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Codified hand positions used in Indian classical dance.
Also known as: Dance mudra, Hasta, Indian dance hand gesture, Codified hand positions
Hasta mudras are hand positions with defined meanings in Indian classical dance, codified in the Natya Shastra. A single mudra has many meanings depending on context — pataka alone can indicate a cloud, a forest, a river or a refusal — so they are read in sequence, not individually.
Denote codified hand gestures used in Indian classical dance, distinguished into single-hand and double-hand sets.
Contexts: Music
Carry multiple meanings each: one gesture serves many referents, and which applies is fixed by the surrounding sequence rather than by the hand alone.
Contexts: Music
Are codified in the Natya Shastra, a treatise on performance whose dating is contested but which is generally placed between the second century BCE and the second century CE.
Contexts: Music
Overlap with but are not identical to the mudras of Hindu and Buddhist iconography, which the catalogue holds separately.
Contexts: Music
A hand held in a defined position — fingers extended and joined, curled into a ring, splayed, or interlocked with the other hand — held still and presented to the audience.