धा धिं धिं धा! 🙏
(A way of Namaskara of a Kathak dancer) 😄
As I had left the story of Kathak till the point when the 'Kushilavas' started narrating ancient stories to the people, dancing and singing in my earlier post 'Origin of Kathak' (https://steemit.com/dance/@jhankritijain/origin-of-kathak-an-ancient-indian-classical-dance-form) , I would now take you further into the 'Journey of Kathak'.
These 'Kushilavas' were also hired in the temples for giving education of Dance to the 'Devadasis' or the female dancers who used to dance in front of the Gods to express their devotion and praise for the Almighty.
This dance was totally spiritual, performed as the worship of the Lord in the temples as a medium of expressing 'Bhakti'.
And, so this was known as 'THE TEMPLE TRADITION' or 'मंदिर परंपरा' of Kathak.
This was the development of Kathak till the 10th century.
With the onset of Islamic invasions in India, the decline of Kathak began!
Kushilavas started scattering to the different parts of India and took refuge under various kings. The spiritual art of Kathak from the temples now stood in the courts of the kings!
'THE TEMPLE TRADITION' was transformed to 'THE COURT TRADITION'!
Will share the further story of Kathak, how it changed its course, the challenges it faced and its development in the next post!
Stay tuned! Keep reading!
