Performing Arts & Aesthetics (65)

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    This book explores the roots of kathaka dance forms to reveal its sublime and divine dimension. It discusses the concept of Tantra and Sound and their manifestation in kathaka. It also analyses the distinct yantra formations both in the dance as well as the dance floor.

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    Tantra-Mantra-Yantra in Dance by: Ranjana Srivastava 810.00

    The Indian perspective has always been holistic and all-inclusive: thought and activity in different fields, at different levels, have been interlinked to produce what has been timeless. Indian arts is a classic example of such amalgamation: it interlinks aspects of art, philosophy, mythology, religion, and mysticism. This book is an attempt to unravel such links with specific reference to the Kathaka dance form. Dr. Ranjana Srivastava explores the roots of Kathaka dance form to reveal its sublime, philosophic, esoteric and divine dimensions. Focussing on inter-relationships, she unfolds how dance embraces other disciplines of Yoga — Tantra, Mantra and Yantra. She discusses the concept of Tantra and its approximation and application to the dance form — the way Kathaka absorbed the sacred knowledge within its form. She deals with the importance and aspects of sound in the Hindu religious scheme and its manifestation in Kathaka. Explaining the significance of the yantra as a diagrammatic/geometric representation and the way it functions, she analyses the techniques of Kathaka which create distinct yantra formations both in the physical movements of the dancer in the surrounding space as well as on the dancing floor. The study abounds in extensive notes to explain numerous terms and concepts and has references to noted works and authors on the subject. The book will be useful to experts and students of Indian art and, in particular, dance and will interest general people keen to know more about India’s art traditions.

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    In this volume — the first English-language publication on the subject — the author describes the various indigenous musical instruments which support rituals and performances within and outside the temples of Kerala. Illustrations of each instrument, accompany the text, with information on its dimensions, construction, playing techniques, methods of training and music.

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    Temple Musical Instruments of Kerala by: L.S. Rajagopalan 360.00

    The performing arts of Kerala — Kathakali, Kutiyattam, Mohiniattam, and other forms of dance and drama — occupy a vital space in India’s creative imagination. All these performances move to a music that is supported by Kerala’s indigenous musical instruments — a variety of drums and clappers, as well as a smaller number of pipes and strings.
    Quite a few of these instruments are also found associated with rituals and festivities in the temples of Kerala: the Itakka, Chenta, Timila, Milavu, Suddha Maddalam — all membranophones; the aerophones Kurum Kulal and Kompu Vadyam; and Ilattalam, an idiophone. Notes on these instruments by a devoted student of the performing arts of Kerala are put together in this small volume — the first English-language publication on the subject. Illustrations of each instrument accompany the texts.
    The author brings to his task the benefit of an intimate knowledge of each instrument, acquired through years of fieldwork, as well as an erudition born of his immersion in literary classics in Tamil, Malayalam and Sanskrit. The pieces here are a source too of the folklore associated with Kerala’s musical instruments. The chief strength of the book, however, lies in the precise information it provides on each instrument — its dimensions, materials, construction, playing techniques, methods of training, and, not least, its music.
    Apart from musicians and musicologists, this book would interest students of Kerala’s folklore and anthropology, as well as general readers with a special interest in the arts and culture of Kerala.

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    The Art of Naina Dalal by: 1,710.00

    This coffee table book on contemporary art unravels the artistic journey of a talented artist in Naina Dalal, covering a span of fifty-nine years, mainly in the printmaking activities. It showcases her flight as a painter in thinking, perceiving, imagining, creatively objectifying and expressing her artistic acumen through the medium of printmaking processes, her lifetime quest. The book traces the stages through which this versatile artist matured traversing the different realms as a painter, lithographer, etcher and a calligraphy artist.
    Further, this monograph is an embodiment of her several decades of artistic wisdom, maturity and thematic range. The images herein deliberate on many a political, social and ethical challenge that infects the society. Along with some shade of feminism, one also comes across her passion in reflecting the true conditions of humanity. These paintings should stir the consciousness of artists, connoisseurs and critics alike.r

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    This book is a journey into that charmed and beautiful mind from which has arisen concepts and ideas, forms and textures, words and music, movement and stillness, philosophy and worship. myths and their celebrations.

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    The Beautifully Indian Hindu Mind by: Harsha V. Dehejia 3,150.00

    It is through the Indian aesthetic mind and its concepts of the beautiful that the Indian civilization can be best understood, for in that mind are pages of history and voices of the past, in it will be heard the sounds of our dancers and in it will be seen the colours of our fabrics, it is a mind which treasures the aroma of the earth for in it we shall find terracotta figures that will whisper stories of times gone by. In that ancient mind silent stones will speak of sthapatis who not only built temples but also havelis, in that very mind rivers will whisper of saints who meditated on its banks and also of mountains which will beckon us to caves where truth was discovered, in that pristine mind stars will talk to us of astronomers who counted them, in that radiant mind we will meet scribes who created beautiful manuscripts and painters who immortalised our gathas and kathas through their kalam.
    This book is a journey into that charmed and beautiful mind from which has arisen concepts and ideas, forms and textures, words and music, movement and stillness, philosophy and worship. myths and their celebrations.
    The book is lavishly illustrated and is a visual delight.

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    This book features the uniqueness of the relationship between Hindustani musician and his art. Hindustani music is not merely north Indian art music. It is inextricably linked to a multiplicity of other musical traditions and is an active participant in the totality of the cultural process.

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    The Musician and His Art by: Deepak S. Raja 810.00

    This book presents a collection of essays and lectures written by the author between 2011 and 2018. Its underlying theme – as suggested by its title – is the uniqueness of the relationship between the Hindustani musician and his art. This uniqueness is moulded by the fact that the tradition enjoins upon the performer the simultaneous role of a composer. This makes Hindustani music a three-dimensional art: contemplative, expressive and communicative. These three components serve to make Hindustani music a remarkable manifestation of continuity within change, and individuality within conformism.
    Viewed from this perspective, Hindustani music is not merely north Indian art music. It is inextricably linked to a multiplicity of other musical traditions – folk, devotional, tribal, martial and popular – and is an active participant in the totality of the cultural process. Every piece of performed music speaks, in some manner, on behalf the generation performing it, and addresses the corresponding generations of audiences. For the author, therefore, it is not merely sufficient to understand what Hindustani music is. It is necessary also to seek insights into why it is what it is.
    In this book, the author relentlessly pursues his intellectual aims by borrowing ideas from a wide range of disciplines: sociology, linguistics, cultural anthropology, acoustics, aesthetics, demography, economics, marketing finance, psycho-analysis, mythology, philosophy and even mathematics. Despite its diverse intellectual canvas, the book retains the essential “Indian-ness” of the author’s argument, and simultaneously addresses an international readership.

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    This book critiques the poetics of theatre in early India by interpreting a system of theatre and performance along several themes such as theatre’s place in the premodern interdisciplinary knowledge systems, theatre space and architecture, cognition and emotion, performance, experience and consciousness, human and social behaviour, and music.

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    The Poetics of Theatre in Early India by: Dhananjay Singh 720.00

    Theatre discourses of early India present theatre (natya) as an integrated art form, and the poetics of theatre as an interdisciplinary system of thought and performance. Theatre functions as a composite art production comprising dance (nrtya), song (gana), instrumental music (Atodya) and enactment (abhinaya). The poetics of this theatre provides thoughts, techniques, and instrumental frameworks for performance, based on an interdisciplinary reflection upon space, body, mind, motion, sound, memory, consciousness and theatre in relation to the other disciplines of knowledge.
    This book attempts to examine the poetics of theatre in early India by interpreting a system of theatre and performance along several themes such as theatre’s place in the premodern interdisciplinary knowledge systems, theatre space and architecture, cognition and emotion, performance, experience and consciousness, human and social behaviour, and music. While focusing mainly on the aphoristic statements on theatre by Bharata in his Natyasastra (third century bce), the book responds to the principles of theatre and literature discussed and debated in a tradition of texts such as Nandikesvara’s Abhinaya Darpana (fifth-fourth century bce), Rajasekhara’s Kavyamimasa (tenth century ce) and Abhinavagupta’s Abhinavabharata (tenth-eleventh century ce). The major concepts elaborated in the book consist of the types of theatre space (ranga), forms of mental/emotive states (bhavas), forms of consciousness (rasas), human and regional variations of performance (vrtti and pravrtti), forms of vocal and instrumental music (gana and atodya), and various others. Divided into eight chapters, each addressing an aspect of theatre, the book is premised upon the argument that theatre poetics of early India presents a coordinated world of inner experience rooted in the self (citta) formed by cognition, emotion and consciousness, but that which develops on stage into an artistic network created by the primitive human behaviour, body, senses, space, sound and the external world, including the varieties of the social world.

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    ‘Thaat’ is the method of dividing ragas in Hindustani classical music. The main raga of each ‘Thaat’ is called the ‘Ashraya’ raga and other ragas are ‘Ashrita’ ragas. This book is an attempt to make the readers aware of the ‘Ashraya’ ragas. The author has very clearly presented the concept of ‘Ashraya’ raga and its significance.

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    The Principal Ragas of Indian Music (भारतीय संगीत में आश्रय राग) by: Shobha Singh 765.00

    Music has been the subject of study in India since Vedic period. Various ragas are the life of Indian music. ‘Thaat’ is the method of dividing ragas in Hindustani classical music. The main raga of each ‘Thaat’ is called the ‘Ashraya’ raga and other ragas are ‘Ashrita’ ragas. Extracting from the texts written by Pt. Vishnu Narayana Bhatkhande, Pt. Narayana Moreshwar Khare and other well-known musicians, this book is an attempt to make the readers aware of the ‘Ashraya’ ragas. Through this book, Shobha Singh has very clearly presented the concept of ‘Ashraya’ raga and its significance. The language of this book is simple and easy to comprehend. भारत में संगीत वैदिक काल से ही अध्ययन का विषय रहा है। विभिन्न राग भारतीय संगीत की जान हैं। थाट (अथवा ठाट) हिंदुस्तानी शास्त्रीय संगीत में रागों के विभाजन की पद्धति है। प्रत्येक थाट के प्रमुख राग को आश्रय राग एवं अन्य रागों को आश्रित राग कहा जाता है। पं. विष्णु नारायण भातखण्डे, पं. नारायण मोरेश्वर खरे एवं अन्य जाने-माने संगीतज्ञों द्वारा लिखित ग्रंथों को निचोड़ते हुए, यह पुस्तक पाठकों को आश्रय रागों के बारे में अवगत कराने का प्रयास है। इस पुस्तक के माध्यम से शोभा सिंह ने आश्रय राग की अवधारणा और उसे महत्व को बहुत ही स्पष्ट रूप से प्रस्तुत किया है। इस पुस्तक की भाषा सरल एवं पठनीय है।

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    Krishnattam, a unique Sanskrit ritualistic dance-theater of Kerala, is one among India’s treasure trove of rare living artistic masterpieces. This history-travelogue, richly illustrated, takes one along to experience the Krishnattam plays, with their rituals and preparations, as the performers in fantastic, colorful costumes, dance, and mime the story of Lord Krishna’s life to the accompaniment of vocal and instrumental music.

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    The Royal Temple Theater of Krishnattam by: Martha Bush Ashton-Sikora, Robert Peter Sikora, A. Purushothaman, A. Harindranath, 1,530.00

    Krishnattam, a unique Sanskrit ritualistic dance-theater of Kerala, is one among India’s treasure trove of rare living artistic masterpieces. In time past, Krishnattam, based on the Sanskrit poem Krishnagiti by the Zamorin King Manaveda, thrived in the royal environment of the Kingdom of Calicut, receiving the adoration of small devoted audiences. But, with India’s independence, the Zamorin lost his kingdom, and as his wealth dissipated, Krishnattam teetered on the edge of extinction. It was the Krishna-Vishnu Temple at Guruvayur that came to Krishnattam’s rescue and has become an integral part of the history of Krishnattam. Here, again, Krishnattam remained in seclusion until 1961, when the troupe performed in Bombay, exposing it to a larger Indian audience and foreign interest.
    This history-travelogue takes one along in the dark of night to experience the Krishnattam plays, with their rituals and preparations, as the performers in fantastic, colorful costumes, dance, and mime the story of Lord Krishna’s life to the accompaniment of vocal and instrumental music.
    This volume, richly illustrated, makes one meet some people, who have been the soul of Krishnattam. The actor-dancers share the quirks of fate, the severity of training schedule, and the rigor of exercises that transformed them from village children into performers. Currently, Krishnattam thrives at Guruvayur Temple, together with ample outside performances, as a devotional votive offering.
    The first author takes one along on her twenty-year journey to discover the history and attractions of this art so rarely performed outside its locale in south India. Co-authors, Robert Sikora, A. Purushothaman and A. Harindranath greatly enhance this edition with their new researches, translations, and photographs.

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    This work is a dedicated effort at defining rasa and post-structuralist theories in clear and graphical terms while focusing on intercultural application of these theories by applying rasa to canonical English poems and post-structuralism Western theories to classical Sanskrit works.

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    Transformation of Poetic Discourse in Rasa and Post- Structural Poetics by: Vandana Rajoriya 585.00

    Rasa, the Indian literary theory, and the post-structuralism, the Western literary theory, constitute two important areas of study in literary criticism and literature. This volume tries to define rasa and post-structuralist theories in clear and graphical terms. It focuses on inter-cultural application of these two classical theories. This involves the attempt to apply the Indian literary theory of rasa to canonical English poems including those of the epic stature like Dante’s Divine Comedy and John Milton’s Paradise Lost. It also applies the Western literary theory of post-structuralism, those of Derrida, Lacan and Foucault, to canonical works of Sanskrit poetry like Bhartrhari’s Shringarashataka, Shudraka’s Mrcchakatika, Dandin’s Dashakumaracarita and Mudrarakshasa of Vishakhadatta among others.
    The comparative study that involves a deep and engrossing study of various situations in the epics and other works, unfolds the uniqueness of the latter. It reveals the similarities in the two theories such as their goal of generation of value, quite realistically. It discusses the distinction in the rasa and post-structuralist formations, such as the idea of communication being one of the important principles of the conceptualisation of form and structure of rasa, while the art of communication is not so evolved in post-structuralism.
    The structure of the study is planned in a sequential order to enable readers to easily understand the theories and their application. The book is bound to be useful to scholars and students of Indology, particularly Indian literature and literary criticism, and those interested in cross-cultural studies in this field.

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    A comprehensive and intelligent piece of literature, for all that you yenned to know about the “King of Indian slide Guitar,” creator of Mohan Veena and Vishwa Veena, Grammy Award winner and a true human being in absolute terms, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, complete with his inspirations, aspirations, musings and goals.

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    Viswa Mohan Bhatt by: Kanchan Mathur 626.00

    Saga of a living phenomenon’s journey on mesmerisingly melodious musical notes. His fascinating imagination, strengthened by divine interaction, culminated in the innovation of the Mohan Veena and the Vishwa Veena. Embodiment of avant garde thought process, the legend crafted the instruments to express the subtle nuances and intricacies of Indian Classical raags, with perfection. His relentless efforts and soul stirring concerts seasoned by a fine balancing act between Indian Classical and other Global-regional musical styles, catapulted Indian Classical music, to a global stage. A chronicle of all those “fusion” concerts with compatriot musicians and several globally renowned virtuosos which surrepetitiously slip one into a state of trance, with their resonating acoustics. Recollections of that glorious yet humble soul who helped realize the Great Indian Musical Dream. Reflections on the performances and discography; aspirations and inspirations; musings and goals of a paradigm of musical genius. Here is a comprehensive piece of writing, for all that you yearned to know about the “King of Indian slide Guitar,” the creator of Mohan Veena and Vishwa Veena, a Grammy Award winner and a true human being in absolute terms — Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.

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