Kārtikā Tirunāḻ Bālarāma Varma’s Self-portrait in Bālarāmabharata

King, Patron and Artist

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/CIS.24.2022.01.07

Keywords:

Kārtikā Tirunāḷ Bālarāma Varma, Bālarāmabharata, nāṭyaśāstra, Travancore

Abstract

Kārtikā Tirunāḷ Bālarāma Varma (r. 1758–1798) was the ruler of the South Indian state of Travancore and the author of a Sanskrit treatise on theatrology, the Bālarāmabharata. His reign constituted an important period of patronage of arts and literature, especially in the field of performing arts. The king was not only an outstanding patron but also an eminent scholar and an accomplished author. As the evidence of this great variety of roles, the paper proposes to analyse the opening passages of the Bālarāmabharata where Kārtikā Tirunāḷ Bālarāma Varma presents himself in a self-portrait of sorts: as a ruler, patron, scholar and poet. He inscribes himself in the patronage tradition of the rulers of Travancore as well as in the line of the continuators of Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra while simultaneously showcasing his literary prowess and practical experience in the contemporary tradition of performing arts.

PlumX Metrics of this article

References

Primary sources

Bālarāmabharatam of Śrī Bālarāma Varma Vanci Maharaja. 1935. K. Sambaśiva Śastri (ed.). Trivandrum: Printed by the Superintendent, Government Press.

Secondary sources

Anandakichenin, S. 2018. My Sapphire-hued Lord, My Beloved! Perumāḷ Tirumoḻi and of Its Medieval Maṇipravāḷa Commentary by Periyavāccāṉ Piḷḷai with an Introduction: Kulacēkara Āḻvār’s Perumāḷ Tirumoḻi. Pondichéry: École française d’Extrême-Orient, Institut Français de Pondichéry.

Bose, M. 1991. Movement and Mimesis: The Idea of Dance in the Sanskritic Tradition. Dordrecht: Springer Science & Business Media.

Byrski, M. K. (tr. and introduction). 2017. Bhasa and Kālidāsa. Dramat staroindyjski. Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich.

Cieślikowski, S. 2016. Teoria literatury w dawnych Indiach. Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka.

De Lannoy, M. 1997. The Kulasekhara Perumals of Travancore: History and State Formation in Travancore from 1671 to 1758. Leiden: Leiden University.

Easwaran Nampoothiry, E. 1983. Bālarāmabharatam: A Critique on Dance and Drama. Trivandrum: Keralasanskritam Publications.

Galewicz, C. 2015. Żyjące biblioteki Indii. Rygweda braminów Nambudiri. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.

—. 2021. Editorship and History Making: On Historicizing Modern Editions of Tiruniḻalmāla. In: Cracow Indological Studies, 23(1): 1–33. https://doi.org/10.12797/CIS.23.2021.01.01. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12797/CIS.23.2021.01.01

Gouri Lakshmi Bayi, A. T. 2000. Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple. Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Govindāchārya, A. 1902. The Holy Lives of the Āzhvārs or the Drāvida Saints. Mysore: G. T. A. Press.

Janaki, K. S. S. 1966. Paraśurāma. In: Purāṇa, 8(1): 52–82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00369226608736004

Kunju, I. A. P. 2007. Medieval Kerala. Karivattom: International Centre for Kerala Studies, University of Kerala.

Martin-Dubost, P. 1983. Poèmes d’amour du Kerala: XVè–XVIIIè siècle. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.

Menon Sreedhara, A. 2006 [1st ed. 1967]. A Survey of Kerala History. Chennai: S. Viswanathan.

Minkowski, Ch. 2008. Why Should We Read the Maṅgala Verses? In: W. Slaje (ed). Śāstrārambha: Inquiries into the Preamble in Sanskrit. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag: 1–24.

Nagam Aiya, V. 1906.The Travancore State Manual. Vol. I. Trivandrum: Travancore Government Press.

Raja Kunjunni, K. 1980 [1st ed. 1958]. The Contribution of Kerala to Sanskrit Literature. Madras: University of Madras.

Raman Pillai, C. V. 2009. Dharmaraja. G. S. Iyer (tr.). Chennai: Tranquebar.

Sastri Nilakanta, K. A. 1958. A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to Fall of Vijayanagar. Madras, New York: Indian Branch, Oxford University Press.

Schwartz, S. L. 2008. Rasa Performing the Divine in India. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Shulman, D. 2012. More than Real: A History of the Imagination in South India. Cambridge, MA, London: Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674065123. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674065123

Sudha, E. K. 2001. Hastalakṣaṇadīpikā. A Critical Edition and Study, http://hdl.handle.net/10603/179, accessed on 26.05.2022.

Sudyka, L. 2019. The Language of the Gods in the World of Royal Ladies of Kerala: Toward the History of Women’s Writing in Sanskrit in the 18th- to 20th-century Kerala. Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka. https://doi.org/10.12797/9788381380898. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12797/9788381380898

Uskokov, A. 2014. Mukundamālā of Kulaśekhara Āḻvār: A Translation. In: Journal of Vaishnava Studies, 22(2): 203–221.

Vatsyavan, K. 1977 [1st ed. 1968]. Classical Indian Dance in Literature and the Arts. New Delhi: Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Velu Pillai, T. K. 1940. The Travancore State Manual. Vol. II: History. Trivandrum: The Government of Travancore.

Vielle, Ch. 2011. Ravivarman Kulaśekhara the Yādava and Sagara the Son of Yādavī: Real and Ideal Kings in Matrilineal Kerala. In: Religions of South Asia, 5(1/2): 365–387. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v5i1/2.365. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v5i1/2.365

—. 2014. How Did Paraśurāma Come to Raise Kerala. In: K. Veluthat, D. R. Davis (eds). Irreverent History: Essays for M. G. S. Narayanan. Delhi: Primus Books: 15–32.

Zarrilli, P. B. 2000. Kathakali Dance-drama: Where Gods and Demons Come to Play. London: Routledge.

Downloads

Published

2022-08-18

How to Cite

Wójcik, Agnieszka. 2022. “Kārtikā Tirunāḻ Bālarāma Varma’s Self-Portrait in Bālarāmabharata: King, Patron and Artist”. Cracow Indological Studies 24 (1):131-58. https://doi.org/10.12797/CIS.24.2022.01.07.