Mohiniyattam

What it is

Mohiniyattam belongs to the classical dance family of India, and it follows the lasya strand, the graceful mode set out in old Sanskrit writing on performance. A dancer usually works alone, carrying the piece with her body, face and hands, while Carnatic singing supports her. The words may come from a separate singer or from the dancer herself, and they are often in Manipravalam, a mixed Malayalam and Sanskrit tongue. Three layers can sit in a programme: nritta, pure rhythm without a story; nritya, expressive dance that tells a tale or a spiritual thought; and natya, a group play staged in some modern productions. A recital moves through seven items, as Bharatanatyam does, beginning with Cholkettu, an invocation that honours the goddess Bhagavati and then Shiva.

Origins and history

Like other classical dances of India, Mohiniyattam traces its rules to the Natya Shastra, a Sanskrit text on performing arts credited to Bharata Muni. Scholars place its first full version between roughly 200 BCE and 200 CE, though some date it differently. That text sets out two modes: the forceful tandava linked with Shiva, and the calm lasya linked with Parvati. Mohiniyattam follows the second. Support for the dance in Kerala appears in stone: the Vishnu temple at Trikodithanam and the Subramanya temple at Kidangur carry sculptures of women in its poses, dated to the eleventh century. Malayalam writers took up lasya themes from the twelfth century, and the word itself is first recorded in the sixteenth-century legal work Vyavaharamala, which names a payment to a dancer.

Colonial years and bans

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the dance grew with support from competing princely courts, and the early nineteenth-century king Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma, himself a poet and composer, backed a joint troupe of Mohiniyattam and Bharatanatyam artists. British rule brought a different mood, shaped by Victorian sexual strictness and by missionary criticism of Hindu practice: classical Indian dance was mocked and declined, and from 1892 an anti-nautch campaign criticised it further. Laws in Kerala's princely states between 1931 and 1938, none naming Mohiniyattam, made devadasi practice illegal and halted performances inside temples. A 1940 change allowed voluntary temple dance again; a 1941 rule said dancers must not be paid, which sparked protests and public disorder.

Revival and rebuilding

Historians disagree about parts of this story. Justine Lemos has written that the usual picture, of a ban placed on Mohiniyattam by a Maharaja under British pressure, does not match the records: no law named the dance, and she found no proof that its performers were devadasis or temple servants. She does note rewards, sponsored scholarships and payments to dancers. The political fight of those years fed a wider revival. The Malayalam poet Vallathol Narayana Menon pressed for the restrictions of the 1930s to be lifted and founded the Kerala Kalamandalam school, where the dance was taught and studied. Other teachers who carried it forward include Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma, Mukundraja, Thankamony and Appiradeth Krishna Panicker.

Movement and dress

A dancer stands with feet apart and knees turned out, torso upright, the body rocking in a soft figure of eight through the hips. This stance is called Ati Bhanga. Steps glide and slide in time with the drum and the song, and the motion is often compared to palm leaves swinging or waves rolling in. Small units of movement, the atavukal, fall into four sets: Taganam, Jaganam, Dhaganam and Sammisram. Hands and face follow Hastha Lakshanadeepika, a text on mudras. The dress is a white or cream sari with gold brocade, a matching blouse, a gold belt at the waist and a pleated front panel. Dancers add light jewellery, red lips, lined eyes, ankle bells and jasmine in a side bun; men wear a dhoti and bells too.

How Mohiniyattam is kept

Training comes first, and it is long. A trained dancer, most often a woman, then performs alone. The programme opens with Cholkettu, an invocatory item. Jatisvaram, also called Swarajeti, comes next, then Varnam, where the dancer carries a story and may slip in a teasing imitation to hold attention. Padam, a set of songs, follows. Tillana lets her interpret a melody the musicians shape, and Shlokam and Saptam close the recital. Carnatic music and singing run underneath throughout. Some modern companies stage group works, and men dance Mohiniyattam as well.

When and where

There is no single date for Mohiniyattam. It is performed at temple occasions, at school and district dance festivals, and on concert stages, so it can appear at any point in the year.

Mohiniyattam belongs to Kerala, the state on India's south-western coast where the form took shape and is still strongest. Kerala Kalamandalam, the school the poet Vallathol Narayana Menon founded, is the best-known place where it is taught. Other teachers and institutions in the state keep it going as well.

What Mohiniyattam means

The dance carries devotion as well as beauty. Its name links it to Mohini, the form Vishnu takes to charm the asuras and turn the nectar of immortality away from them, so the dancer's grace is understood as a divine quality rather than only a skill. Performances take place in temples and, in the revived form, on public stages. Justine Lemos has described earlier Mohiniyattam as a celebration of eroticism, fertility, wealth and hospitality.

Questions people ask about Mohiniyattam

See also

PulikaliPainted tigers and leopards dance through Thrissur on the fourth day of OnamBhangraA Punjabi harvest dance, first kept by farmers and now performed worldwideGhazalA short rhyming poem of love and parting, recited and sung from Arabia to South AsiaQawwaliDevotional Sufi singing from South Asia, led by hereditary parties at shrines

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle
• Muslim man becomes first male dancer to get PhD in MohiniyattamHindustan Times, Article
• RLV Ramakrishnan’s love for MohiniyattamThe Hindu, Article
• Muslim man becomes first male dancer to get PhD in MohiniyattamHindustan Times, Article
• RLV Ramakrishnan’s love for MohiniyattamThe Hindu, Article

• Mohiniyattam on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.