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Iconographic Tribute To The Great Saint

   

Padmasri Sudharani Raghupati staged her dance production ‘Sankara loka Sankara’ at Bharat Kalachar recently. The programme involved lucid portrayal of the establishment of 'Shanmadam' (or the six major deities being worshipped by the Hindus) by Adi Sankara. In this dance feature, beads of chosen lyrics from Ganesha Pancharatna, Siva Leelarnavam, Mooka Panchashati and lyrics of the contemporary poets Ganeshan and Thangasamy were stringed in the tune of Bhakti by the living legend Madurai Krishnan. The programme was definitely an iconographic tribute to the great saint. The dance feature featured Padma, Aishwarya, Priya Murle, Aarthi Bodhani and others along with Dr. Sudharani Raghupati. 

Dr. Sudharani as Aryaambal, the mother of Sankaracharya, was able to visualize the different deities worshipped in India. This was effectively conveyed to the rasikas. The dancers dressed in the attire of different deities such as the Nartana Ganapati, Siva, (dancing with his consort) Parvati, Muruga (elegantly journeying on his vehicle, the Peacock), Surya (Sun) and Vishnu were self-explanatory. Added to this was an informative bit of compering by Revati Sankaran, of TV fame. Though Sudharani’s outstanding choreographic skills were laudable, one couldn't appreciate the fact that Lord Ganesha was dancing his jatis in one corner of the stage when the entire stage was available. This was perhaps due to the non-availability of the necessary hole for viewing on Ganapati’s mask. Sudharani should try and avoid such pitfalls as they may diminish the effect of her expert choreography.

On the orchestral side one could experience a band of youngsters with immense talent that were aptly used to full effect. Aniruddha, the mridangist also functioned as an effects artiste. Violinist Vijayaraghavan was given a free hand to play ragas for sancharis and did his part well, while Nandini and Krishnaveni extended melodious support on the vocal.

Lakshmi V N

       

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   Posted on 27th January 2001