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鈥攁 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鈥攕ome of India's oldest theatrical traditions in Kerala.
Chapter 6 - Background of evolution of language of gestures
6 (of 34)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
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. 9. Uk膩ramudr膩 Mudr膩 for syllables ending in - U- Ring, middle - and the index fingers flexed at metacarpophalangeal joints and kept in apposition, tip of the thumb rests upon the inner surface of the tip of the index finger. All other joints are extended. Hand is in pronation. Eg:- K峁涐箛u, Vidu, Vilu, Apsu, Susthu (RV. 8.22.18) Svarap奴rvakatak膩ramudr膩 - Mudra for syllables ending in - t (tak膩ra) preceded by a vowel (svara). Index finger flexed at the metacarpophalangeal joint, tips of index and thumb fingers kept in apposition. All other joints are extended. Eg:- At, Tat, Yat If the preceding vowel is short, the hand is in supination. Eg: Tat, Yat. If the preceding vowel is long, the hand is pronation Eg:- 膧t. 10. Hrasvavisargamudr膩 - Mudr膩 for short syllables ending in visarga. 11. Tips of the index finger and the thumb are kept in apposition, forming a ring that is opened at the sounding of the visarga. Eg: Sah, Agni岣�, Divah. Ak膩ramudr膩 - Mudr膩 for all syllables ending in - a. The ring finger is flexed at the metacarpophalangeal joint. All other joints are extended. Hand is in pronation. Eg: 脿, V峁涐梗a, Manas膩. - 190
