Nṛttaratnāvalī
The Jewel‑Necklace of Dance – A 13th‑Century Kakatiya Masterpiece
In the golden age of the Kākatīya dynasty, when Warangal thrummed with military prowess and cultural efflorescence, one remarkable figure stood at the intersection of sword and symbol — Jaya Senāpati (also known as Jayapa Nāyaka or Jayanārya). A distinguished commander of the elephant forces (Gaja‑sādhanika) under King Gaṇapatideva, Jaya was not merely a warrior but a profound scholar of dance and aesthetics. Around 1253‑1254 CE, he composed the Nṛttaratnāvalī (The Jewel‑Necklace of Dance), an encyclopaedic treatise that systematically records both the classical mārga tradition (descended from Bharata) and the vibrant deśī (regional) dance forms of the Deccan. Alongside this work, he also authored Gītaratnāvalī on music and Vādyaratnāvalī on instruments — texts now lost, making the Nṛttaratnāvalī an even more precious relic of medieval Indian performance arts.
Jaya came from the influential Ayyā family of the Kṛṣṇā delta. When the great Kākatīya king Gaṇapatideva (1198–1262 CE) subdued the local chiefs, he married Jaya’s sisters, Nāramā and Peramā, and, recognising the young Jaya’s brilliance, placed him under the tutelage of minister Guṇḍāmātya. The king cherished him from childhood (ā kaumārād Gaṇapatir nṛpo jāyanaṁ samarcchya). Jaya rose to become the Gaja‑sādhanika (commander of the elephant corps) and earned accolades such as Vairigodhūma Gharatta. Epigraphical records, especially the Chebrolu inscription (1235 CE), confirm his munificent grants to temples and devadāsīs — including dedicated housing for sixteen temple dancers. Jaya’s life exemplifies the ideal of a rasika warrior: fierce on the battlefield, refined in the arts.
Within his treatise, Jaya humbly notes that he has composed the Nṛttaratnāvalī to clarify the intent of Bharata and to codify the deśī dances that flourished under Gaṇapatideva’s reign (“mahārājādhirāje’smin Gaṇapaty avanīśvare … yā deśyo vartate loke”). The work, in eight chapters, systematically details aṅgas, pratyāṅgas, upāṅgas, hastas, cārīs, karaṇas, aṅgahāras, and — most distinctively — an entire section on deśī nṛtta including Lāsyāṅgas and folk genres.
The treatise is divided into eight chapters, blending Bharata’s canonical framework with post‑Bharata innovations. Jaya draws upon Bharata, Kohala, Matanga, Abhinavagupta, Kīrtidhara, Bhaṭṭa Taṇḍu and Someśvara, yet offers his own clarifications and original insights.
- Ch. I–II: Definition of Nāṭya, four abhinayas (Āṅgika, Vācika, Āhārya, Sāttvika), classification of aṅgas, pratyāṅgas, upāṅgas, single/double hand gestures (asamyuta, samyuta, nṛtta-hastas).
- Ch. III: Cārīs (leg movements), sthānas (standing/sitting postures), maṇḍalas (sequences of cārīs).
- Ch. IV: 108 karaṇas (fundamental dance units), aṅgahāras (sequences of karaṇas), recakas.
- Ch. V–VI: Deśī sthānakas, deśī karaṇas, bhramarīs (pirouettes), deśī pādas, deśī cārīs, and the celebrated 46 Deśī Lāsyāṅgas (grace elements) — the most extensive list in any Sanskrit text.
- Ch. VII: Training of dancers, orchestra (mukhari, pratimukhari), dress, theatre architecture, and detailed description of regional dances.
- Ch. VIII: Court protocols, the entry of the king, honouring of artists, and the three‑curtain ceremony (yavanikā).
“Where the hand moves, the eyes follow; where the eyes go, the mind follows; where the mind is, emotion arises; where emotion blooms, there arises rasa.” — Nṛttaratnāvalī (paraphrasing Bharata)
What makes the Nṛttaratnāvalī invaluable is its vivid portrayal of regional, folk and martial dances that thrived in the Kākatīya kingdom. Many of these forms — such as the vigorous Perani, the acrobatic Kollāṭa, and the ballad‑style Cindu — were performed in temple precincts, court festivals and battlefields. Below are the principal deśī nṛttas described by Jaya:
Among these, Perani (also called Peraṇī or P’reraṇī) held special status: a virile, Śaivite dance performed by male warriors before battle to invoke the energy of Tāṇḍava. Jaya describes the Perani dancer as shaven‑headed, smeared with holy ash, adorned with bells (gharghara), and skilled in five aṅgas: Nṛtta, Kaivāra, Gharghara, Vikata (Vāgada) and Gīta. The popularity of Perani is also echoed in Telugu works like Pālkuriki Somanātha’s Basavapurāṇamu. After centuries of eclipse, it was revived in the 20th century by Padmaśrī Dr. Natarāja Rāmakṛṣṇa from the dance sculptures of the Ramappa temple — a revival made possible by Jaya’s meticulous text.
The Nṛttaratnāvalī is not only a literary monument but also a key to deciphering the famous karaṇa sculptures at Tanjore (Bṛhadīśvara), Chidambaram (Nāṭarāja temple), Kumbhakonam (Śārṅgapāṇi temple) and Vṛddhācalam. Jaya records divergent interpretations by Kīrtidhara and Bhaṭṭa Taṇḍu, which often match the actual stone panels. For instance, in Ardhasvastika karaṇa, Jaya notes that Kīrtidhara prescribes kaṭī‑hasta instead of kari‑hasta, and precisely that hand pose appears in the Tanjore carving. The author’s detailed references thus become an indispensable aid to reconstructing the physical execution of Bharata’s 108 karaṇas — a living bridge between theory and plastic art.
In his chapters on aṅgahāras and karaṇas, Jaya also clarifies Bharata’s cryptic expressions, often paraphrasing Abhinavagupta while adding his own pragmatic observations drawn from contemporary practice. The critical apparatus of the 1960 Madras edition (ed. Dr. V. Raghavan) highlights how Jaya’s text helps to emend corrupt passages in the Abhinavabhāratī.
A crowning contribution of the Nṛttaratnāvalī is its classification of 46 Deśī Lāsyāṅgas (Chapter VI, śl. 118–173). While Śārṅgadeva’s Saṅgītaratnākara lists only ten, and Pārśvadeva’s Saṅgītasamayasāra eighteen, Jaya offers the most exhaustive catalogue of ephemeral qualities that define refined dance: Sauṣṭhava (perfect posture with kharvatā or slight hip‑bend), Rekhā (linear harmony), Lalita (elegant sway), Bhāva (emotional stillness), Jhaṅkā (tantalising sideways movement), Mukharasa (radiant facial expression), Masṛṇatā (smoothness of nṛtta‑hastas), Pramāṇa (perfect alignment with music) and Caṇḍana (the final frozen tableau). These aṅgas underline the aesthetic sophistication of the Kākatīya court and remain relevant for today’s practitioners of Bharatanāṭyam and other classical styles.
Jaya frequently acknowledges that he has “taken these from the ocean of deśī dance” (deśīnṛttapayorāśeḥ) — possibly referring to an earlier work called Deśīnṛttasamudra attributed to Nārada, now lost. His role as a compiler and innovator thus bridges multiple lost traditions.
Until the 20th century, the Nṛttaratnāvalī survived in only two palm‑leaf manuscripts (Telugu script) at the Sarasvatī Mahal Library, Tanjore. A third incomplete Devanāgarī manuscript was later traced at the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta. Based on these witnesses, Dr. V. Raghavan (Professor of Sanskrit, University of Madras) prepared the first critical edition, published in 1960 as part of the Madras Government Oriental Series. The edition includes an exhaustive introduction, textual notes, and concordances with Bharata, Abhinavagupta, Someśvara and Śārṅgadeva.
The work immediately became a foundational source for dance history. It informed the revival of Perini by Dr. Nataraja Ramakrishna, and it continues to be quoted in scholarly research on Indian iconography, temple dance and deśī music. The fact that a 13th‑century military commander produced such a refined, technically precise treatise speaks volumes about the cultural integration in the Kākatīya empire — where the elephant‑general could also be a śāstra‑vedin (knower of the treatises) and a patron of devadāsīs.
Jaya’s Nṛttaratnāvalī exerted influence far beyond the Deccan. It was used by the Reddi king Komati Vema (author of Saṅgīta Cintāmaṇi, c. 1402–1420), by the Mewar ruler Kumbhakarna (in his Nṛtyaratnakośa), and even by the Tanjore Maratha king Tulaja (in Saṅgītasārāmṛta). The work’s descriptions of deśī forms like Cindu and Bahurūpa have been used to trace the historical roots of folk theatre (like Pagati Vēṣam in Andhra). Moreover, the kharvatā (hip‑lowering) explained by Jaya remains a fundamental principle in classical dance training today — a hidden but essential technique that gives the dancer the characteristic “mandi” stance.
In contemporary Telangana, Perini is celebrated as a state‑sponsored cultural emblem. Every year, at the UNESCO‑listed Ramappa Temple, groups of dancers re‑enact the vigorous choreography that Jaya described more than 750 years ago. The warrior‑scholar’s vision lives on — a testament that the arts of peace can outlast empires.
📚 References & Further Reading
- Jaya Senāpati, Nṛttaratnāvalī, critically edited by Dr. V. Raghavan, Madras Government Oriental Series, 1960 (with introduction, notes, and illustrations of karaṇas).
- Chebrolu inscription (1235 CE): Epigraphia Indica, Vol. VI, pp. 38–45; also in Annual Report on Epigraphy, Southern Circle.
- V. Raghavan, “Later Saṅgīta Literature” – Journal of the Madras Music Academy, Vol. IV (1933).
- M. Rama Rao, The Kākatīyas of Warangal, Hyderabad, 1978 (for historical context).
- Padmaśrī Dr. Nataraja Ramakrishna, Perini – The Warrior Dance of Telangana (Hyderabad, 1998).
- P. V. Parabrahma Sastry, Kakatiya Sculpture and Dance, Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Akademi, 1970.
- Kallinātha’s commentary on Saṅgītaratnākara (ch. VII) for parallels with Jaya’s deśī cārīs and lāsyāṅgas.
- Online resources: Jayapa Senani (Wikipedia), Perini Śivatāṇḍavam, and digital scans of the Tanjore manuscripts (T.M.S.S.M. Library).
© Scholarly digest based on the 1960 critical edition. For educational and non‑commercial use. All rights to original sources acknowledged.
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