Abhinaya
Abhinaya is a Sanskrit word, the prefix “Abhi” meaning, towards’ and ‘Naya’ meaning to lead’ The ten abhinaya, therefore, means that it leads to the conveyance of an idea, an emotion, or an event to the audience. In other words, it connotes acting. The dancer brings out the ‘bhava’ with a view to creating the rasa (emotions or feelings) in the audience. The purpose of abhinaya is thus to evoke in the audience the feelings or emotions pertinent to the theme of the drama or of the lyrics which need to be sung in proper melody. Abhinaya enables the actor or the dancer to bring about suggestively the different psychostates of the characters concerned, in a drama or a dance recital. Abhinaya is also resorted to in katha-kalakshepam, thar is the narration of a story, epic, myth, history, or event through musical recitation with or without instrumental support.
Abhinaya is expressed in four different ways – Angika Abhinaya (through the physical presentation), Vachika Abhinaya (through the verbal or musical presentation), Aharya Abhinaya (through the decorative presentation), and Sathvika Abhinaya (through the evocation of feelings and sentiment). Each form of abhinaya is important to portray or convey the meaning of the concerned there to the audience.