(Late) Sri Vedantam Parvatisam is regarded in the world of Kucipudi dance as "Kucipudi Nrtya Vacaspati", meaning Kucipudi Dance Brahma.
Sri Vedantam Parvatisam had made great contributions to the literature of Kucipudi dance. All of those writings were invaluable and elevated the glory of Kucipudi dance. His life was entirely dedicated to Kucipudi dance. His literature is regarded as a University by itself.
Among his writings, one of the fantastic works is "Kucipudi Nrtya Tarangini" (meaning Kucipudi Dance Stream). This work comprises several irresistible traditional aspects about Kucipuli dance and drama. Those aspects are the key aspects which have made this dance drama form stand the test of time and has been a popular among all Indian dance cultures. This work provides clarifications to various enquiries and doubts that arise in the minds of learners of Kucipudi dance.
I would personally treat this book as a treasure of wisdom relating to Kucipudi dance. In this work, Sri Parvatisam had not only brought a correlation among the other works done by legendary masters of the dance, but also made his own visionary and unparalleled contributions to Kucipudi dance tradition.
However, as this work "Kucipudi Nrtya Tarangini" was made in local Telugu language, its contents could not be reached to all quarters of the world beyond Telugu speakers. It has disappointed the other seekers of this dance tradition. To alleviate from this pain, Smt. Veena Murthy Vijay took the difficult job of Sri Parvatisam's book getting translated into English and also Kannada languages. She has become successful in communicating the beauty of Kucipudi dance and also the heart of the master Sri Vedantam Parvatisam. I would like to sincerely appreciate her interest and effort in publishing this work.
Kucipudi, traces its origin to the time when Natyasastra was compiled around 200 B.C.E. The copper inscriptions from the 10th century are a significant documentary evidence of its existence as a dance drama (relating to Saivism) in the Telugu speaking parts of South-India. The groups were called as Brahmana Mela.
From then, till the 12th century this art form was recognized as a regional Andhra tradition. The scholars of Telugu literature and art have discoursed this style to belong to Kaisiki vrtti originating from the Natyasastra which mentions Andhra as one of the locations of Pravetti.
Praviti in Natyasastra refers to specific human behavior varying from region to region. There are four types of Pravetti namely, Daksinatya, Avanti, Odramagadi and Pañcala madhyama .
In the medieval period and from the 13th century onwards this art form flourished under the patronage of kings of various dynasties. Later, during the 15th century after the fall of Vijayanagar dynasty the Brahmin Bhagavata Melam migrated to several states in the South, and they later settled in Tamilnadu. The Melattur Bhagavata Melam was recognised in Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh. The Bhagavatula families who practiced this art form in Andhra and Kucipudi traveled extensively and popularized this form.
After independence, the dance form was not recognised as a classical form. Several scholars raised the awareness to include this Kucipudi art form as traditional classical art form, Sri Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastry introduced several women into this art of performing Kucipudi. At that time in Tamilnadu Bharatanatyam reached its zenith as the most popular classical dance form. Notwithstanding the huge wave of this popularity for Bharatanatyam, Guru Sri Vempati Chinna Satyam introduced Kucipudi dance form by restructuring and codifying it into an aesthetic solo as well as dance drama form.
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