Rudra - The Dancing Destroyer2009
by Bharat Bhushan
rudraroopa – an introduction From Shiva to Bharata, the knowledge of the dance of the destroyer
It is said that Bharata, also referred to often as Bharata Muni, was the author of the Natya shastra, the treatise on drama, dance and performance. The shastra, supposed to have actually been written down in its present form between 400 BC and 200 BC, was handed down to Bharata by Tandu, one of Shiva’s attendants. With its genesis on formalising the Taandava nritya of the rudraroopa of Shiva, and extending it to create the framework for the genre of the various schools of dance in ancient India, the natya shastra of Bharata is more closely known to the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam.
Bharata conveys through his Natya shastra and from the knowledge received from Tandu that the...