[6] Traditional The origins of the Bhagavata Mela are in bharatnatyam, another more ancient classical Indian dance, found in Andhra Pradesh.
[10] With the fall of Vijayanagara Empire and the destruction of temples and Deccan cities by the Muslim army around 1565, musicians and dance-drama artists migrated south, and Tanjore kingdom records indicate that some 500 such Kuchipudi artist families arrived from Andhra, were welcomed and granted land by the Telugu Hindu king Achuthappa Nayak, a settlement that grew to become modern Melattur near Tanjore (also called Thanjavur).
[10] During this period, more Bhagavatar community families moved south, invited by the newly established Maratha rajas in the Kaveri delta, to settle in and around Kumbakonam.
[2][3] Modern productions include both male and female artists, and has evolved to show influences of both Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam – the main classical dance of Tamil Nadu.
[6] Like all classical dances of India, the Bhagavata Mela incorporates sophisticated gestures as sign language combined with intricate footwork and acting (abhinaya) to communicate a religious story with spiritual message.
[17][18] The roots of abhinaya are also found in the Natyashastra text which describes basic units of dance, the gestures and movements that connect with the audience and aesthetically arouses joy in the spectator, and transports the individual into a super sensual inner state of being.
The gestures and facial expressions convey the ras (sentiment, emotional taste) and bhava (mood) of the underlying story.