The Full Story
Back in 2020, I travelled to a few lesser-known Hoysala temples with Dr. Karuna Vijayendra and Dr. Ramya. There are moments in one’s arts journey that alter one’s understanding permanently. This was one of them. We sat on the cool stone floors of temple mandapas, surrounded by sculpted dancers and musicians whose forms had endured for centuries. What unfolded was not observation; it was decoding.
Rhythmic structures were traced from the placement of carved hands. Tempo was inferred from the torsional dynamics of sculpted bodies. Melodic possibilities were extrapolated from instruments etched into friezes, silent for nearly a millennium. What first appeared ornamental began to reveal itself as structured knowledge. In that space, history did not feel distant. It felt precise. Layered. Intentionally encoded. I left with the scene that I had witnessed scholarship in its most vital form not preservation of the past as relic, but engagement with it as living archive.
That experience now finds its fullest expression in Vichitra Chitra Nartana.
The Inscriptional Anchor
A copper plate inscription from Belur records Queen Shanthala with the epithet:
“Vichitra Nartana Pravartana Pātra Śikhāmaṇi.”
This is inscriptional testimony, affirming her as a distinguished practitioner, patron and propagator of a specific dance tradition during the Hoysala period.
Such epigraphical evidence provides historical validation for the existence, stature and cultural significance of Vichitra Chitra Nartana within Karnataka Deśa’s temple performance ecosystem. From this anchor emerges a larger reconstruction informed by sculptural analysis, textual engagement with Sangīta Ratnākara, and sustained interdisciplinary research.
Reconstructing the Invisible
Led by Dr. Karuna Vijayendra, this production represents over two decades of meticulous inquiry spanning epigraphy, temple architecture, musicology and movement vocabulary.
Through the decoding of sculptural and literary representations of movement, the long-silenced Deśi Karaṇas - a second-millennium dance technique - were re-visualised. Not imagined, but extrapolated from evidence.
This landmark research culminated in the publication Neo-Deśi Karaṇas (2013), with the late Guru Sundari Santanam, under the scholarly guidance of Dr. Shatavadani Ganesh.
The work extends beyond choreography. Medieval musical traditions such as Salaga Sūḍa Prabandha have been reconstructed.
Historically grounded costume, jewellery and coiffure have been recontextualised. Temple-based Rangabhoga traditions have been studied as part of a complete performance ecology.
Dr. Karuna Vijayendra’s doctoral thesis, Karnataka Devalayagalalli Rangabhoga, guided by Dr. H. S. Gopal Rao, received national recognition. The documentary Rangavaibhoga, directed by Sunil Puranik and based on this research, was awarded the National Award for Best Art Category. This is not revival through imagination.
“It is
restoration
through
scholarship.”
Why it matters?
Across Karnataka Deśa, several ritualistic temple traditions gradually dissolved under shifting socio-cultural conditions. What remain are inscriptions, sculptures and textual references often studied in isolation.
Vichitra Chitra Nartana attempts continuity without distortion. It translates research into embodied practice while remaining accountable to evidence.
In a city like Bengaluru—forward-looking and rapidly transforming—this work offers a necessary reminder: progress and memory need not be opposites.
Sometimes the future of culture depends on how carefully we read what came before.
On 7th March, Vichitra Chitra Nartana will be presented at ADA.
Rangamandira.
For an evening, what was once inscribed in copper and carved in stone will move again, not as reconstruction alone, but as return.