"A solo dance prevelent in South India, Bharatanatyam has a history of over 2000 years. The dance form has been reconstructed from references in important works in Tamil and from sculptural evidence. While it is generally accepted that Bharatanatyam belonged chiefly to the temple and its precincts, historical evidence does support the possibility that the traditions of temple dancing and court dancing had much in common. The difference was in the attitude and degree of abstraction rather than in intrinsic quality."
"Bharatanatyam includes three components, namely 'nittra' (abstract dance), 'abhinaya' (descriptive or expressive dance) and 'nritya', which is combination of the two. In abstract dance, the hand positions are decorative and devoid of meaning. In 'abhinaya' the hand signs aided by facial expressions reveal the meaning of the lyrics to which the dances are choreographed."
Dancers: Parvathy Menon and Shijith Nambiar
"Bharatanatyam includes three components, namely 'nittra' (abstract dance), 'abhinaya' (descriptive or expressive dance) and 'nritya', which is combination of the two. In abstract dance, the hand positions are decorative and devoid of meaning. In 'abhinaya' the hand signs aided by facial expressions reveal the meaning of the lyrics to which the dances are choreographed."