Bharatanatya Rangapravesam: February 2011

19-Feb-2011

| Nrttaavasaanay Nataraajaraajo nanaada
Dhakkam navapancha vaaram

Uddhartukaamah Sanakaadi Siddhan

Etat Vimarso Sivasootra jaalam. ||

The Silent Siva remains still without any movement or motion.

When he at the end of the cosmic dance sounded his Dhakka,

The science of language was born.

(Lord Nataraja is the king of cosmic dance)

The Natya Shastra of Bharatha Rishi is placed high along with Vedas and in fact is treated as fifth Veda, which was compiled taking Patha ( words) from Rig Veda, Abhinaya(expressions) from Yajur Veda, Geeth ( music) from Sama Veda and Rasa ( vital sentiments) from Adharva Veda. Bharatha draws its meaning and name from Bhava (expression), Raga (music) and Tala(rhythm).

The Bharathanatyam is not merely a dance based out of some physical postures & movements but a divine penance of deep rooted spiritual connotation and significance.This is vindicated by the fact that Bharathanatya is based out of the Divine cosmic dance of Lord Nataraja who through Bharatham - The Sivathandavam effects dissolution of our ignorance.

Eeach component of Bharatham is an activity that has an inherent objective of activating certain aspect of spirituality that the disciple gets initiated into through Rangapravesam after which the disciple is qualified for further legs of the spiritual journey.

Alarippu - in Tamil means flowering bud - really relates to blossoming of body and mind to be receptive to the light of divine Grace

Kautuvam - is not merely a temple dance but a performance in front of the almighty seeking his Grace for liberation

Ganapathi Vandana - is not merely done to remove the obstacles in the material world but to remove the same from the path of the spiritual Nrithya Sadhana of Jeevathma.

Pushpanjali is a dance of offering the pushpam-flower of love to welcome the almighty to the heart to guide the soul from ignorance to liberation..

Jatiswaram is not merely to dance to the drums or to set the beat but to calm the agitating mind and set it to hear the beats of almighty, practice to gracefully move the mind towards God and align with Him, along with the graceful movement of the Nrithya of physical body.

Shabdam is not merely dancing accompanied by a poem or song... but to attune the mind to the primal Shabdam ,Pranava, the Aum

Varnam - the center piece of the performance is not just the dance punctuated with the most complex and difficult movements of hands and body telling a story of love and the longing for the lover; But the expression of the love of Ever-longing Jeevathma for the Ever-lasting Paramathma.

Padam - The most lyrical section where the dancer "speaks" of some aspect of love: devotion to the Supreme Being or the love of the separated and reunited lovers-Jeevathma & Paramathma.

Javali's depiction of Nayaka-Nayaki bhava holds the Paramathma as the Nayaka and Jeevathma the other.

Thus each component of Bharatham is an expression of the soul's spiritual journey that ends with
Thillana - which is not merely an exaltation of the speedy movement but the Ecstasy of the speedy reunion of the Jeevathma with Paramathma..

In essence Bharatham is much more than a mere mundane dance performance, It is a spiritual Sadhana that is undertaken in order to achieve the goal of human life...Yes.. it has the potential to grant the Liberation itself..Union with Lord Nataraja..!

What else can a parent & Guru give to the child better than initiating the child into this great spiritual Sadhana ?

Gurur brahmâ gurur vishnu gurur dêvo mahêshvaraha

Gururêva parambrahmâ tasmai srî guravê namaha ||

Bharatham is the medium through which the earthly Guru leads the disciple to celestial Guru the Param Guru..The God.. Hence the earthly Guru is placed at par with the God Himself as the God acts through the Guru...!

Each Natya RangaPravesam is like a Prasavam for any Guru..who like a mother undergoes all pains of the Child birth and labors hard.. till the child is delivered safe and beautiful....that committed labor was evident in delivery of performance for this Bharatanatya Rangapravesam too which was intelligently composed by Smt Sai Kripa Prasanna ,aptly described the above themes in delivering a beautiful perfromance of Nrtya..!

Pooja and Nikita proved worthy recipients of the Guru's effort and guidance with their impeccable performance that is characterized by graceful movements and lively Bhava.. May God bless these gems..!

Here is a compilation of some photos and videos of the occasion that could serve a temporary purpose for people who could not be there , to have a glimpse, till a professional compilation is made available in due course..! While this compilation is not intended to replace the professional one, the truth of the matter is, it can not do so too, due to my limited abilities with Camera and lack of deep knowledge in Bharatham. So, please set the expectation accordingly and be gracious to overlook my mistakes, if any...!

With humble Pranams at the Lotus feet of my beloved Guru Sri Sathya Sai, I pray to Him to invoke His blessings on these girls and their family..! May He act through me too to shape the product of my effort worthy of meeting its objective......

Sairam

With Love ,