Mohiniattam is one of the major classical dance styles of India. The dance form of Mohiniattam was nurtured in the region of Kerala in southwestern India. It has only been in recent decades that Mohini Attam has risen in popularity and acceptability. Mohiniattam though born out of the fusion of Kathakali and Bharatnatyam, has developed its own identity. In the word Mohiniattam, Mohini means a maiden who charms the onlooker and attam means dance.

Origin of Mohiniattam
There is a considerable amount of disagreement among scholars regarding the oldness of Mohini Attam. The first reference to Mohiniattam is found in Vyavaharamala composed by Mazhamangalam Naryanam Namboodiri, assigned to the 16th century A.D. Most of them agree that it was during Maharaja Swati Tirunals rule in the 16th century that Mohini Attam achieved its refined form. Mohiniattam is mentioned in some eighteenth century texts, but the practical aspect of the style was revived in the 19th century, Swati Tirunal, the enlightened ruler of Travancore in Southern Kerala promoted its study. He composed many of the musical arrangements and vocal accompaniments, which are hymns in praise of Vishnu, and provide the musical backdrop for the Mohiniattam dancers performance.

The Maharaja of Travancore was also a great patron of arts and he encouraged artistes, singers and dancers from all over the country to come and perform in his court. The Maharaja was a great bhakta or devotee of Lord Padmanabha and wrote and composed in Hindustani as well as Carnatic innumerable kritis, padams and varnams in his praise. The Maharajas padams are always a part of a Mohiniattam dancers list. But it was finally only in the 20th century that Mohini Attam got its fresh impetus that it actually deserved. The Malayalam poet Vallathol, an important literary figure in Kerala, who established the Kerala Kalamandalam dance school in 1930, was instrumental in reviving the Mohiniattam dance form. Kalamandalam Kalyaniamma, and Chinnammu Amma, the last links of a disappearing tradition, nurtured aspirants in the discipline at Kalamandalm. Due to the hard work of great researchers, scholars, performers of Mohiniattam, this dance form achieved its present classical standing.

Type and Theme of Mohiniattam
Mohiniattam is also known as the Dance of the Celestial Female magicians, since it has an extremely slow seductive quality. It is essentially a solo dance, performed by women and it is now also performed by groups of female dancers. However, the basis of this dance is not seduction alone, it also signifies the transformation of Lord Vishnu into a female form and also the concept of Ardhnareeshwara i.e. male and female as one. Like many other dance forms, this was also restricted to the Devadasis.

The theme of Mohiniattam is romantic love and devotion to god. Delicate themes of love are performed with suggestive abhinaya, subtle gestures, rhythmic footwork and lilting music. Mohiniattam signifies the dance of enchanters that causes destruction of the wicked and brings delight and pleasure to the good. Unlike other classical dance forms, Mohiniattam draws upon secular and social themes rather than religious mythology, the age-old stirring tales from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas. The themes of most of the South Indian dances are more or less the some. However, most of the themes of Mohiniattam are dealt with love, union and failure of men and women.

Style and Technique of Mohiniattam
The distinctive style of Mohiniattam is the complete absence of heavy stamping and rhythmical tension, where the footwork is gentle, soft and sliding. The movements are never abrupt, they are dignified, easy and natural, but the vertical line of the body is never broken. Hence, among the styles detailed by Bharata Muni in the ancient Indian treatise on dance, the Natya Sastra, Mohiniattam resembles the Kaisiki type meaning graceful.

Performance of the Mohiniattam Dancers
The story of Mohini is central to the performance. Mohiniattam performances depict love and devotion to god. The dancers mostly depict the verses from Meghdoot and Geeta Govinda in their dances. Geeta Govinda was preferred the most because the spectators used to get saturated in the overflow of spiritual ecstasy. Hence, the spiritual essence of the ethereal love of Lord Krishna and Sri Radha not only colored Mohiniattam but also glorified it. The hero of most performances is Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna.

Music in Mohiniattam
The main musical instrument used in Mohiniatttam is Eddaka. Even the instruments such as the violin, veena and mridangam provide musical accompaniment to the Mohiniattam dancer, who describes episodes from the epics and legends through graceful steps, rhythmic movements of her arms and trained facial expressions. Till recently, Thoppi Maddalam and Veena provided the background music of Mohiniattam. The Mridangam and Violin have replaced these in recent years.

The vocal music for Mohiniattam is classical Carnatic. The lyrics composed by Maharaja Swati Tirunal and Irayimman Thampi are in Manipravala (a mixture of Sanskrit and Malayalam). The music also accentuates these movements by being extremely lyrical, sensuous and concentrating more on bhava than trying to articulate the swara patterns. This mode of singing is called sopanam. Sopanam has rhythms like Roopam, Champa, Karika, Panchari (Ayyadi), Muri Adanta, Adanta, Chempata, Kundanachi, Marmam, Lekshmi, Kumbham etc., based on hridaya tala or the rhythm of the heart beats which gives its unique regional flavour. Use of the ragas also is specifically designed to suit and justify the rhythm structure.

Costumes of the Mohiniattam Dancers
One of the distinctive features of the Mohiniattam is the simplicity of the costumes. There is a typical costume for Mohiniattam, which is a mixture of white and gold. They usually consist of a choli and a white, cream or off-white colored sari with a gold or red-bordered Kasavu saree of Kerala worn in such a manner that a pleated fan is formed like an apron in front of the waist. White is a favourite colour of the people basically because of the hot and humid climate.

Mohiniattam Dancers
The first dancer was Kalyaniamma. She also taught in Shantiniketan under Rabindranath Tagores invitation. The other notable teachers in Kerala Kala Mandalam were Krishna Paniker and Madhavi Amma. In 1950 Thottasseri Chinnammu Amma Joined. It was from these Gurus that new generations of dancers were born.