CHENNAI: Come the Tamil month of Chithirai (mid-April to mid-May), devotees make a trip to Madurai to witness the procession of God Kallazhagar to Vaigai river. For those who have seen it, it is a sight to behold. For those who haven’t, Asha Krishnakumar’s Darshanam Art Creations is all set to bring the festivities to Chennai this weekend with their multimedia dance production ‘Kallazhagar, the most beautiful God of Tirumaliruncholai’. Students of Kala Darshana will participate in this production.
Tirumaliruncholai or Azhagar koil is one of the 108 Divya Desams, which is unique with fascinating traditions. Hymns, literature and other scholarly works about the temple and the Lord here date back to the Sangam era. The rich architecture and sculptures in the temple showcase the contributions of the Pandya, Chozha, Hoysala, Nayaka and the Vijayanagara kings.
Temple on stage
This is Asha’s seventh curated concept following the success of productions on temples like Melkottai Thirunarayana and Kanchipuram Varadaraja temple. “I take one Vaishnava temple and look at its history, mythology, legends, folklore, architecture, temple inscription and sthala puranam. I talk to people and come up with a concept which involves everything. Alongside the production, I hand out a booklet to the audience and also have an LED screen and a narration before every scene to ensure everyone understands every bit of it,” she explains.
For this production, Asha had three experts on board — Chithra Madhavan as a consultant on history and architecture of the temple, Damal Ramakrishnan who guided her with Vedic literature and Sundararaja Battar of Tirumaliruncholai, who gave her more insights on the temple.
Asha uses lyrics penned by azhwars and acharyas and folk songs from that area. Calling it an “immersive experience with spectacular visual elements” she says, “It is not just about seeing a dance or listening to music; I try to recreate the temple. For instance, the Azhagar kovil has four entrances and for the production I have recreated one entrance and a mandapam. You get a feel of being in the temple. Similarly, I also use props. In this temple, the most important is the Chithrai Thiruvizha where the lord is taken on a procession on a golden horseback to Vaigai. I have recreated the horse and the dancers will carry the perusal on horse, making you feel like you are there.”
Passion project
Presenting dance productions on temples is a passion for this consultant market researcher for corporates. As a creative director, Asha carefully chooses the temple she wants to present on stage. “When one is over, I shortlist three temples and start reading about them. I look for a temple with interesting stories, visual possibilities, legends, folklore and architecture, and see if I can bring it on stage. Then I look for available lyrics. I like to bring in different genres; it is not just classical dance, there should be some folk, some drama in it,” she shares.
It takes Asha three-four months to identify the temple and come up with a concept. Based on the concept, she selects the dancers. Simultaneously, she also divides the production into scenes, sets it to respective lyrics and does the original score. Rajkumar Bharati composes the music and then the musicians and instrumentalists are selected. Once recorded, Asha does the editing to weave in the narration. “Every scene has a narration by Vedic scholar Malola Kannan. I display the whole story of what’s going to happen next with an LED presentation. Simultaneously I write the book. I want the audience to take it along with them. The idea is to have people know more about these temples, which are part of 108 Divya Desams. I select lesser known stories,” she adds.
The two-hour long production has the soundscape embellishments by internationally acclaimed Sai Shravanam, the creative choreography by well-known Bharatnatyam guru Jayanthi Subramaniam.
Book tickets at mdnd.in/event/view/5013; or at Narada Gana Sabha on July 20 & 21, 10 am to 1 pm. The production will be held on July 22 at Narada Gana Sabha at 6 pm.