Has Art been Brahminised?

http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Cauvery-In-A-Puddle/214299

I read this article above with amusement. An old article of 2002, but a relevant one even today.

I am not qualified to talk on Bharatanatyam, but as far as as the music part in the article goes, sorry, it is crap...

There was a time when Bharatanatyam was looked DOWN upon by the Brahmins... if you are from a "good family" you can't be seen doing B Natyam. From there, the brahmins have taken to it with remarkable ease. "Bharatha kalai" as it is called, is always open to all... if the others dont pick it up or partonize it, how can a particular community be faulted for it?

As for music goes, the author clearly does not know facts. Hindustani was clearly popularized after the Mughal invasion, and in the Kothas.. even today, the hall mark of Hindustani is very less lyrics ( ranging from love to nature to God to even prostitutes' beauty). Whereas, Carnatic music places hell a lot of importance, not just today, but even before the advent of the Mummurthis, on lyrics and the Bhakti element. It had nothing to do with Brahmins, until the 20th century... please note that in olden days, the kings use to patronize the musicians of all hues... brahmin or non-brahmin. The later day musicians have rallied round the Sabhas. Yes, I too have felt that the Music Academy/ Tanjore Brahmin axis has had a bias towards certain musicians... but then the world of Carnatic musci does not begin and end with Music Academy. I have lived in Madurai as a child, and have seen eminent musicians of that time have been patronized with fervour - Seergazhi Govindarajan, TMS ( who used to sing 90% songs in Tamil), Madurai Somu , Valaypatti, Haridwaramangalam A K Pazhanivel, AKC Natarajan, Sheikh Chinna Moulana Sahib... this list is long.... and to say that only Brahmins partonized these is TOTALLY wrong... proof? Even today, just go to the Teppa Thiruvizha in Tiruvarur in April/ May, and see the amount of crowd that congregates for the evening kutcheris, and you will find 90% of them being the people from the villages... they may not understand a bit of Carnatic music, but they enjoy it, nevertheless...

99% people who perform a traditional instrument like the Nadaswaram are not brahmins. Let me stick my neck out here, and make an allegation. Nadasawaram today is practically dead, only because of the Sabha culture. Reason? The very nature of the instrument is that you dont need a mike to make it reach the audience. In the same Tiruvarur festival that I had referred to, I have heard the Nadaswaram and Thavil being heard from a distance of 1km without mike ( being a small town, with practically no other vehicular noise those days helped, sure). 

Trying to "cage" a Nadaswaram in a Sabha is like trying to catch a lion, and taming it to behave like a pussy cat!!! No wonder, after that illustrious generation of Nadaswaram players, there is hardly anyone today... other than Ayyampati, and Mambalam Bros... shame.

Conclusion: Let us not be under the delusion that Carnatic music begins and ends with the Sabhas in Chennai!! The world is much bigger... musci is for one and all.... and everyone is welcome to listen to it and enjoy... if they choose to go after other forms of music, they are making a conscious choice. And to blame every ill of Carnatic music on the Brahmins is like trying to shield Rahul baba from responsibility and ownership every time the Congress loses an election....