Indian Culture and Religion

The Emergence and Aesthetics of Traditional Indian Theatre

Religion, all over the world, is a way of life; of how we behave, of what we eat, and how
we see the life and death. Another possible definition of religion may be the relation between a
higher power and a believing person. However, it is hard to find a definition for religion, but
certainly religion depends on culture and are quite the same. Our behavior, how we relate with
people, our convictions and beliefs, all are based on the religion.

The Hinduism, one of the greatest religion of the world, born on Indian land, is the sum
of beliefs and indian’s religious experiences. The Hinduism does not have a structural doctrine,
but it has two absolute truths: „Karma” (actions) and „Samsara” ( reincarnation).

The Vedic Hinduism is the collection of beliefs and religious traditions brought by
Aryans invaders in India. It is known as an dynamic and optimistic faith. The word „veda”
means knowledge and it reveal the indian literature. This consists in three categories of writing:
The Vedas, The Brahmanas ( Aranyakas and Upanishads) and The Post-Vedic writing. The most
important veda is „Rig Veda”, with 1028 hymns dedicated to the Gods.

The Brahmanic Hinduism or sacerdotal (Brahmanism) consists in the daily life worship
with God and the rituals as a vedic religious dimension and its manifestation. The Sacerdotal
Hinduism’s doctrine can be found in Brahmans writing. Thus, they retrieve the ideea of self
sacriface (Prajapati),creating the Univers and assign to the sacrifice creative powers to recreate
the Cosmos, through brahmans. Some important solemn and domestic sacrifice rituals are:
„asvamedha” (the sacrifice of the horse) and „samsakra” (the bows). There were also reformers ,
Buddha and Mahavira, who were againsit the sacrifices’s doctrina and against the social
structures that these doctrines require. Therefore, the sacrifice receive another meaning, through
another interpretation of vedic texts, moving the whole dogmatic and practic complex of
sacrifice from material area to the spiritual one. Thus, the Upanishadic literature appears. The
meditation will be the way to reach the real meaning of life.

In the Classic Hinduism, some new religious doctrines appear, such as „avatar” – the
incarnation of Vishnu God, giving birth to new beliefs and practice, important for developing of
medieval and modern hinduism. There were formed six hermeneuitic schools (darsanas).
  Nayaya its objective is the logic, based on four logical „instruments”: perception
(pratyaksa), deduction (anumana), anlogy (upamana) and verbal witness (sabda).
The basic text is „Nayaya-Sutra”, written by Gautama and Aksapada.

 Vaisesika is related to logic but it is more a cosmological system. The life’s

substance is not only material, besides the four atoms ( ground, water, air, fire),
there are five more elements: space, time, ether, intelect and soul. The first
statement of this doctrine was made by Kanada ( the eater of atoms).

 Samkhya is a dual system composed of two realities: the matter (prakriti) and the
soul (purusa). The matter is the foundation of objective existence and the soul is a
self-determination principle, composed of many egos, eternal entities. Through
death, the soul will be free and will reach the condition of „kaivalya” – eternal
izolation.

 Yoga is a practical discipline, based on the Samkhya school’s theories. Yoga is

related to the effort in reaching the perfection through the sway of the human
somatic and psyhic elements. The mentor of this school was Patanjali, with his
writing „Yoga-Sutra”.

 Mimamsa is a different school, removes the of „moksa” ( release) and promotes

the ideea of faith and paradise existence. The vedic texts were seen as commands
which impose a kind of behaviour. The vedic texts and the sacrifice are very
important for Mimamsa, but the gods are placed in the secondary plan.

 Vedanta is the last and the most well-known shool. „Vedanta” means the end of
vedas and its principles are found in Upanishads. This school has some treaties
about reality, metter and soul, made by Gaudapada, Sankara or Madhva.

The Medieval Hinduism means the logic growth of philosophical, theological and ritualic
tendencies provided by post-upanishadic period. A special place in this period is occupied by
trilogy of Gods: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Brahma is the creator of the world, Shva is the
distroyer and Vishnu is the protector of the world. In Art, Brahma is represented or as a king wth
four heads, which are reading the Veda, or riding a white swan or as a yogi. Shiva, or „mah
deva”, the great God, destroys the world after every cicle. His symbol is the lingam ( phallus)
suggests the fertility, life and energy, therefore, Shiva is the generator and the destroyer of the
world. Vishnu is the symbol of pure love, his name is related to „avatar” in hinduist faith. His
avatars are mythological: fish, turtle human-lion, etc. The most ppular avatar is Krishna.

The modern and contemorary hinduism. In 1510, the Portuguese conquered Goa and after a
century is established the „British East India Company” in Surat. Politics will allow the acces of
the christian missionaries and of an elementary and superior education system as the britanic
one. The initiator of reformatory movement in India was Raja Ramohan Roy and in 1828
founded a syncretic movement, called „Brahmo-Samaj”. Their princples were taken from
Upanishads which are considered to be the wisdom spring. He asked the indian governer the
implementation in schools of studying Maths, Chemics, Anatomy and other useful sciences.
Also, he started topublish a magazine in bengali and enghlish, weekly.

The most important figure of contemporary hinduism was Mhatma Gandhi. He removed any
passage from sacred writing which were not appropiate to reality and morality. The moement led
by him, helped India to acquire independence from britanic domination.

The Emergence of Indian Theatre

-Natyasastra Treaty-

In „Natyasastra” treaty, possible written in the IIIrd century by the sage Bharata, it is said that
the Gods decided to found a 5th veda dedicated to theatre. Regarded as one of the most sacred
book of indians, Natyasastra is a very old „Poetica”, which reveals the Bharata’s vision about
theatre, characters’ role and dramaturgy, started with the description of the context in which
theatre had appeared, in the hands of three gods: Brahma (the one who creates), Vishnu (the one
who protect) and Shiva (the one who destroys).

This art was based on the Gods’ desire of giving people a way to escape from wrong ways
and decisions they had made. In India, there had been some „forms” of theatre, but they had not
offered wisdom. Therefore, the theatre received the acceptance from the Gods, being useful for
people, through wisdom. According to the treaty, theatre had the role to show people a healthy
way of living and behaving, for being a better man in the this and in the next life. Another role
of theatre was to remove the obstacles from main characters and to let the bad ones to die.

Arguments for possibe influence of vedic rtuals and greek

In general, vedic rituals involved singing or reciting hymnes dedicated to Gods or nature.
The ceremonies were complex and involved rituals composed of symbolic gestures and physical
actions covered by percussion sounds. The vedc rituals could have served as foundation of
theatre in India, as well as the Catholic Liturgy contribuited to the emergence of medieval
european theatre.

At the beggining of the IV century, b.c., Alexander the Great made an incursionin in the
north-west of India, dealing with many indian kings and princes. There are some arguments
according to which some indian monarchs had seen greek plays and after that, they asked for
similar plays in Sanskrit language. Also, one of the most famous sanskrit play is „ The little clay
cart”, which provided a lot of similarities of the „New Greek Comedy”, which was at its apex.

The Amphitheatre and the stage

Bharata says that for the first represenation of a play it was necessary to build an
amphitheatre. The gods accepted and as greatitude, people gave birth to a ritual of stage
adoration. Visvakarman, the architect of the Gods, decided three shapes of amphitheatre: a
rectangular one (vikrsta), a square or a round one (caturasra), a triangular one ( tryasra). The
stage owned the traits of a sacred place; the indians believed the Gods and spirits „conquered”
different angles of this place. The „Enlightement” which was fulfilled on the stage was related
tot the Gods.

The preparation for the play (Purvaranga)

The initial purpose of the preparation was the mentaining he attention and the interest of the
audience. It was decided, during Purvaranga, to use the dance, music and the Gods evoking, for
making the audience to pay attention.

The role playing (Abhinaya)

Bharata presented four kinds of role playing: abjeika, vacika, aharya and sattvika. Abjeika,
for instance, means body and it is known as „the body role playing”. Looking from three
perspectives, abjeika means: physical gestures, facial expressions or positions and movements.
Regarding to physical gestures, there are six: main parts (the hands, the head, the breast, the
thighs, the waist and the legs. The facial expressons are shown through: eyes, eye-brows, nose,
lips, cheeks and chin. Regarding to positions such as the position of the archer or the postion of
the fighting cart’s conductor, the hands, legs and the waist must express exactly the action.

The structure of the theatre play

The indian dramaturgy does not admit any classification in terms of plays’ endings. In indian
theatre there is no the concept of happy ending or tragic ending. In fact, there is no any „recipe”,
because in indian view, life and death are braided in a never ending continuity. Therefore, in
indian tradition, theatre does not reveal a conflict. The good is meant to destroy the bad. Thus, in
indian theatre, the death is not played on the stage, fisrt of all because it does not exist and
secondly because anything created must die at one time. Bharata claims that the theatre is
literature and as well as other literary froms, theatre must show to people the right way of
lifestyle, so that the future lifes become better. The three essential ingredients of theatre are: the
hero (neta), the subject/story (vastu) and the artistic pleasure (rasa).

Construction and length of a play

The entertainment, as the main purpose ,the basis of the play’s construction, does not have
the same meaning in India as it has in Europe. It refers to an artistic sense of the pleasure turned
into a complete relaxation. Such a writing needs an intrigue (vastu), a main character- hero (neta)
and a feeling (rasa). The length of a play should not exceed three hours (yama), because only in
these conditions, the audience could watch with interest.

Bharata suggests that a play should follow a hindu tradition about life, in which the man is
not an independent entity, but one governed by Karma’s laws and the man has a restrictive
freedom.

Actor’s Art in Sanskrit Theatre

Sanskrit theatre’s tradition argues that actor’s art (abhinaya) must follow these rules:

 Vocal interpretation through song and dialogs (vachika)

 Interpretation through make-up and costumes (aharya)
 Interpretation through involuntary expressions which stem from empathy with the
character

The First Play According to the View of Bharata

It is said in Natyasastra that when Bharata decided to create the theatre, he presented his idea
in front of an audience made up of gods and demons, during the Festival organized in honour of
god Indra. The demons were offended by their defeat by the gods, thus Bharata explained that
theatre, in his view, is just an imitation. As a consequence, for protection of the next
representation, was invented a fix shelter, called Theatre. This place blessed by the gods, became
a sacred place, in which the audience showed the worship.

The Aesthetics of Indian Theatre

 The stage worship
The IIIrd chapter of Natyasastra is dedicated to the stage worship, a process very similar to a
sacrifice. This place had the characteristics of a sacred place and indians believed that gods
possessed certain corners of the stage. The Enlightment of the stage was connected to the divine
light. The first play performed on a such stage was „ Amrta Manthana”, by Bharata, which
reveals the gods’ and demons’ actions. No performance began before the stage worship, „the
gods respect you, if you respect them”, said Bharata. This worship has survived until nowadays,
being done before the curtain.

The wisdom, the first atribute of beautifulness

Bharata considered that the essential atribute of theatre is the wisdom / enlightment provided
the people. Only this wisdom can guide their steps, create the achivement, protect their life, and
give them the complete greatitude. It is the first spiritual atribute of beautifulness based on the
human’s power to take the essence which guide him in life.

The imitation
The subjects taken from real life, inspired by religion, have changed the standards, evolving
from vulgarity, greed, jealousy, to the rigour and moral way, imposed by vedas. According to
this view, the theatre must have enlightened content (veda), dressed in a entertainment coat
(krydanya). In fact, the imitation processed the life, providing moral ways to follow, through
enlightment and without vulgarity. Bharata said „On the satge, there is no need to see prople
sleeping, kissing, or other embarrassing facts. At the same time, should not miss the love or fight
scenes, but they must be showed with grace and decency”.

The humor instead of tragedy

The indian theatre did not meet the tragedy. The humor is the wise way which enlights
poeple’s path. This is born from dressing, dialectal particularities, or mimics. Bharata sees the
humor as a feeling of the pleasure turned into relaxation. At every play’s foundation lies the
hindu perspective, that the man is led by Karma’s laws. His fight consists of both hapiness and
sadness because he is not the only architect of his destiny, there are other external factors which
shape his destiny. Therefore, in indian dramaturgy, there are not tragedies; the indian philosophy
says that if the chance eludes you, there is no need to stand against it. In this case, the hero, will
not kill himself, he either go insane, or fight against the fate.

The empty space

It is about a neutral surface, where actors gave birth to the space and time, through
moves, gestures and a text which describes the place. It is possible on a stage to be represented
several realities like: a house, a temple or even a mountain. The actor may change, during the
performance, the place of action, giving a sense of changing different realities or different times,
on the same stage. It is a exercise of imagination for audience.

Rasa
The end of the play must produce pleasure (rasa). In his treaty, Bharata said that rasa
comes after several preparatory satisfaction (bhava). A bhava is a reaction born from body
gestures or words. Rasa may be likened to a pyramid, built from pebbles (bhava). At the end of
the play, the audience sould not reach the pyramid, but the state of the pleasure, created by the
view of a such imposing building.

The action and the emotion are naturally considered cause and effect. The actions and
emotions are stimulated by the contact with external objects ( vibhava). The physical reactions
are called anubhava, and those individual are called vyabhicari bhava). Those terms are hard to
transalate exactly.

The sources of Rasa are: erotic (srngara), heroic (vira), terror (raudra), disgust (bibhatsa).
Moreover, the humor (hasya) derives from erotic, the compassion (karuna) derives from heroic
and the fear (bhayanaka) derives from the disgust. The colours used for these states are: dark
blue for erotic, white for humor, red for terror, the dove’s color for compassion, yellow for
heroic, blue for the disgust and a dark colour for fear. The gods for these states are: Vishnu for
erotic, Pramatha for humor, Rudra for terror, Yama for compassion, Mahendra for heroic,
Mahakala for disgust and Kala for fear.

In the VIIth chapter of Natyasastra, Bharata explained bhava. Bhava determine the
meaning of a poem, through words, physical gestures, emotions or feelings. „A meaning
expressed through an incentive (vibhava) becomes clear by words, physical gestures and feelings
(anubhava) / That thing which expressed the meaning from the poet’s intention, through
words,physical gestures and facial expressions, is called bhava” – Natyasastra. In total, there are
49 bhava; 8 Sthayi bhava, 33 Vyabhicari bhava and 8 Sattvika Bhava, which express the rasa.
These types of rasa occur when they enter in contact with the human mind’s qualities. The 8
sthayi bhava are similar to the 8 rasa. I will point out some of them with certain characteristics.

Sthayi bhava Vyabhicari bhava Sattvika Bhava

Love (Rati)- decent and
graceful
Laugh (Hasa)- smile or noisy
laugh
Pain (Soka)- hapiness/ pain/
jealousy crying
Anger- because of an enemy/
lover/servant
Energy- for superior
characters
Fear- for women and inferior
characters
Disgust- for women and
inferior characters
Wonder- through rising of the
hair
Depression (Nirveda)-
because of poverty/ illness/
abuses
Suspicion (Sanka)- for
women and inferior
characters- theft/ robbery/sin
Tiredness (Srama)- walking/
physical exercise
Suffering (Dainya)- worries/
bad luck
Anxiety (Cinta)- loss of the
fortune/ dear ones
Fainting (Moha)- fear of
illness/ calamity/bad luck
Happiness (Harsa)- wishes
come true/ blessing the elders
Pride (Garva)- being part of a
good family/ physical beauty
Astonishment (Stambha)- still
body, eyes and arms
Swet (Sveda)- using an fan/
need of frash air
Enthuziasm (Romanca)-rising
of the hair/ touching the limbs
Loss of the voice
(Svarabheda)- stuttering
Shaking (Vepathu)- shaking
of the body and limbs
Paleness(Vaivarnya)-
changing of the pulse and
voice
Tears (Asru)- wiping the eyes
Death (Pralaya)- the collapse
of the actor

The Contemporary Aesthetics of Indian Theatre

Indian aesthetics’ history is divided in three period. The first one, considered aesthetics as
a study of different forms of art. In India, this moment meant the theorize process of different
arts, such as: painting, sculpture, temple’s arhitecture and poetry. In the second period, the term „
aesthetics”, did not describe only the painting, sculpture or poetry, but it gained a spiritual
dimension. The symbolism of iconography and temples’ arhitecture, started to be deciphred
using the Sanskrit literature. In the last period, after the XXth century and The Second World
War, were incurred some speculation which ignored the relation with the Sanskrit literature.
Starting with Bharata and ending with Jagannatha, the Rasa theory has been a
fundamental concept in indian aesthetics. It may be invokedby certain situations or gestures. The
artistic emotion is different from the ordinary emotion and very related to the philosophical one,
close to the contemplation of the absolute.

The opinions of Oriental and Occidental Philosophers about Indian Theatre’s

aesthetics

 Croce is opposed to the indian perception about the artistic emotion. He claims that
artistic pleasurecannot flourish from aesthetic emotion which is naturally dual. Rasa is a
bliss moment, different from ordinary feelings and ordinary pleasure or sadness
moments, in which the personal urges are dominant.
 Freud argues that the sensation of release follows a moment with a maximum emotional
charge. Also, such a state involves the pure intuition of the viewer.

 Hegel, by Synthesis Theory, comes close to the “unity in diversity” formula, recognisable
in Indian art. According to Hegel, the absolute spirit (the absolute being from Indian
philosophy), can be found in nature and represents the experience of beauty in art.

The Term “Kala” (Art) in the Vedic Literature

This term is taken from “Brahmana” and its understanding is “the artist must imitate
the divine creator, using his own imagination”. In Upanishads, art is considered to be much
closed to the divine creation. The whole world is a masterpiece and Brahman is the great artist.
“Kala is both one of the primordial power and one of the stringent condition, which confines the
human being”. Thus, Kala is the limited power of the human being, but when him/her reach a
superior level of spirituality, through a strict spiritual routine, the human being becomes free
from that restrictive power. Therefore, we can see that in Indian artistic life, from the very
beginning, the artist or the art creator was had been related to a strict spiritual routine, that’s why
the art is inspired from religion, even nowadays.

The role artist’s role is to shape the values of a culture. As a yogi, the artist find the
enlightenment through his art. The artist is different from everybody else, he must face the
society which requires compliance.
In conclusion, the love as devotion is one of the principles of non-dualism and it is
described as a “music of the core, as a soul’s harmony in front of reality.” The Indian philosophy
and religion are linked by three life rules or times, identical with those of monks. As in the case
of philosophy and religion, the purpose of Indian art consists of the accumulation of knowledge
for revealing the the beauty of philosophy and religion through artistic ways.
 Bibliography

 Dumitriu, Corneliu, “Introducere in teatrul traditional al Asiei, vol. III,

India”, Galati, Galati University Press, 2011
 “Religion and Culture in Europe” course, Prof. Remus Rus