Abhinaya is one of the most important aspects in Performing art. A Sanskrit term, Abhinaya means to educate or lead the way towards the audience.

Bharata explains that Abhinaya etymologically is derived from the prefix ‘abhi’ meaning towards and the verbal root ‘ni’ meaning to carry. Hence that which carries the performance towards the spectator bringing out the meaning clearly before them is termed as “Abhinaya”. It represents that element which helps us to put forward any idea.

In our current terminology, Abhinaya can be explained as the ‘Art of Communication’.

Abhinaya is that component that Brahma culled from the Yajurveda and along with Paathya from Rig, Gana from Sama and Rasa from Atharva Veda created the fifth Veda, the Natya Veda.

He refers to Natya as the imitation of the good and bad deeds and emotions of the people in different situation. When these are depicted through the abhinaya of gestures, and such others (i.e. words, costume and facial expressions) it becomes Natya. This concept is well established when in the eighth chapter he says that Natya in all its variations and divisions is based on the four abhinayas.

In the eleven constituents of Natya in the sixth chapter, Abhinaya is mentioned as one of the constituents.

Rasä bhävä hyabhinayaah dharmé vrtti pravrittayah |

Siddhih svarastathatodyam gänam rangañca sangrah |

According to the NS, Abhinaya is four-fold: –

1. Aangikam includes the bodily movements, gestures, postures and actions.
2. Vaachikam includes voice and speech which constitutes the kavyas and plays.
3. 3. Sattvikam includes emotional responses or the sattvika bhavas.
4. Aharyam includes decoration of the body with use of makeup, costumes, garlands etc.

Aharyam means external or ‘not own’. From the point of view of the dancer, all the above four are not his own, they pertain to the character he is portraying. However, while the three abhinayas, ie, angika, vachika and sattvika are expressed through the body and the mind of the dancer, the make-up and costume are purely external and his efforts in this are minimal. That is why it alone is called ‘Aharya’- external. It can thus be concluded that all four kinds of abhinayam are essential for both nrtya as well as natya and form the entire structure upon which dance exists.

Bharata says that this Aharya abhinaya becomes more important than all others because the aharya communicates the concept and mood by its dress and decor, even before any action is done or a word is spoken.

Aharya Abhinayam: Aharya Abhinaya, explained in Chapter 21 is communication through all the external elements such as make-up, costume, ornaments and accessories like weapons, shields, masks, etc. Aharya abhinaya is connected with what is known as ‘nepathya’- the use of make-up, costumes, jewellery, weapons, stage props and property etc., necessary in a stage representation of drama. Even stage properties like cut outs of hills, palaces, trees, huts and so forth, as also mechanical devices come under aharya abhinaya. Every kind of external, artificial and temporary requirement for the presentation of the Natya including curtains, asanas, lights, and stage decoration will be known as aharya. Like a wall or canvas to a picture, the àhãrya stands at the back of the whole production and hence Bharata’s direction that a sincere effort is necessary in putting up the nepathya by all those who wish well with dramatic production. The Abhinaya Darpana says that it belongs to the bahi-rañga, the external, visual aspect of dramatic representation. The Abhinaya Darpana says that it belongs to the bahi-rañga, the external, visual aspect of dramatic representation.

Aharyabhinaya, according to Bharata is classified into four groups namely:

1. Pusta/ model work: Pusta or models required as stage property or occasionally as part of scenery are affected in three different ways.

• The desired form of a thing may be made by joining together leaves or barks of trees, pieces of bamboo, skins, cloth, etc. Such a pusta is sandhima(joined). Includes cloth, skin, leather, mat or anything that can be threaded like garlands, beads etc.
• An object or stage property contrived and operated by some mechanical device, like pulling a string, is called vyãjima (indicating) It includes the use of machines.
• A model prepared by wrapping by overlain layers of wax, lac, etc. is a vestita (wrapped)

The Natyashastra tells us that all objects in the world which can be fashioned by imitation may serve as instruments of natya if a performance demanded their use. These will include mansions, houses, temples, terraces, (Vimana) vehicles, various kinds of weapons, shields, armours, banners, mountains and other immovable objects and replicas of a horse, elephant etc. These should first be fashioned with pieces of bamboo giving them the correct form and shape required; then the figures should be wrapped with cloth and painted with delightful colours. If cloth is not available, palm or birch leaves could be used for wrapping. The weapons are to be fashioned by using grass and bamboo pieces, lac, and gourd pieces, etc. Iron or heavy material is never to be used. Even in using wood, skins, cloth, bamboo or lac special care must be taken that an object fashioned for dramatic use will be light in weight. An air of realism must be combined with the ease and convenience of stage business.

2. Alankara /decoration: Alankara or decoration in the making-up of a dramatic role is effected with the use of

• flowers and garlands
• ornaments and jewellery (aabharanam)
• and appropriate garments (Vastram)

1. Flowers and garlands: The Natyashastra speaks of varied floral patterns that could be made – flowers or garlands wrapped with fibers of grass which could be used to encircle a part of the body. These garlands are of 5 types:

• Veshtimam – Those that are encircled or wrapped and tied.
• Vitatam – Vitatam is a widely spread garland.
• Sanghatyam – Sanghatyam is a garland made by joining or grouping several garlands together.
• Granthimam – Orderly arranged on a thread by knotting is Grandhimam Pralambitam.
• Pralambitam – is a garland that is hung.

1. Ornaments and jewellery: The varied ornaments to be used by dramatic characters to play respective parts may similarly be grouped into 4 categories:

• Aavedhya: Ornaments that are put on by piercing a part of the body, like an ear ornament- earring (kundela), ear pendant (mochaka) or ear top.
• Aaropya: Ornaments that are simply put on the body, like a gold thread or different kinds of necklaces
• Bandhaniya: Ornaments that are fixed by tying up like a girdle, shoulder ornament, arm band, pearls etc.
• Prakshepya: Ornaments that are attached to the part of the body by fastening like an anklet.

The Natyashastra gives a very long list of ornaments appropriate for male and female characters, and from the point of view of the country of their origin and the social caste to which they belong.

The ornaments include:

 For men:

• different kinds of head-ornaments (shirasah bhushanam)
• ear-ornaments(karnàbharana)
• rings
• ornaments for wrist, upper arm, neck, chest and waist

For women:

• ornaments to be worn on and in the hair; for ear, for forehead including the artistic arrangement of the tilaka mark and the use of flowers
• patralekhã for cheeks
• collyrium for eyes
• and colouring for teeth, if required, particularly white like pearls or lips red like a lotus; rouge for lower lip
• other ornaments usually worn and special ones like a network of pearls put on the breast
• different kinds of girdles made with clusters of jewels, fastened in gold thread, or with tiny jingling gold bells (kiñkini) attached to them.

Use of lac-dye applied to the sides and soles of feet and decorative painting of legs is regarded as a part of alankara.

The Natyashastra however, warns that an actor must place the ornaments correctly or he will make himself ridiculous. Also, excessive use of ornaments and loading the body with them must be avoided; it will exhaust an actor, come in the way of his free and natural movements, and may result in too much perspiration or even a fainting spell.

            For Heavenly men and women:

• Shikhandaka, hair piled on head and pearls used in them
• Women of gods: green garments and accessories, lapis lazuli or pushyarãja jewels; Vidyadhara women: white dress
• Yaksha women and apsaras: use of jewels
• Naga women: pearls
• Siddha women: yellow garments, pearls and emeralds
• Gandharva women: reddish garments, rubies, and carrying lutes in their hands
• Rãkshasi: black garments, white teeth, blue gems
• Muni-kanya: hair in a single plaid (ekaveni), no jewels, dress appropriate for forest-dwelling.
• In the case of human characters, dress, hairstyles and ornaments are to be used according to place and country and the social practice.

1. Vasthram (Clothes): They are divided into three categories:

• Sudham – For occasions such as worshipping gods, auspicious rituals, fasting, special days, wedding rituals, and holy rituals, sudham is used regardless of gender. Characters with soft and sober behaviour can generally accept this dress.
• Vicithram – Vichithram are prescribed for gods, demons, yakshas, rakshasas, kings, and lovers.
• Malinam – Malinam are prescribed for mad men, drunkards, travellers and forest dwellers.

Garments used in making out a costume may be suitably coloured. For example:

• White-coloured garments are to be used for ritual and auspicious worship, in religious observances, in marriage ceremony etc. This applies to costumes of both men and women.
• Gods and other divine or semi-divine beings: a picturesque, multi coloured costume;
• Brahmins, ministers, royal priests, officers in the King’s harem and men of the three castes: generally, a clean and white costume;
• Mad, intoxicated persons, travellers and men in calamity: a soiled costume (malina);
• Ascetics etc.: a dress of barks and skins;
• Wandering ascetics, munis, chamberlain, etc.: reddish-brown garments (kãshaya);
• Kings: generally, will use a picturesque and varied costume; white only on religious and auspicious occasions. When they dress for war and fight (sañgrãmikavesha), they will wear armors, etc. and an appropriate array of weapons.

Natya Sastra shows a system where white is used for Sudham, multiple colours for vichithrama and black for malinam. Bharata indicates some special points in regard to the use of ornaments, garments and hairstyles for characters of different classes, the general principle being that of individual identity and proper distinction.

3. Anga-racana/ cosmetic painting of the body: Make-up and costume:

The general direction for make-up is that it should be consistent with the country, social caste and age of the dramatic character to be acted.

Special colours are to be used, however, for distinguishing characters properly and suggestively:

• Gods generally, Yaksha and Apsarasa : yellowish red (gaura)
• Gods like Rudra, Sun, Soma, Varuna etc.: shining yellow or gold
• Samudra, Himavat, Gañga: white
• Angaraka (Mangala): red
• Budha and Fire: yellow
• Nara, Narayana, Väsuki: blue
• Demons of all kinds, pishacha, guhyaka, mountains, water, sky: dark.

Men belonging to different regions have different complexions, like the colour of heated gold, white, blue, yellowish, red. But for dramatic convention, the following directions may be used:

• Kings: red like lotus, yellowish-red, blue
• Happy mortals: yellowish, red
• Crooked diseased, low-caste and those in penance: dark
• Sages: generally plum-coloured; but variations may be used for a purpose; Barbarous and hill-tribes: generally dark
• Northern men: yellowish red
• Western men: bluish
• Brahmin and Kshatriya: yellowish red
• Vaishya and shüdra: bluish.

Suitable beards have to be provided for male characters as part the make-up.

• Generally, celestial characters, royal personages, king’s officers etc. may appear with clean, shaven faces; in case beard is to be used it should be nicely trimmed with the use of razor and a pair of scissors.
• Sages, ascetics, forest-dwellers, etc. will have thick and long beards and hair.
• The hair used for sticking a beard may be coloured to indicate a particular mental condition, like blue hair for distressed persons, those in calamity or in penance, and those who have still to fulfil a vow.

Make-up and costume also include the use of head-dresses. The Natyashastra speaks of three kinds of crowns.

• Gods and other celestial characters will wear a crown that covers the head from sides.
• Kings have to have a full crown covering the forehead and top of the head.
• Princes, commanders of army, chief ministers will wear a half-crown.
• Other ministers, chamberlain, royal priest, chief merchants etc. will wear a band of cloth wrapped round the head (like a turban).
• Other characters will wear long hair or have a shaven head as required.
• Sages will have matted hair, piled high on the head.
• The Vidushaka may have hair on the head like crow’s feet (kakapada) or he and a cheta may wear either three tufts (tri-Shikha) of hair or have a shaven head.
• Bharata also speaks of masks (pratishirshaka). They are to be prepared with ash or chaff, possibly also clay, using an earthen jar as a foundation; cloth is to be fixed on the shape with bilva pulp and oil; when up in sun, holes for eyes, nose, mouth and ears are to be made with sharp instrument, forming the features like forehead etc. These masks were worn with beautifully formed crowns in human impersonation. One may presume that masks may have been used in playing the roles of certain gods and demons, as well as of animals and birds.
• The weapons which are to be used are fashioned by the process of modelling (pusta) and are expected to be proportionate to the physical build of the character who is to use them in dramatic business.

4. Sajjiva/ life-like representation of animals and birds and personification of inanimate objects: Appearance of live animals and birds is referred to by the’ term ‘sajiva’ and is regarded as a part of the ‘nepathyajaabhinaya’. What Bharata means by this may be conjectured as the introduction onstage of living and non-living things by human impersonation to serve a dramatic purpose. Bharata says that weapons, mountains etc. may appear in corporeal form and use the dress and speech of human beings. Similarly, peacocks, swans etc. may be represented by dance gestures and movements, and animals by appropriate gait and body movements. Bhasa introduces Vishnu’s weapons and Garuda in two of his plays and assigns speaking parts to them. This is possible to be staged only if actors played these roles. It may similarly be assumed that the deer that figures in Kalidasa’s Shakuntalam must have been played by a young actor. Apart from this, Bharata also describes Chitrabhinaya and Samanyabhinaya which is described as a combination of speech, bodily movements and natural grace born of inner spirit. The chitrabhinaya is an extension of angikaabhinaya which deals with the use of body to describe or represent pictorially, the material and non-material objects, such as night, evening, darkness, heat, etc. and also the representation of the feelings like joy, anger, pain and sorrow.

The different aspects of Abhinaya are with reference to Pravrtti (regional preferences), Dharmi (style of presentation) Rasa (asthetic relish), deça (region), jäti (class or category) and avasthä (mental condition) of the character. Ähärya Abhinaya through ages has been studied with literary, sculptural and pictorial evidence.

Abhinaya also embraces two modes– Lokadharmi, the realistic and Natyadharmi, the conventional and stylised.

In the lokadharmi mode, abhinaya has an instant appeal because of its closeness to ordinary life. It employs gestures that are natural and instinctive, ornaments that are in common use, and costumes familiar to everyday life. On the other hand, stylised hand gestures, movements of the eyes, conventional movements of the limbs, peculiar costumes, simulation of emotions and state of mind, fall into the category of natyadharmi. If the tears are to be shown, the dancer uses hand gestures to suggest the flow of tears, with appropriate expressions on the face. Representative gesticulation is used as a potent means of interpretation and expression. The principal of Natyadharmi is strictly followed during the portrayal: the dancer impersonates the character and roles, without change of dress or costumes. As a matter of fact, Bharatanatyam employs the natyadharmi mode of abhinaya. In it lies the challenge to transcend the technique, conceal its operation, and explore the art of suggestion by investing the performance with a rare quality of subtle nuances, grace and beauty.

It is essential to know the concepts of all abhinayas quite thoroughly for creating the right kind of theatrical presentation, which will succeed in creating the desired Rasanubhava or aesthetic relish in the spectator, which is the purpose of the dramatic art.

Bharata rightly proclaims:

Vayonurüpaù prathamastu veño veñänurüpena gatipracäraù /

Gatipräcänugatam ca pathyam pathyänurüpo abhinayasca karyaù // NS, XII, 251

Translation:

Firstly, make-up and costume should be done according to the age, context, and nature of the character, followed by proper movements and gestures, correct voice and speech and finally by the responsive emotional reactions.

The vast variety of Aharya, delineated in an exclusive chapter on Aharya Abhinaya [Chapter XXI] of Natya sastra shows what an advanced form of theatrical art existed in India from very early times. This single chapter itself gives us an insight into the anthropological elements of that period. People of various class, caste, creed and professions made up an extremely civilized society rich in arts, religions, politics, philosophy and the very way of life itself. In this thesis an attempt has been made to show how our ancient wisdom has continued to guide the artistes through the centuries.