Vision of music and dance in Indian aesthetic contexts - based on the Hindu temple rituals

Abstract

Music and Dance are the holy fine arts in India. The spiritual side of music has taken deep roots in our land as the people have all along been more prone to spirituality. It is primarily because of the spiritual influence of the temples. South India is a land of temples and every village invariably has a temple. In fact, the temple is the centre around which a village developed. These temples have not only been functioning as places of worship but also as centers of all fine arts. These art forms grew adjuncts to religion and the temples with their vast endowments had a regular establishment with artiste like singer's composers, musicians, dancers, instrumentalists etc for offering musical service in its sacred precincts. The abundant epigraphically and inscriptional evidence bear testimony to all these fine arts and the hymns that have been preserved over the years. Thus, all forms of music arui dance became indispensable items of worship (rituals) in the temples of South India. This present research paper establishing the importance that a music and dance composition could evolve in projecting the underlined relation of music, dance and temples. The music and dance world are beholden to the great composers for their excellent Kşētra Krtis - but for them the importance of music and dance in recreating the historical impulse would have been lost. Therefore, we understand that the vision of Indian aesthetic contexts in music and dance based on the Hindu temple rituals.