| South Indians are linguistically and culturally
different from the rest of India,[citation needed] although
mutual interaction and the impress of similar external
influences have made much cultural impact. According to
some experts, the weltanschauung of South Indians is essentially
the celebration of the eternal universe through the celebration
of the beauty of the body, and motherhood, which is exemplified
through their dance, clothing, and sculptures.
South Indian women traditionally wear the chira (in Telugu)
while the men wear a type of sarong, which could be either
a white pancha or a colourful lungi with typical batik
patterns. The chira is an unstitched drape and only partially
covers the midriff. In Indian philosophy, the navel of
the Supreme Being is considered as the source of life
and creativity . Hence by tradition, the stomach and the
navel is to be left unconcealed, though the philosophy
behind the costume has largely been forgotten. As opined
in the ancient Natyashastra, this makes the realization
where in Angikam bhuvanam yasya (the concept of the human
body as the world) unites with the sharira-mandala (the
whole universe). These principles of the chira, also hold
for other forms of drapes, like the lungi or mundu worn
by men.
The music of South India is known as Carnatic music,
which includes rhythmic and structured music by composers
like Purandara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa, Tyagaraja, Annamacharya,
Muthuswami Dikshitar, Shyama Shastri, Subbaraya Shastri,
Mysore Vasudevachar and Swathi Thirunal. The contemporary
singer Dr. K. J. Yesudas is a cultural ambassador of
Carnatic music.
The movie industry has emerged as an important platform
in South India, over the years portraying the cultural
changes, trends, aspirations and developments experienced
by the people. Some movie classics like Nammukku paarkkaan
munthiri thoppukal (1986) by Padmarajan, Adi Shankara
(1984) by director G V Iyer, and Perumthachan (1990)
by Ajayan have gained worldwide acclaim for their masterful
depiction of the worldview of the South Indian people.
South India is home to several distinct dance forms
— the Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali, Yakshagana,
Theyyam, Ottamthullal, Oppana, Kerala Natanam and Mohiniaattam
(which literally translates as Dance of the Enchantress)
The Bharatanatyam expresses the celebration of beauty
and the universe, through its tenets of having a perfectly
erect posture, a straight and pout curving stomach,
a well rounded and proportionate body mass - to the
body structure, very long hair and curvaceous hips.
These tenets bring to life the philosophy of the Natyashastra.
This is elaborated in the araimandi posture, wherein
the performer assumes a half sitting position with the
knees turned sideways, with a very erect posture. In
this fundamental posture of the Bharatanatyam dance,
the distance between the head and the navel becomes
equal to that between the earth and the navel. In a
similar way the distance between the outstretched right
arm to the outstretched left arm becomes equal to the
distance between the head and the feet, thus representing
the "Natyapurusha", the embodiment of life
and creation.
Sculpture became one of the finest medium of South Indian
expression after the human form of dance. In this medium
it was possible to etch the three dimensional form in
time. The traditional South Indian sculptor starts his
sculpture of the divinities from the navel which is always
represented unclothed by the sari. A koshta or grid of
the sculpture would show the navel to be right at the
centre of the sculpture, representing the source of the
union of the finite body and the infinite universe. Sculptures
adorn many of the temples around the complexes and also
inside them. They are also depiction of dance steps of
various stylizations and have served to preserve dance
forms and revive it.
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