Bhakti underlined through art
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The light-dark hour in which Narasimha ends the life of Hiranyaksha always has its magic and the enactment at this year's Bhagavatamela in Melattur mesmerised the audience, writes NANDINI RAMANI.
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From "Dhruva Charitra"...
SRI LAKSHMI Narasimha Jayanti Bhagavata Mela Natya Nataka Sangam of Natarajan conducted the 64th annual festival of the Natakas. The ten-day event was inaugurated by Sonal Mansingh, veteran Odissi exponent and Chairman, Sangeet Natak Akademi, who also presented a recital during the festival.
The Sangeet Natak Akademi has been the major source of support for the Sangam since 1953.
This year became more significant at Melattur with the chairman of the nation's apex body of music and dance inaugurating and participating in the festival. Natarajan emphasised this in his speech: ``This is the first time that a senior member of the Akademi who is not only the head of this apex body, but herself an eminent artiste visits Melattur and participates in our festival." Veteran musician M. Balamuralikrishna and art patron Nalli Kuppuswami participated in the inaugural function.
This year's edition of the festival had a variety dance fare, apart form the seven Bhagavata Mela Natakams. In the past couple of years, dancers of other genre are invited to perform here, for two reasons.
First, it gives respite to the participants of the Bhagavatamela, who perform all through the night.
Narasimha in fury... it was difficult to restrain the actor, Ganesh in this case.
Secondly, a schedule of this kind in keeping with the changing times the 500 year old all male sampradaya allows participation of women performers of other art forms.
However, Natarajan would do better to plan a compact (shorter) event every year, consisting only of traditional Natakams, if the unique nature of the festival, which draws hundreds of people from far and near to the narrow venue in front of the temple of Sri Varadarajaswamy, has to be preserved.
The inaugural event was marked with the staging of Bhakta Prahlada, the most important among the Natakams composed by Venkatarama Sastri of Melattur village.
The exquisite lyrical poetry, the enchanting melodies used, the fine enactment of the crucial samvaada between the Divine (Lord Nrisimha) and the demon (Hiranyaaksha), the moving portrayal of the devout Prahlaada, the exciting and spiritually elevating Sthamba Stotra and the deity's emergence from it, are scenes that always make a deep devotional impact on all those who gather to witness Natarajan's group in action in `Bhakta Prahalada.' ``Chinni Balu" (Leelavati in support of her son Prahlada), ``Era Ori Balaka" (Hiranyaaksha condemning Prahlada's Vishnu Bhakti), as well as the earlier patra pravesa darus of Leelavati and of Hiranyaaksha, and the Purva Ranga with the Sabdam giving the story in a nutshell (job well done by Arvind and Srikanth with perfect co-ordination) were the high points. Natarajan as Leelavati, and his youger brother Kumar as Hiranyaksha, who received the Kalaimamani award this year, presented excellent delineations.
Kumar in his argument with the deity developed the mood of anger skilfully and Ganesh from the traditional family of Narasimha actors, donning the 200 year-old Narasimha Mask, became so furious as the Man-Lion God, that at moments it was very difficult for the devotees attending on Him to restrain him and restore composure to the scene. At that pre-dawn moment, the crowd stood still and silent, in a state of devotional trance, witnessing the emotional drama. Each actor lives his role, each time the play is on. A special word of praise for little Prasanna, nephew of Natarajan, who as Prahlada, gave a moving depiction of his utter devotion to the Lord Supreme. Prasanna's composure and mature handling of the Vachika and Angika abhinaya clearly indicated the successful continuance of this glorious tradition.
Lilting music
``Dhruva Charitra" was another play filled with the lively lyrics of Venkatarama Sastry, set to lilting music. As the Tiruvaiyaru Brothers Narasimhan and Venkatesan commenced, Kunjara Vadanudu in Begada, invoking the blessings of Lord Ganesa (Srikanth), the stage was set. Narasimhan's musical rendering of the essence of Dhruva's story, earlier, was yet another vibrant piece, sung with gusto.
Varadarajan, another veteran artiste of this group, who appears as Katikamavadu (Kattiyakkaran) captures the nuances of the old world charm of this genre, which has scope for limited, simple footwork that has a beauty of its own. In the roles enacted by Kumar, one could witness the rustic beauty of this tradition, while in Natarajan's, it is Natyadharmi at its best, laced with Bharatanatyam in its refined form.
The traditional Narasimha mask.
Arvind as King Uthanapada, father of Dhruva, was apt for the role giving a touch of dignity to his depiction. His entry (Vadalaka Kuvalaya), and entry of Suneeti (Srikanth) in Atana, were beautiful explorations of the musical, and visual details of poetry. The composer, said to be a contemporary of Saint Tyagaraja, has tactfully displayed the influence of the Singing Minstrel on himself, by including phrases, used by the Saint, like `Paluku Paluku lagu tene' as in ``Rama Nee Samanamevaru."
The play which focusses on the Dhrudha Bhakti of the child devotee of Vishnu, Dhruva, has several moments of exquisite Telugu-Sanskrit poetry, based on enchanting ragas. The inclusion of a Mallari for the arrival of bhakta Dhruva, received in a palanquin, the lament of the King (Muddu Dhruvudu), by Arvind, Vijay Madhavan exhibiting fine skill as the wicked Suruchi and Srikanth as the soft compassionate Suneeti, were at their best throughout the play. Prasanna scored high as Dhruva.
Odissi recital
It was interesting to watch the great enthusiasm with which the Odissi recital of Sonal Mansingh was received by the people of Melattur. Even the old farmer, an octogenerian, who does not miss the Bhagavatamela, said he was fortunate to get a feel of Odissi presented by a dancer, whom he recognised as ``a famous artiste of our country." Time indeed stood still as Sonal danced with the resonant voice of Bankim Sethi adding fillip. Abrar Husein on the sarod and Niranjan Bhol on the pakhawaj gave fine support.
Earlier a scintillating Carnatic vocal recital by V. Sumitra (Vasudev) Vijay Madhavan (of the Bhagavata Mela troupe) and a senior disciple of Sangita Kalanidhi R. Vedavalli, accompanied by Andankoil Babu (violin) and Nellai Balaji (mridangam), was well-received. This was preceded by a Margam-based Bharatanatyam performance presented by students Dr. V. Raghavan Centre in the firm discipline of T. Balasaraswati. Sushama Ranganathan, Vinata Ramkumar, Charitra Sankar, Mahalakshmi Ramachandran and Deepika Mohan presented Alarippu, Jatiswaram, Varnam on Sri Rajagopalaswamy of Mannargudi of the Thanjavur Quartet, Balapparuvamanal and Aliveni-Padams and Tillana in Behag (Quartet). K.Ramaiah (nattuvangam), Sarayu Srinivasan(Vocal), Kanchipuram G. Ekambaram (mridangam), and P. V. Ramana (flute) gave orchestral support.
``Gowri Sankara Pallaki Seva Prabandham," a Kuchipudi dance ballet, by the students Uma Rama Rao of Hyderabad, was featured before Dhruva Charitra Nataka. The festival also had performances by Narthaki Nataraj, Gopika Varma, Shalini Sharma, apart from the Natakas, "Harischandra," ``Hari Hara Leela Vilasam," ``Sati Savitri," and ``Valli Tirumanam."
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