An alārippu can be performed to different jātīs or rhythmic cycles. They are tiṣra, catuṣra, khanda, miṣra, and sankeerna with three, four, five, seven and nine beats respectively. When the speed of an odd number is doubled or quadrupled, it results in complex fractions. Thus, performing a tiṣra, khaṇḍa, miṣra, or a sankīrna alārippu becomes exciting for the dancer due to its complexity. (Ramachandran 1982: 166;
Higgens 1993: 36; Bharatanatyam invocatory items 2011) Thus, based on the jātī, the permutation and combination of sequences vary in infinite variety along with the juxtaposition of the recakās or beauty embellishments. The notations for different variations of the tāla have been done by Parimal Phadke in his book on alārippu (Phadke 2016).
There have been innovations over time, and alārippus are performed in three different ways. First is in the conventional method, where the naṭṭuvanār is reciting the sollukaṭṭu.
Second is when the singer sings a song along with the naṭṭuvanār reciting the sollukaṭṭu.
31 Labanotation is a method of notating, analyzing, and recording human movement. It contains a systematic vocabulary and methodology for describing movement. Labanotation by Ann Hutchinson Guest (Guest 2005) and Labanotation for Beginners by Ann Kipling Brown (Brown 2008) are some works on Labanotation.
The most common song is a tiruppukaḻ of the 15th century composer, Arunakirinātar.
However, there is no abhinaya done for the tiruppukaḻ. Third is when the alārippu itself is sung like a song. (Bharatanatyam invocatory items 201132) Nāṭṭai is the common rāga used for the tiruppukaḻ, or when the alārippu is sung like a song. Other rāgas like hamsadvanī and gaṃbīranāttai are also mentioned in some texts. (Pandya 2003: 354) A recent innovation in the past decade is the mayūra alārippu choreographed by the dancer, Rama Vaidyanathan. The choreography for the entire alārippu is interpreted like a peacock dancing in joy, by using only the mayūra hasta. (Venkatraman 2016)
3.2 Tillāna
A Bharatanāṭyam performance is usually rounded off with a bright, lively, and joyous number called the tillāna (Parthasarathy 1998: 165). The slow tempo of the padams is broken when tillāna breaks into various patterns of movement akin to the burning of camphor accompanied by rustle in a temple. This brisk item at the end of the concert takes the audience back to the pure and abstract rhythmical compositions like the alārippu and jatisvaram performed at the beginning. The item is governed by crisp svaras and jatis, thus restricting the dance to only nṛtta. It does not strive to convey any meaning or theme. A very simple and basic rhythmic pattern builds up to gradually develop into complex patterns. Thus, rhythm remains the predominant component in this item, and it seldom contains sāhitya (lyrical) passages. (Vatsyayan 1974: 388; Kothari 1997: 102, 103; Guhan 1991: 11) Tillāna, just like alārippu became a frequent and widespread repertoire item during the revival period. The music academy dance recitals by both hereditary and non–hereditary dancers included this item. (Gaston 1996b: 307, 308) They were also taken as a music and dance number in many films in the Indian cinema.33
The song for the tillāna consists of a basic set of rhythmic syllables that are repeated and elaborated continuously throughout the item. The lyrics or sollukaṭṭu include words like
‘dhīṃ nādhṛ dhīṃ’, ‘dhīṃ tillāna’, and so on. The word tillāna itself consists of the rhythmic syllables, “til–lā–na”. Rarely, there is a sāhitya passage at the end of the item
32 Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, a professor focusing on folklore studies, oral literatures, and postcolonial studies, explains types of alārippu in the Kalakriya video.
33 More details on the inclusion of tillāna items in films in the next chapter.
in praise of a god or a king. The rhythmic mnemonic syllables are set in a specific rāga and tāla. A brilliant extract of the dancer’s artistic finesse is presented with contrasting rapid and slow movements, poses, and exquisite play of different movements of the body. At every moment, the dancers’ bells are in perfect synchronization with the sollukaṭṭu or the mneumonics. (Devi 1972: 57; Anjali 2012; Vatsyayan 1974: 24) A seamless fit with the other items is necessary when selecting a tillāna for a dance concert. It is also imperative to keep the type of audience space in mind when choosing this last piece, since it would have a lingering effect on them. Tillāna is one number that is common to both Bharatanāṭyam and South Indian Carnatic music. Both the concerts culminate with a colorful and melodic tillāna. Even in a musical concert, this number comes as a refreshing breeze after the long drawn musical pieces. The svaras and jatis in a tillāna are usually sung in very high speeds with clarity, thus requiring good training for not only the dancer but for also the singer and other musicians. (Thillana 2011;
Pattabhiraman 1985: 149–150) 3.2.1 Origin of Tillāna
Tillāna originated from the tarānās34 of North Indian Hindustani music and later seeped into the South Indian Carnatic music system (Pattabhiraman 1985: 149–151; Higgens 1993: 173).35 Tarānā is a sprightly classical music form that relies on ‘meaningless’
bols36 that are rhythmically set. Bols like dhā, tir, kiṭ ṭak, dirdir toṃ that are used in tablā and sitar,37 are used to craft a composition in each rāga. Other vocabulary includes ta, noṃ, nā, de, re, oḍāni, tanoṃ, yalali, and so on. The bols are devoid of lyrical meaning and are maintained in a balanced pattern. Thus, the practice of using ‘meaningless’ lyrics or sollukaṭṭu has been quite common both in North and South India. This tarānā form of Hindustani music is believed to have evolved from the legend, Amīr Khusrau38. Khusrau had provided earnest and patient efforts to create many such Hindustani forms like the
34 Tarānā is a song composed of meaningless syllables (Jairazbhoy 1995: 17).
35 “Points of affinity between Hindustani and Karnatik Music” (Ratanjankar 1950) and “Influence of Western Music and Hindustani Music on Carnatic Music” (Rajagopalan 1965) are articles that discuss the North Indian influence on South Indian music.
36 The mneumonic syllables (like the sollukaṭṭu of Bharatanāṭyam) for North Indian dance forms like Kathak are called bols (Kothari 1989: 59).
37 Hindustani music uses a percussion instrument called tablā, and a string instrument called sitar.
38 Amīr Khusrau (1253 CE – 1325 CE) was a musician, poet, and scholar from the North India. He is credited with introducing Persian and Arabic into Indian music. (Jairazbhoy 1995: 17)
tarānā. The song is sung from middle to fast tempo by singers called khyāls. (Jairazbhoy 1995: 17; Indianetzone 2008) Sometimes even the tarānā has a sāhitya (lyrical) passage that is borrowed from Persian couplets. In the north, tarānās are used for both music and dance as it requires great skills in rhythmic manipulations. (Pattabhiraman 1985: 149–
151)
The period when the North Indian form of tarānā entered the Carnatic music tradition and thereby Bharatanāṭyam is ambiguous. Vīrabhadrāya, who lived during the 17th century Maratha ruler, Pratāpasiṃha, is supposed to have merged the tarānās into Carnatic music. This was later predominantly used during Tulaja’s reign (18th century).
Tulaja is also known to have been praised for his taitai tillāna by a North Indian musician. (Pattabhiraman 1985: 151) But Gaston argues that the tarānā form might have entered the dance repertoire at the beginning of the 19th century, during the time of Svāti Tirunāl. Svāti Tirunāl was not only a ruler in the state of Tanjore but also a composer and a patron of music and dance. It was a common custom to sing a tillāna in harikathā kalākśepams39 in situations like riding a chariot (Gaston 1996b: 266, 267). This was sometimes referred to as tiri tillāna. Even though this musical composition has a north–
south link, it seems to have had older roots from the South Indian tradition itself.
(Raghavan 1974: 248) Tillānas choreographed for dance are the ones that are continually absorbed from the vocal and instrumental court repertoires (Gaston 1996: 266, 267).