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Christian Denigration of Indian Spiritual Dance
From the 17th century onwards, Christian missionaries made scathing attacks on the Indian classical dance form seeing it as a heathen practice. This was often expressed by attacking the devadasi system on the grounds of human rights. The devadasis were temple dancers, dedicated in childhood to a particular deity. The system was at its peak in the 10th and 11th centuries, but a few hundred years later, the traditional system of temples protected by powerful kings had faded away under Mughal rule especially since the Mughals turned it into popular entertainment devoid of spirituality. The devadasi system degenerated in some cases into temple dancers used for prostitution, although the extent of this was exaggerated by the colonialists.
Many of the English educated elites of India accepted the colonial condemnation of their heritage and apologized for its "primitiveness." Some of them turned into Hindu reformers, and found the devadasi system detestable for moral and even social-hygienic reasons.Rani David, the founder of Kalairani Natya Saalai in Maryland, USA, (strategically located right next to a prominent Hindu temple) is even more blatant about Christianizing the Bharata Natyam. Her website does not hesitate to reveal her disdain of Hindu symbols that are a part of Bharatha Natyam, and her vow to remove them from the dance. She wants to make Bharat Natyam non-Hindu:
At one of the elaborate 'Salangai poojai', in spite of her conviction, she was embarrassed because her Christian values would not permit her to bow down before a statue, whether one of Nataraja, Mary or even Jesus Christ. It was then that she vowed to herself that one day she would fashion this beautiful art into one that could not be exclusively claimed by any one religion. That vow began its fulfillment at Edwina Bhaskaran's arengetram in '92 when a patham on Christ, 'Yesuvaiyae thoothi sei', was included.[15]
But her initial posture of pluralism leads to an exclusively Christian dance as an “innovation,†of which she is proud:
Edwina’s grandfather, Elder Edwin, congratulated Rani and inquired, ‘can you stage a full program with only Christian items?’…. Consequently, 'Yesu-Yesu-Yesu' a two hour program on Christ was innovated and staged first in Maryland and then taken on tour to many parts of USA..[16]
Rani David is also proud of her collaborations with Father Barboza and other Indian Christians. In an article tellingly titled, “The Concept of Christianizing,â€â€™ she begins by comparing the problems of Bharata Natyam with similar problems supposedly found in the Bible, making her assessment seem even-handed:
History of Bharatanatyam reveals that it was misused by religious people and became a social stigma. Likewise, the word ‘dance’ itself in the Bible has had two bad ‘sinful’ references: once with the Israelites and the golden calf and the other by Salome who danced before Herod. [17]
In the next sentences this facade of equal treatment is replaced by focusing on the positive aspects of dance only in the Bible. Citing particular verses that mention dance, she concludes:
… dance is strongly implied to be present in God’s Kingdom. But is there an unquestionable support? Yes, in Psalms 149:3 and 150:4 there are definite commands to include dances in the praising of God! One can hardly get any more definite than that![18]
In other words, when dance is condemned in the Bible, it maps onto the Hindu nature of Bharatha Natyam and both share the problem equally; but when dance is positively depicted in the Bible it is solely a Christian phenomenon without Hindu parallels.
What is neatly glossed over is the obvious fact that Bharat Natyam was developed, institutionally nourished and theologically refined within Hinduism precisely because it is a tradition of embodied spirituality that valorizes the body—both male and female, and even animal—whereas the Abrahamic tradition, precisely because of its obsession with sin and fears of idolatry, has stifled the possibility of such bodily representation as a divine medium.[19]
Rani David then explains the challenges in trying to make Hinduism and Christianity co-exist in the dance. She states that there are
two major differences that we cannot overlook. Hinduism is liberal and will accept anything ‘good’ as sacred. Christianity, on the other hand, is based on a ‘zealous’ God who commands you cannot worship any other gods. Christian form of worship is simplicity; that is why you see Christians dressed in white when they go to church. But a Hindu devotee believes in elaboration in worship. The more you beautify, the more acceptable! So where does one bring in Bharatanatyam? It is not an easy task to merge the two worlds.… it was the Catholic Priest, Father Barboza, who laid down some definite mudras which you see displayed on this page. With the idea of making a universal adaptation, I have used some of these mudras in my choreography. [20]
Anita Ratnam, a prominent dancer, goes even further and claims in her 2007 event in Maryland: “Rani David laid down facts and demonstrated that Christianity existed along with Bharatanatyam and Sanga Thamizh, but history lost in time has given Christianity a western outlook.â€[21]
It is interesting to note how self-conscious and strategic the various Christians are when engaged in this cross-religious activity. Their Christianity is very explicitly present in their minds and they are deliberate in making their strategic choices. On the other hand, Hindus engaged in such cross-religious activities are easily lost in ideas of "everything is the same" and "there is no us and them." One side (i.e. Christian) has a strategy and is constantly reworking it and perfecting it, in order to expand itself. The other side (i.e. Hindu) is naively unconcerned, and unwilling to see this is a competitive arena.
Christianizing Bharatanatyam
Reproducing a letter from a Rajiv Malhotra discussion group.
Dear All,
I came back from MTS temple yesterday disappointed hearing a shocking news! Heard it from a senior couple who were equally disappointed.
There was an Arangetram where a student danced ....
Perverse indeed! Our own people are knowingly/unknowingly encouraging the decimation/erasure of our civilization without understanding the big picture! Last time Hindus fell into this trap was when Leela Sampson misled the organizers during an event in Houston and some of us protested, only then situation was salvaged. Please see our blog: Christianizing Bharatanatyam especially the section Christian Denigration of Indian Spiritual Dance (Further Indic scholar Rajiv Malhotra explained viaeMail how this is dangerous)
In Summary: There is NO problem with a person doing Bharatanatyam regardless of his/her own faith. Thats not the issue. Lets not misrepresent the issue. If a Judeo-Christian person does the dance AUTHENTICALLY as per Hindu Natya Shastra that would be fine. But many Christians have difficulty doing it this way, because it conflicts with their Christian indoctrination - worship of "false gods" and "idols" and so forth. When a dancer performs a gesture, mantra or ritual to a Hindu deity, say Shiva or Ganesha, is that dancer feeling the deity as GOD? Or it is felt internally as a "secular" or "cultural" symbol of "out of respect for our ancestors"? If the Christian dancer is clear and not self-deceptive that indeed the deity IS GOD then there is no issue - but then the padre in his/her church wont be happy.
What should be done to avoid this in future? Dance/Music/Arts teachers - Please limit your greed and crass commercialization of our ethos. Please wake up and read up on the threats to our civilization! Like Rajiv Malhotra says "Don't enable Digestion". Don't teach missionary "Christian" students who are not appreciative of Dharma. Don't discard our ethos and bend the rules to accommodate someones exclusivist tendencies. Our traditions are not bound by copyright laws and anyone can learn as long as the traditions are respected, duly accredited and are not used as Trojan horses of Inculturation. And of course, some extra dollars are NOT worth it if they are going to be Trojan Horses out to destroy our civilization.
best regards
P
From the 17th century onwards, Christian missionaries made scathing attacks on the Indian classical dance form seeing it as a heathen practice. This was often expressed by attacking the devadasi system on the grounds of human rights. The devadasis were temple dancers, dedicated in childhood to a particular deity. The system was at its peak in the 10th and 11th centuries, but a few hundred years later, the traditional system of temples protected by powerful kings had faded away under Mughal rule especially since the Mughals turned it into popular entertainment devoid of spirituality. The devadasi system degenerated in some cases into temple dancers used for prostitution, although the extent of this was exaggerated by the colonialists.
Many of the English educated elites of India accepted the colonial condemnation of their heritage and apologized for its "primitiveness." Some of them turned into Hindu reformers, and found the devadasi system detestable for moral and even social-hygienic reasons.Rani David, the founder of Kalairani Natya Saalai in Maryland, USA, (strategically located right next to a prominent Hindu temple) is even more blatant about Christianizing the Bharata Natyam. Her website does not hesitate to reveal her disdain of Hindu symbols that are a part of Bharatha Natyam, and her vow to remove them from the dance. She wants to make Bharat Natyam non-Hindu:
At one of the elaborate 'Salangai poojai', in spite of her conviction, she was embarrassed because her Christian values would not permit her to bow down before a statue, whether one of Nataraja, Mary or even Jesus Christ. It was then that she vowed to herself that one day she would fashion this beautiful art into one that could not be exclusively claimed by any one religion. That vow began its fulfillment at Edwina Bhaskaran's arengetram in '92 when a patham on Christ, 'Yesuvaiyae thoothi sei', was included.[15]
But her initial posture of pluralism leads to an exclusively Christian dance as an “innovation,†of which she is proud:
Edwina’s grandfather, Elder Edwin, congratulated Rani and inquired, ‘can you stage a full program with only Christian items?’…. Consequently, 'Yesu-Yesu-Yesu' a two hour program on Christ was innovated and staged first in Maryland and then taken on tour to many parts of USA..[16]
Rani David is also proud of her collaborations with Father Barboza and other Indian Christians. In an article tellingly titled, “The Concept of Christianizing,â€â€™ she begins by comparing the problems of Bharata Natyam with similar problems supposedly found in the Bible, making her assessment seem even-handed:
History of Bharatanatyam reveals that it was misused by religious people and became a social stigma. Likewise, the word ‘dance’ itself in the Bible has had two bad ‘sinful’ references: once with the Israelites and the golden calf and the other by Salome who danced before Herod. [17]
In the next sentences this facade of equal treatment is replaced by focusing on the positive aspects of dance only in the Bible. Citing particular verses that mention dance, she concludes:
… dance is strongly implied to be present in God’s Kingdom. But is there an unquestionable support? Yes, in Psalms 149:3 and 150:4 there are definite commands to include dances in the praising of God! One can hardly get any more definite than that![18]
In other words, when dance is condemned in the Bible, it maps onto the Hindu nature of Bharatha Natyam and both share the problem equally; but when dance is positively depicted in the Bible it is solely a Christian phenomenon without Hindu parallels.
What is neatly glossed over is the obvious fact that Bharat Natyam was developed, institutionally nourished and theologically refined within Hinduism precisely because it is a tradition of embodied spirituality that valorizes the body—both male and female, and even animal—whereas the Abrahamic tradition, precisely because of its obsession with sin and fears of idolatry, has stifled the possibility of such bodily representation as a divine medium.[19]
Rani David then explains the challenges in trying to make Hinduism and Christianity co-exist in the dance. She states that there are
two major differences that we cannot overlook. Hinduism is liberal and will accept anything ‘good’ as sacred. Christianity, on the other hand, is based on a ‘zealous’ God who commands you cannot worship any other gods. Christian form of worship is simplicity; that is why you see Christians dressed in white when they go to church. But a Hindu devotee believes in elaboration in worship. The more you beautify, the more acceptable! So where does one bring in Bharatanatyam? It is not an easy task to merge the two worlds.… it was the Catholic Priest, Father Barboza, who laid down some definite mudras which you see displayed on this page. With the idea of making a universal adaptation, I have used some of these mudras in my choreography. [20]
Anita Ratnam, a prominent dancer, goes even further and claims in her 2007 event in Maryland: “Rani David laid down facts and demonstrated that Christianity existed along with Bharatanatyam and Sanga Thamizh, but history lost in time has given Christianity a western outlook.â€[21]
It is interesting to note how self-conscious and strategic the various Christians are when engaged in this cross-religious activity. Their Christianity is very explicitly present in their minds and they are deliberate in making their strategic choices. On the other hand, Hindus engaged in such cross-religious activities are easily lost in ideas of "everything is the same" and "there is no us and them." One side (i.e. Christian) has a strategy and is constantly reworking it and perfecting it, in order to expand itself. The other side (i.e. Hindu) is naively unconcerned, and unwilling to see this is a competitive arena.
Christianizing Bharatanatyam
Reproducing a letter from a Rajiv Malhotra discussion group.
Dear All,
I came back from MTS temple yesterday disappointed hearing a shocking news! Heard it from a senior couple who were equally disappointed.
There was an Arangetram where a student danced ....
- Without invocation to Lord Ganesha; Nataraja murthy was relegated to the back of stage, hardly visible. Instead it was Jesus and Christian motifs all over.
- She danced only to compositions highlighting, guess who, it was Jesus!
Perverse indeed! Our own people are knowingly/unknowingly encouraging the decimation/erasure of our civilization without understanding the big picture! Last time Hindus fell into this trap was when Leela Sampson misled the organizers during an event in Houston and some of us protested, only then situation was salvaged. Please see our blog: Christianizing Bharatanatyam especially the section Christian Denigration of Indian Spiritual Dance (Further Indic scholar Rajiv Malhotra explained viaeMail how this is dangerous)
In Summary: There is NO problem with a person doing Bharatanatyam regardless of his/her own faith. Thats not the issue. Lets not misrepresent the issue. If a Judeo-Christian person does the dance AUTHENTICALLY as per Hindu Natya Shastra that would be fine. But many Christians have difficulty doing it this way, because it conflicts with their Christian indoctrination - worship of "false gods" and "idols" and so forth. When a dancer performs a gesture, mantra or ritual to a Hindu deity, say Shiva or Ganesha, is that dancer feeling the deity as GOD? Or it is felt internally as a "secular" or "cultural" symbol of "out of respect for our ancestors"? If the Christian dancer is clear and not self-deceptive that indeed the deity IS GOD then there is no issue - but then the padre in his/her church wont be happy.
What should be done to avoid this in future? Dance/Music/Arts teachers - Please limit your greed and crass commercialization of our ethos. Please wake up and read up on the threats to our civilization! Like Rajiv Malhotra says "Don't enable Digestion". Don't teach missionary "Christian" students who are not appreciative of Dharma. Don't discard our ethos and bend the rules to accommodate someones exclusivist tendencies. Our traditions are not bound by copyright laws and anyone can learn as long as the traditions are respected, duly accredited and are not used as Trojan horses of Inculturation. And of course, some extra dollars are NOT worth it if they are going to be Trojan Horses out to destroy our civilization.
best regards
P
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