It has its origins in the ritual dancing of the devadasis , the temple dancers, and in the classical rules of indian theatre arts. Bharatanatyam is an image of the perpetual cosmic dance and the yearning of the human soul for union with the absolute. In the vedas , the collection of ancient Indian literature, the gods and godesses are compared to dancers. The highest absolute manifests itself as Siva-Nataraja, king of all dancers , who s cosmic dance represents creation, preservation and destruction of the world. The entire universe is in constant movement and activity.
All matter takes part in the eternal cosmic dance.
With regard to the technique and the form of presentation nowadays, the most applicable comparison to Bharatanatyam would be the classsical ballet, although the spectrum of movements and the narrative contents of the dances are fundamentally different. Thus the dancer is able to portray the emotions expressed in the song and can therefore present the audience aestetical moments of subtle quality by identifying herself with the content of the songs which are mostly based on love themes. The contents of the songs used in the dance have their origins in the hinduistic mythology, literature and religious philosophy. They symbolise the yearning of the human soul for union with the absolute. A multitude of gods and names were created in the effort to describe the cosmic legitimacy with the use of symbols.