| Nrttaavasaanay Nataraajaraajo nanaada
Dhakkam navapancha vaaram
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 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 Arangapravesam after which the disciple is qualified for further legs of the spiritual journey.
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 ||
Each Natya Aranga Pravesam is like a Prasavam for any Guru..who like a mother undergoes all pains of the Child birth and labours hard.. till the child is delivered safe and beautiful....that committed labour was evident in delivery of performance for this Bharatanatya Arangetram too which was intelligently conceived by the guru Sri Binesh Mahadevan to aptly describe the above themes in delivering a beautiful performance of Nrtya..!
Neelambhari proved worthy recipient of the Guru's effort and guidance with her impeccable performance that is characterized by graceful movements and lively Bhava.. May God bless this gem of a child with a long life of happiness and His kataksham.
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 Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, I pray to Him to invoke His blessings on Neelambhari, Kanna and Kavita..!
Sairam
SLOW MOTION VIDEOS ______________________________ |