Melange of expressions

The Sivarathri celebrations at Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur, brought together several well-known artistes, each of whom paid rich tribute to Lord Shiva with their own forms of artistic expression.

February 27, 2015 10:53 am | Updated 10:53 am IST - Thiruvananthapuram

Chitra Visweswaran. Photo: K.K. Najeeb

Chitra Visweswaran. Photo: K.K. Najeeb

The Sivarathri celebrations at Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur, saw enthralling performances by dancers and musicians.

Chitra Visweswaran

Chitra was accompanied by her disciples Uma Nambuthiripad and Vijay Madhavan in a two-hour Bharatanatyam recital. Noteworthy was her choreography of the Thevaram ‘Unnamulai’ by Thirugnaana Sambandar (7th Century) and ‘Navavidhabhakthi’, the nine-fold paths of devotion. While the former depicted the concept of Ardhanareeswara present in Nature as Siva and Shakti, the latter embraced the entire story of the Ramayana. The piece, a duet with Vijay, was quintessential of Chitra’s histrionic virtuosity.

Uma’s terpsichorean talents were discernible in ‘Gajavadana’, Papanasam Sivan’s composition in Sriranjini, and also the thillana in Dhanasree. ‘Siva nagendra haraya’ (Siva Panchakshari stothram), presented by Chitra herself, was a fitting denouement with chanting of ‘Om namah Sivayaa’ resonating in the ears.

Methil Devika

At a time when compositions of Swati Tirunal and Irayimman Thampi have almost faded from Mohiniyattam stages, it was really heartening to see Devika present ‘Alarsara parithapam’ and ‘Paradevathe’. Devika has an esoteric style characterised by her inventive brilliance. Composed in Suruti, Swati’s padam portrays the disillusionment of the nayika on account of the indifference of her Lord (Padmanabha) towards her until she is told by a sakhi that she has to look for him within her. The line ‘Valarunnu hridi moham’ was exquisitely portrayed. Thampi’s ‘Paradevathe’ (Thodi) is devoted to Attingal Thiruvarattukadavil Bhagavathy who annihilated the Rakthabija Asura. Devika’s roudra was unique and the transformation into the aggressive Devi, laudable. Devika began and concluded the recital with excerpts from Soundarya Lahari.

Aditi Bhagavat

Aditi, who hails from Mumbai, commenced her Kathak recital with Siva Vandana anchored on Ravana’s Siva Sthothram. A special composition by Vivek Rajagopalan, a mridangam artiste, gave the piece the flavour of Carnatic music. The highly vigorous dance of Siva based on 12 beats of Ek taal was inspiring.

The intrinsic techniques of the dance form including the mesmerising footwork, rhythmic patterns, pirouettes and so on were revealed in the Krishna sthuti in teen taal. As the bol ‘tha, thei, tha ka thei’ was performed in two tempos while depicting the dialogue between an old man and his grandson, the audience rewarded her recital with applause.

The narration of nature against the backdrop of Raas was brilliant. A thumri composition by her mother, Ragini Aditi, followed.

The antics of a Vasakasajja nayika were vividly presented in this composition in Desh and half Teen taal of eight beats. She concluded with a customary tarana.

Shafiquddin and Shabana Shafiquddin

The duo presented the Bharatanatyam recital, ‘Sivoham,’ strictly in the traditional format. Dikshitar’s Ardhanareeswara in Kumudakriya was tagged to a short Mallari in Roopakam and Natta. Synchronisation of movements of the two, right from the first number to the thillana, was evident. The technique of Ardhanareeswara was ingenious, where the duo demonstrated the division by shifting their bodies to either side. As the performance progressed into Sabdam and Varnam, adavus and poses with technical finesse emerged. The varnam, Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Swamy naan unthan adimai’ in Nattakurinji, was the piece-de-resistance. While Shafiquddin appeared a paradigm of masculine grace in dance, Shabana exhibited the intrinsic feminine charm. But the varnam could have been more attractive if only a few charanams were attempted that too with more complex and prolonged jatis.

Sruthi Jayan

Performances of the relatively younger dancers Sruthi (Bharatanatyam), Anupama Menon (Mohiniyattam) and Kalamandalam Krishna (Kuchipudi) were proof of their creativity, both in choreography and style.

The beauty of the Kalakshetra style was discernible in Sruthi’s recital. While her adavus were chiselled, the abhinaya was spectacular. This was evident in the Gopalakrishna Bharathi’s composition ‘Varukalamo ayya’, in which Nandanar had to struggle for a darshan of Siva.

His supplications were powerful enough to move Nandi, which is said to have shifted its position to help Nandanar get a glimpse of the Lord. The bliss of having the darshan was stupendously portrayed by Sruthi.

Anupama Menon

Anupama’s Mohiniyattam was unique as it was an attempt to establish the identity of the dance form based on the Sopana style. All the compositions were adapted from those employed in the ‘Kottipadi seva,’ including the Thyanis (devotional hymns for the deity). ‘Akaara’ characteristic of the Sopana rendition and talas such as ‘Ayyadi’, together with lasya rich movements, made her performance stand out.

The musicians, including Neelamperoor Suresh (vocal) beating on a gong, Nandakumar (edakka) and Kalanilayam Prakash (maddalam) standing behind the dancer, was reminiscent of the old tradition of the dance form.

Kalamandalam Krishna

The Kuchipudi recital by Krishna embraced the features of the traditional Kuchipudi Yakshagana, a result of her post-graduate degree from Central University, Hyderabad. Five slokas from Soundarya Lahari, each composed in different ragas, demonstrated her artistry as well as her choreographic ingenuity. For Tarangam, she had verses from Narayanatheertha, which helped her to prove her mastery over rhythm as well as abhinaya. Krishna wound up with a thillana in Brindavanasaranga.

Malladi Brothers

The only major vocal concert was an eloquent exposition of classicism. The pieces were all Siva-centred compositions. Singing in unison to perfect sruti alignment apart, what made their artistry outstanding was tonal clarity. Following the Kedaragoula varnam, the Dikshitar composition ‘Parameswara Jagadeeswara in Natta, Adi, opened with a crisp alapana. Soon ‘Nadathanumanisam’ in Chitharanjini followed. Tyagaraja’s ‘Sambho Mahadeva Sankara’ was preceded by an extensive introduction of Kamavardhani. It was interesting to see how they complemented each other in the elaboration. Dikshitar’s ‘Panchashat pita rupini’ in Karnataka Devagandhari and Tyagaraja’s ‘Bhogeedrasayanam’ in Kuntalavarali preceded the main raga Kamboji. The composition was Dikshitar’s ‘Kailasanathane’ in Misra chap. S.R. Vinu on the violin and percussion support by Kuzhalmannam Ramakrishnan (mridangam) and Manjur Unnikrishnan (ghatam) made the concert memorable. The post-main part also included a couple of light compositions on Siva.

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