Kathakali  Kathakali means a story play or a dance drama  Belonging to the South-Western coastal state of Kerala, Kathakali is primarily a dance drama form and is extremely colourful with billowing costumes, flowing scarves, ornaments and crowns  The dancers use a specific type of symbolic makeup to portray various roles which are character-types rather than individual characters

 Various qualities, human, godlike, diabolic etc. are all represented through fantastic make-up and costumes  The stories from the two epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, as well as the Puranas constitute the themes of the Kathakali dance dramas  The movements of the face, eyebrows, eyeballs, cheeks, nose and chin are minutely worked out and various emotions are registered in a flash  The most striking feature of this dance is its overwhelming dramatic quality, despite of the fact that Kathakali characters never speak

Kathakali

Koodiyattam  Practised and preserved by the Chakyar community in Kerala, Koodiyattam is the oldest surviving link with ancient Sanskrit theatre  stylized mode of acting, same character playing different roles, stories within stories, flashbacks and improvisations, eye expressions, extensive gesture vocabulary, body movements and facial expressions  Performances are traditionally held in the Koothambalam which are special theatres attached to temples

Kuchipudi  Kuchipudi is a dance drama tradition  It was formerly the preserve of men  The female roles were enacted by men and even today the tradition boasts of gifted male dancers enacting female roles with great ease and grace  It is performed to classical Carnatic music  It has several lyrical compositions reflecting the desire of a devotee to merge with God  The songs are mimed with alluring expressions, swift looks and fleeting emotions

Kuchipudi

Manipuri  Manipuri dancers are intensely devotional in mood and originates from the North-Eastern state of Manipur  group dance with colourful costumes and gentle swaying petal-soft movement  influenced by the religious movement of Vaishnavism, the worship of Lord Vishnu and have flowered in exquisite Rasalila performances

Manipuri Style of Dance

Mohiniattam  developed in Kerala and is performed by women  Mohini means an enchantress and a dancer with enchanting movements, dressed in a typical while saree with gold borders, hair gathered in a bun on one side and with golden jewellery  Nritya consists of pure dance movements at the end of which is tagged a poem that is in praise of deity and narrates the story of the Ramayana  The female protagonist longs for union with her beloved  The syllables are sung instead of simply being uttered by the musician

Mohiniattam

Odissi  considered as one of the oldest classical Indian dances  belongs to the East Indian state of Orissa  has a close association with the temples and its striking feature is its intimate relationship with temple sculpture  Tribhanga, the three-body being characterises this dance form  It has a vast range of sculptural body movements which gives one the illusion of the sculptures coming to life  The exquisite Sanskrit poetry and the sculptural movements to the typical Odissi music almost casts a spell on the spectators

Odissi

Unity in Diversity

inspite of so much diversity, how are we Indians still one?

An English historian, Vincent Smith, had this to say about India: “ India beyond all doubt possesses a deep underlying fundamental unity, far more profound than that produced either by geographical isolation or by political suzerainty. That unity transcends the innumerable diversities of blood, colour, language, dress, manners and sect.”

Historical Evidence  The past shows us how Indians have united to achieve their freedom against the British rule  Leaders and citizens, Hindus & Muslims alike, who belonged to different castes and religions, joined hands to fight for their independence

 This national unity of India had its first upsurge in 1857 A.D. in the first Indian war of Independence known as Sepoy Mutiny.  In the independent India, this unity of the Indians proved its might during the wars with Pakistan and China. All the people of Indian soil, sinking down all their differences, stood as one integrated whole against the Chinese and the Pakistani aggressors.

India Unites Through Cricket  When our cricket team gets divided into various regional teams for a local tournament like the IPL, the country also divides into fans for their favourites.  But when the same team unites and plays against another country in an international match, we, the people of India support our Men in Blue.

Common Spiritual Ideas  India – diverse in religions  Diverse religions united by common ideas of harmony  All religions preach brotherhood, unity & oneness  Guru Nanak, Prophet Mohammed, Jesus Christ, Buddha always spread the message of peace  People of various religions are united through the underlying message of humanity

Cultural Heritage of INDIA Plays a major role in Uniting different parts of the country.

What Unites Us Indians  We are Indians first, and then the members of any cultural, regional or linguistic group  Hence they make an effort towards living together as Indians  This is the reason why we can find a north Indian living in Chennai, and fluently arguing with a taxi driver in Tamil, & a south Indian woman bargaining over the price of vegetables, in fluent Hindi, living in Delhi

 The common goal of tackling problems like global warming & terrorism, not only at the national level, but also at the international level instills the feeling of being one amongst all Indians  The civil rights movement, feminist movements, & struggles for other causes bring together India’s diverse people

Taking Pride in India  Nationalistic fervour of people - contributing force in development of our nation  People are united by idea of “being Indian”  Every state in the country is a mini India – another example of people living together as citizens of one country, not of various states  India is the land where cultures from all over the world meet

 The lurking dangers to national unity of India are the narrow communal feelings.  In India, there are different racial, lingual and religious communties  Religious communities are Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Parsis  People of communities fall easy prey to narrow communal sentiments Lurking Dangers to our National Unity

 In India, there are some anti-social elements and political self-seekers who are fanning narrow communal feeling in order to meet their own selfish interests  They create narrow communal feelings in people  They appeal to their communal emotions leading to communal riots, discord and disharmony  Such activities will no doubt, weaken our national unity  Every citizen of India Indian should be aware of this danger to the national unity of India

“If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India!“ - Romaine Rolland (French scholar)

This is India as the World knows it This is India as We Know it

What should be Done to Maintain National Unity?  We must put stress on communal accord and communal harmony  Mahatma Gandhi worked hard all his life and at last, laid his life to strengthen the friendship between Hindus and Muslims  We need such heroes and martyrs in India, who can sacrifice their lives for our national unity

 People themselves, should discard all kinds of narrowness from their minds  They should develop a broader Indian outlook  Each one should say 'I am an Indian first’  One community should refrain from doing anything that may wound the feeling of another  All the Indians should try to develop brotherhood among themselves irrespective of caste, creed, language and religion