Urumulu (thunder dance)

Urumulu or thunder dance is found only in anantapuram district. The instrument employed in this dance is called urumu. It is a percussion instrument which sounds like thunder. The instrument is made out of brass or bell metal - a hollow round pipe. Both sides are covered with goat skin fixed on to iron rings and tightened with ropes at the top of the drum. It hangs from the left shoulder on the belly of the artiste and it is tied to the right side of the waist. The left side of the instrument is rubbed with a thin stick and the right side is beaten with a thick stick.

The urumu dancers belong to the scheduled caste. They are a pious and virtuous group of people who observe religious austerity and worship goddess akkamma. They abstain from drinking and eating meat. They present urumu dance to please their deity. It is a ceremonial dance. They move in circles adopting different styles and foot steps and play on urumu.

They put on big turbans and strings of beads or coins like metal pieces around their necks. They smear their faces with turmeric and also put on namam on their foreheads. They wear long shirts covering from neck to feet and an upper garment hanging from both shoulders. While dancing they sing devotional songs on lord kadiri narasimhaswami, dasavataras and goddess akkamma.

Butta bommalata

Marionette play is the oldest surviving art form in india. The marionette’s or puppets are made of different materials. Butta bommalu are made of bamboo, tamarind seed paste, paper, cattle dung or husk and hay. The figures are coloured according to the tradition and used for plays.

It is made up to waist only and hollow inside. The dolls are three to four times bigger than the human figures. A coloured cloth is tied around the doll at the waist that covers the player who enter into it. There is a hole in the doll at the navel through which the artiste can see the outside world. Figures of siva and parvati ,vishnu and lakshmi, garuda and hanuman, radha and krishna are very common in butta bommalata.

It is presented at festive gatherings, car festivals, marriage ceremonies, navaratri celebrations, ganesh immersion festivals and recently in election campaigns. These puppets are large enough to serve as full masks for men and women who dance to the rhythm of a dappu or mridangam. Band, dhole, sonnayi are used as accompaniments in the butta bommalata. The troupe consist of at least ten members four of whom are in the puppets and dance, four who play instruments, one instructor and the troupe leader. This is only a dumb dance, accompanied only by the sounds of instruments.

Goravayyalu

Gorava or kuruba or kuruma is a sub caste of shepherds who tend sheep and weave wool blankets. The priests among kurubas are known as goravas. They dedicate one male member to the god srisaila mallikarjuna when he grows up he is initiated into the moilara cult by a ganachari and trained in the lore ritualistic music and dance by a senior gorava.

During the festivals and kalyanotsavas of their family deities goravayyalu present their ritualistic dance with great fanfare. During the other days they move from one place to another singing the ballads of mallanna and other saiva panegyrics, beg alms and bless the devotees.

They put on a long black coat made out of sheep wool with white strips, a big triangular jar cap made out of bear’s skin. One upper cloth hanging from both shoulders, another cloth serving as a waist band. A bag made of deer skin containing the sacred turmeric called bandaru to be offered to the devotees, a brass cup tied to the waist for drinking milk or pancamritam. They wear strings of cowries around their necks, tie jingling bells to their ankles. They hold a damaru in the right hand and a flute in the left hand.

They play these instruments when they dance. While dancing they move in circles and jump forward and backward like fighting rams. They bark at each other like fighting dogs. They call themselves faithful dogs of god.

Mallari or mailaru. They drink milk or pancamritam contained in the brass cups placed on the ground like dogs kneeling on the ground without holding the cups with their hands. The remnants are shared by devotees as prasadam when they perform this ritual dance in the temple precincts they pierce their cheeks, calf wrist with iron pikes and blued as offering to the deity and beat themselves with big hunters called veratallu. This dance is purely ritualistic performed during religious occasions.

Garaga dance (vessel dance)

Garaga means a pot or vessel. The dance performed with a vessel on the head is known as garaganrityam. This is very popular in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. This dance was performed as a ritual by asadis during propitiating ceremonies of village goddesses. In andhra this is popular in the coastal districts and the border districts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

In olden days the priest in trance known as ganachary used to dance without any make up for himself, with a decorated earthen pot on his head in-front of the temple of a village goddess or along with her retinue in procession to the beats of dappu. It is a strong percussion instruments. In course of time the garaga dance has acquired many attractive adjuncts in make up and dance styles. Brass vessels covered with colourful cloths, decorated with vermilion and turmeric are held on the heads by the artistes when they dance.

The mouth of the brass vessel is covered with a five hooded serpent made in brass or bronze. The dancers put on colourful clothes and hold a bunch of margosa leaves symbolic of shakti worship. The adept dappu players produce varying beats in trisara, caturasra and other gatis and the garaga dancers dance and produce the same sounds with the jingling bells tied to their ankles. The artistes maintain the balance of the vessels on their heads by without moving their heads though their bodies and limbs move very fast.

They have introduced many nuances and acrobatics in their dance styles for attracting the spectators. They lie down on their bellies and pick up coins and sticks with their lips. They stand facing each other on one leg and make a knot with each others leg and dance to the drum beats. They also play kolatam striking at each others stick. All these while maintaining the balance of the vessels on their heads.

Vira natyam (heroic dance)

Viranatyam also known as virabhadra natyam is a community or the traditional ceremonial dance that used to be presented in the siva and virabhadra temples when virasaivism was at its zenith. Veerabhadra, the destroyer of daksha’s sacrifice is said to be the originator of this dance. Holding a sword in one hand and a shield in another hand the devotee dances and plays steps according to the beat of viramam. It is a big percussion instrument which produces sharp and piercing sounds. Viramam sounds resembles the sounds of war drums and trumpets and viranatyam resembles tandavanrityam in its force and vigour. Dhole, tashamarpa and sonmayi are also played during the viranatyam. At the time of lingodbhava on the sacred day of sivaratri, these artistes present urdhava tandavam, a special type of dance.

Viranatyam is performed by viramushti, jangam, balija and devanga communities of virasaiva cult. In telangana, viranatyam is presented by viramushti and jangam communities during the festivals in virabhadreswara temple at kovari and kottakonda while offering virabhadra palleram to the deity. A big plate with burning oil or camphor flames is held in both the hands from palms up to elbows and shown before the deity as an offering. The dancers also recite poems called khadgalu in praise of virabhadra and his exploits.

The artistes wield swords while singing these panegyrics. It is a vigorous and awful dance with long steps and upward movements of legs and hands. In devotional frenzy and fervor, the artistes also pierce their tongues, cheeks, eyelids, throats and lips with spears and spikes of different denominations called ekanarasam, kantimarasam, kanthanarasam and sulanarasam. They bleed and dance in frenzy. This ceremonial dance has now gained wide popularity as a folk art due to the many nuances introduced in the dance styles.