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Learn the lingo
Many Indian classical dance forms, such as Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, and others, use hand gestures (hasta or mudra in Sanskrit) listed in Nandikeswara’s 2nd Century AD text, Abhinayadarpanam to help convey emotions and ideas. Pataka The hand is held with all fingers straight and pressed together, with the thumb bent as shown. The five fingers, gurus tell us, stand for the five senses. Bending the thumb signifies control over them. Pataka hasta is known as Brahmin hasta, since Brahmins are supposed to have control over their senses.
Situations where Pataka is useful include surprise, distress, stealth, or pointing out something, etc. (If you have a query or a response to articles in Friday Review, write to us at delhifridayreview@gmail.com)
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Starting this week, an introduction to some hand gestures commonly used in Indian classical dance.
Pataka hasta Malavika (in blue) and Maya, who perform their Bharatanatyam arangetram this Saturday at Delhi Tamil Sangam, demonstrate the pataka hand gesture and its possible uses. The first in the list of single hand gestures in the Abhinayadarpanam, it can be used in varying situations. At left, a girl shows her friend an interesting letter. Both the letter and the hand placed on the chin as a sign of interest are an example of pataka.