Article - Mandala Nritta: Techniques of staging war sequences based on Naṭyashastra - Dr. Nancy Abraham

Art revives and readapts time and space. Indian performing arts transcends boundaries and enables global platform to communicate human experiences.  This study throws light on Maṇḍalas which is the core performing techniques particularly used to stage the war sequences mentioned in Bharatha’s Natyashastra. It emphasizes on war movements. Maṇḍala Nritta is a technique to perform war dance and usage of weapons. They are usually performed by movements of feet which are graceful and harmonic. It can be delicate movement of one leg or a combination of the movement of shank, feet and thighs. Bharatha’s Natyashastra mentioned only the lower limb movements which are divided into two types, Akasha mandala and bhu mandala or aerial and earthly mandalas. Indian dance research plays a significant role in ancestry of dance movement into the integral part of modern dance world. So texts and commentaries on the one hand and praxis on the other hand were essential to understand India’s dance tradition to reconstruct their history.

The Naṭyashastra encompasses all that belongs to the Indian tradition of art and aesthetics. It is a Sanskrit treatise on performing arts. The study of Indian art and culture derived through various layers such as theory and its application, oral and textual tradition, ethics and aesthetics, classics and folks (Margi and Desi tradition). 

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