The kauthuvam is defined by Professor U.S.Krishna Rao as a dance composition in praise of a Hindu deity, in the form of an invocation performed at the commencement of a Bharatanatyam recital, either before or immediately after the ‘alaripu.’ But according to noted scholar and critic, E.Krishna Iyer, its popularity waned after the Tanjore Quartet formalised the dance repertoire in the early 1800s.

Though their composer is unknown, the Nava Sandhi Kauthuvams can be traced back to before the Tanjore Quartet era, possibly performed by their ancestors in the Shaivite temples. These Tamil compositions are dedicated to the ashta dikpalas, the presiding deities of the eight directions, namely, Indra, Agni, Yama, Niruti, Varuna, Vayu, Kubera, Ishan with Brahma propitiated in the centre.

Being ritualistic in nature, there were many constraints regarding their performance: they could be performed only in the appropriate areas within the temple precincts. In addition, each kauthuvam contained specifics of its ragam and talam, besides its deity’s preferences of ragam, talam, hastam and vaadyam. For eg, the Brahma Sandhi Kauthuvam was set in ragam Madhyamavathi, tisra eka talam, the preferred ones being Madhyamavathi ragam, Brahma talam, chatura hamsasyam hasta, and sat satputam vaadyam. The kauthuvam is to be followed by a thevaram, written by Shaivite saints, which suit the ‘pun’ mentioned in the kauthuvam. In this case, the thevaram for the Brahma Sandhi is in the ‘megha’ raga pun ie. Neelambari.

Unfortunately, the performance of such rituals ceased when dancing in the temples was banned. It was later revived and restructured by Guru K.P.Kittappa Pillai, who was cautious about its popularisation owing to its religious connotation.

Eminent musicologist B.M.Sundaram introduced the kauthuvams, while dancers Indu Varma and Pandanallur Subramaniam, ably supplemented on the nattuvangam by Gopalakrishna Pillai and Chandrasekhar, both family members of Guru Kittappa Pillai, handled the demonstrations that evening. The knowledgeable orchestra consisted of Saraswathi Sankaranarayanan, vocal T.R.Murthy, flute, and Ganesh Iyer, mridangam.