The fundamental posture of Natya Veda!

Today iam going to write about the fundamental posture of Bharatanatyam !
Once  you master this technique , you will be able to try all the108 transitional movements that is mentioned in Natya Veda!

Here is the pose!
Its looks simple , but in reality it takes years for students to learn this pose depending upon one's spiritual capability!
This pose is called - Araimandi ,  means half sitting!

Araimandi is similar to the  demi-plié of western ballet.

The Araimandi Pose.
A lot of students quit Bharatanatyam because they are unable to master this technique.
Technically you are bending your knees slightly and obliquely as defined in Natya Veda.

Bending the knees slightly and obliquely is very painful , it is not as easy as you feel.

To be able to master this technique you have to understand the spiritual meaning of this posture.

As you see below  - in a half sitting posture - the distance from the navel to the head should be equal to the distance from the navel to the ground.

This posture will remove the stress from your thighs and once your thighs are flexible you will be capable of trying all 108 poses that is mentioned in Natya Veda.

Similarly once you learn Demi-Plie , you can perform any western ballet steps very easily.

The spiritual symbolism of araimandi is that the body is divided into two equal parts with their apex meeting at the navel - the body takes the  form of Mandala.

Mandala is a Sanskrit word, it represents geometric pattern of the cosmos .The word is borrowed from Rig Veda.

Exactly at the Navel the body is divided.
Iam yet to master the technique.

Navel is the power point and the energy center.

Once you master this posture - the power center  navel will  automatically create energy subconsciously.

This is the subconscious balance of the body and a dancer have to master this technique.
Unless you master this technique , you cannot execute 108 karanas in a perfect manner , you may end up with body pain.

You are born with an umbilical cord.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbilical_cord

Now you know why Navel is our Energy Center, if we can activate this energy we can achieve anything in life.

Spiritually - Navel is the perfect point or the moment of balance.

So you return to your Navel centre from where you were born.

Tried one of the 108 karanas 

The Araimandi position is painful initially but once you overcome this pain it gives you a sense of power which untrained bodies do not have. 

Tried to lift legs a little more up and stand straight!

In Yoga you learn about the 7 chakras that divides your body into Right portion and Left Portion. 
There is a vertical median that passes through all chakras.

In Araimandi  posture you divide your body horizontally.

The point of intersection of the 2 Axis is the Navel.

In Bharatanatyam by activating the navel you actually activate all the energy centers that are lying dormant inside your body.

All our body movements has a direct relation with the pull of earth’s gravity.

This relationship is statistically established by the Navel.

While Dancing , If you don’t divide your body into 4 equal parts, there will be stress on your knees and you will experience knee pain.  

The moment your knees stop paining - at that point -you have activated your navel center, you no longer will get any kind of body pain for life time.

Now this is perfect, stand straight and legs lifted up to the maximum as much as you can !

The saraswati Shlokam:

Saraswati Namastubhyam Varade Kaama-Roopini

Vidyaarambham Karishyaami Siddhir-Bhavatu Me Sadaa

Ya kundendu tushara haara dhavala, ya shubhra vastravrita
Ya veena vara danda mandithakara, ya shwetha padmaasana
Ya brahmachyuthaha shankara prabrithibhi devai, sada poojitha
Samaam paatu saraswathi bhagavathi, nihshesha Jaddyapaha

O Goddess Saraswathi , let every sound that comes out of my mouth be Sama Veda.

Goddess Saraswati Pose!