The Tanjore Quartet

The dance compositions of legendary music and dance masters of the 19th century, the Tanjore Quartet form the classical canon, or masterpieces of Bharatanatyam. The term Tanjore Quartet refers to 4 brothers (also known as Thanjai Naalvar in Tamil). They are Chinnaiah (born 1802), Ponnaiah (born 1804), Sivanandam (born 1808), and Vadivel (born 1810).

The 4 brothers were born into a family of nattuvanars (choreographers and composers) and belong to the Isai-Vellalar caste. They were educated in music by one of the musical trinities - Muthuswami Dikshithar and were appointed in the court of Raja Sarfoji II (AD. 1798-1832). Under this royal patronage they flourished, spreading their fame to other royal courts, and went on to become the Samasthana Vidwans at various South Indian courts. Chinnaiah took Bharatanatyam to the Wodeyar court in Mysore. Ponnaiah and Sivanandam stayed in Tanjore under the Maratha patronage. Vadivelu incorporated the use of violin in Carnatic music and created the dance form-Mohiniattam at the request of the Maharaja of Travancore- Swati Tirunal.

The brothers codified the basic adavus (dance units) and defined the margam (repertoire) as we know of today. They also composed a number of allarippus, kauthuvams, varnams, javalis, thillanas, sabdams, and padams. They introduced a different sequence of items into Sadir (it later became Bharatanatyam) which integrated various aspects of dance and music into carefully coordinated, aesthetically sound progression. The remarkable works of the quartet and their infusion of creative energy marks the ealry 19th century as one of the most innovative periods of Bharatanatyam history.

PS: The descendants of the Tanjore Quartet continued to be nattuvanars and dance choreographers. One of the most renowned gurus K P Kittappa Pillai is the great grandson of Sivanandam.