (aranya) in the
Ramayana, the earlier of the two great
Indian epics. This is where the god
Rama, the epic’s protagonist; his wife
Sita; and his brother Lakshmanalive
during the latter part of their fourteen
years in exile, in their ashram(abode) in
the village of Panchavati. Many of the
epic’s pivotal events take place in this
forest: Rama and Lakshmana’s humilia-
tion and mutilation of the demoness
Shurpanakha, their destruction of the
demonarmy led by her brothers Khara
and Dushana, and Sita’s abduction
by Shurpanakha’s third brother
Ravana, the demon-king of Lanka. The
Dandaka forest’s actual location is
uncertain, since many of the events in
the Ramayana cannot be set in any
particular place. One traditional
location for Panchavati, however, is just
outside of the city of Nasikin the state
of Maharashtra.Dandaniti
(“rule through the stick”) In the dharma
literature, or the texts on religious duty
(dharma), dandaniti is the preservation
of social order by inflicting punishment
on evildoers. This rule through punish-
ment was the king’s role and duty in tra-
ditional Indian ideas of kingship, for
without such rule it was believed that
normal social life would be impossible.Dandaniti