Which of these forms were made for a court, which for a temple, and which for a market?
Most Indian performance was described, in the twentieth century, as tradition. Before that it was work: a temple appointment, a court salary, a touring company's takings. The twentieth century reclassified it, moved it onto proscenium stages and into syllabi, and in doing so changed what counts as correct. This pillar keeps both versions in view, because the revival is usually more recent — and more political — than the tradition it claims to restore.
Inside this pillar
Bharatanatyam, from temple to stage
A devadasi practice banned, revived, and rebuilt for a proscenium in the space of one century.
in preparationKathakali: makeup as character
Green for the noble, red for the violent, and a performance that begins with four hours of preparation.
in preparationHindustani and Carnatic: two systems
One absorbed Persian and Afghan practice; the other stayed inside a south Indian temple repertoire.
in preparationRaga and tala: the frame for improvisation
A raga is not a scale and a tala is not a beat. Both are grammars that make an hour of improvisation legible.
in preparationThe language of the tabla
Drum syllables are spoken before they are played, which is why the instrument has a vocabulary rather than a set of strokes.
in preparationMiniature painting, two lines
Mughal workshop naturalism and Rajput court symbolism, painted small enough to be held in one hand.
in preparationThe playback singer system
An industry where the voice and the face are two different careers, and the audience knows both.
in preparationFolk theatre that still works
Travelling companies that play all night to villages, with a financing model that has outlasted several of their patrons.
in preparation