Perini Thandavam

Understand

Where Perini Thandavam comes from

Perini Thandavam is the classical-martial Tandava-dance of Telangana, revived and developed by the Padma Shri recipient and dance scholar Dr. Nataraja Ramakrishna, who rediscovered the form from the Kakatiya-period (12-13th century) inscriptions of the Ramappa and the Thousand-Pillar temples. The dance is a warrior-ecstatic form performed in honour of Lord Siva in his Bhairava aspect and represents the martial ardour of the Telugu tradition. The dance is recognised as one of the regional classical-dance forms of the Telugu states and is preserved through the Natya Shastra revival and the cultural programmes of the Telangana government. The Perini has been adopted into the vocabulary of the Kuchipudi and Andhra Natyam traditions as the powerful male-dance element.

How it's practiced

Perini Thandavam is performed by troupes of male dancers (anywhere between 4 and several dozen) in a circle (the Perini Circles) in front of the Lingam. The dance is energetic, with the dancers leaping and turning their bodies at the speed of the rhythm of the chenda drum. The accompanying music is the chenda, the tavil and the itekka drum, with the small shehnai at the larger performances. Costume is the warrior-Padmanabhha (the dhoti and the dhoti-chest-band with the elaborate ornaments of the Kakatiya warrior — the kati-bandham waist-band, the juvala shoulder-cape and the belipatta wrist-bangle). Performances are at the temple of Siva and at cultural programmes of the state.