Known by different names as Bharata Sastra , Natyasastra or the Natyaveda, the classical dance was practiced in India for hundreds of years. Believing that dance to be the essence of all four Vedas the great sages like Bharata and others have popularized the art that It survived in its purest form till today. Even though lord Siva in the form of Nataraja is the divine preceptor and practitioner of dance the authorship was ascribed to Brahma, the first among the Trinity, who was moved by the entreaties of Indra and the host of other dine beings churned the essence of the four Vedas taking out the words from the Rig-Veda,, Music from Sama,abhinaya from Yajur, and the rasa from Atharva, thus manufacturing a concoction, christened it as the Natyaveda and conferred ir with the sanctityand dignity of a Veda. The Natyaveda was handed over to Bharata and his hundred disciples to practice and propagate among the mortals.