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Essay name: Hastalaksanadipika a critical edition and study

Author: E. K. Sudha
Affiliation: Government Sanskrit College (Tripunithura) / Department of Sanskrit

This is an English study on the Hastalaksanadipika—a manual depicting the Mudras (gestures) of the Kerala theatre. It is a very popular text supposedly dating to the 10th century A.D. This study also touches the subject of Krsnanattam, Kathakali and Kutiyattam—some of India's oldest theatrical traditions in Kerala.

Chapter 6 - Background of evolution of language of gestures

Page:

11 (of 34)


External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)


Download the PDF file of the original publication


Copyright (license):

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)


Warning! Page nr. 11 has not been proofread.

1
. 195 Malartti, "supine": in the upari position, the palm of the hand
faces the chanter.
2.
Kamiltti, "prone�: in the upari position, the hand faces the chanter.
3. Uparistha or cericcu, "sideways": the edge of the little finger faces
the onlooker.
4. Matakki, "closed": the hand is held in a fist, which may be done
in any of the three preceding positions.
Omitting the first three, the sequence of twelve svaras
accompanying the chant of the initial “o”of J.G.G.1.1 are described thus:
(1) matakki, malartti, upari; (2) matakki, malartti, madhyam; (3) malartti,
adhah; (4) malartti, upari; (5) malartti, madhyam; (6) malartti, adha�;
(7) malartti, madhyam; (8) kamiltti, upari; (9) kamiltti, adha�;
(10) cericcu, kamiltti, dakṣina, upari; (11) cericcu, kamiltti, madhyam;
(12) kamiltti, adha�.
The sequence of these mudrās constitutes a continous
movement pictured on Plates 7 A-F, 8 A-F. In 7A-C the hand, in supine
position moves down but remain closed. In 7 D-F, still in the same position,
it moves down again but opens up in the process. Plate 8 A pictures the
hand going up again still open. Now begins a new, quicker downward
movement that is pictured in Plates 8 B-C, where the hand is in prone
position. Next the hand moves down again beginning in the sideways
position (cericcu) to the right (dakṣiṇa), but gradually turning and
ending in the prone position (kamiltti). This is pictured on Plates 8D-F.
Thus ends the sequence of the mudrās accompanying the syllable "o".

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