It is said that mythology and storytelling never grow old. They are like wine — the older it gets, the better it becomes. Watching the performance of the students of Rukminidevi Natyakshetra Foundation at Kalakshetra Foundation on Sunday, was a moment of epiphany for the audience. Young performers presented the mythological sequences to perfection. The dance drama titled Sri Devi Kanyakumari Charithram was organised as part of the 12th Kala Sampada, the art festival of the institution.
The story, narrated by the students through dance, revolved around the life of Devi Kanyakumari, popularly known as Mukuthiamman, who is an incarnation of Parvathi Devi. Devi Kanyakumari, an ardent admirer and devotee of Shiva, is shown waiting for the lord to get married with him. To her dismay, Shiva relents to marry her, as Narada tells her that the auspicious time has already passed, though that is not the truth. He says so because of the need for devi to be chaste so as to kill the demon Banasura. Devi’s spirit is dampened and she shuns all her adornments and chooses the state of celibacy, and eventually murders Banasura. She is then emancipated to the level of being the goddess of sannyasa.
The young girl, who played the role of Devi, was so graceful in her movements that one felt amazed and wondered as to how deeply she must have understood the mythical story to give life to the character on stage. Her eyes were so mesmerising and emotive that the audience could empathise with the devi’s pain. The performance by the entire team was graceful and flawless.
The lyrics for the performance were penned by Va Ve Su, music was composed by Radha Venkataraman, and the dance was choreographed by S Premnath, who is the founder of the institute.
