Kathakaar – A Tale of Kathak Through The Eyes Of Bandish Kathak Group

The word ‘Kathak’ has originated from the word ” KATHAKAAR” or story-teller. 

In ancient times there were dancers, who used to narrate different stories from mythology and history and depicted those stories with hand gestures and ‘abhinaya’. During the journey through different reigns, the dance form has developed after influence by various foreign elements like court dancing during the Mughal period, the influence of Persian dancers; spiritual development influenced by renowned poets like Kabir, Kalidas, Jaidev, Bindadin Maharaj. 

The stories of the Lord. Krishna is very popular in Kathak. 

Literature has played a very important role in developing Kathak Abhinaya. The technical part was equally developed through the valuable creations of the famous Gurus of different Gharanas. Classical Bandish, Thumri, Bhajan, Vandana for different Deities, Tarana, Ghazal, etc. are all various musical supports and play an important role in Kathak technique as well as Abhinaya. The accompaniment in Kathak is mainly Harmonium, Sarangi, Sitar, Sarod for Nagma, and Tabla, Pakhawaj for the Taal. The costume of Kathak can be lehenga/choli, Dupatta or Angrakha, and Dhoti for male dancers.

BANDISH  KATHAK is a group taking training in Kathak under the guidance of Smt. Susmita Roy on the premises of Chittaranjan Park Bangiya Samaj, New Delhi since 2010. Kathak is one of the major and prominent classical dance forms of India. Kathak is basically a north Indian classical dance. There are eight major classical dance forms that originated from different states. Kathak has four major Gharanas: Lucknow, Jaipur, Benaras, and Raigarh. The states of origin are Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. So, it is a kind of North and Central Indian Dance form.

Bandish Kathak students are trained as per Lucknow Gharana. They have performed in various festivals and occasions and won prizes in various competitions till now. They give exams through “Bharatiya Kala Kendra” of Lucknow. 

Here, this group is performing a “Teentaal Tarana”. 

Teentaal has a 16 beat time cycle and Tarana is a musical composition that is made up of sound syllables…This famous composition is created and sung by Pt. Birju Maharaj..the stalwart of Kathak in Lucknow Gharana from Delhi.  

The participants are: Shaalmoli, Ishita, Anuradha, Nandini, Sridatri.