The Corpus
Bharatanatyam Audio Corpus
173 Theoretical Bharatanatyam Sanskrit śloka recordings, organized for reference and study.
Sanskrit ślokas form part of the theoretical and pedagogical material encountered in Bharatanatyam training. They describe aspects of the form, including gestures and bodily movements, and connect physical practice with a vocabulary of meaning.
The Bharatanatyam Śloka Audio Corpus brings together 173 recitations with structured metadata to make this material easier to use and learn from. Each entry includes transliteration, an English meaning, and contextual details about the verse.
What the corpus documents
The collection includes material from the Dhyāna Śloka and Guru Stotra, enumerations of bodily movements, the 28 single-hand gestures known as asaṁyuta hastas, and associated viniyoga verses.
Why document this material?
A student may encounter a verse while learning a gesture, hear it recited by a teacher, and gradually learn its meaning through practice. Organizing the verses alongside audio and contextual information creates a reference that can be revisited beyond the original classroom.
The corpus can be used as a dataset baseline for further cultural adaptation research and a consultation resource for students and teachers. Its purpose is to make complex Sanskrit Bharatanatyam theory material easier to access, hear, and study.
Access the complete corpus
Access the Bharatanatyam Audio Corpus on ICPSR
Scope and limitations
The recordings were made by one Bharatanatyam practitioner who completed an Arangetram, drawing on the printed form of the verses documented in the collection. The corpus reflects that recording and training context.
It is intended as a documented reference and a foundation for future comparison, including work with additional recordings from other teachers and traditions.
How to cite
Ramanan, Mihika. Bharatanatyam Śloka Audio Corpus. ICPSR, 2026. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR315741.V1
License
Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0). You are free to share and adapt this material for any purpose, provided you give appropriate credit and distribute any derivative works under the same license.