Bhamakalpam – Dance Drama Based on Kuchipudi

Bhamakalpam dance is a famous dance drama form based on Kuchipudi. When Siddhendra Yogi came to realize that true salvation is to devote oneself to God he invisioned this dance drama form. When he reached the village of his wife he gathered some brahmin boys and taught them Bhama kalpam. 

Bhamakalpam dance was taught only to Brahmin boys. It was believed that by doing this the purity of the dance will not be compromised. It was also done to distinguish this dance form as a holy one and truly devoted to God’s. Bhamakalpam is the first dance-drama that was taught to the young boys and then carried out as Kuchipudi. 

Later when this dance-drama won the heart of villagers as the true devotional dance they agreed to perform this once a year and to teach their young ones. Every part whether male or female was performed by men. Although it was hard to represent a man as a woman young boys did a great job of representing Satyabhama’s role. The way a woman moves her body and expresses through her eyes was also performed very well by young boys.

The role of Satyabhama was to be presented with elegance and responsibility. She was a queen which should be clearly visible from the expression and movements of the dancer that is portraying her. When boys passed the age and were no longer in a physical posture to perform the role of a female their roles shifted and female roles were given to the boys who learned after the previous dancers.  

Bhama Kalapam Story

Satyabhama, the wife of Lord Krishna, was the most beautiful woman but she had the arrogance and was proud of everything she had. She did not hesitate to show off her fortune and blessings to others who were less fortunate. When Lord Krishna have had enough of her arrogance he planned to bring her to the path of salvation from where she was lost. He distanced himself from her to teach her a lesson. 

Later when Satyabhama realized her mistake she apologized for her behavior. Lord Krishna returned to her and both were reunited. 

The message which Siddhendra Yogi wanted to give was that one should follow the path which leads them towards salvation, not to the path that is filled with negative thoughts and behavior. Not only this path is harmful to you but it also affects the ones that are close to you. Like Satyabhama’s negativity affected Lord Krishna too due to which he distanced himself from his beloved wife. Satyabhama had to bear the fate of her actions which she did by bearing heartache when she was liberated from the love and affection of Krishna.  

Dance Progression

In the dance performance, the story is shown of the time when Krishna has left Satyanbhama and now she is trying to make him come back to her. She writes him a letter and sends messages through her friend Madhavi. 

There are three roles that get played while doing this performance, one of Satyabhama, second of Madhavi, and the third of Lord Krishna. Every performance done on stage is based on the depiction of the dancer’s gurus who learned this act and passed onto them. This truly depends on the dancers and gurus how they want the role of every character to be played. 

Bhamakalpam Today

Even today there are families who send their boys to earn this dance and take onto the family tradition. Boys who took part in the dance performance used to get their nose and ear pierced. They were taken to the temple of Goddess Bala Tripurasundari where their gurus will tie ghunghroos. As Bhama kalapam is a pure form of devotional dance the act of tying ghunghroo was considered holy too this is why boys were taken to the temple so that goddess can witness they are getting devoted to the dance.