If Historiography is the study of how History is written, then how relevant is ancient and mediaeval literature to the key concepts like the sources, evidence, continuity, change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy, traditions and experiences? Let’s see!
Time writing the pages of History
While today History is studied divisively and retold through the lens of political, social, economic, or even as colonial and subaltern, the approach of the Indic people was a two-fold way of recording events of Time, onto Time. They looked at History writing as an exercise that should benefit the evolution of mankind. In a way, they were visionaries as they treated and integrated the dual nature of Time: for being cyclic as well as linear. So, the Indic way of recording History was how the intellectual and psychological nature of mankind as a superior species impacted the socio-ecological and cultural nature of a geography or a civilizational collective. From this stand-point, the life events of a few extraordinary people who left a lasting imprint in Time with their will, intent and wisdom were recorded. This approach to History writing was common to both the classical cultures of ancient times – Vedic as well as Sangam.
In the Vedic, the ithihasa-s translates as ‘thus it happened’; and, the duality of Time was treated based on how the intellectual and psychological played out within a social unit. From that perspective, Ramayana is a classic retelling of history through idealism. The wisdom that Rama showed while responding to fulfill his father’s promise illustrates the culmination of an intellectual evolution for the entire Ikshvaku dynasty, even those yet to come. Hence, Rama is elevated to being an avatara of Vishnu. The event of Sita’s abduction and the vanquish of an aggressor, recording the victory of good over evil are a series of orchestrated events in Time, each event bringing out a hidden ideal of many individuals coming together. As a result, the lived experiences of Rama and Sita in various geographies across the length and breadth of the subcontinent created a unifying measure of values in polity, law and order: sensitively integrating the social and individual human natures, thereby inspiring many to follow Rama and Sita as an ideal or a righteous path by themselves.
In the case of Mahabharata the psychological complexities and its realities, within humans living in a social construct are opened out to the readers of history as a can of worms. Mahabharata, is thus a retelling through classical realism, where the conflicts within the material and spiritual natures of mind are explored. The two natures were contrasted as paths of Kauravas and Pandavas. The extraordinaire, who cleared the path for the Pandavas and wrote the victors in the pages of History, was Krishna. The fact that he won the war for them without lifting a weapon makes him the ideal of that era. Just as in Mahabharatam, Sangam too addressed socio-ecological order and culture through classical realism in its literary works. Tamizh epics: Silappadikaram and Manimekalai, are in fact more realistic and even simplistic in their descriptions and approach.
As a result of these classical works, collective consciousness is attached to cities like Ayodhya, Mathura, Kurushetra, Kaveripattinam, Madurai. If these destinations are accessed through individual memory, it can turn out to be a bondage; but, if dispassionately approached through collective memory, it can free the individual consciousness from the bindings of Time.
Is it possible? Has it happened?
Lived experiences of History
With the passage of time, Indic societies have undergone various churnings, corrections and it has managed at various time periods to stay afloat of social rigidities. What Buddha did to Vedic orthodoxy, subsequently giving way to Buddhism, got reset by Adi Shankara. No sooner than Shankara brought the cult worship together under a single umbrella, laying out the Shan Margam with his ideas of monotheism, the bhakti movement swept the continent. The bhakti poets, saints and sages from various social backgrounds and ethnicity physically marched through the length and breadth of the subcontinent as an army propagating and promoting the idea of rest, enlightenment and freedom. Their songs of praise in a destination laid the foundation for the vernacular literatures, breathing life into various ecosystems and sacred geographies. Their intense emotional outpourings inspired the kingly collective to generously beautify the destination with patronage for temple structures and traditions. These destinations have since then been offering lived experiences of history for many in the contemporary ages ⏤acting as a catalyst, accelerating a spiritual awakening.
Here is a list of my Top 5 lived experiences of history and culture at various destinations:
Chidambaram, A calling beyond Time!
In my early age as an upcoming dancer, I was sent to tour many temple towns in Tamil Nadu during the Shivaratri Festival. The tour culminated in Natyanjali Festival at Chidambaram where performances were offered to the Cosmic Dancing Lord. After the performance, dancers are ushered to the platform of the citta ambalam for a darshan, a divine sighting. I had neither the idea of what to expect nor the knowledge of Chidambaram’s rahasyam-s (mystical significance of the destination). But on that day, standing at the platform, amidst the sounds of the bell, I had experienced an undeniable, powerful vision that cannot be forgotten. It shocked me and changed the way I saw life thereon. Since then, I have been visiting Chidambaram every year as called upon, and even today the destination never disappoints me.
Frequent visits to a destination and interactions with natives during those visits, the significance of the destination slowly dawned. Analysing what led to my first experience after gathering knowledge from visits over the years, I have created a 5-day yoga intensive: Stillness of Lake, so that Chidambaram becomes a lived experience for all earnest seekers.
Kamakhya, Experience the womb of the Goddess!
The best aspect of my life has been the experiences I have gotten while traveling by myself. Usually, the day after my performance I visit a temple or a place of heritage site in the vicinity. But the reality was nothing would change even if anybody heard my mind voice. Inching my way forward, I entered a dark cave. The vibrations inside the cave were so powerful that it was making my blood cells dance. I have never felt anything. The best aspect of my life has been my experiences while traveling by myself. Usually, the day after my performance I visit a temple or a place of heritage site in the vicinity. So, in Assam, I was told to visit Kamakhya temple. When it comes to my Kamakhya experience, not reading up on the destination and being empty earned me rich dividends. It was a hot day, the line for darshan was long. I hate long queues, and I hate it even more when temple administrators act as brokers of God. My mind’s voice was cursing, “I don’t need a middleman!” Yet the reality was also that nothing would change even if anybody heard my mind voice. Inching my way forward, I entered a dark cave. The vibrations inside the cave were so powerful that I sensed a heightened activity in every blood cell, as if they were dancing the tandava. I have never felt anything like that before!Recently, when I got an opportunity to travel to Assam, I visited Kamakhya temple again; but this time, the burden of knowledge in combination with the temple authorities ruined the experience the destination offers. Of course, the virgin experiences of a destination will always be the best, just like the first kiss of love! Having said that, the idea of darshan is also to everytime engage with an abstraction with the same intensity so that we rediscover the ‘self’ for a new kind of virgin experiences. And this is why, Jvala curates destinations as slow travel.
Thiruvananthapuram, A Form finding rest in a sacred grove!
For classical dancers, Gods are not fearful, reverential or distant beings. The lived experiences of the bhakti saints and their sentiments in poetry are like family heirlooms, a privilege exclusive to classical dancers who could reinterpret their works originally for an initiated audience. The sentiments of love usually involved the moments of those longing for union, those spent in union, those spent in remembrance of the union, those spent in separation, or those waiting in despair: of the poet with the God. These sentiments are brought to life by dancers giving expressions to acts of love. For the dancers, Gods are thus irresistible objects of desire; who could be infatuated, crazily romanced, seduced and loved.
Now, Thiruvananthapuram temple’s deity, Lord Padmanabha can be best experienced through Travancore Maharaja’s compositions. The muse who inspired Maharaja Swati Thirunal to write his odes to Padmanabha was a Mohiniyattam dancer, in the name of Sugandhavalli. So every Mohiniyattam dancer would picture herself as Sugandhavalli everytime she danced to a Swati padam (a musical composition).
My crowning glory moment was when I got to dance (just for a few mins) in the Kuthiramalika, the palace built by Maharaja Swati Thirunal, from the chamber annexing the Thiruvananthapuram temple, where he composed music.
Thanjavur, Where Earth meets Heaven!
While the Brigadeeshwara temple is a marvel, Brigadeeshwara, the lord is a beauty. At the time of the consecration of this temple, 400 dancers were dedicated to the temple, whose names are etched on the walls of the temple itself. When I visited the temple as a performer, I was privy to a private tour through the inner walls adjoining the sanctum. During the tour, I got to see on the first floor the 87 of the 108 karana-s, movements of dance sculpted, imagined and interpreted by the sculptors as described in Natya Shastra. Also, the structural design idea of the temple can be best understood from this chamber as it gives access to the perspective of Lord Brigadeeshwara from top-down, unlike for devotees whose gaze will be bottom-up. During my later visits I came to learn that, on the day of the consecration and on special calendar occasions, from this chamber, dancers would shower flowers on the gigantic Form residing in the sacred womb space below. The sound of the mantra-s when chanted from this chamber will be a spine chilling experiences as one will feel the chants travel all the way to the roof but will hear it only as resonance while it travels back down to the idol. This phenomenon is a ritual, called the mantra snanam, that anoints the icon with sacred sounds, elevating the idol as a divine object worthy of meditation and worship. The delight of the form, Sive, being ablution, the marvel is how an abstract ritualistic thought has been ideated, translated and executed through acoustic architecture. This knowledge came as an experience my way during the Covid period between two lockdowns.
Maheshwar, A testimony for Traditions in transition
Just before covid, in Feb 2020, I was invited to perform at the Sacred River Festival, curated in Ahilyabai Fort, on the banks of river Narmada. Although I have danced in many classical events curated in heritage sites, the event at this site has created a lasting memory for me. The care and the dedication to host a cultural event is unparalleled here. The entire fort is lit up with candles, and the festival is usually conducted on full moon night. My orchestra was singing the invocatory song and I was waiting on the banks of Narmada, ready to enter through an arched doorway. The Moon was just beginning to peek out. As I turned my head, upstream, on a boat, hundreds of floating lamps were being dropped. The floating lamps shimmering in the vast darkness of the Narmada made the sky shadowy and the stars paler.
Normally, I would have captured this moment on the phone to share with my family and friends, but since I had no phone on me, I couldn’t. Evening was amazing and the performance went off well. The next morning, during the interactions with the audience, I was narrating what I had witnessed with a sigh that the walls of the fort would have blocked their sight to what I witnessed. But, their story turned out even better than mine. They said, “Deepa, when you entered through the doorway into the performance space, it was as if an apsara (celestial dancer) floated out from the river to perform for us. All through your performance, we saw the lamps floating behind you.” And their experience zipped me to silence.
That’s when I got excited about curating experiences for others. If you want to live life to the fullest, and create memories of your time on Earth, then join me, pick Jvala. Come! Romance with spaces to experience the intangible cultural heritage, lesser known monuments and sacred geographies of India.
