An Indian student, Miss Jaggi, will show us some dancing in the Bharatnatyam style. Miss Jaggi begins by demonstrating some postures. Most of these postures have a symbolic meaning, and they are combined together in sequence to tell a story. And now the dance commences, with a prayer and the offering of flower petals to Saraswati, the Goddess of Wisdom.
This particular dance is a famous one. Like many Indian dances it is based on a story from one of the great epics, the Mahabharat. According to the legend Arjun, the charioteer of Lord Krishna, was driven into exile with his brothers, and at one time all the brothers were obliged to disguise themselves and work in various capacities at the court of King Virat. Arjun chose to disguise himself as a eunuch and teach dancing to Princess Uttar, the King’s daughter. He was able to do this because he himself had been taught dancing by a siren called Urvashi. Urvashi had wanted to marry Arjun, but he had refused, saying that she was too like his mother. The enraged Urvashi condemned Arjun to perpetual impotence. Arjun turned for help to the Goddess Indira, who said she could not lift the curse entirely but restricted it to one year. Arjun chose to endure his one year of impotence while at the court of King Virat. It was because he was impotent that the King allowed Arjun to teach his daughter. The dance of which excerpts are being performed here is a dance which is said to have been taught by Arjun to Princess Uttar.