Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma (9th September, 1935–16th November, 2012), popularly known as Satyam, was born on 9 September 1935 to Vedantam Venkataratnam and Subbamma, at Kuchipudi, a village in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh in Vedantam family which is known for its Kuchipudi tradition.
Childhood
He started training Kuchipudi at the age of five under his elder brother, Vedantam Prahalada Sarma. Like all the boys of the Kuchipudi clan in his village, little ‘Sathyam’ was trained in Sanskrit, yoga and other allied arts. Since it is a tradition among the Kuchipudi families that one had to be adept at both dancing and singing in order to become a good Kuchipudi dancer, Satyanarayana Sarma took to learning classical music under the famous music vidwan Yeleswarapu Seetharamanjaneyulu in his village and Sishta Brahmaiah Sastry in Machilipatnam who was a famous classical singer and violinist. He also got trained in dance under Chinta Krishnamurthy, founder of the famous Venkatarama Natya Mandali troupe at Kuchipudi Village. Thus, in a very young age Satyam had the right training to be a Kuchipudi Yakshaganam artist.
Dance career
When he was fourteen years old, he made his debut dance show at a temple festival attracting everyone’s attention with his performance. He played the roles of Lohitasya in ‘Harischandra’ and Lava in ‘Ramanatakam’ in Pasumarthy Kondalarayudu’s troupe where his brother played the lead female roles. In a later interview he gave, he revealed how, when he was a teenager, he had visions of Siddhendra Yogi, the founder of Kuchipudi dance, blessing him saying he would achieve success from his nineteenth year.
His first major performance came at the age on nineteen, when he portrayed the role (female role) of Parvathi in Usha Parinayam, staged in Sapru House, Delhi.
His success also led to the unification of the major troupes at Kuchipudi village, and collectively showcase Kuchipudi Yakshaganam and Kalapams to the world. He was later part of the famous Chinta Krishnamurthy troupe and there are innumerable recorded instances of his enchanting performances in the female lead roles of Kuchipudi Yakshaganam. The audience would experience inexplicable emotions after knowing that the female character they had seen and appreciated on the stage was in fact portrayed by a male dancer!
Signature role Satyabhama
Sarma continued performing female characters in many melams and his portrayal of Sathyabhama in the dance-drama, Bhama Kalapam, (written by Siddhendra Yogi) later became his signature role. He continued to portray other roles in various dance-dramas like Gollabhama in ‘Gollakalapam’, Mohini in ‘Mohini Rukmangada’ and ‘Ksheerasagara Madhanam’, Sasirekha in ‘Sasirekha Parinayam’, Devadevi in ‘Vipranarayana’. He was very careful in choosing the female roles that he played and did not play all the roles that came to him. In an interview given later he was to say, “When I was nineteen, I played Usha in Usha Parinayam and it suited since she was a ‘Mugdha Nayika’, innocent and tender. In my thirtieth year, I decided I was too mature to play such tender roles and switched over to Satyabhama, a Prouda Nayika that went along fine with me at the age. Later, I played the role of Devadevi in Vipranarayana which suited my age then.” His most celebrated role for which he would be synonymous with was that of the vain, egoistic, sharp-tongued and short-tempered Satyabhama in the epic poem Bhama Kalapam ascribed to Siddhendra Yogi. It is said that Siddhendra Yogi, the founder of Kuchipudi dance had taken promise from the Kuchipudi traditional families that at least once they shall don the role of Satyabhama while preserving and propagating the meaningful Kalapam. By the 1950’s Satyanarayana Sarma and Satyabhama became inseparable. And this was to stay for the larger part of his performing career.
Solo female dance performances
He developed a new aesthetic approach in specializing in the ‘Eka Patra’ Abhinayam (mono acting), particularly the ‘Stree Vesham’(female characters). Though people who understood what he was trying to do supported him, some of the traditional Kuchipudi families scorned his idea of being ‘progressive’. He continued his work, nevertheless. On the suggestion of scholar and writer Banda Kanakalingeshwar Rao, he decided to travel to Madras, a big cultural centre in those years. His Guru Chinta Krishnamurthy accompanied him. He was only twenty-four years old when he met and performed for Rukminidevi Arundale. Watching his performance and understanding what Kuchipudi dance form needed, she advised him to continue his solo female dance presentations. She was so impressed with his dance performance that she took off a ruby-studded necklace she was wearing and decorated him with it.
Sarma kept on improvising on how a woman moves, emotes, the natural grace and finesse they generally possess, the jewellery they preferred; the style of the attire and the manner in which it was carried off were all brought into the roles that he primarily played, Usha and Satyabhama. He would wear the entire attire as how a woman would do including the saree in the most traditional fashion with elegance. The subtle emotional shades of his lasya went on only refining over a period of time, and even into his 60’s he retained the reflexes and the graceful expression which made him legendary.
History of Kuchipudi Dance
Among all the ancient Indian classical dance forms, Kuchipudi is the only one associated with the place of its origin. Kuchipudi dancers take the name of their native village with pride. Essentially a dance-drama format of performance, Kuchipudi began as an all-male performing art of Brahmin boys. A more confirmed history of Kuchipudi dance in its present form could be found around the 16th century.
The oldest evidences of dance in the Telugu speaking regions of upper Andhra are at the 2nd century Buddhist settlements of Amaravati and Nagarjuna Konda. Near the Amaravati Stupa a whole group of dancers in ‘Pindibandha’ are carved in stone. Pindibandhas are ancient group dance technique explained in Natya Shastra. Piṇḍībandha are formations in dance where multiple performers move together. These formations add depth and visual appeal to the performance, enhancing the overall aesthetic experience for the audience. The word “Pindibandha” comes from the Sanskrit words “pindi” meaning “cluster” and “bandha” meaning “bond” or “formation.”
There are four main types of Pindibandha formations described in the Natyashastra:
– Pindi: A basic formation resembling a cluster of dancers.
– Śṛṅkhalikā: Dancers hold hands to form a chain-like structure.
– Latābandha: Dancers intertwine like a creeper vine.
– Bhedyaka: Some consider this a solo performance within the larger dance.
From 11th century onwards one can find a mention of Kuchipudi in important treatises like ‘Manasollasa’ of King Someshwara of Kalyani Chalukya Dynasty (1129 CE), Nanya Deva’s (Karnat Dynasty of Mithila) ‘Sarasvati Hridayalankara’(1097-1147 CE), Ahobala’s ‘Sangita Parijata’(1600 AD) and ‘Sangita Choodamani’ by Pratapa Chakravarti also known as Jagadekamalla (1134-1143 AD). In ‘Nritta Ratnavali’ written by Jaya Senapati (13th Century), a commander-in-chief under the Kakatiya ruler Ganapati Deva there is a record of a ‘Brahmana Melam’ one of the traditional families of Kuchipudi dancers. More references can be found in the 1502 AD document ‘Manchupalli Kaifiat’ when a group of Kuchipudi Bhagavatulus had an audience with the Vijayanagara ruler Narasimha Nayaka. They are said to have conveyed a message of oppression of a local chief through their dance-drama, which led to his banishment, by the king.
In 1967, Vedantam Raghavayya directed a Telugu movie called ‘Rahasyam’ which became a big hit. In the dance sequences titled ‘Girija Kalyanam’, one can watch Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma perform the role of Manmadha who is vanquished by Bhagawan Shiva enacted by Korada Narasimha Rao. This is probably the only available video where one gets to see Satyanarayana Sarma dancing as a male character. This was also his first and last stint with the silver screen. He continued regaling audiences with his solo dance performances on the stage. He performed in over 10,000 stages.
Sarma also wrote several texts on the dance form and Natya Shastra, Abhinaya Darpanam, Tandava Lakshanam and Alankara Shastram feature among them. Towards the latter part of his life, he was more involved in teaching the dance at Venkatarama Natya Mandali, a dance school dedicated to Kuchipudi, at his native place.
Sarma was married to Lakshminarasamma and the couple had a son and two daughters. His life has been documented in a film, I am Satyabhama, directed by Dulam Satyanarayana.
Awards and honours
Sarma received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1961making him the first Kuchipudi exponent to receive the honour. Six years later, the Akademi honored him again, with Sangeet Natak Akademi Ratna in 1967. The Government of India honoured him with Padma Shri in 1970. The Government of Madhya Pradesh also honoured him with their civilian award, Kalidas Samman, in 1988. In a career which spanned nearly 10,000 performances, the legendary Kuchipudi performer, teacher and choreographer brilliantly portrayed a whole range of women’s roles effortlessly.
Forever he will be hailed as the prima donna of modern Kuchipudi and as the one dancer who immortalized the role of Satyabhama on stage. His notable performances include appearances in Delhi (1964), leading a troupe in Tamil Nadu (1968), and participation in the Festival of India Celebrations in Paris (1985) and the USA (1986). He served as President of Venkatarama Natyamandali since 1969 and as Principal of Siddhendra Kalakshetra, Kuchipudi (1969-74).
The author of this article was very fortunate to play along with Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma on the stage “ Bhuvana Vijayam” a very popular telugu drama that contains the literary, musical and dance events in the durbar of the Vijanagara King Sri Krishna Devaraya, on 22 nd March, 1985 in Chennai. The author played the role of the comedian and Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma played the role of Natyacharya (a male Dance Guru). In spite of his name and fame Sarma was always humble, down to earth and a soft-spoken person. He died on 16 November 2012, at the age of 77, succumbing to respiratory illnesses at a private hospital in Vijayawada.
