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| Home > Mudras > Articles > Mudras and Dance
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| | Mudras and Dance
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Mudras are formed with the fingers of either a single hand or both the hands. The dancer conveys whatever he or she wants to and effectively too with various contortions of the arms and the fingers. All dance is evocative and rich in articulation and yet nothing much is said verbally. All communication is with signs, gestures and movements. It is powerful body language that is universal and floral in expression.
 The origins of Mudras are not really clear. Most dance teachers and Mudra practitioners agree that it is ancient but there is no consensus on datesHastas originated when the need for stylisation in a dramatic presentation was felt. This stylisation was codified so that a single system originally arose to encompass the different parts of ancient India. This made the practice universal. Since there are no words spoken in dance, the dancer has to interpret the words of the song with hastas and suitable facial expressions. Hastas are very eloquent and are profound in their communication. They are the words of dance. They form alphabets, and their permutations, as has been illustrated, create words for nouns, actions, qualities and things.
There are two kinds of Mudras. One is formed by the use of a single hand and using both the hands forms the other. Asamyukta hastam means single-hand Mudras and Samyukta hastam refers to Mudras formed by using both the hands. Samyukta literally means `joined`. There are 28 single-hand Mudras and 24 double-hand ones. Given below are some of the single-hand Mudras.
 The opposite feelings of friendship and enmity are also expressed with a single double-hand Mudra. The only difference is in the fingers. Close all the fingers of both hands, except the forefingers. Bend both the forefingers like hooks and place them opposite each other. Move them away, in opposite directions and they are like two enemies facing each other. Now fold all the fingers except the little fingers of both hands. Bend them to form a hook and place them against each other. Now you represent two friends. In both these Mudras, the left hand is held above the right hand. Without the use of words, these Mudras convey so much; one can literally imagine what a combination of them would say!
A powerful example of the use of Mudras is in Kathakali ("story play"), which has a unique combination of literature, music, painting, acting and dance. It has a harmonious combination of literature, music, painting, acting and dance. In Kathakali the dancers do not speak, but their hand Movements or Mudras, along with facial expressions, speak several volumes. There are 24 basic Mudras (hand gestures) in the Hasthalakshana Deepika, the Book of Hand Gestures, which Kathakali follows. There are Asamyukta Mudras and Samyukta Mudras in each basic Mudra. The Mudras and their separations total 470 symbols. Kathakali is only one example. But all other dance forms too are replete with the silent eloquence of Mudras.
However, most of the exponents of classical dances say that it is not possible to count the number of hastas or Mudras in dance. Since each dance style has its own system  and categories of hastas. But each system has basic hastas from which a number of different hastas are created by permutations and combinations. For example, every dance style uses the basic hasta called Pataaka (flag). They may be performed in different ways by using the fingers with the palm in different ways. In Kathakali, Pataaka is to be held by keeping the palm straight, the fingers completely extended and then bending the ring finger at the middle joint. It can be held by both the hands, which would be called Samyukta. If it were done with only one hand it would then be called Asamyukta.
Apart from the Asamyukta hastas, the usages of Samyukta are many. By placing each hand at different places in the spaces around the body one can create the sun, king, elephant, lion, torana, bullock, crocodile and many more. With the Asamyukta, the language of dance continues. Bharata Natyam uses the Sanskrit text Abhinayadarpana in which the Pataaka hasta is to be held by keeping the palm straight with all the fingers extended and the thumb touching the palm. So with permutations and combinations, hundreds of hastas or Mudras are created.
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