The Goṇḍalī Dance by Dr. S. Srikanta Sastri

In the interesting note on the Goṇḍalī Nṛtya (B.I.S.M.Q. June, 1939) it is pointed out that the dance originated in Karnāṭaka and was connected with the Rēṇukā cult. This is supported by some references in the works on Karnāṭaka Music. Jāyaṇa or Jāya Sēnāpati, the commander of the elephants under the King Gaṇapati of Warangal wrote two works Saṅgīta ratnāvaḷi and Nṛtya – ratnāvaḷī in 1240 A. D. In the latter work he says – 

कल्याणकटके पूर्वे भूतमात्रमहोत्सवे |

सोमेश: कोतुकी काञ्चित भिल्लवेषमुपेयुषीम् |

नृत्यंतीमथ गायन्ती स्वयं प्रेक्ष्य मनोहरम् |

प्रीतो निर्मितवाश्वित्रगोण्डली बिधिमिन्यम् |

यतो भिल्ली महाराष्ट्रे गोण्डलीत्यभिधीयते ||

From this it is clear that the Bhillī dance used to be held at Kalyāṇa, the capital of the Western Cālukyas, and that Somēśvara III, Bhūlokamalla (who was a recognised authority on Music and is the author of Abhilaṣitārthacintamaṇi or Rāja – mānasollāsa) made an improvement and called it Citra Goṇḍalī, since in Mahārāṣtra it was called Goṇḍalī. 

The Saṅgita – samaya – sāra of Pārśvadēva (C. 1200 A. D.) also defines Goṇḍalī dance thus – 

सामान्यं नर्थनं यत्र सम्यमगीतम् प्रवर्तते |

मध्यमा कथिता तेषा गुण्ड्लीति मनीषिभि: ||

(Tr. S. S. Ch. 8. V. 183.)

A manuscript in the Mysore Oriental Library (No. 4798) mentions the following authorities: 

आदिनन्दिउमाप्रोक्तं मोहनं नाट्यदर्पणम् |

संगीतकल्पवृक्षं च संगीतमणिदर्पणं |

कुण्डलीदर्पणं चोच कुण्डलीमणिदर्पणम् ||

It is probable that Kuṇḍalī – darpaṇa and Kuṇḍalī – maṇidarpaṇa also deal with this Goṇḍalī dance. 

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THE UTTARA KASI PILLAR INSCRIPTION OF GUHA

This inscription was discovered at Uttara Kasi in Tehri-Gharwal, by Pandit Chiddure Matha Virabhadra Sarma of Secunderabad (Deccan), who took an impression of it and has published some preliminary notices1. The inscription is engraved on the dhvaja stambha before the temple of Siva at the Uttara Kasi. The pillar is called a Sakti Stambha in the inscription and was erected to commemorate the victories of the ruler Guha. The pillar is now called a trisula and current legends assert that Siva’s trisula after the destruction of Tripurasura, was established in this place. 

The inscription is engraved in late Gupta characters of about the sixth century, but earlier than the Banskhera grants of Harsa. The language of the inscription is Sanskrt and the florid Kavya style of the record is reminiscent of the Allahabad inscription of Harisena and the Mehrauli inscription of Candra. The metres used are Sardula-vikridita and Sragdhara. The text begins with the symbol for Om and ends with the letter tha. 

There was a ruler named Ganesvara whose praises were sung by men and who erected the resplendant temple of Bhava, high as the peak of Himavat. This forest ruler (vanajadhipa) considering all his wealth (including amatya etc) as less than an atom and remembering the friendship of Indra, went to Sumeru with a cheerful mind. 

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T. S. Subbanna - Sarvajanika Subbanna (A Brief Biography)

Taĝaduru Subbappa Subbanna was born in 1905 in Taĝaduru village, Nanjanagud taluk. His father Eshwarappa was the chief priest at the Ankanatheshwara temple in Taĝaduru. His mother Parvatamma was a devout pious lady. 

Early years
Subbanna had his preliminary schooling at Taĝaduru govt. school. Then the family moved to Mysore for his further education. While in Mysore, Subbanna worked part-time as a priest at the Kashi Vishwanatha temple in Madvachar road in Agrahara. Subbanna was admitted to the Wesley Mission High School. Venkatakrishnayya was one of the senior teachers who had a profound impact on him. Some of the British teachers tried to persuade students like Subbanna to focus on their academics instead of spending time in the freedom movement. But Subbanna had already come under the influence of freedom fighters like M. N. Jois, Sharada Prasad, Agaram Ramayya, Subramanyam and Dasappa. Subbanna and friends convened as the ‘Tilak Sangha’ to share news about various freedom fighters from across the country. Subbanna had to slip away to Channapatna (Sogale) to avoid impending arrest. He participated in the civil disobedience movements at Sirsi, Siddapur and Ankola. Subbanna’s mother, in an attempt to distract her son from the freedom struggle, tried to get him married – but this was in vain. Interestingly, Subbanna is remembered to have dressed as a woman in a saree to escape being caught, while participating in a protest march passing in front of Hardwicke High School. He managed to give police the slip and made it to Subbarayana Kere to hoist the Indian flag! On another occasion, while being pursued, he ran into a coal plant and smeared himself with coal soot and succeeded in evading arrest! Subbanna was among the freedom fighters to hoist the flag at Shivapura in Maddur. He then made his way to Sabarmati ashram where he spent time imbibing the Gandhian way of life directly from the Mahatma! 

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T. S. Venkannayya (ಟಿ. ಎಸ್. ವೆಂಕಣ್ಣಯ್ಯ) - a brief biography

T. S. Venkannayya was born on October 1, 1885 at Taĺaku village, Challakere taluk, Chitradurga district, Karnataka to parents Subbanna and Lakshmidevamma. They belonged to the Mulukanadu sect of Telugu speaking brahmins who originally hailed from Venganadu. They were ardent devotees of Rama and were spiritually inclined. Venkannayya was named after his grandfather. 

Early Years

Venkannayya’s grandfather had presented his son Subbanna his much-treasured volume of Ramayana, while on his deathbed. Giving the book, he had remarked that it was the only thing of any real consequence that he could bequeath to him – and that it’s daily recitation and reading would keep generations in good stead! Subbanna promised to stay true to his father’s wishes and generations since have carried on this unbroken tradition. T. S. Venkannayya’s father Subbanna was a poet in his own right and was known to compose poetry impromptu. He was well versed in ‘Gadugina Bharata’, ‘Jaimini Bharata’, ‘Rajashekhara Vilasa’ and ‘Jagannatha Vijaya’. 

In the time of Palegars, there was once a bull fight arranged in this village. They were both ferocious bulls and wouldn’t easily relent. The fight culminated in the bulls interlocking their horns. They couldn’t unlock the horns and ended up staying like that for a long time! Thus, the palegar watching this thought of naming the village as Taĺaku. 

T. S. Venkannayya’s grandmother Hanumakka had offered prayers to Lord Venkateshwara for a grandson. She was ecstatic at Venkannayya’s birth and nicknamed him ‘putta’. She took much trouble to familiarise him with ‘Mahabharata’, ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Bhagavata’ at a young age.  She made sure that Upanayana and such time bound initiations were done at the right time for the young boy. 

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Dr. S. Srikanta Sastri's Foreword to Ta. Ra. Su's "Nrupatunga"

​ಮುನ್ನುಡಿ 

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ಮಾನವನ ದುಃಖಪರಂಪರೆಯ ನಿವಾರಣೆಗಾಗಿ ವ್ಯವಹಾರ ಪ್ರಪಂಚದಲ್ಲಿ ಸೂಕ್ತ ಮಾರ್ಗವನ್ನು ಕಂಡುಹಿಡಿಯುವುದು ವಿಶ್ವದ ತತ್ವಾನ್ವೇಷಿಗಳ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯವಾಗಿದೆಯೆಂಬುದು ಚರಿತ್ರೆಯಿಂದ ವಿದಿತವಾಗಿದೆ. ಆಕಸ್ಮಿಕ ಘಟನೆ, ಕಾಲಯಂತ್ರ ಅಥವಾ ಯುದ್ಧದ ಮೂಲಕವಲ್ಲದೆ ಜಗತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಶಾಂತಿಯು ನೆಲೆಸಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಒಂದೇ ಮಹಾವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಜಕೀಯ ಶಕ್ತಿಯೂ ಆತ್ಮ ಜ್ಞಾನವೂ ಸೇರಿರಬೇಕೆಂದೂ ಆತ್ಮಜ್ಞಾನಿಗಳೇ ರಾಜರಾಗಬೇಕು ಅಥವಾ ಆಡಳಿತ ನಡೆಸುವವರು ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಿ ತತ್ವಜ್ಞಾನ ಹೊಂದಿರಬೇಕು ಎಂದು ಪ್ಲೇಟೋ* ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯಪಟ್ಟನು. ಇದು ಸಾಧ್ಯವೇ, ಜಗತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಅಂತಹ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳು ಎಷ್ಟಿರುವರು? ತತ್ವಾನ್ವೇಷಣೆಯ ಉದ್ದೇಶ ನಿಸ್ಸಂಗತ್ವದಿಂದ ನಿರ್ಮೋಹತ್ವವನ್ನು ಸಾಧಿಸಿ ಅದರಿಂದ ನಿಶ್ಚಲತತ್ವ ಮತ್ತು ಜೀವನ್ಮುಕ್ತಿ ಪಡೆಯುವುದಿಲ್ಲವೇ? ಸಮಾಜದ ಉದ್ದಾರಕಾರ್ಯ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯ ನಿಸ್ಸಂಗತ್ವಕ್ಕೆ ಕೇವಲ ವಿರುದ್ಧವಲ್ಲವೇ ಎಂದು ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳು ಏಳುವುವು. ಪ್ರಪಂಚದ ಬಂಧನದಿಂದ ತಪ್ಪಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಯತ್ನಿಸಿತ್ತಿರುವವನು ತಪ್ಪು ದಾರಿ ಹಿಡಿದ ಪ್ರಪಂಚವನ್ನು ತಿದ್ದುವ ಹವ್ಯಾಸಕ್ಕೆ ಏಕೆ ಹೋಗಬೇಕು? ಒಬ್ಬ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯ ಆತ್ಮ ಬಲಿದಾನದಿಂದ ಸಮಾಜವೆಲ್ಲ ಉದ್ದಾರವಾಗುವದೆಂಬ ಕೆಲವು ಮತಗಳ ...

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* There is no hope of a cessation of evils in the states and, in my opinion, none for mankind - except through a personal union between political power and philosophy.....The Union may be achieved in two ways, Either the philosophers must become Kings and potentates must take - genuinely and thoroughly to philosophy. 

(Plato: Republic 473. D)

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Prof. R. Chandraprakash's Review of "INDIAN CULTURE" (2021)

 Book Review 

by 

Prof. R. Chandraprakash

Former Dean

University of Mysore

of

‘Indian Culture - A Compendium of Indian History, Culture and Heritage’

by 

Dr. S. Srikanta Sastri

The people of this ancient country are shaped by high ideals. They exhibit their noble qualities in their work culture, speech, mental makeup, in commerce, in social intercourse and in political activities. If the national character is flawed, then the society rests on a bedrock of lies and deceit. - Dr. S. Srikanta Sastri.

Indian Civilization is the oldest living civilization in the world today. India is the land of religious churning. This land gave to the world - Vedas, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and innumerable other religious tenets. This land founded earlier to 3000 B. C. the world’s first universities of Taxila (Takshashila), Mithila, Sharada Peetha, Nalanda and others where scholars from the world came for intellectual enlightenment. However, geographically India, that is Bharat, today is a far smaller country than it was a millennia before. Its outer geographical contours have been dismembered and its national boundaries have been constantly reduced. For a millennia this land has been attacked and conquered by different races and its riches plundered over the centuries. A significant size of its population today belongs to different religious beliefs implanted here from foreign lands through forceful conversions.

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The Archaeological Importance of Nanjanagud by Dr. S. Srikanta Sastri (12 July, 1971)

Garalapuri (or Nanjangud) has a history going back to mythical puranic times and archaeologically we can trace two thousand years of history in the existing Srikanteswara Temple. In the early centuries of the Christian Era this region was under the Gangas of Talakad. The early Ganga Kings were not Jains but the followers of the Vedic religion as proved by their records which mention the celebration of many Vedic sacrifices. The Garbha Griha in the Srikanteswara temple resembles the specimens of Ganga Architecture remaining at Varuna (near Mysore) and Siva Ganga in the Bangalore District. The Siva Linga of Srikanteswara differs from the usual Chola type and closely resemble the Gangadhareswara linga at Siva Ganga.

In the tenth century the Cholas began to expand their empire and Talakad became a part of their kingdom. The Cholas were ardent Sivabhaktas but Raja Raja the Great has also constructed Vishnu Temples at Marehalli, Tadi Malingi etc. About the same time was composed the Periya Puranam which deals with the Nayanars. The stone images of the sixty-three Shaiva Saints found in the Nanjangud temple Verandha are probably of Chola workmanship. The corresponding metal images in front of them were installed by Kalale Nanjaraja in the Seventeenth century.

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