CHENNAI: Walls being built, a bird flying on stage and a story that will captivate the audience — witness all these at Parashaha’s 15th anniversary. The city-based Bharatanatyam dance production company will showcase Aranganin Pathayil, a multimedia production that focuses on the 48-year journey of Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam between 1323 and 1371. “We first did this performance on May 31, 2015. According to koil olugus, this was the day (17th day of Tamil month of Vaikasi) that the utsava murti of the deity was placed back in Srirangam,” smiles a proud Roja Kannan, one of the founding members of Parashaha.
Aranganin Pathayil was written by Asha Krishnakumar, a history enthusiast in Chennai, and she approached Roja for the production. “I felt that a story of this magnitude can be given justice only if dancers of a certain stature perform. That’s why I chose the Parashaha team,” says Roja.
The 90-minute act was conceived by all the founders of Parashaha — Roja, Priya Murle, N Srikanth and Ashwathy Srikanth. “We have loosely demarcated our borders. For example, there is a kai kottu kali section, as the idol travels around Kerala. That’s choreographed by Ashwathy, as she is a Mohiniattam dancer,” explains Priya.
When there are four talents from different schools, clashes are bound to happen. “We shed our ego, and work together; but when we get together we are worse than kids. We love to chat, forgetting that we have a show to put together,” laughs Priya.Music forms an integral part of this production. “Rajkumar Bharathi has scored the music for the whole production. Though the story is recorded in koil olugus, there are no lyrics. Dushyanth Sridhar came on board for that and helped us out with the lyrics,” shares Roja.
Priya vouches for the music…in fact, she claims that if there’s one thing people can definitely look forward to, it’s the music. “Certain acts are just enhanced by the music. There is a scene where a lady comes to look at the idol at the temple, but by then the idol is taken out and a wall has been built in its’ place. She is helpless and starts crying. The music set to this is so moving that every time I perform this scene, I tear up,” smiles Priya.
The wall in this scene is one among the many that is projected through LED. While most of it are set to Carnatic ragas, there are some folk numbers too, which are essential to the scene. “I want the audience to look out for the climax, when the idol is brought back to the temple and how a blind dhobi recognises it as the original. The music there is set to Sindhu Bairavi raagam, and it gives you gossebumps,” she adds.
To showcase the story through steps, the team also made an idol with the exact dimensions. “For the first production, we had specially made the idol, but it was too heavy for the dancers to dance with. This time we had a replica made using papier mache in Puducherry,” shares Roja.
There is also an aerial act that’s crucial to the production. Roja says, “The scene is set in Kerala where the devotees are travelling by boat and after a point, it refuses to move. The aerial act is to show how Garuda, the vehicle of lord Vishnu, circles around a point indicating that there is an idol underneath the backwaters and it turns out to be Vedanta Desikar.”
The Aanmajothi Trust funded the project completely and the proceeds from the production will be used in aid of their Music to Schools project. Aruna Saiam and Sudharani Ragupathy are attending the event. “We’ll be felicitating the committee members of Natyarangam who brought us together. And also, those who worked behind the scenes,” adds Priya.
‘Aranganin Pathayil’ will be staged on November 10 from 6 pm at Narada Gana Sabha. Tickets are available on bookmyshow.com and also at the venue on Friday.
Legend says…
In 1323, when Ghias-ud-din Tughlak and his strong army headed to Srirangam, devotees of lord Ranganatha, in a bid to protect their lord and his riches, took him on a journey. The route they followed was: Thirukoshtiyur, Jyothishkudi, Azhagar Koil, Calicut, Melkottai, Tirupati and back to Srirangam.