KOCHI: Age is just a number but not a barrier, proves Hamsadhwani Bhajana Sangam, a collective group of senior and middle-aged women from Perumbavoor. The group which started as a Bhajan troupe nine years ago has now ventured into the traditional south Indian dance form of kolattam also known as Kol Kali.Jaya Akhileswaran, a 58-year-old resident of Perumbavoor, was the brainchild behind the creation of Hamswadhani and is also a mentor of kolattam dance. “We used to go for ladies Bhajana and once got a prize. It was then that I thought of making it a collective organisation,” she says.
On taking up kolattam, she says thatduring one of their programmes they were asked to perform a traditional dance form along with the bhajan.All the members of Hamswadhwani belong to Brahmin families and kolattam is an ancient form of dance perfomed in Brahmin agraharams. Hence, all of them zeroed in on kolattam and decided to collaborate it. This is a stick dance performed in accordance to the Bhajan music in background, similar to Dandiya or Garbha, she adds.
The performance received wide appreciation and around three temples approached them for the combined performance of kolattam and bhajan. “Me and my team took up the dance form more seriously and started conducting weekend classes. As each programme would last for one and a half hours, some people perform kolattam and others sing the Bhajan”, says Jaya.Eight people are part of the dance and seven in the singing section. Jaya mentioned that currently four school students are part of their kolattam group but as it is difficult to get them available all the time they are teaching the dance form to others too so that they have a substitute.
Except these four, all others are aged between 20 and 35. While for Bhajan, all women aged 50 plus with the eldest one being 66. They wear sarees during the performance and practice the Bhajans and the kolattam steps before performing on the stage. Jaya said that their interest in music and dance has helped them form Hamswadhwani and they will try to widen its reach.