![traditional kathak music traditional kathak music](https://www.natyasutraonline.com/uploads/category/main_img/kathak-mn1.jpg)
In fact, kathak developed side by side with raslilas, the northern Indian pilgrimage plays dedicated to Lord Krishna. Kathak’s poems, enacted by the abhinaya technique, still depict episodes from Hindu mythology in a pure bhakti spirit. Simultaneously, kathak was also practised in the smaller Hindu courts of Rajasthan. Thus the northern Indian storytelling tradition and dance were adapted according to the tastes of the rulers and minor nobility of the Moghul dynasty. Another source may be the temple dances performed by the northern devadasis.Īlthough Islam, in principle, has a negative attitude towards dance, the Islamic rulers were, however, admirers of many aspects of Indian culture. They elaborated their narration with dance poses, gestures and facial expressions. The roots of kathak seem to lie in the storytelling tradition of ancient northern India, practised by the nomadic storytellers called kathaks. They lost their popularity, however, during the gradual islamilisation of northern India, a process that started as early as in the 9 th century AD.
![traditional kathak music traditional kathak music](https://www.masseytheatre.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020-mbf-poster.png)
Sculptural evidence shows that prior to the arrival of Islam the northern parts of India also had their own lasya dance styles, more or less loosely connected to the tradition of the ancient Drama Manual, the Natyashastra. However, in its aesthetics as well as some of its technical aspects, characterised by linear poses and pirouettes, kathak clearly reflects the Islamic influences received, to a great extent, from Persia. Many of kathak’s elements, such as the poems depicting Hindu mythology and the division of the dances into pure nrtta and mimetic abhinaya sections, stem from an older local Hindu tradition. The present form of kathak dance is a fruit of the fusion of indigenous Indian tradition with Islamic culture in the northern parts of India during the golden age of the Moghul dynasty from the 16 th century to the beginning of the 18 th century. Elegant arm and hand gestures of kathak Sakari Viika