HAND GESTURES IN KATHAK

Our traditional scriptures called the gestures ‘Hastabhinaya’. Hastaabhinaya is showing emotions through different mudras of hands. These mudras can be made with only one hand or both hands.

Two types of hand gestures:

 Asanyukta hasta

 Sanyukta hasta

ASANYUKTA HASTA: ONE HAND GESTURES

Single hand gestures or mudras of single hand are known as ansyukta hastas.

In Nandikeshwar’s Abhinaya Darpan These are:

1.PATAKA  15.PADAMKOSH

2.TRIPATAKA  16.SARPASHIKSH

3.ARDHPATAKA  17.MRIGASHIRSH

4.KARATRIMUKH  18.SIMHAMUKH

5.MAYUR  19.LANGULA

6.ARDHCHANDRA  20.ALAPDAMA

7.ARAAL  21.CHATURA

8.SHUKTUNDA  22.BHARMARA

9.MUSHTHI  23.HANSASYA

10.SHIKHAR 24.HANSPAKSHAy

11.KAPITH.  25.SANDANSH

12.KATAKAMUKH  26.MUKUL

13.SHUCHI.  27.TAMARCHUDA

14.CHANDRAKALA  28.TRISHULA

There are 28 hand gestures in Abhinaya Darpan while in Natya Sastra there are only 24.

SANYUKTA HASTA: TWO HAND GESTURES

Combined hand gestures are those which are made by the combination of both hands and are known as Sanyukta Hasta

1.ANJALI          13.CHAKRA

2.KAPOTAc       14.SAMPUTA

3.KARKATA       15.PASHA

4.SWASTIKA      16.KILIKA

5.DOLA               17. MATSYA

6.PUSHAPPUTA 18. KURMA

7.UTSANGA        19.VARAHA

8.SHIVALINGA   20.GARUDA

9.KATKAVARDHAN 21.NAGABANDH

10.KARTARISWASTIKA 22.KHATWA

11.SHAKATA         23.BHERUNDA

12.SHANKHA        24.AVAHITTA