How CM brought Aryan, Dravidian cultures together!

Often seen as one who believes in the incompatibility of Aryan and Dravidian cultures, Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi on Sunday disclosed how he had come up with a marriage of the two cultural streams. He explained how a centre named after Bharata Muni, the sage who is believed to have authored the grammar of Bharatanatyam in his Natya Sastra', came to be renamed after both the sage and the ancient Tamil epic poet Ilango.

Launching the building projects of the Bharata-Ilango Foundation for Asian Culture at Pattipulam village, near Mamallapuram on East Coast Road, the octogenarian Dravidian leader recalled that eminent danseuse Padma Subrahmanyam, managing trustee of the foundation, had originally obtained land from the previous AIADMK regime for establishing a centre for Bharatanatyam through the Bharata Muni Trust'.

However, the present DMK regime cancelled the land allotment following criticism from non-theistic parties that felt that the government should have nothing to do with an institution that promoted Aryan culture. The trust challenged the cancellation in the high court.

"I told Padma Subrahmanyam that there is no need to waste time on litigation. We will strike a compromise," Karunanidhi said. And he went on to explain that just as she was keen to establish the institution after the sage who founded the art form, he, too, was eager to honour Ilango, the prince who authored the epic, Silappathikaram', in which he had expounded the principles of dance.

"I suggested that we join hands and have a cultural centre named after both Bharata and Ilango. This was born out of my thirst for marrying the cultures of the north and south," the CM said, adding that the case was withdrawn and the institution was accordingly renamed.

Karunanidhi had recently bemoaned the triumph of Aryan culture in engraving "superstitions" in the people's mind, while the truths about the relatively more rational Dravidian way of life lie buried. However, on Sunday, his remarks indicated that there could be points of confluence. "Bharatanatyam is not the monopoly of any particular culture, as it is a universal language that could be expressed by anyone who is adept at abhinaya' and who can perform the art as per its principles in an aesthetically satisfying way," he said. "And it is in recognition of this that we honour Bharatnatyam exponents," he added.