The theoretical foundations of Bharatanatyam are found in Natya Shastra, the ancient Hindu text

of performance arts.[5][16][17]
Natya Shastra is attributed to the ancient scholar Bharata Muni, and its first complete compilation
is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE,[18][19] but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE.
[20]
 The most studied version of the Natya Shastra text consists of about 6000 verses structured
into 36 chapters.[18][21] The text, states Natalia Lidova, describes the theory of Tāṇḍava dance
(Shiva), the theory of rasa, of bhāva, expression, gestures, acting techniques, basic steps,
standing postures—all of which are part of Indian classical dances. [18][22] Dance and performance
arts, states this ancient text,[23] are a form of expression of spiritual ideas, virtues and the essence
of scriptures.[24]
More direct historical references to Bharatnatyam is found in the Tamil epics Silappatikaram (c.
2nd century CE[25]) and Manimegalai (c. 6th century).[5][8] The ancient text Silappatikaram, includes
a story of a dancing girl named Madhavi; it describes the dance training regimen
called Arangatrau Kathai of Madhavi in verses 113 through 159. [25] The carvings in Kanchipuram's
Shiva temple that have been dated to 6th to 9th century CE suggest Bharatanatyam was a well
developed performance art by about the mid 1st millennium CE.[5][8][26]

A 7th century Shiva in Karnataka

A Bharatanatyam pose
Bharatanatyam has helped to inspire musicians, poets, painters, singers and sculptors in Indian history. [27]

A famous example of illustrative sculpture is in the southern gateway of the Chidambaram

temple (≈12th century) dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, where 108 poses of the Bharatnatyam,
that are also described as karanas in the Natya Shastra, are carved in stone.[28][29]
Many of the ancient Shiva sculptures in Hindu temples are the same as the Bharatanatyam
dance poses. For example, the Cave 1 of Badami cave temples, dated to 7th-century,[30] portrays
the Tandava-dancing Shiva as Nataraja.[31][32][33] The image, 5 feet (1.5 m) tall, has 18 arms in a
form that expresses the dance positions arranged in a geometric pattern. [33] The arms of Shiva
express mudras (symbolic hand gestures),[34] that are found in Bharatanatyam.[5][35]

Devadasis, anti-dance movement, colonial ban and the

decline[edit]
Some colonial Indologists and modern authors have argued that Bharatanatyam is a descendant
of an ancient Devadasi (literally, servant girls of Deva temples) culture, suggesting a historical
origin back to between 300 BCE and 300 CE.[36] Modern scholarship has questioned this theory
for lack of any direct textual or archeological evidence. [37][38] Historic sculpture and texts do
describe and project dancing girls, as well as temple quarters dedicated to women, but they do
not state them to be courtesans and prostitutes as alleged by early colonial Indologists.
[36]
 According to Davesh Soneji, a critical examination of evidence suggests that courtesan
dancing is a phenomenon of the modern era, beginning in the late 16th or the 17th century of
the Nayaka period of Tamil Nadu.[36] According to James Lochtefeld, Bharatanatyam remained
exclusive to Hindu temples through the 19th century, only in the 20th century appearing on stage
outside the temples.[8] Further, the Maratha rulers of Tanjore patronized and contributed towards
Bharatanatyam.[39]

Rukmini Devi Arundale, here in 1940, helped revive Bharatanatyam after Hindu temple dancing was
banned by the British colonial government in 1910.

With the arrival of the East India Company in the 18th century, and British colonial rule in the
19th, many classical Indian dance forms were ridiculed and discouraged, and these performance
arts declined.[40] Christian missionaries and British officials presented "nautch girls" of north India
(Kathak) and "devadasis" of south India (Bharatanatyam) as evidence of "harlots, debased erotic
culture, slavery to idols and priests" tradition, and Christian missionaries demanded that this
must be stopped, launching the "anti-dance movement" in 1892. [41][42][43] The anti-dance camp
accused the dance form as a front for prostitution, while revivalists questioned the constructed
colonial histories.[37][38]
In 1910, the Madras Presidency of the British Empire altogether banned temple dancing, and
with it the Bharatanatyam tradition within Hindu temples. [11]

Post-colonial revival[edit]
The 1910 ban triggered powerful protests against the stereotyping and dehumanization of temple
dancers.[11] The Tamil people were concerned that a historic and rich dance tradition was being
victimized under the excuse of social reform.[11][44] The classical art revivalists such as E. Krishna
Iyer, a lawyer and someone who had learnt the Bharatanatyam dance, questioned the cultural
discrimination and the assumed connection, asking why prostitution needs years of learning and
training for performance arts such as the Bharatanatyam, and how can killing performance arts
end any evils in a society?[45][46] Iyer was arrested and sentenced to prison on charges of
nationalism, who while serving out his prison term persuaded his fellow political prisoners to
support Bharatanatyam.[47]
While the British colonial government enforced laws to suppress Bharatanatyam and all Hindu
temple dances, some from the West such as the American dancer Esther Sherman moved to
India in 1930, learnt Indian classical dances, changed her name to Ragini Devi, and joined the
movement to save and revive Bharatanatyam and other ancient dance arts. [48]
The Indian independence movement in early 20th century, already in progress, became a period
of cultural ferment and initiated an effort by its people to reclaim their culture and rediscover
history.[41][49][50] In this period of cultural and political turmoil, instead of Bharatnatyam becoming
extinct, it expanded out of Hindu temples and was revived as a mainstream dance by
Bharatnatyam artists such as Rukmini Devi Arundale, Balasaraswati and Yamini Krishnamurti[51]
[52]
 They championed and performed the Pandanallur (Kalakshetra) and Thanjavur styles of
Bharatanatyam, respectively.[51]
In late 20th century, Tamil Hindu migrants reintroduced the Bharatanatyam traditions of temple
dancing in British Tamil temples.[53]