Dr Sruti Bandopadhay is one of the foremost Manipuri dance artists of India and was awarded the top grade in Manipuri Dance by National Television, India. She is currently a Reader in Dance at Rabindra Bharati University, and received the Visiting Lecturer Fulbright Fellowship to teach Manipuri Dance and Survey of Indian Dance at the World Arts and Culture Centre, UCLA in the United States.
Sruti Bandopadhay
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Dance: The tool of Sanskritisation process in Manipur
Lovingly called the Sanaleipak or the land of gold, Manipur can boast of an integrated culture of primitive elements being refined with the influence of the mainstream Indian culture through the Sanskritisation process. Apart from the characteristics of Sanskritisation perceived elsewhere in India, a special instrument of Sanskritisation in Manipur has surfaced, which is her dance tradition. The ancient traditional festival, the Laiharaoba embodies all the aspects of Meitei life. The influence of the Chaitanite Vaishnavism in the 18th century brought about many social changes but its manifestation on the then existing dance practice was probably the highest form of aesthetic expression for the people. This paper aims to identify the changes brought about in the dance practice in the Meitei life and how it has become apparent in their daily social life.