4 Bharatanatyam Mudras You Can Learn From Watching Videos
Posted by IndianRaga on July 19th, 2019
Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance form intrigues a lot of people. From the beautiful dance moves to the vibrant costumes, you like to know everything you know about this exotic dance form. For you to get started, you need to watch some of the Bharatanatyam dance videos to familiarize yourself with it. Also, it would help if you knew about some of the steps and procedures involved in learning the beautiful dance form.
You can start by knowing some of the mudras used in Bharatanatyam which are listed below.
Pataaka (Flag)
The first Mudra which you should know about is called the Pataaka or the flag. This is the posture of the palm which is used in the dance form. In this form, you need to position your hand like you do to symbolize “stop”. The only difference is the fact that your fingers are held tight and the thumb is bent a little. Traditionally, the Pataaka mudra is used to signify the meaning of forests, clouds, denial, and when the Adavu starts.
Kartari Mukha (Scissors)
Kartari Mukha is another mudra in Bharatnatyam. In this hand posture, you need to hold your hand in a manner where you put the ring and the index finger together. You have to put your thumb over these fingers and hold the index finger and the middle finger stretched. The mudra then looks like the shape of the scissor. It is known to represent the meaning of separation, opposition, looting and anger in different forms.
Mayurakhyo ( peacock)
The Mayurakhyo mudra is formed after the kartari mukha. In this mudra, you would use your ring finger and touch it with your thumb. The rest of your fingers namely the index finger, the middle finger and the little finger are to be held straight. But, one thing which you need to remember here is that all these fingers should be held tight in a straight manner. This mudra is known to represent Krishna’s (an Indian deity) feather of the crown. Other depictions include birds and creepers.
Arthachandra (Half Moon)
The arthachandra mudra is performed similarly to the Pataaka mudra. However, it is different in the way it is done. You first hold out your palm and keep all the fingers straight including the thumb. As far as the depictions are concerned, this mudra is used to depict the spear and the throat.
You can download Bharatanatyam dance videos from various popular Indian classical music platforms. It would help if you browse the web to know more about this.
